Mass Effect is evil and will turn your kids into perverts.

[Ludicrum]

Says the ever "fair and balanced" Fox News.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YEzRJ5ojtg

Good God, I'm not even going to bother commenting on this one. I'm still in awe at the ignorance and stupidity I just witnessed.

[ilnadmy]

WHAT THE F*** IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!!

Holy crap man, that was one of the stupidest interviews I've ever seen. The psychologist was completely retarded, she doesn't know sh** about this game, has never even seen it played, and is making all sorts of retarded comments. Then the "panel"...oh God. One woman on the panel actually asked "what happened to Atari and pinball and Pac-Man?" WHO THE F*** WANTS TO PLAY PINBALL AND PAC-MAN?!

Jesus Christ. I feel so stupid for watching that.

[slade]

Turned it off when the geek started going on and on about how wrong the psychologist chick was. From what was said, videogames aren't what objectify women. Our own general tendencies and societal roles are what objectify women. If it's that big a problem for you, go hang yourself and quit being a part of humanity.

[silversparrow]

Check out Amazon.com user reviews (http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1599211793/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/002-0610111-8537609?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending) of the psychologist's book. Mass Effect fans are exacting revenge by writing 1 star reviews. :D

[T.Tashi]

Check out Amazon.com user reviews (http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1599211793/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/002-0610111-8537609?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending) of the psychologist's book. Mass Effect fans are exacting revenge by writing 1 star reviews. :D

LOL! And you know, all they did was probably raise some interest and sales in Mass Effect. There have been really sucky games that would've died a quiet natural death if not for the media bringing attention to them. That's what they don't realize. Gameplay sells games, not boobies. All the boobies in the world won't save a sucky game. But this type of feature is a Faux News M.O. whatever the subject matter might be.

BTW, Amazon is supposedly deleting the 1 star reviews.

[ilnadmy]

LOL I love this review:

"Several recent studies demonstrate the utter moronic attitude with which this author approaches subjects she clearly knows nothing about."

[Ludicrum]

EA Games has officially responded to the Fox article with a letter. It's worth a read.

http://kotaku.com/348187/ea-calls-fox-out-on-insulting-mass-effect-inaccuracies

I like every part except when EA tries to appeal to Fox's "sense of fairness" That's like trying to appeal to Lucifer's sense of ethics.

[ilnadmy]

I like every part except when EA tries to appeal to Fox's "sense of fairness" That's like trying to appeal to Lucifer's sense of ethics.

LOL!! Haha that's the second funniest quote I've heard today.

[Cuddly Knife]

Here's the article, or what the response is. I got mine from IGN.

"EA Asks Fox News to Correct Mass Mistakes
The publisher comes out swinging in defense of its property.
by Daemon Hatfield

January 23, 2008 - Fox News recently aired an alarmist segment on Mass Effect claiming the game featured full nudity and sex. The reporter also said critics claim the game is being marketed to children. The gaming community has been abuzz with talk of the segment, which many view as containing several inaccuracies. Fox News did not try to clarify any of these allegations. Fox News also used footage of the game that was originally shown on IGN.com, although it was obtained without IGN's approval. Both Fox News and IGN are owned by News Corp.

Electronic Arts (EA), parent company of Mass Effect developer BioWare, has responded to the Fox News Channel (FNC). Jeff Brown, EA's VP of Communications, has issued a letter to the channel asking it to correct these falsities and misstatements that the publisher feels have disparaged its property. Among Brown's points:

"Your headline above the televised story read: 'New videogame shows full digital nudity and sex.'

* Fact: Mass Effect does not include explicit or frontal nudity. Love scenes in non-interactive sequences include side and profile shots – a vantage frequently used in many prime-time television shows. It's also worth noting that the game requires players to develop complex relationships before characters can become intimate and players can chose to avoid the love scenes altogether.


FNC voice-over reporter says: 'You'll see full digital nudity and the ability for players to engage in graphic sex.'

* Fact: Sex scenes in Mass Effect are not graphic. These scenes are very similar to sex sequences frequently seen on network television in prime time.


FNC reporter says: 'Critics say Mass Effect is being marketed to kids and teenagers.'

* Fact: That is flat out false. Mass Effect and all related marketing has been reviewed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and rated Mature – appropriate for players 17-years and older. ESRB routinely counsels retailers on requesting proof of age in selling M-rated titles and the system has been lauded by members of Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. In practical terms, the ratings work as well or better than those used for warning viewers about television content.


Other sources used in the segment made similar incorrect statements about the game. Judging by the inaccuracy of their comments, they have had zero experience with Mass Effect and are largely ignorant about videogames, the people who play them, and the ESRB system that governs their ratings and sales."



Brown theorizes that some of the negative attention TV news gives to videogames may be because viewers are spending more time playing games than watching their show.

"As videogames continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment. But this represents a new level of recklessness.

"Do you watch the Fox Network? Do you watch Family Guy? Have you ever seen The OC? Do you think the sexual situations in Mass Effect are any more graphic than scenes routinely aired on those shows? Do you honestly believe that young people have more exposure to Mass Effect than to those prime time shows?

"This isn't a legal threat; it's an appeal to your sense of fairness. We're asking FNC to correct the record on Mass Effect." "

[slade]

Check out Amazon.com user reviews (http://www.amazon.com/review/product/1599211793/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/002-0610111-8537609?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending) of the psychologist's book. Mass Effect fans are exacting revenge by writing 1 star reviews. :D

That's kind of stupid of the vg fans. Stuff like that doesn't exactly cast them in the best light.

[Ludicrum]

As I expected, EA's letter got the blow off.

http://kotaku.com/348692/ea-fighting-mad-about-fox-news-but-still-no-correction

EA seems downright pissed about this. I wonder what they'll do now.

