Have some video game critics completely given up on the idea of verifying their claims before issuing them?
We ask because we're flabbergasted by what's been said about Xbox 360 role-playing hit Mass Effect in recent days.
GamePolitics reported last week on bizarre accusations by the conservative Cybercast News Service that Mass Effect featured "explicitly graphic sexual intercourse."
That those charges are just wrong didn't stop conservative blogger Kevin McCullough from picking up the CNS nonsense and running with it. McCullough, in fact, tries to turn the alleged porn in Mass Effect into a presidential campaign issue. In a (not so) cleverly-titled Townhall.com article, The "Sex-Box" Race for President, McCullough writes:
[Presidential candidates] all probably assume they have better, much more important, urgent, timely, things to campaign on, but I sure would like to get their individual takes on the new video game that one company is marketing to fifteen year old boys.
GP: Do we really need to point out that Mass Effect is rated "M" for players 17 and older? More from McCullough:
It's called "Mass Effect" and it allows its players... to engage in the most realistic sex acts ever conceived. One can custom design the shape, form, bodies, race, hair style, breast size of the images they wish to "engage" and then watch in crystal clear, LCD, 54 inch screen, HD clarity as the video game "persons" hump in every form, format, multiple, gender-oriented possibility they can think of...
GP: Has McCullough played - or even invested any time at all in researching - Mass Effect? Based on what he has written, we can't imagine that he has. His screed continues:
Here's a question [for the candidates]... "How much moral judgement should the President push into legislative issues that are likely to severely damage our children's innocence, function, and capability?..."
If a pre-teen, teen, young adult, or adult male plays such a game in which the women DO submit without choice, are made to appear as Barbie streetwalkers, and perform whatever act can be imagined, what's to stop that same male from assuming that the women in his "other world" shouldn't be forced to do the same.
...And because of the digital chip age in which we live - "Mass Effect" can be customized to sodomize whatever, whoever, however, the game player wishes.
With it's "over the net" capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away.
McCullough wraps up with a call for legislation apparently designed to drive Mass Effect developer BioWare out of business:
How refreshing would it be for a President to... put his pen and signature to a bill that dealt with such simulated sex excess in a way that was punitive to its creators to such a degree that they would never recover from it?
GP: We've seen some ill-informed criticisms of video games over the years, but McCullough has definitely raised (or, perhaps, lowered) the bar in that regard.
Once again, for anyone who cares to actually, you know, research the well-known love scene in Mass Effect, here's the video:
Comments
he ACTUALLY SAID well that its just like how some people say 'potato' and some spell it 'potatoe' its only a few minor errors and differences of opinion.
yeah... sure you hypocritical *** . i hope you get sued.
WHERE IS BIOWARE and WHY AREN"T THEY SUING THIS LYING BASTARD?
That is all .
Mr. McCullough:
I'm writing concerning your recent article "The 'Sex-Box'Race for President".
While I certainly understand the concern of any parent who isn't well-versed in video game knowledge on what games are and are not acceptable for their children, I have to take issue with many of the statements in your article.
First of all, the game does not allow any customization of species. The player's character is limited to a human male or female surnamed Sheppard, and while there is a large amount of customization in the facial details, hair color, and history, breast size is NOT one of the options.
Rather egregiously, you seem to imply that the game is a sex simulation, and nothing could be further from the truth. The game is a science fiction story in the vein of Star Wars that spans an entire galaxy and takes you to multiple planets in attempt to avert a great disaster. The game's main play mechanics involve fighting hostile aliens and customizing your weapons and abilities.
There is a sexual situation in the game. The video for this singular incident is available on youtube--and has been for a while now, leaving the magnitude of your inaccuracy quite mystifying. There is no possible male-male homosexual pairing, and the female-'female' pairing is only possible with an alien character from a spcies only one gender. The sequence, to my knowledge, is only possible with the alien character, and is not in any way customizable beyond the game's representation of your character. It is, in short, like a sex scene in any PG13 or R-Rated film.
And while this is certainly cause enough to keep the game out of the hands of children, your article makes the game wrongly sound as equal to hardcore pornography. This is by no means the case. You CANNOT create other characters aside from Sheppard.
It's clear from your article that you haven't played the game or even taken the time to research it--or, if not, outright lying--so I must ask, where on Earth did you get your facts?
You claim to be a Christian, and I would never accuse a well-meaning member of my faith of being a 'Bible-Thumper'--HOWEVER, your outright distortions of the facts reflect poorly on you and the cause of keeping adult material out of children's hands. Fifteen year olds can only play it if their parents give them permission, however.
