ITV documentary can’t tell the difference between gaming and reality; mistakes Arma 2 for secret IRA film
Here’s an upload of a video from a recent ITV documentary into Colonel Gaddhafi’s support of the IRA. It contains shocking footage of a helicopter being shot down using weapons allegedly supplied by that baddie.
Except. Umm. It’s actually ArmA 2.
Words. Fail. What. How. For goodness sake. UK media, can you stop being shit please.
If you’re looking for the footage in the documentary in the ITV player – it’s online here. The footage is in place from 28 minutes, 20 seconds.
Update: Here’s a youtube video that appears to be the same footage. I think we can start to understand how this happened.
(via the Bohemia forums)
Update 2:
We’ve been in touch with Bohemia Interactive’s CEO, Marek Spanel. He tells us that Bohemia weren’t approached by ITV for permission to use the footage, and had no idea that Arma 2 was appearing in a war documentary on British TV. Understandably, they’re quite surprised. “We are going to try to get some explanation from ITV how this could have happenned,” says Spanel.
“Sometimes creativity and realism in our games lead into crazy results and this is one of such example. I just briefly watched the entire documentary and I still can not believe it as it is overall very serious and lenghtly feature,” he adds.
“We are surprised our games apparently may look real enough to some users already that they can not tell it is not real life footage.”
We’ve reached out to ITV for comment. Check out the videos of ArmA below for a sense of exactly how realistic the military shooter really is.
Take on Helicopters screenshots take on the military
The latest update to the Take on Helicopters site brings us seven new screenshots, which have been organised into a series of slides narrated by US Army soldier Joe Larkin, who talks about his time on duty in South Asia in the video above. Take on Helicopters is primarily about setting up a civilian chopper business, but its developers, creators of Arma, couldn’t resist putting some military missions in there as well.
The question is, will we be able to take these military choppers into the world of civilian commerce and dominate the market using nothing but rockets? Modders, you know what must be done. See the seven new screens below. Take on Helicopters is out later this year.
Arma 3 website goes live with Gamescom presentation videos
One week ago I got a press release telling me that in one week’s time, ARMA 3 would get a brand new website. Excited, I set my WAR CLOCK OF DOOM to T-minus 7 days, turned all the lights off and lay in wait. Now, that time has come. The Arma 3 site is live, with eight new videos of the Gamescom presentation. You don’t even have to go to the new Arma 3 website to watch them, because I’ve nabbed them and hidden them under the camo net below. Don’t tell anyone.
Arma 3 screenshots show heavy vehicles and spectacular views
Thirteen new Arma 3 images have show an entire alphabet worth of war machines, from Artillery to Zubmarines. There are some bloody good views as well, including a shot positioned so high that you can see the very curvature of the Earth. There’s also a shot of a man in jeans and sunglasses chatting with some insurgent soldiers. We’ve no idea what they’re saying, of course, but it’s probably something like MAN IN JEANS: “Enemy. Man. Front. Three metres?” MAN WITH GUN: “Enemy. Man. Front. Three metres!” Click on each screenshot to see it full size.
Arma 3 screenshots show tank column and stratospheric jet
Four new Arma 3 screenshots have appeared on the Bohemia Interactive forums, spotted by VG247. They show some more of Arma 3′s vehicles, including a column of tanks and a jet flying so high we swear it’s possible to spot PC Gamer towers somewhere below.
For more Arma 3, check out the E3 screenshots, the recent tech demo video showing the improved physics engine, and make a note of the system requirements. The new Arma will need a beast of a machine to run when it comes out next year.
Arma 3 will have sandbox singleplayer with side quests
Arma 3 was announced at E3 this year with talk of an “open-ended” single player campaign and “sandbox-oriented combat gameplay.” In a recent interview with Everyeye, spotted by Blues News, Bohemia designer Ivan Buchta expanded on this, revealing that Arma 3 single player will let you take quests form NPCs in an open-ended environment, and even pursue side missions to get hold of better equipment, support or new vehicles.
Operation Flashpoint to be re-released as Arma: Cold War Assault
Following the release of Arma 2: Free earlier today, Bohemia Interactive drops another surprise. Operation Flashpoint, the landmark military-sim originally developed by Bohemia a decade ago, has been rebranded as Arma: Cold War Assault, and will be re-released with the Operation Flashpoint: Resistance expansion thrown in as a bonus.
If you already own Operation Flashpoint, you’ll be able to download the new version for free. The rest of us will be able to buy the pack when it’s released “through various online stores in the near future.” There’s no news on a precise date or pricing details just yet. Bohemia are re-releasing the classic to celebrate ten years of making military shooters, and promise that “more exciting releases will be made in the coming days and weeks ahead.” Head over to the Bohemia Interactive site for more.
