Did al Qaeda Inspire Some GTA IV Attacks?
Did al Qaeda Inspire Some GTA IV Attacks?
June 13, 2008
Spiegel Online International speculates as to whether some of the attacks in Grand Theft Auto IV were inspired by al Qaeda tactics:
Islamist forums are abuzz with a new theory: The designers of the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, they say, were inspired by killing methods developed by al-Qaida. But did the idea for the car bombs and suicide attacks in the game really come from Osama bin Laden?
For user "Abd al-Wahhab," it is obvious. It isn't just military men all over the world who are studying the murderous methods employed by the terror group al-Qaida. Rather, designers, developers and graphic artists in the video game world, he argues, have realized that "al-Qaida is a killing school."
To support his premise, Abd al-Wahhab posts five YouTube videos. We've included one here, depicting a car bomb, at an airport, detonated by cell phone. Hmmmm.... Catch the rest of the videos with the Spiegel Online story.
Spiegel games writer Christian Stöcker, however, doesn't think much of the theory:
To say that al-Qaida influenced Grand Theft Auto IV is just as absurd as claiming that al-Qaida invented violence... No way. You can carry out a suicide attack in almost every video game that contains bombs and grenades, simply by not running away.
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Posted 07/04/09 at 01:18pm
Andrew Eisen: Rodrigo - A fun idea but you might want to fix the typos.
Andrew Eisen: Rodrigo - A fun idea but you might want to fix the typos.
Posted 07/04/09 at 12:57pm
GRIZZAM PRIME: Happy 4th of July!
GRIZZAM PRIME: Happy 4th of July!
Posted 07/04/09 at 12:44pm
Yuuri: Happy Blow Crap Up Day!
Yuuri: Happy Blow Crap Up Day!
Posted 07/04/09 at 11:09am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: I designed this shirt for Jack debate today: http://i44.tinypic.com/2552t89.jpg
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: I designed this shirt for Jack debate today: http://i44.tinypic.com/2552t89.jpg
Posted 07/04/09 at 11:06am
BearDogg-X: There's a one minute and a half preview of the video game episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! up at http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/home.do
BearDogg-X: There's a one minute and a half preview of the video game episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! up at http://www.sho.com/site/ptbs/home.do
Posted 07/04/09 at 10:08am
Arcanagos: Happy 4th all
Arcanagos: Happy 4th all
Posted 07/04/09 at 09:32am
Firebird: Greetings GP community, and HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!
Firebird: Greetings GP community, and HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!
Posted 07/04/09 at 03:48am
Michael Chandra: I missed out on Jack? =(
Michael Chandra: I missed out on Jack? =(
Posted 07/04/09 at 01:52am
Escanor94: hmm, looks like when someone gets banned all their comments are automaticly deleted
Escanor94: hmm, looks like when someone gets banned all their comments are automaticly deleted
Posted 07/03/09 at 11:46pm
Arcanagos: aww, did i miss the JT party? :(
Arcanagos: aww, did i miss the JT party? :(
Posted 07/03/09 at 11:00pm
Leet Gamer Jargon: Where's the recent JT bullcrap? Which comments section has he vomited on? EDIT: Nevermind; it's in the "Radio" thread.
Leet Gamer Jargon: Where's the recent JT bullcrap? Which comments section has he vomited on? EDIT: Nevermind; it's in the "Radio" thread.
Posted 07/03/09 at 09:17pm
BearDogg-X: I wonder what the Metropolitian Moron of Miami said in response to my comment saying that he got a dose of his medicine on the SGC09 Debate thread?
BearDogg-X: I wonder what the Metropolitian Moron of Miami said in response to my comment saying that he got a dose of his medicine on the SGC09 Debate thread?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:51pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He gets offended with a bunch of flowers.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He gets offended with a bunch of flowers.
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:49pm
GoodRobotUs: LOL He takes offence at the fact he might have *chosen* to be crazy?
GoodRobotUs: LOL He takes offence at the fact he might have *chosen* to be crazy?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:47pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He warned me to get a lawyer after I called him "crazy by his own choice"... that´s libel for him
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: He warned me to get a lawyer after I called him "crazy by his own choice"... that´s libel for him
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:45pm
HilaryDuffGta: "libel" what did he threaten now?
HilaryDuffGta: "libel" what did he threaten now?