The fact that the game is rated M for Mature--seventeen or older--should be evidence enough that a parent should not buy it for their child without considerable care and thought. The game is violent and contains some swearing, which is the primary reason for its rating. The sexual material itself, however, is most similar that of a PG-13 film.
None of these facts are reflected in your article. Are you so blinded by zeal that you failed to even make sure if you were typing accurate facts? Even if the sexual material were of a more explicit nature, Mass Effect is by no means a game for children--most children would likely find it boring anyway! But to call for legislation against it is irresponsible and such legislation would be unconstitutional. You seem to be wearing the banner of a conservative, yet you are now calling for policies that Hilary Clinton would be proud of. With all due respect, sir, the article is shameful and disgraceful.
And is the honest-to-God truth, as well as I know it.
---
I'll post his reply if I receive one.
Maybe then some of these idiots will think before they act.
if bioware dont want to do anything then they are letting me down as a gamer.
Proof that these complete douchebags merely want to make themselves look better for others, as if they're some kind of Morally correct bitch who cleanses the world of filth.
I know I sound harsh right now but I seriously can't stand people like this. It makes me itch and I think it makes up the people on my personal list of the kinds of people who makes up the ass of the earth.
See? I can make shit up too. Lets see what I can do to another game.
You see! Left Behind is a game filled with smut and rape! Some people sodomize children and others whore themselves out on the street in graphic scenes featuring graphic homosexual intercourse!
I wonder who else I can make stuff up for!
You see! Rock Band is a game filled with...
I can do this all day.
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EPIC FAILBOAT FOR THE IDIOT WHO WROTE IT!
About 5 of them being related to the subject at hand and the rest bickering about political party views and a n00b going saying how his "pwnt"ing everyone and mocking them as well regardless of the person's party even if their on his side (seriously, "pwnt"? You can't "pwnt" anything, it's a true n00b at work!)
The sad part is, some of the people who posted on there were for this guy's opinion and wanting it banned. Some people just take things at face value and don't bother researching the topic for themselves, and it's sad when they bring others in the bunch as well, creating a nation of idiots.
How is two computer generated 'bodies' rubbing together slightly misconstrued as 'virtual orgasmic rape'? You know what, I don't want to know... I'd like to keep what little there is left of my common sense, rather than be brainwashed by complete twaddle.
@Altair
maybe we should Dead Rising for being offensive to the recently deceased, and Oblivion for being offensive to Daedra...
You can't even change your breast size in the game; that's funny. And other than choosing to be white, black, or Asian, you can't pick a race (meaning an alien race) for your character. And Ashley, Liara, and Kaiden all go down with you VERY willingly. There's no forcing of anyone. They're actually very well written, well formed little romances. The nudity is so brief, and doesn't reveal any major parts.
"jonwanker Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I think… He’s gotten Mass Effect mixed up with some other.. Japanese titles…"
Haha! That's more likely.
the term is rocism, and i for one am also sick of the anti-robotic fiction in the media today portraying AIs as nothing more than mindless killers....
:p
i have
This is where we need to draw a line.
You have no idea how long I've been campaigning against these so-called "zombie" and "survival horror" games. Undead-Americans and Biologically Mutated Americans alike have been tragically stigmatized due to these "hate experiments." D: My friend, Duke Phillippe Lasrande of the Eternal Night, was turned away from a blood bank recently because they weren't going to cater to "the damned." Vampire-Americans, and indeed all Undead-Americans, deserve better than that!
Have you heard the phrase "Don't believe everything you read on the internet?"
You guys are being paranoid. So what if some Tom, Dick and Harry starts lying about the game to gain attention? You don't need to company to start suing him. As you've pointed out, people have already pointed out his bullshit. If everyone in the world DID take every blog face value, there would have been MASSIVE RIOTS by now, no questions asked.
Besides, if we encourage companies to start suing slander, one of these days they'll sue US for pointing out and criticising certain games for poor quality. Look at the Kane and Lynch incident.
I must say I found your column on “Mass Effect” to be grossly inaccurate and wonder where you got your information, or if you have even bothered to play the game before condemning it and making false claims.
“The objections to such filth should be simple to understand.
Starting with the disgusting idea that one can "create" their own versions of what people look like, removing warts, moles, and bald spots while enhancing - shall we say - the extended features of the game's characters tends to objectify women, sex, and human relationships. Right? We can all agree on this?”
