EA blast's fox news for Mass Effect story

[chow184]

the whole thing originated when fox had their annual video games are bad circle jerk (http://kotaku.com/347350/keighley-sets-mass-effect-record-straight-or-tries-to) inviting 1 avid gamer and many non-gaming conservatives.


seeing as EA had just bought bioware the company that made mass effect,they defended their new addition to the family with the following letter (http://kotaku.com/348187/ea-calls-fox-out-on-insulting-mass-effect-inaccuracies)




aint it funny how fox is home to family guy who pushes the roof to another level in terms of questionable content.


your talking about a show on basic cable (which I do enjoy)

to a video game that is rated M,and if small children are getting their hands on it,the kids aren't buying it the parents are.


and the fact mass effect is rated M is almost absurd because there are PG13 movies that show alot more than the nippleless side view of a boob, and butt cheeks.

[Coach Williams]

it is SOooooo Easy to steal games like this for everyday electronic store....

this is why their are so many friggin 8 year olds on Gears of War.....

The same is gonna happen with ALL *M* games.....

[DGreenistheBest]

it is SOooooo Easy to steal games like this for everyday electronic store....

this is why their are so many friggin 8 year olds on Gears of War.....

The same is gonna happen with ALL *M* games.....

But that's not the publisher's problem. It all comes back to the mamas and the papas.

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8742/mamasandpapaspapasandmamas6sd.jpg

[spjunkies]

The chick without the double chin is smokin'

[PokerPacker]

"i have to go with the research that says kids can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality". YOU ARE A ****ING IDIOT!

[Coach Williams]

But that's not the publisher's problem. It all comes back to the mamas and the papas.

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8742/mamasandpapaspapasandmamas6sd.jpg

oh of course.....but parents don't care anymore....

Seems like every kid now has cable with cinemax @ night :hump: , grand theft auto, a beer gut ( due to soda ) , and some kind of "learning disability." :doh:

I blame it on the genes :shot:

[chow184]

it is SOooooo Easy to steal games like this for everyday electronic store....

this is why their are so many friggin 8 year olds on Gears of War.....

The same is gonna happen with ALL *M* games.....


you've seen some hardcore 8 year olds...



I work in retail


I had a guy come in with his 2 young children below 6 years old

he was buying a 360 and asked his kids what they'd wanna play and they wanted gears. I'm like sir "this game is incredibly violent and full of gore"

he's like nah it's cool, and this was almost my exact expression :doh:

[Coach Williams]

I'm like sir "this game is incredibly violent and full of gore"


lol......Gears in nothing.....they have the "faces of death" series to watch during family night anyways :laugh: :laugh:

[DGreenistheBest]

you've seen some hardcore 8 year olds...



I work in retail


I had a guy come in with his 2 young children below 6 years old

he was buying a 360 and asked his kids what they'd wanna play and they wanted gears. I'm like sir "this game is incredibly violent and full of gore"

he's like nah it's cool, and this was almost my exact expression :doh:

After which he robbed you at knife point and had sex with a hooker while freebasing crack off his mother's navel?

[chow184]

After which he robbed you at knife point and had sex with a hooker while freebasing crack off his mother's navel?


:laugh:

your talking about all the 3rd graders at my local elementary school :doh:

[Coach Williams]

:rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao: :rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao:

****POST OF THE WEEK****


After which he robbed you at knife point and had sex with a hooker while freebasing crack off his mother's navel

[Spaceman Spiff]

"i have to go with the research that says kids can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality". YOU ARE A ****ING IDIOT!

Exactly. I laughed at that comment, what a crock.

[PokerPacker]

Exactly. I laughed at that comment, what a crock.
I just can't stand that kind of ignorance. research overwhelmingly contradicts that exact statement.

[Cheers, Beers and Mountaineers]

Ever since college started for me, I have played less and less video games, but this unfair animosity towards video games is pretty pathetic. Old news, but it's just another example of those who don't want to accept responsibility for their actions. They would rather generalize something they don't understand and have no desire to understand as an evil.