[ilnadmy]

Well of course they're pissed. First, it makes for a great story, and thus is great publicity for the game. Second, they have to protect their internal dev teams, otherwise these devs might get pissed at EA for not giving a sh** about them and their work.

[T.Tashi]

As I expected, EA's letter got the blow off.

http://kotaku.com/348692/ea-fighting-mad-about-fox-news-but-still-no-correction

EA seems downright pissed about this. I wonder what they'll do now.

The media is always slow to back off their inaccuracies without a lot of effort. Michael Moore hounded the hell out of CNN to get inaccuracies about his movie Sicko corrected, but they finally did it, and EA or some other entity will have to do the same here; just hound the hell out of Fox News til they recant. EA has the gamer community behind them plus EA has the legal dept to really pursue the issue. This could really blow up to become a precedent for dealing with the common misinformation people spread about videogames in their little news spots. It happens all the time, this one was just more high profile than usual.

I've been anti EA for a long while, but go EA!! Btw, Riccitello? I thought he left EA?

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

He just came back. He was the one who pulled the trigger to buy Bioware and Pandemic.

Dead Space looks kinda cool too.

[silversparrow]

I've been anti EA for a long while, but go EA!! Btw, Riccitello? I thought he left EA?

He's the new CEO of EA. Took over from Larry Probst.

[Dancer O_o]

The media is always slow to back off their inaccuracies without a lot of effort. Michael Moore hounded the hell out of CNN to get inaccuracies about his movie Sicko corrected, but they finally did it, and EA or some other entity will have to do the same here; just hound the hell out of Fox News til they recant. EA has the gamer community behind them plus EA has the legal dept to really pursue the issue. This could really blow up to become a precedent for dealing with the common misinformation people spread about videogames in their little news spots. It happens all the time, this one was just more high profile than usual.

I've been anti EA for a long while, but go EA!! Btw, Riccitello? I thought he left EA?

You said it T. I have been a Fox News watcher for a long time, since they became a news entity actually, but when they blatantly screw-up like this I have no pity for them, or tolerance. Many times I have seen them get a story totally whacked, I haven't seen a news agency ever get it all correct, opinion somehow finds its way into the facts it seems.

[Ludicrum]

You said it T. I have been a Fox News watcher for a long time, since they became a news entity actually, but when they blatantly screw-up like this I have no pity for them, or tolerance. Many times I have seen them get a story totally whacked, I haven't seen a news agency ever get it all correct, opinion somehow finds its way into the facts it seems.

One reason why I don't watch the news at all, and only read from a few select sources that I find tolerable. What they show on TV nowadays is not news, it's gossip. I like to simply get the news without being told by the reporters what I'm supposed to think about it.

[T.Tashi]

One reason why I don't watch the news at all, and only read from a few select sources that I find tolerable. What they show on TV nowadays is not news, it's gossip. I like to simply get the news without being told by the reporters what I'm supposed to think about it.

True. There used to be one main stream news source I'd recommend and that was Knight Ridder. They ran a ton of stuff that did not get picked up by other media. But they got bought out recently and the jury is out on what's to become of KR's integrity. The mainstream media is great for entertainment and sports. For real hard objective news you really have to search elsewhere for it. I'll turn on TV news for something breaking, like when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated or the Virginia Tech shooting. Otherwise I almost never turn it on.

You said it T. I have been a Fox News watcher for a long time, since they became a news entity actually, but when they blatantly screw-up like this I have no pity for them, or tolerance. Many times I have seen them get a story totally whacked, I haven't seen a news agency ever get it all correct, opinion somehow finds its way into the facts it seems.

Yeah I've been in journalism a long time and it's pretty sad what's happened to it. There are some print sources that hold on tightly to journalist ethics and do objective reporting, but even those publications will impose blackouts and totally ignore stuff. TV news has become... something else. I wouldn't call it journalism because as you say the line between opinion and objective reporting are really really blurred.

Cooper Lawerence said she didn't need to play the game because she's going with the research from the University of Maryland. No word on who funded the study. No word on the age group for the study... she just said "boys that play videogames". No indication of the age of said "boys." A boy could be 6 or 17. Big difference. No counter-studies, and there are plenty. Just a total whack job riddled with opinions, wrong information and very few facts. In fact, the only common sense thing I heard in the whole piece was the quote by the last guy, that parents need to control what their children are seeing. To the best of their ability I would add. You can't control them or watch them 24-7. Eventually you have to trust in the job you did as a parent that your kids are gonna make the right decisions hopefully most of the time.

[Ludicrum]

And the "expert" apologizes.

http://kotaku.com/349296/ea-vs-fox-lawrence-recants-mass-effect-judgement

[T.Tashi]

And the "expert" apologizes.

http://kotaku.com/349296/ea-vs-fox-lawrence-recants-mass-effect-judgement

I'm surprised. Suprised that she would issue another mindless comment like, "somebody told me it was like pornography." WTF? So she went with a "comment" that someone told her before the show? LOL! I think Fox may have set her up. Oh well, at least she was big enough to apologize.

And she should apologize for calling Geoff Keighley "darling" in that condescending tone. If he called her that, they would've ripped into him like a low fat twinkee.

[Glockstar]

Uh, no.

http://kotaku.com/349423/jack-thompson-defends-mass-effect

Can you believe it?!

[T.Tashi]

Uh, no.

http://kotaku.com/349423/jack-thompson-defends-mass-effect

Can you believe it?!

Hehe he thinks Lawerence Cooper is a guy. Maybe he knows something we don't. :eek:

[Ludicrum]

Jack Thompson speaking in DEFENSE of a video game?

... In other news they just discovered a new kind of bird. The Porkus Avius.