The idea behind allowing the player to create his or her own character is to make the game more personal to each individual who plays. The player can tweak (to an extent) the aesthetic of the character to his or her personal preference. Should it be written into law that every movie/television/game character be covered in warts, moles and bald spots?
Well a player can choose to cultivate a relationship in the game, the optional subplot is handled with a great deal of restraint and maturity. The characters even deciding to wait to presue a physical relationship, only at the end of the game does anything happen and then it’s no worse then anything on television, in fact it’s a lot tamer then anything in a James Bond movie.
“Then there's the dishonesty behind the game' title. "Mass Effect" sounds like a war game with a deadly virus that is spreading unless the GI-Joes are able to defeat the evil and deadly substance and it's covert war plan. By it's design, kids could ask for it, or for their parents' Best Buy Card to go purchase it with nary a raised eye-brow. Generic, non-descriptive, and relatively harmless.”
Dishonesty? Mass Effect refers to an in game reaction that powers the starships and allows for interstellar travel, there is no attempt at dishonesty. The game case has in right on front an M rating. An M rating means the game is meant for ages 17+ a sizable portion of the market. On the back of the case is again the M rating with a brief description of the content of the game (in Mass Effects case Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence). If a parent decides to allow there child to play the game that is there choice, not yours, not the governments. If a parent doesn’t bother to check the ESRB rating before purchasing that is their fault, not the developers.
“Now if I have trouble with my son taking his James Bond 007 games a little too emotionally, imagine the powerful effect that hormones add to the mix when the player's own character is copulating like jack rabbits with super-models, actresses, and anyone else they can spend the patience to create, name, and "put into play."
I hear the libertarian Ron Paul's answer already, "Government has no business censoring freedom of expression." Figures, he's a libertarian.”
Well James Bond is notorious for objectifying women in whatever medium, that is your choice. If you have a problem with Mass Effect fine, don’t let your kid play it, but that’s where it ends. Government has no business regulating something as tame as what’s found in Mass Effect.
“In the race for President there has been a lot of discussion about faith and it's impact on the lives of the individual candidate. Some pretty inane ones like Carl Cameron's less lucid moment this past week when he posed the inquiry about marital submission to Governor Mike Huckabee.
Yet here's a question that deserves to be asked, and in all likelihood will not be: "How much moral judgement should the President push into legislative issues that are likely to severely damage our children's innocence, function, and capability?"
I hear the nay-sayers claiming I'm being the wild and crazed Bible thumper I've always been - but its a worthwhile question isn't it?”
Would you have government regulate movies, television and literature? If so to what extent?
Speaking of the Bible, would you regulate or censor it? How many acts of violence against others have been inspired by the Bible? Most famously Leviticus 20:13 reads “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman both of them must be put to death; their blood is on their own heads.”. How many acts of violence have been committed against homosexuals based on this verse or others like it? Should the government be allowed to censor and regulate Holy Books? If not why?
“If a pre-teen, teen, young adult, or adult male plays such a game in which the women DO submit without choice, are made to appear as Barbie streetwalkers, and perform whatever act can be imagined, what's to stop that same male from assuming that the women in his "other world" shouldn't be forced to do the same.
We now know because of the lengthy track record of serial killer after another that addictive use of pornography was prevalent in case after case - long before the switch got flipped and what their masturbatory imaginations have given into became what they were forcing real live human beings to do.”
What’s to stop them? Common Sense, the realization that they are playing a game that is not intended to be a reflection of reality.
Well your serial killer reference is accurate, how many people view porn? How many of them go on to become serial killers? Is porn addiction the cause of there violence or a symptom of some deeper problem? Is the Bible the cause of abortion clinic bombings/shootings? Did the Bible cause Paul Jennings Hill to murder Dr. John Britton? Video Games are an easy target for those unwilling to look closer at the problems society faces. If one where to censure video games on the grounds that they can have a potential negative impact on a tiny fraction of the population then one must also allow for the censure of the Bible which itself has been the inspiration for indefensible acts of violence.
“And because of the digital chip age in which we live - "Mass Effect" can be customized to sodomize whatever, whoever, however, the game player wishes.
With it's "over the net" capabilities virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away. “
Sodomy? Further proof that you have not played the game or viewed the material in question. No where in the game is sodomy depicted. What is present wouldn’t warrant anything higher then a PG-13 rating at the absolute most if where in a movie.
