I also love how panelist 1 says Mass Effect is like Luke Skywalker and Debbie Does Dallas put together.
Eh... Have they seen that movie? Mass Effect is like Bob The Builder compared to it... Ugh, I hate ignorant people

THESE PEOPLE ARE PAYED TO FEED YOU THEIR PROPAGANDA.

THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT AMERICANS, BECAUSE AMERICANS ARE SUPPOSED TO ABIDE BY THIS THING CALLED... NOW WHAT WAS IT. OH YEAH! "THE FIRST AMMENDMENT!" FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY! THEY ALL EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT TO THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUT THEY FAIL TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE ENTIRITY OF THE CONSTITUTION! TO BE A BIGOT, YET DENY THE CONVENIENCE OF "AN ALIEN BOOB" (AND QUITE WELL-DONE ASS) IN A GAME THAT SURPASSES EVEN HALO 3 IN CONTENT QUALITY IS QUITE ANNOYING CONSIDERING THAT THERE IS NO EXTREME CONTENT OTHER THAN A CRACK, WHICH ANYONE CAN ASSUME MOST KIDS SEE IN SCHOOL ON A DAILY BASIS AND BY MAKING A FUSS OVER IT THEY ONLY MAKE IT MORE OF A WELL-KNOWN FACT TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THERE IS A "QUESTIONABLE SCENE" IN MASS EFFECT (no sh*t this is an ongoing sentence, see if I care!). WHATS MORE ANNOYING IS THAT I CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT AND I FRANKLY DON'T GIVE AN ARSE'S DONKEY WHAT THESE LOW-LIFE FOX ANDROIDS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ANYTHING. LET THEM CONTINUE SPEAKING THEIR PROPAGANDA INTO THE MINDS OF THE IGNORANT AS LONG AS THEY LIVE, FOR THIS IS WHAT THE AGREEABLE DESERVE FOR THEIR INABILITY TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES (Considering more than this pathetic issue of MASS EFFECT brought up by FOX NETWORK NEWS).

FOX NEWS IS THE WORLD'S ONLY "TERROR THREAT."

("terrorist" isn't a fraking word you nincompoops. Pay some respect to your enemies and at least call them "Rebels" so as to ease America's minds of this fear tactic.)

How Existential this convo' hath been. w00t

This just gets more stupider.

"Let me at him, Martha..."

That kind of says it all, doesn't it?

It's like that high school tactic some guys would use, calling up a guy to ask him to come outside and talk for a minute about some bullshit, and when he does come out, 6 buddies jump his ass and beat him down.

But then again, since when does Fox really do news? It's like the TV version of a supermarket tabloid: All screaming headlines and crass sensationalism.

Given the fact that more people are caring about the market crash, I don't think many people gave a shit about what Faux News says. After all, when have they ever published the truth and nothing but the truth?

All these idiots did was find Kevin McCullough's bullshit blog then basically quote it word for word, and like him ignored all of the facts and answers slapping them in the face.

They're all idiots every last one of them, except Keighly obviously since he actually knew what he was talking about. Not one of them knew anything about the game other than some outright lies they obviously stole from Kevin McCullough's blog. That Cooper Lawrence person has nerve to talk about the game making men/boy objectify women when all she does it objectify men and make them conform to her idea version of what a man should be like, like men are play things to her. She needs a good smack in the mouth, and I'm not saying that because of her gender but because she's flat out stupid.

That "2nd Male Panelist", whatever his name is, is the only slightly respectable one of the bunch for at least saying that the government should not censor things. It's just too bad that right after he said it was up to the parents to control what their children are seeing, McCallum being the moron that she is said "Yes, it's unfortunate."

It figures though that not one of them listened to the facts and even ignored the comments that Microsoft statement made telling people that they can utilize the console's parental controls and such, to which they basically said kids could play it when the parents aren't around. The damn thing uses a password system to keep that from happening.

This is absolutely absurd. Some people are so blinded by their own ignorance they just hear what they want to hear everytime. This, coupled with the fact they clearly love picking on an easy target results in a travesty of a report.

@Trevor

At least the Kevin guy apologised, and then removed the collumn entirely.

Someone should have told Fox News that little tidbit.

Fox News is trash. For my daily dose of corporate kool-aid, I prefer Google News.

Cooper Lawrence is a hypocrite. She bashes a game she has no knowledge of for "objectifying women" even though it does the opposite because she wants to play the victim even as she dreams of dominance over men and even goes so far as to attempt to "teach" other women how to bend men to their will. She calls him "Darling" at some point. Darling? How condescending could she be? What would her reaction have been if he had called her "Toots?" I thought that we were past that sort of crap in gender relations - but according to sexist Cooper Lawrence we're not.