[skinsfan07]

After which he robbed you at knife point and had sex with a hooker while freebasing crack off his mother's navel?

http://brianindallas.com/media/fatherhood.jpg

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

[DGreenistheBest]

http://brianindallas.com/media/fatherhood.jpg

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u186/heatherrocks77/Funny.jpg

Sense. My post makes none.

[The_cavalierman]

How about parents be better parents and actually monitor what their little f*cktards are doing?

I am so tired of bad parents trying to hold the government and gaming companies accountable for their lack of parenting skills.

[Touchdown Redskins]

Ever since college started for me, I have played less and less video games, but this unfair animosity towards video games is pretty pathetic. Old news, but it's just another example of those who don't want to accept responsibility for their actions. They would rather generalize something they don't understand and have no desire to understand as an evil.

I totally agree. It's funny, I bet those who criticize video games haven't played any of them. I've played the most violent and sex-filled video games since I was 4 years old, and let me tell you, the difference between me becoming a violent, sex-crazed loser and a well-adapted, relatively successful adult was proper parenting, not ripping a fantastical enemy's heart out as a some intense guy screamed "Finish Him!"

Edit: BTW, a source no less prestigious than Harvard released a popular study many years ago detailing how video game play in early life led to improved skills among surgeons.

Second Edit: I LOVE how the "panel" is totally biased against the game when they obviously haven't seen or played a video game since Atari. Even the interviewer herself was biased. What crock of ****.

[The_cavalierman]

I totally agree. It's funny, I bet those who criticize video games haven't played any of them. I've played the most violent and sex-filled video games since I was 4 years old, and let me tell you, the difference between me becoming a violent, sex-crazed loser and a well-adapted, relatively successful adult was proper parenting, not ripping a fantastical enemy's heart out as a some intense guy screamed "Finish Him!"

Edit: BTW, a source no less prestigious than Harvard released a popular study many years ago detailing how video game play in early life led to improved skills among surgeons.


It is lazy parents that cannot control their f*cktard kids that whine to the government.

Parents:

1. Don't buy the games with violence.
2. Don't allow those types of games in your home. (stop being lazy and enforce your rule)
3. Don't allow your kid to play these games at other people's homes
4. Know your kid and your kid's friends as well as the friend's parents
5. Spend time with your kids and ask them questions
6. Ask the grown ups that you know play games questions.

If Parents did their job then this would be a non-issue.

[Touchdown Redskins]

It is lazy parents that cannot control their f*cktard kids that whine to the government.

Parents:

1. Don't buy the games with violence.
2. Don't allow those types of games in your home. (stop being lazy and enforce your rule)
3. Don't allow your kid to play these games at other people's homes
4. Know your kid and your kid's friends as well as the friend's parents
5. Spend time with your kids and ask them questions
6. Ask the grown ups that you know play games questions.

If Parents did their job then this would be a non-issue.

Exactly. The part that makes the least sense is that these people did not do their homework. There are plenty of games out there that are stimulating for a young mind and that don't include sex/violence/graphic content. Yet, instead of promoting those video games, they get in an uproar about something they've never seen in their life. The interviewer even admitted not knowing anything about the game except for some trailers she watched that very same day.

[PleaseBlitz]

Ever since college started for me, I have played less and less video games, but this unfair animosity towards video games is pretty pathetic. Old news, but it's just another example of those who don't want to accept responsibility for their actions. They would rather generalize something they don't understand and have no desire to understand as an evil.

Exactly.

Always blame it on something, but if you are going to blame video games, then you need to blame tv, music, movies, myspace, the internet, and everything else out there.

HEY! Maybe you should raise your own damn kids rather than let media do it.

[Reic]

Geoff Keighly is one of my favorite video game press people.

