PC game "mistaken" as actual war footage

September 29th, 2011

Either graphics have become ridiculously realistic, the journalism vetting process has reached new lows, or someone is straight up lying. Either way, PC game Arma 2 was mislabeled as actual IRA war footage this week by British broadcaster ITV.

After airing the clip on Monday, YouTube-loving gamers quickly cried foul, saying they recognized the scene. "Veteran observers of the Northern Ireland conflict, as well as the gaming community, were flabbergasted that even an amateur reporter could mistake the video-game clip for any IRA attack," observed the Associated Press. 

"The footage shows several men operating from military-grade vehicles, a capability that the underground IRA never had, while the explosion and parachuting figures bear no resemblance to the June 23, 1988 attack."

In response, ITV said "during the editing process the correct clip of the 1988 incident was not selected and other footage was mistakenly included in the film by producers." 

Seems like a stretch to me. As the above video shows, the longer you watch the blurry handy cam clip, the more it becomes obvious the footage shown is that of a game. 

Oh well. Wouldn't be the first time a documentarist fudged the truth, used bogus footage, or masked an agenda. It's certainly a first for gaming, however. 

Game on.