Typical Fox Noise crap. As a former viewer, I can tell all of you that Fox "News" always stoops to this level.

If anyone takes Fixed News seriously. they should look at this (it is not funny) http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/20124-fox-blows-it

Go Geoff.
At least someone actually had their facts straight.

"Darling, I gotta go with the research. And the research says there’s a new study out of the University of Maryland right now that says that boys that play video games cannot tell the difference between what they’re seeing in the video game and the real world…"

Ha.
Haha.
I'm a 16 year old.
And I'll choose to skip a 2 minute sex scene to just get back to the game.
I saw the sex scene (who hasn't? Well, obviously none of these people..), and it's just boring.

"I’m not sure why it didn’t get an Adults Only rating. That’s the highest rating in can have. So, first of all, this board that rates them needs to have their head examined…"

Again.
Hahahahahahaha.
This just makes me laugh.
Let's bash someone for doing their job! Yay, Fox!

Typical fox/cnn coverage of an issue.

I can see another one of their tactics here. One thing viewers will see is the ages.

Basically I guess it's "Well, he's obviously young and has no idea what he's talking about, she is older and thus more experienced and thus smarter."

As for the panelists, I doubt they were shown whatever the hell it was they were being asked about. The question was likely along the lines of "would you play a video game with hardcore porn in it?" and hoping for "omg no thats gorsz" as opposed to *shows a video* "What do you think of this?"

Speaking of sexual content, Faux News must love it. They use sexual imagery gratuitously in all (and I mean ALL) of its shows.

http://foxattacks.com/blog/18210-fox-attacks-decency-with-bill-o-reilly-...

"Smear" was an interesting choice of words. To smear something is to intentionally misrepresent something as being bad. A smear is inherently disingenuous. The more I think about it, the more I think that's exactly what's happening here.

But who is smearing, and why? I guess the most likely bet is a PR company working for another game concern.

Meh, I guess the most likely bet is just bad journalists making up scandals. Cuz, like, I guess there's aren't enough real problems.

Acording to the ESA, the average age of an American gamer is 33 years-old.

http://www.theesa.com/facts/top_10_facts.php

Maybe somebody should point that out next time Faux News tries to stereotype all gamers as adolescents.

We have mature movies, mature theatre and mature literature, can we not also have mature games?

My son playing a game for the 30 seconds of nudity in a 30 hour plus game. I think every kid will agree that's alittle bit too much trouble for some pixelated boobs.

@Buckeye531

Headline translation:

Fox news leads the way in the fight against sexuality with OUR biggest dick!

@ Seb

When you put it that way, if I had a son who played a 30+ hour game just to see some boobs I'd sit down and have a long talk about time management. I would certainly commend his commitment, though.

@kurisu7885

Starbuck's black muck is..."coffee?"

Honestly, how many of you as younger boys would rather play a game for unknown hours for a 30sec-1min sex scene? Especially when you could turn around and find all the "free samples" of full hard core porn? I guarantee the game would have been the last place I look for my sexual imagery fix!

@Twin-Skies

The nectar of the gods to snot nosed elitists.

@Awol

At least a decade ago if a kid saw a naked boob on TV or on a magazine, their parents sat them down for a talking to of what they saw.

Today, a kid sees a naked boob on TV or on a magazine, they get five years of therapy and a lawsuit goes to the maker of said image and politicians get on the ban wagon.

The times do change.

"…a new role-playing video game that is leaving NOTHING to the imagination… in some parts of this, you’ll see full digital nudity. Imagine!"

Yeah, it's called Sexy Beach 3. I'd love to see what Fox would say about this game.

[...] Apparemment, contrairement à ce que je croyais, l’affaire n’est pas terminée puisque Mass Effect a fait l’objet d’un… heu… “débat” sur Fox News. Vu le titre choisi par la chaîne (“SeXbox? New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity and Sex”), on ne pouvait pas s’attendre à un traitement honnête. Bon, en même, temps, c’est de Fox News dont il s’agit, et on peut au moins se réjouir qu’ils aient donné (brièvement) la parole à quelqu’un qui savait vraiment de quoi il parlait. J’ai nommé Geoff Keighley, de SpikeTV, qui a fait ce qu’il a pu face à la psychologue de service (laquelle en faisait des tonnes sur un jeu qu’elle n’avait visiblement jamais vu). C’est déjà ça. [...]

The funny thing is, all this same bs isn't being made up over and over again. They aren't all that creative. Since the early stories were so thoroughly and publically debunked, why would they still run with them?

At this point, it has to be intentional. But why? Why would they go after a game so easy to defend? Why risk suit from EA or MS, knowing that MS has a huge stake invested into the series being a continued success?

