Tag Archives: daily telegraph

Lionhead’s Fable II is the Daily Telegraph’s game of the year, leading a list of 50 potential candidates.

The UK paper put Fallout 3 at second and LittleBigPlanet at third. GTA IV managed a paltry seventh: probably wasn’t the right sort, if you catch my drift, sah.

Get the full top 50 after the break. Thanks, MCV.

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British newspaper the Daily Telegraph has seemingly removed a story from its website claiming extremist monitoring agency SITE was left “red-faced” after it circulated a piece of Fallout 3 art as al-Qaeda propaganda.

The original story URL now brings up a 404 error.

Videogaming247.com has been told by Telegraph editorial staff this morning that “lots of legal wrangling” took place overnight after SITE issued a statement claiming the story was “entirely false.”

The staffer we spoke to, however, refused to confirm the story had been removed from the Telegraph’s site, saying, “I haven’t seen it this morning, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still live somewhere. I’ll have to confirm that for you.”

No such confirmation has been received at the time of writing.

In its entirety, SITE’s statement reads:

On May 30, 2008, the Telegraph newspaper ran a misleading story, “SITE red-faced as Islamist ‘Washington ruin’ image turns out to be from Fallout 3 game,” which incorrectly and falsely described analysis provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Discussing a computer-generated image of a destroyed Capitol Building in Washington that was posted to a jihadist forum, the Telegraph claimed, without any basis, “The SITE Intelligence Group said that the image, showing a ruined Capitol Building in Washington, was created by extremists as part of discussions about the feasibility of nuclear strikes against the US and Britain.”

This claim is entirely false, as is the characterization that SITE is “embarrassed” or “red-faced.”

SITE rejects the claims by the Telegraph and stands fully behind the accuracy of its information and analysis. SITE at no time maintained that the image “was created by extremists.”

SITE reported to its subscribers that extremists posted the image to a password-protected forum affiliated with al-Qaeda. This is entirely accurate. Moreover, this information was part of a report describing the general atmosphere in this forum with regard to extremists’ discussions on weapons of mass destruction, making its context all the more important. This report in its entirety is also completely accurate.

The Telegraph is not a subscriber to SITE’s services. Apparently, the newspaper made these erroneous claims without actually reading SITE’s original report, and the basis of their information for their incorrect article is unknown to us.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a leading provider of intelligence and analysis to governments, organizations, and institutions across the world, has contacted the Telegraph to correct their factually inaccurate and misleading article.

The SITE information was picked up by both the British Daily Mail and the Australian News.com.au yesterday, the Mail claiming the image depicted “Al-Qaeda’s terrifying vision of a devastated America in the wake of a nuclear attack”.

Thanks to Kotaku for the SITE statement.

Family values idiot-paper, The Daily Telegraph, “The Daily Mail with more syllables”, has launched a fantastic attack on Tanya Byron, the ex-TV psychologist charged with compiling a government report on violent games and child internet use.

In an editorial titled ” Tanya Byron, splatting aliens and sociopaths”, Jim White writes, “I may not be a television psychologist, but it seems to me the issue here is a pretty simple one: legislate fiercely to ensure that the uglier, nastier, sadistic end of the games market cannot gain distribution and then step back and stop worrying about the rest.

“Ms Byron’s report has not yet been released, but it seems from pre-publication leaks that she takes a different approach, one that will involve nannying ourselves into a state of sustained alarm about the nature of these games.”

White then goes on to say that Byron’s possible recommendation that parents should be mindful of the games their children plan and only let them play games in places where they can view screens “is completely to misunderstand who plays computer games.

“They are overwhelmingly the preserve of adolescent boys who, thrilled with the idea that they have managed to purloin an 18 certificate, will simply find a way to sidestep the family screen, and slip off to the privacy of their darkened room in order to fiddle with their joystick.”

Hey, Jim. Loads of us are in our 30s and 40s. But you knew that, because you’re publishing editorial about videogames, right? Maybe you should have even the tiniest clue what you’re talking about before you put your name to words. You ridiculous, snotty twat.

Right wing Tory hate-rag, The Daily Telegraph, has posted this ridiculous story about “foreign criminals”, “serving time for offences including rape and murder”, enjoying “computer games, five-aside football with cash prizes and televisions in every cell”.

“Some detainees have Nintendo Wiis. If the consoles go wrong staff are sent to the nearest Argos to pick up a replacement,” said a “source” at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Berkshire. “The music room has guitars and a drum kit. And there are £5 prizes for the winners of five-a-side tournaments.”

All this comes from bastion of journalistic integrity The Sun, in case you were wondering.

After wanking on for 11 paragraphs, The Telegraph bravely includes a quotable soure from the Home Office, none other than the Immigration Minister himself, Liam Byrne.

“We won’t hesitate to detain people for brief periods of time before they fly home,” he said. “I have visited lots of detention centres; luxurious they are not. We are always under pressure from HM Government inspectors to provide improved constructive activities.”

The story finishes off with, “A Home Office spokesman said there were only small televisions in each cell and one plasma screen in the communal area.”

So, in short, a tabloid writes something, the officials in charge of the thing you were writing about tell you it’s bollocks, and you hide the truth under a ton of shit. Well done, The Daily Telegraph. “Quality” to the bone.