Arma 2: Free is free to download and play right now
One of the biggest surprise announcements of E3 this year was that Arma 2 would be going free to play. Just a few weeks after that announcement, Arma 2 is now free to play. You can grab the 960MB download right here. Thanks to RPS for the heads up.
The free version will let you play the full game, including multiplayer, but locks off the highest graphics settings and cuts out mod support and the single player campaigns. Full map editing tools are present in the free version. If you’ve always been tempted to try a hyper-realistic war sim, this is one you have to try. We’ll see you on the battlefield.
E3 2011: Carrier Command: Gaea Mission gets E3 trailer
Carrier command is back! Arma creators Bohemia Interactive are handling the remake of the strategy classic, which puts you in control of a really awesome boat, packed full of jet planes, bombers and land units. The aim is to use these units to take control of an archipelago of islands. Judging from some of the first-person footage in the flying shots, you might well be able to take direct control of more units than the carrier itself. The ship is well armed, too. We get to see its energy turrets, and it’s long range artillery capabilities. We can’t wait to hear more about this one.
E3 2011: ARMA 2: Free announced. Multiplayer, completely free, and released in June
Bohemia Interactive have just announced a free-to-play version of their outstanding war sim, Arma 2. It’s going to be totally free, but 100% Arma. Click through for the details.
E3 2011: Take On Helicopters screenshots and trailer take you on helicopters
Take On Helicopters (take on helicopters) is Bohemia Interactive’s next project that doesn’t involve men with guns. Instead, it involves helicopters (taaaake, helicopters, ooon), most of whom seem much friendlier than their ArmA counterparts. Rather than firing rockets into human faces, these choppers seem to enjoy distracting firemen and sitting in rainy fields, as you’ll see below: Bohemia have used E3 to release a trailer and a set of screenshots for Take On Helicopters (helicopters, beee, gooone), all of which you’ll find in this post.
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission to be shown at E3 2011
Bohemia Interactive announce that they will be showing their modern remake of the ’80s classic, Carrier Command at this year’s E3 conference. Carrier Command was a ground breaking title on early PCs and the Amiga. It gave players control of a robotic aircraft carrier and challenged them to conquer an archipeligo of 64 islands before a terrorist owned enemy Carrier could do the same.
Bohemia’s remake, Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, is set to stay true to the original format. This time there will be 33 islands spread across 6 different climate areas. The robotic Carrier in the original game had some serious on board weaponry (including a giant laser turret), but could also deploy a number of sea and air units to strike from a distance. The modern sequel promises first and third person battles on land, air and sea. There’s no mention of giant lasers just yet.
The new game is likely to be a few strides ahead visually. Carrier Command was famous for its pioneering use of 3D vector graphics, but can’t quite compete with the technology on show in the latest Arma 3 screenshots. A faithful Carrier Command remake in Arma’s engine is a very exciting prospect.
PC Gamer US Podcast #273: Tell us some tales, Chuck Jordan
This week, Evan leads fellow PCGites Chris, Josh and Lucas as they welcome special guest Chuck Jordan (writer/programmer on Sam and Max, Grim Fandango, Curse of Monkey Island, and other great games) to the podcasting booth. We talk with Jordan about his history with LucasArts and Telltale and ask him all of our adventure-game questions. He also helps us tackle the week’s big news stories, like ArmA III being announced and Guild Wars 2′s new profession!
Arma 3 announced, releasing Summer 2012, first screenshots
After weeks of puzzles and hinting, Czech developer Bohemia Interactive has confirmed that a follow-up to its landmark military simulation game, Arma 3, is in development. It’s still a PC exclusive, it’s set somewhere in the Mediterranean, and it’ll retain the fine, sandboxy, multiplayer-friendly, emergent warplay that we expect from the franchise with some key improvements. Within: I dissect every detail of the announcement, play Where In The World Is Arma Sandiego?, and change my pants.
PC Gamer US Podcast #266: Chess Boxing
Fighting bravely through debilitating illness, Dan takes the PCG Podcast squad into battle this week and orders Evan, Chris, Anthony and guest star Brian Brushwood to charge the news. Topics include Bohemia Interactive’s new helicopter sim, CCP’s new EVE Online-linked console game, Hawken gameplay impressions, Magicka: Vietnam, yet another co-op zombie shooter, do we care about Max Payne 3 anymore, SOE closings, Truthiness and Falsity, your listener questions and much more!