If they wanted to demonize games and gamers, there is a lot better games to choose from. I just don't get where this is coming from.

I also don't get how the destruction of entire sentient species (Arachnids, Krogan, Geth) gets nary a whisper, while a butt and a nanosecond of side boob make people grazy.

Guess it just goes to show you, some people in this country would rather wipe out human existance than let other people see someone naked.

"Se”Xbox? New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity and Sex"

Can't...Resist...

"IT'S MAH SEXBOX, AND 'ER NAME IS SONY!"

I'm just amazed that this is still being argued. All you have to do is play the game to realize that this isn't anywhere near 'Luke Sykwalker meets Debbie Does Dallas' and that the M rating is rightly deserved.

Shit like this is why i don't watch Fox anymore

Fox News = EPIC FAIL

more shit flung at us- when will it stoP?

Great, another Bill. I wrote to Martha MacCallum directly at Fox News. I don't care if they are not well liked, they should still be corrected, and our voices should still be heard.

Why does fox make such awful news?

Am I the only one who gets really pissed off whenever you hear some person over the age of 35 go "and these games today are crazy whatever happened to (pacman/pong/atari)" it really does happen quite often, and it's annoying every time

"Well, I'm not going to listen to you because I have an imaginary friend who says he did a study on this that says you're completely wrong! Isn't that Right Doctor Fairyprincesspants?"

Can someone find this study from Maryland that somehow rejects all of the common sense and actual evidence that have been into studies about game violence and adolescent boys? I like that nice blanket statement there, too, "...that boys that play video games cannot tell the difference between what they’re seeing in the video game and the real world…"

So... From that statement, we can come to assume that any male who has ever stared at a television believes that there have been countless alien wars and that, even though they are on the other side of the screen holding a controller, that they are somehow actively partaking in the digital sex?

Remember the Halo 3 incident ont he talk show where their expert doctor was someone who wrote a book about weight-loss for girls? It may be a vague connection, but these mindless idiots who write books about dating and feminine issues and how to nag your man into doing _____ seem to have kind of a sexist agenda. Kind of a big leap to make, I know, but there is never talk about young girls playing this game, only that they are somehow objectified and damaged because of Mass Effects single sex scene. I fail to see how a little girl, or and female for that matter, can misconstrue that one scene as insulting because a man and an asexual blue alien decided to have sex.

I'm lucky I don't have Fox News then. Just like my father said, they're not looking for real news, they're just looking for sensationalism. Every TV news network that are looking only for that isn't trustworthy.

At least, I have CNN (much better in my opinion) and various Quebec TV networks that, at least, can give accurate informations. I also read the newspaper and listen to the radio.

This is the email that I sent to the show,
"You recently had a segment on your show about the game "Mass Effect" for the X-Box 360. You said that the game displayed "full digital nudity" where the game grants the "ability for the players to engage in graphic sex." Frankly, none of this is true. You yourself admitted on the show that you have not played this game and let your guest psychologist say that women are nothing but objects who's worth is defined by their sexuality and so on. This is not the case. While we all can agree that turning women into mindless sex object is a terrible thing, the point is that "Mass Effect" does not do this. For a brief two minute cut scene, where, I might add, the player has no control over their characters, there is a love scene between you (the captain) and a crew member. This scene is neither pornographic, nor explicit. I would compare it to the kind of love scenes that can be seen on day-time soap operas.
Now, there is some upheaval in the video game community about the misrepresentation that games are getting. And Fox News has done this before. That being said, there are many who despise Fox News for what they call "disgraceful game bashing." Sorry to say, but Fox News has allowed some questionable facts about video games make it to the air, and this show is no exception. If you can please, please at least rent the game and play it for yourself, I would be glad to hear your opinion. I agree with Keighley from SpikeTV here when he said that you are "completely misrepresenting the game."
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and I hope that amends can be made."

They are so clueless...

The news... LOL, what a hoot

@Hunty

GP reported it well before PA did, so...

@ Hunty

I learned about the Town Hall guy on Game Poitics and responded to him there long before Penny Arcade picked up on it. Many other posters were from Kotaku and other enthusiast sites and were posting before PA commented. IMO they were a little late to the party on this one, though I do love how they managed to stir the pot.

Like the last guy who diss Mass Effect she has her own "radio" show. http://www.cooperlawrenceshow.com/index.cfm?&
I suggest that people call into it and try to get on and see what she says.

After watching the video, I picked up on one comment from Cooper that should have disqualified her from this "debate" instantly.

"Watching this made me feel old. What happened to the days of Atari and Pac-man?"

She obviously has no clue how video games and those who play them have evolved or developed. If she thinks video games and thinks Atari 2600, she has no reason to be debating them on television.