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:44pm
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Was fun to be threatened for "libel" again.
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: Was fun to be threatened for "libel" again.
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:26pm
HilaryDuffGta: hey so what did i miss??? the usual spam of "crap"
HilaryDuffGta: hey so what did i miss??? the usual spam of "crap"
Posted 07/03/09 at 06:15pm
FlakAttack: Jack ruined his chance to have civil debates with us here. Glad you banned him (again).
FlakAttack: Jack ruined his chance to have civil debates with us here. Glad you banned him (again).
Posted 07/03/09 at 04:04pm
Krono: Unexpected is probably the best word to describe it. Particularly as no decent reason is given.
Krono: Unexpected is probably the best word to describe it. Particularly as no decent reason is given.
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Comments
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahaha *big breath* ahahahahahahahahahahahah
I'll laugh with you. Ahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha.
lol i can get in on that...
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA
In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you can give money to beggers. Clearly, ES4 was inspired by Jesus.
---------------------------------
So speak I, some random guy.
actually i remember them being in the original top down GTA 1 ! You could drive into a garage n get a bomb fitted n then set it off with a timer.
Al Quaeda wasnt a hot topic then, so .. yeah.. looks like the idea they inspired it is BS.
and you were right.. so i posted about GTA 1....
lol i was never saying you were wrong i was AGREEING with you!
It's Al Qaeda is the terrorist group from yester-year. The terrorists we DO need to worry about are from Al Con Queso. *sage nod*
Lol. Are you trying to imply Cheesy Mexican's are the next terrorist group?
i take offense to that!
not really but couldnt you pick on peta instead?
Should have included this:
DISCLAIMER: 'Al Con Queso' is the terrorist group that is frequently brought up for discussion on the WKTT radio station in Grand Theft Auto IV.
Most of the people here probably knew this already but I figure I should probably throw down the disclaimer so there's no doubt.
Blargh, that was me. >_<
LOL, but I wonder what they would have to say about that parody....
There is quite a well documented history of car-bombs going off in the UK and Ireland. I am not going to get bogged down in a history or politics debate - so hopefully without standing on any toes, I think its fair to say that it is fairly realistic [in this characterised and fictional setting] for an irish crime family to be using the old car bombs.
I think you'll find, Mr Muslim extremist, that us Europeans thought of them all by ourselves - on account of us having cars and terror groups long before you :-P
I was more inclined to think IRA since you do get the car bombs from a person with Irish decent in the game.
I did think it was a bit prejudiced of them to have it as "hey, I'm Irish, I can get you car bombs".
i remember carbombs in gta 1, i killed myself a couple times by not getting out of the car soon enough. *hears the word "WASTED" echoing through my head* cant remember if i was successful in getting a bomb on a tank though... -.-
This is the equivalent of Jack Thompson claiming credit for getting Howard Stern thrown off of terrestrial airwaves. Sorry, terrorists, but detonating a bomb via cell phone (or a remote device of any sort) is nothing new in the world of fiction. It was being done in movies long before Al Queda existed.
Yeah, because nobody anywhere ever used car bombs or suicide attacks before now...
Jesus Christ.
I suicide bomb Niko all the time in single player and in multi player I do suicide car bombings in race mode and death match to kill my enemies. Just drive up to them holding the button and BOOM I take them out of the race and they have to case me down angerly on a lil moped haha.
How is this news? Terrorists have been inspiring games for years. There's only so many politically-correct "safe" groups you can use as your villains. Lemme see: aliens, nazis, undead, robots, demons and terrorists. The terrorist thing started picking up after the cold war. Counterstrike is the first major example I can think of. I guess what I'm trying to point out is, heck, they're in good company. Didn't I see an article somewhere about an iranian game that lets you play as a member of the revolutionary guard? (shrug) It's obviously not the sort of thing I'd download, but hey - whatever lets you sleep at night.
This clearly has proven that Al Qaeda is ripping off the GodFather movies.
Yeah, this is true...and Al Gore invented the Internet...
And terrorists like to train on video games and dumb AI is a realistic representation of how people act. By the way, when has Al Qaeda been using car bombs? The only bombs I'm aware of that have been used are IED's
Put IED into car trunk, instant car bomb.
Yes, because Al Qaeda invented carbombs. Oh, wait...
