US terror attack linked with computer game

Astonishing

By Eurogamer.net • Get more from this author

Posted in Assault on America, 12th September 2001 16:57 GMT

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The first inevitable news reports linking the terrorist attacks to computer games have emerged, with Britain's Sky News suggesting earlier this afternoon that the terrorists could have used software such as Microsoft's Flight Simulator games to practice flying to other cities and crashing their planes into buildings. Despite mounting evidence that at least some of the hijackers were trained pilots, the report was posted on the http://www.sky.com/skynews/storytemplate/storytoppic/0,,30000-1029258,00.html" target="_blank">Sky News site on Thursday morning, complete with a tasteless screenshot of Flight Simulator showing the cockpit of a jet flying straight towards the World Trade Center. The story claims that "the terrorists who flew passenger planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon could have used a £45 computer game to help them train", adding that the game "even allows players to simulate crashing into buildings". Needless to say this is pure speculation, and we are disappointed to see certain sensationalist elements of the mainstream media once again linking video games to a terrible tragedy. ®