This episode is completely and utterly WRONG, full digital nudity? uhh... where? show me one scene with full digital nudity? Show me where I can tell the characters what to do where they are having sex? Show me more than one article saying that teenagers who play these games can't distinguish between virtual reality and reality.

None of this idiots have ever played the game, so they have zero credibility when it comes to talking about it. I am not going to review warhawk because I have never played it.

The one guy in glasses says he has a 6 year old daughter and would never let Mass Effect into his house.. NO ****, your daughter is 6 ****ing years old, this game is for individuals 17 and older.

The one lady says this game should be AO.. are you ****ing kidding me? AO? THE MAN GAME was A ****ing O, the content of mass effect pales in comparison.

There is a 30 second love scene in this game. Watching the Family Guy on prime time you see Peter's ass half the time. Geebus people.

What about General Custers game on Atari? what do you do in that game? 'nuff said.

If they gave Keighly more than 3 seconds of face time he would have have made every individual in that segment look like an ass, because he actually knows what the **** he is talking about.

[Touchdown Redskins]

Geoff Keighly is one of my favorite video game press people.

This episode is completely and utterly WRONG, full digital nudity? uhh... where? show me one scene with full digital nudity? Show me where I can tell the characters what to do where they are having sex? Show me more than one article saying that teenagers who play these games can't distinguish between virtual reality and reality.

None of this idiots have ever played the game, so they have zero credibility when it comes to talking about it. I am not going to review warhawk because I have never played it.

The one guy in glasses says he has a 6 year old daughter and would never let Mass Effect into his house.. NO ****, your daughter is 6 ****ing years old, this game is for individuals 17 and older.

The one lady says this game should be AO.. are you ****ing kidding me? AO? THE MAN GAME was A ****ing O, the content of mass effect pales in comparison.

There is a 30 second love scene in this game. Watching the Family Guy on prime time you see Peter's ass half the time. Geebus people.

What about General Custers game on Atari? what do you do in that game? 'nuff said.

If they gave Keighly more than 3 seconds of face time he would have have made every individual in that segment look like an ass, because he actually knows what the **** he is talking about.

Fantastic post. I wish they let you on the air to talk about Mass Effect so they could see how misguided they really are.

[chow184]

funniest thing is the soccermom talking about the game getting an adult only rating which is a stamp of death to any video game. much like a casual summer flick getting hit with nc-17,and having to tone it down to get an R rating.

if mass effect was a movie it would be pg-13 pushing R as it lacks any substantial amount of gore or harsh languange while including a love scene that shows buttcheeks and the side of a boob not revealing any nipples.

[bobisimo]

When the game was being made, I remember seeing some early videos of topless characters in the love scenes and being somewhat surprised.

BioWare had always gone out of its way to be "safe" in that respect in the past. But hey, I'm fine with new directions. I mean, why not bring some adult visuals to an adult title - especially with how gorgeous the character models looked. Of course, that was right around the time of Oblivion and San Andreas and... their issues... and I'm not sure the leadership of the project at BioWare even wanted that in the first place.

I'm not sure exactly how it went down but suddenly the nudity in Mass Effect was tamed into the version that you currently see. Which is, to reiterate, pretty tame. :p I have no problem with titillation. I mean, if you're going to make a game for young men - well, that's what they want to see. But the fact is that BioWare didn't make what Fox says they made and it's really surprising (though it probably should not be) that not only would Fox make such a claim, but that they wouldn't even acknowledge their obvious error. "Talk to our PR department."? That's their response? Seriously?

[Corcaigh]

I hope to have time to stick Mass Effect in the 360 tonight. I hope it's as violent and unpleasant as they say.