Holy f*ck,they'll do just about anything to diss games.Instead of blasphemising games,why don't you try,say,........................................TRY TO DO SOMETHING USEFUL FOR A CHANGE!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Honest to Christ,if the government spent as much time trying to fix our gas crisis as much as these idiots try to diss games,we'd have nickel a gallon gas prices(Okay,maybe not THAT low,but you get my point!).
Actually, i read that as Al Qaeda having an ego trip and being convinced that everything revolves around them.
LMAO!!!
This just in! Al Qaeda invented violence... More at 11.
-Loudspeaker
"Volume helps to get a point across but sharp teeth are better."
Suicide attacks are not even beneficial for making progress in the game. All missions that involve killing require that Niko survives the encounter in order to complete it. The only reason there is to commit suicide attacks is for your own personal enjoyment. And remote explosives have been in fictional stories for a very long time. I must admit though, it is quite fun to call the police and attach a bomb to their car while they look around then blow it as they go to leave.
You can DO that?
Holy crap, I've gotta buy this game now.
Starting to wonder if Al Queda invented Stupid. No, even that existed before they were anything of note.. points at jackie thompson or the US govenment. Those are stiff competition for stupid, but Al Queda (or at least this story) does seem to be running an inside track.
Heh. GTA invented the car bomb which invented the Al Queda who invented GTA. Bleh!
-If shit and bricks were candy and tits, we'd all be livin' large.
I believe the Oklahoma city bomber used a car bomb, and that was before even the first GTA was released.
-kurisu7885
I love how people love to throw the Al Qaida label on any type of violence they see. A multitude of other terrorist organizations have used car bombs as a method to attack, nothing new here. Al Qaida sympathizers will use any event and point to it as inspired by Al Qaida in an attempt to show strength and power through inspiration.
This is like watching new MMO's come out now a days and folks claiming that everything was ripped off of WOW, like there were no MMO's before it.
Well yes and no.. Most MMO's out these days DO tend to mimick WoW gameplay to the extreme, somehow expecting it's that part of WoW that's given it it's large playerbase.
If that was the case, why aren't EQ2, UO, Lineage 2 and DAoC all megapopular as well? WoW ripped every one of those off bigtime.
As Yahtzee put it: "Enough trial cds to make a cape and matching hat!"
Uh... didn't EQ2 and WoW drop are around the same time?
Come on, one of the early GTA games had a car bomb mission(GTA 1 or 2), and I do know that GTA 3 had one where you rigged some guy's car to explode.
Suicide attacks? I have been doing such things from the NES game era, and there are lots of games since that you could do such last desperation attacks. BUT unlike in real life, you might have an extra life and another chance, and the last GTA I've played you usually failed the mission, end up in the hospital, and have your weapons removed.
This stuff is just as absurd as people over here calming that Microsoft Flight Simulator teaches you everything about being a pilot and crashing into things, and same for Counter Strike, Second Life, MMOs...
After the bit with Fallout 3, seems like an easy "PR" way to claim credit for and glorify things that have existed for ages.... Not to mention Hollywood along with all the movies they have released and their special effects.
What next, them calming credit for Independence Day?
Correct. You actually drive an explosive-wired tanker truck into the courtyard of a police station, then run for cover as it explodes, taking out the entire building.
See kids? Al Quaeda ain't got nothing on this.
In GTA3 you had to drive a bomb rigged garbage truck into a fish processign plants that was a frotn for the mob, and in an earlier mission i nthe same game you rigged a car with a bomb as a surprise for a mob member, and in San Andreas you drove a bomb rigged car int oa cocaine plant.
In all three you were taking out illegal activities.
Al Qaeda was created by the CIA, so I doubt they used that as a model. Al Qaeda is a boogeyman created by the US government to keep the populace in a state of fear in order to slowly turn thE US into a police state.
9/11 was an inside job.
Do your research people.
www.infowars.com
www.loosechange911.com
Don't bring your conspiracy theories here mike. This is not the place for it.
[citation needed]
In next weeks epsiode: How Oblivion gave Jesus the idea of walking on water...
Even the terrorists have the hilarious idiots in their ranks.
Anyone else gonna sleep a little easier tonight thanks to this?
At last, Christian Stöcker reported something meaningful. By the way, he once called both "Motorstorm" and "Burnout Paradise" "porn" - he seems to be kinda funny guy, the only problem is I just don't get his humor, nor his magazine articles. Totally beyond me
Huh? What the fuck are you talking about?