It’s a pity that you seem dead set against this game, one which it is safe to assume you have not bothered to play or even do any serious research about. Instead you see fit to make an issue of something unworthy of serious attention. That you feel this should be an issue of national importance is telling. If a country can censor one form of expression what is to stop it from censoring others? If one is willing to censor Video Games, then why not TV, Film, Literature? Why not the news? The Internet?
It is time for the world to wake up. Video Games are no longer solely the realm of children. It now includes, indeed is chiefly, made of teens and adults. As such the material produced will reflect the taste of its audience.
Sincerely
Jimbo
how can we possible ever end the stigma and educate parents if we allow misinformation to be spread like this?
the point is , if you look, before gameers posted, people had replied in support of the article. yeah, dont believe everything you read, but some people do. thats the problem. the uneduacated and naieve will lap it up and our problems continue.
heres another phrase. mud sticks.
Well, with the Rep and the bathroom 'incident' we could assume that.
The only time to REALLY worry is when this guy is as popular as Oprah because "she has the power to destroy entire industries with a mere utterence". As it stands, he's a nobody until he started saying bad things about the Vidya and Ron Paul. THat's it. Look at the blog. VERY few people agree with his views. Not even non gamers want anything to do with him. Heck, the comments article even had a concerened parent who was at first shoked at the blog becaus she couldn't believe what the game contents according to him, but after she had done research and getting info from her son, even she's questioning him.
Besides, Bioware suing this guy will only make things worse. It'll only make Bioware look like the bad guy, and it would look like they were trying to censor his views. And as we all know, everyone believes the victim more.
how would they look like the bad guy? He is blatantly lieing about the game, he's not just spouting some popular yet untrue belief (like GTA awards the killing of cops) but flat out BS! The libel and slander laws were made for just this reason. I don't see how the media can defend the other guys claims when they are so horrendously false (plus the media will know that if they lie as well they are just as likely (if not more so) to be sued for slander as well). Although this is assuming the media even picks up on this small potatoes bit of news.
This doofus made a fool of himself, so he should be thankful if it stays down.
'over the net orgasmic rape'
is making bioware look bad.
and yeah, but were do you draw the line, do you say to 100 small fry journalists, its ok if you spout this crap because you dont have many readers?
i mean if you add them all up its a LOT of misinformation thats being spread.
if we dont tackle it everywhere then we mayaswell not bother at all. Besides how can you justifiably attack ppl like oprah (say she was spouting it) and justify how you havent ever defended games to anyone else making the same points.
Oprah herself could have heard it from a journalist who heard it from a journalist who heard it from a site like this.
nip it in the bud, just my Opinion.
To paraphrase one of the skits on Family Guy:
"Oh, sorry Jack, but you need 100 IQ points to live."
@Trevor Mcgee:
Yeah, how dare you disagree with him!
@Zen:
Yeah it's called lying, sadly very effective.
@Demontestament:
You obviously don't have the 'orgasmic rape' mod installed on the game... Maybe he can hook you up with it?
@Blaine:
Got the day marked already on my 2028 calendar.
@Al:
I just wonder if Austin and Captain Fail-Hard got together and had a pow-wow or something?
Actually it was, "you needed 100 tickets to live" it was supposed to be like chucky cheese's (gone horrbily wrong)
According to Mr. M. we can't possibly expect a parent to keep an eye on what the kiddies watch/buy/do. We have to scour the world for TnA lest a young un see it and grow up to write rather lurid articles for far right conservative publications.
That was a great fucking rebuttal, no doubt.
You forget. Fox won a Lawsuit that they have a right to lie.
If you don't build a relationship with the other characters you don't even get the chance to have the little sex scene, if you even can call it that. It is so goddamn tame I wanted to puke reading this guys bullshit. The focus of the game is not trying to have sex, it is to save everyone and everything from total annihilation. I think we can all agree that is something good? Or do you wish for total annihilation?
Why are these people so afraid of video games? Mass Effect is nothing to worry about and yet these retards are going insane trying to have them regulated. There is no reason to regulate video games in any way. When and if XXX Games are made, then they should be treated the same as XXX pornography. Mass Effect is not XXX porn. It is more like PG-13. That said I think my 10 year old nephew could handle it. Look at the movies they let kids into!
This is just touching on the stupidity of this guy. Why has no-one made a fuss about God of War? It is full breasts shown, and sex on a bed with moaning and orgasm, not in view, but heard. You watch some pots shake and fall down, and they get tons of health from these two slave ho's. What am I missing? Why Mass Effect?