[styx491]

Great post Reic, the nudity in Mass Effect is nothing of concern, since (minor spoilers for some) it comes before the final level of the game, and by then, you've gone through enough harsher things that seeing some buttcheeks for 3 seconds that it shouldn't phase you. Death, potential genocide, tough decision making, violence, some language, they all precede that nudity, if you can even call that nudity. AND it was tastefully done too, much like the look and handling of the whole game. (end minor spoilers)

On a seperate note, when I went in to Gamestop to buy the game, I got carded. I don't even get carded for R rated movies anymore, and I got carded for Mass Effect?? About 3 weeks ago I bought Call of Duty 4 with my brother, who is 16. This was in Best Buy. The cashier looked at me, looked at my brother, then turned to me and said, "You know this is rated M right...?" I looked at him and said, "You wanna see my ID bud?" He backed off like whoa and got all oh no sir no sir I was just making sure.

[bobisimo]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8837&Itemid=9

Hahaha.

[Touchdown Redskins]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8837&Itemid=9

Hahaha.

That is excellent! Video gamers are some really smart people.

[chow184]

here's a link to her book on amazon.com check out the reviews and product tags (http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Perfection-Making-Peace-Overachiever/dp/1599211793/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201220029&sr=8-1)

[Reic]

Gamer revenge, lol.

[Touchdown Redskins]

I really liked this one review of her book:

"While the book wasn't especially helpful or well written, I felt compelled to give it one star due to the graphic and often lewd nature of some of the examples and situations Ms. Lawrence uses to illustrate her point. While the front cover uses a full body photo to sell her image, nothing on the inside flap or back cover suggests the book is full of crude imagery inappropriate to be seen by younger readers.

If you do purchase the book, I urge you strongly not to leave it idly where little hands can find it. The latest research clearly shows young readers are incalculably and permanently scarred by oversexualized images in books and other media."

[The_cavalierman]

here's a link to her book on amazon.com check out the reviews and product tags (http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Perfection-Making-Peace-Overachiever/dp/1599211793/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201220029&sr=8-1)

Way to nuke her book!

She must be contemplating suicide after those reviews

She is a real f**ktard!

[PokerPacker]

i think the gamer backlash really got to her:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/arts/television/26mass.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

January 26, 2008
Author Faults a Game, and Gamers Flame Back
By SETH SCHIESEL

The Internet hath no fury like a gamer scorned.

That’s the lesson Fox News and a self-help author learned this week after a program on that channel featured a discussion of the sexual content of the hit video game Mass Effect.

Bound by global message boards, blogs, chat rooms and of course the games themselves, gamers are perhaps the single most intense subculture on the Internet — fiercely protective of their pastime and at ease with the byways of cyberspace.

So the game world has been ablaze with indignation since the Fox News program “The Live Desk With Martha MacCallum” said on Monday that Mass Effect, one of the most critically praised games of 2007, contains frontal nudity and explicit depictions of sexual activity. The assertions of virtual lasciviousness first appeared earlier this month among conservative bloggers incensed by brief YouTube clips excerpted from the 30- to 40-hour game.

Mass Effect, a science fiction game, includes a complicated romantic subplot that is no more risqué in its plot or graphic in its depiction than evening network television.

To exact their revenge, gamers have turned their vitriol on Cooper Lawrence, an author who appeared to mischaracterize the game when she said: “Here’s how they’re seeing women: They’re seeing them as these objects of desire, as these, you know, hot bodies. They don’t show women as being valued for anything other than their sexuality. And it’s a man in this game deciding how many women he wants to be with.”

In fact Mass Effect allows users to play as either a man or a woman, and the few suggestions of intimate contact occur in the context of a detailed interpersonal story line. Asked on the air by Geoff Keighley of Spike TV whether she had ever played the game, Ms. Lawrence laughed and said, “No.”

Irate gamers have flooded the page on Amazon.com selling Ms. Lawrence’s most recent book, “The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace With Your Inner Overachiever,” sending its user-generated rating into oblivion.

By Friday afternoon 412 of the book’s 472 user reviews were the lowest possible rating, one star. Another 48 ratings were for two stars. Only 12 of the ratings were for three stars or higher. In addition, 929 Amazon users had tagged the book with the keyword “ignorant.” Tied for second place with 744 tags were “garbage” and “hypocrisy,” while “hack” and “hypocrite” tied for fourth place with 710 votes. Gamers have also attacked the book on the Barnes & Noble Web site.