-If shit and bricks were candy and tits, we'd all be livin' large.
@GP
Could you wipe this guys post and ban him if you get a chance? Qraze its people like you that make Gamers look bad. Cheers GP :)
Looking at that post, however, this person only manages to make themselves look bad, it does, at least, prove that the War isn't just on Terror, it's on Ignorance, on both sides of the divide.
It makes me think that spiegal got this idea from searching youtube and connected the titles of "GTA Terrorist" to Al qaeda.
Makes me think that anyone can make a judgement on anything from searching youtube because media is a reflection of what idiots we really are.
Exactly, YouTube is like Speakers Corner in London, you could stand up and say anything you wanted there, it used to be a great public forum, it ended up filled with nutcases, hecklers and people trying to sell you doughnuts.
Cue someone saying it's the other way around in three, two, one...
How many games have the American Revolution in it? The King of England could have called all those damn, ungrateful, snoobish, peon-type colonists, terrorists (if the concept were around at the time).
Or, how many games are about war, in which you must use some sort of explosive to either ambush or attack the enemy?
The curious thing with games, is, it allows a window in to reality, without getting hurt. Think of it this way, metaphorically: How many episodes of Babylon 5, Star Trek, Firefly, Star Wars, Battlestar Galatica, etc, dealt with situations and events, that could be considered in RL?
Radio bombs, are nothing new. They were using them back in WWII.
Didn't you know, Sheridan destroying the Blackstar was inspired by Terrorist plots before they even happened...
Not to mention the changeling net incident, the mad-bomber incident, the Centauri bombing of the transport tube etc etc.
Of course, all acts of violence since the beginning of time until the end of it were all inspired by Al Quaeda...
Must say thanks to GP though, everytime I read this guys claims, I get a real belly laugh :)
The shadows used terror very effectively too. There were a few terrorist stories in ST:TNG, DS9 & Voyager (Bajoran resistance & the Maquis in particular). As for star wars, there was this whole rebel alliance thing...
Has anyone checked to see if there's a trademark on the term "Car Bomb", maybe al quaeda bought it and this is the first part of filing a trademark infringement.
You can lock yourself in a car with Propane bottles, get high on the fumes and screw up entirely, ending up with fatal burns and a black eye from a Scotsman in GTA IV?
Seen any good gangster or mob movies? Some have car bombs. THe movie Sum of All Fears? Car bomb.
car bombs have been in GTA since the begining. this is a ridiculos cliam by a morals crusader.
The jail cells blasted open in Afghanistan were done with rockets, not car bombs.
Interestingly, there were these Sicilian super-courthouses meant to try and convict hundreds of Cosa-Nostra defendents at once while keeping all occupants safe in Sicily. The courthouse was specifically built to defend against rocket/RPG attacks.
Did Al-Queda get the ideas from the mobsters?
I wonder what he would think of the rumor that GTA 3 ended with a plane being flown into Donald Love's tower, but was cut for 9/11.
Spiegal should sit down and stop trying to give credit where credit is clearly not due. The carbombs in the game are inspired by the troubles in N.Ireland, as clearly pointed out NUMEROUS times by Packie in the game. Not that I endorse it, but there were people doing a better job of blowing stuff up long before AQ showed up on everyones minds.
The first GTA, long before Al Queda gained their current noteriety, had car bombs.
Another example of those who don't know history talking out of their ass.
ROFLMAO!
That is one of the funniest things I've read in a while.
-- mostly harmless
That title would make a terrific article at The Onion. Which is what I thought you were linking to at first.
Very Casual Urban Association of the proven most civil nations with least civil means is pretty cool. Would I want to be Sweded film or a clean takeout from any lesson involving sharps, shrapnel and burning...? Where do I stand on Doing It Anyway when it won't affect others' decisions about my ability to choose healthcare? Shouldn't I have my Overweight Golden Book of Arab versus merely {cough} Arab-Regional answers?
I'm Belgian! I can get you unsafe food! Psst!
Indeed, for people who already have all the Obvious Shiny Object Data Storage and Obvious Image Encoding IP they can, plus maybe some AI engines, shading...what's left but to throw down for properly signed credentials and standards from The Nation Inspired By Elbonia?