Many of the reviewers admit that they have not read Ms. Lawrence’s book.

As one Amazon user put it: “I know all about this book but have never fully read it. Why? Due to the overwhelming backlash, I have no choice but to agree with the 1 star ratings. The rumors are rampant that this book was poorly written and poorly researched. So without verifying the contents myself — I give it a 1 star. Good thing video games aren’t judged in this manner — whew!!!”

On Friday “The Cult of Perfection” was ranked the 346,106th best-selling book on Amazon. Mass Effect, by contrast, has been a hit, selling more than 1.6 million copies since November. An Amazon spokeswoman said the site would soon begin to remove reviews written by users who had clearly not read the book.

In an interview on Friday, Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke.

“Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”

Electronic Arts, the giant publisher that owns Mass Effect, has asked Fox News for a correction. A Fox News spokesman would say only that Electronic Arts had been offered a chance to appear on the channel. An Electronic Arts spokesman said the company had not yet decided whether to accept the offer.

By telephone from Edmonton, Alberta, Ray Muzyka, the medical doctor who is chief executive of BioWare, the Electronic Arts studio that made Mass Effect, said: “We’re hurt. We believe in video games as an art form, and on behalf of the 120 people who poured their blood and tears into this game over three years, we’re just really hurt that someone would misrepresent the game without even playing it. All we can hope for is that people who actually play our games will see the truth.”

[Reic]

At least Cooper realized she made some dumbass remarks, but there were still those other panelists that made just themselves sound like dumbasses too.

[The_cavalierman]

The only reason she recanted was after the gamers tanked her book without reading it on Amazon.

Well she got her 15 minutes of fame at the cost of her book and any future books.

[PokerPacker]

The only reason she recanted was after the gamers tanked her book without reading it on Amazon.

Well she got her 15 minutes of fame at the cost of her book and any future books.
and even after amazon deleted all of the supposed gamer reviews of her book, it still only has a 1.5 star rating :laugh:

[Midnight Judges]

Where does Faux news find these morons?

[PokerPacker]

wow. just, wow. you know you're an idiot when even Jack Thompson, the anti-game crusader, is defending a game against your sleight. http://kotaku.com/349423/jack-thompson-defends-mass-effect


Believe it or not Jack Thompson and I email sorta regularly. Granted he usually emails me bizarre, over-the-top press releases (which I often don't post) and I respond with disjointed quotes from movies, which I hope will one day remove that last wobbly hinge of his. (No luck yet).

Last week Jack emailed me a press release entitled "Grand Theft Auto IV to Be Released April 29; Culture War Begins Now" and after my typical poking, I got on to the topic of the Mass Effect controversy and was shocked, literally out of my socks, to find him defending the game... sort of. Apparently, even anti-gaming crusader Jack Thompson found self-help author Cooper Lawrence (who he refers to as a man), uninformed and the entire controversy contrived. Hellooooo kettle.

To: Brian
From: Jack
Immediate News Release - January 24, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV to Be Released April 29; Culture War Begins Now

To: Jack
From: Brian
I like your new glasses.

To: Brian
From: Jack
Wow, as usual you're grasping the real news here.

To: Jack
From: Brian
I'm surprised you haven't been looking into Mass Effect.
http://kotaku.com/348692/ea-fighting-mad-about-fox-news-but-still-no-correction?cpage=2#viewcomments

To: Brian
From: Jack
Why would you be surprised. I don't see any problem with it. The guy who shot his mouth off about it had no idea what the Hell he was talking about.

To: Jack
From: Brian
You mean you're OK with mass effect?

To: Brian
From: Jack
Of course. This contrived controversy is absolutely ridiculous. Report that, why don't you?

Consider it reported. Now where did my socks go?