Also, where was Geoff Keighley at the end? Why didn't they let him talk with the panel? Cooper was talking with them. Did Geoff get annoyed and leave?

Fox News... ---

stopped reading right there.

@ Pochoski

But other people do watch it. Those people need to have the record corrected just like anyone else.

Hey Unpartisan

Fox got it wrong. Should they be ignored untill CNN gets it wrong, all in the name of fairness?

LOL Cooper isn't much of a relationship expert, despite her doctorate. Her radio show consists mostly of Celebrity Gossip. Her show is webcast live 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST on 1079thelink.com. The alternate website for her show is
http://bobshouseofmeat.com/

If you want her to make her show interesting email: Chad@BobsHouseOfMeat.com

That's one of her Radio Show's producers, not to mention he answers the phones for the show.

I watch Fox News religiously and listen to Fox News Radio in the car. I can't stand CNN or MSNBC because of the liberal idiots like Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. Anyways, I do think that when Martha got off of the teleprompter she was a little more sensible, but yeah, they didn't represent this game as it truly is at all, making it seem like the moment you put the disc into your 360 it forces you to watch a full sex scene. In fact, if you're a kid, you're probably not gonna want to deal with the cutscenes and talking to crewmembers and you'll just focus on the action scenes, so most kids would probably avoid the sex scene altogether. Fox definitely dropped the ball on this one, but I'm still going to continue enjoying what Fox News has to offer.

That's my two cents.

wow, she doesn't even appear to have a wikipedia page. I guess it doesn't take much to be an "expert" on the 24 hour news channels these days...

It's incredible that Keighley kept such composure...were it me, i would have laughed lawrence off the set.

Probably a good thing they don't call me.

Wow, Lawrence is awful. I know it's Fox News, but when I see a talking head that condescending and irrational it never fails to leave me quite speechless.

I guess the Writer's Strike is over if Fox News is running.

@PeterWDawson

That implies that somebody over there thinks enough to write this down.

@BlackIce

I think they come from a pit somewhere.

I used to watch Fox News because it was funny but this is a bridge too far ...

@nightwing

I'm with on this one.

I also find it more than a little hypocritical of her to talk about the objectification of women in videogames when she wrote a book for Cosmo of all things.

Of course there's also her book about changing a man because he's not good enough. There's no objectification there at all.

You know, this whole objectification thing reminds me of the Resident Evil African fiasco. I didn't think of it taking place in Africa as being racist, but the people who are on a constant vigil for racism created racism where there was none. Similarly, we now have sex where there is none.

Sex-box.

HAHAHA! So funny and original!

not sex cards, sexy cards...

You know what?

I mean look at these jerks! those idiots!


I for one played and beat Mass Effect the game they are full of it. Ask me anything you want about it..
I'll be damn honest and not sugarcoat any of the bullshit they are trying to pull.
I mean who they kidding?

(Below are comments made in this clip from TV) That I felt I should clarify in my own words ;)

At 13 years old I had seen enough action movies most kids my age could only dream of. I didn't turn out fucked up and with the world today how the hell could anyone not know what sex is? Or let alone War?

The concept of war is pretty much the same as it's been for ages. Sex, is well sex and most kids who don't know about it at 13 should get a quick lesson about the birds and the bees from mom and dad or else you can have a Juno on your hands! Of course she's what 17 in the movie? Ok, Ok let me give a better example Britney spear's sister Jamie Lynn. Plus all the damn diseases out there people should be made aware of the fact. What age? Maybe 13 seems like a start.


All I'm saying is these people who talk like they know something need to get there head out of there ass.

Shit like this makes me mad. I mean what happen to Atari and Pac Man? That Generation grew the fuck up. Like it or not we as people who are 21, and so on and even 18 years old and up we demand more games to are taste. I for one like first person shooters. That's me and I enjoy them. With time all things change.
I mean who the hell at 13 years old like a girl watching a soap opera with her mom doesn't see a couple engage in some short of sex at?

Mass Effect shouldn't ever even been looked at for Adult rating like the one lady said.
There is nothing more than a game suited for people who are mature.

That's another thing doesn't "mature" state 17 and above right? Well, last I checked to be able to see "R" rated movies you had to be 17..... So it makes me wonder why another rating called adult? In truth I long for more games that are adult rated even though there is no point in such a rating when I thought mature was pretty much the one that covered the area on such games that we play.



Then you got the Hillary's and Jack Thompson's as well, as Obama's attacking one of my most favorite and looked forward to past times.

What people won't go to great lengths or to make them self known to make a point a pitiful point as a 13 year old boy looking at playboy. Well, last I knew what kid wouldn't have seen it by one of there friends?

Some people just need to grow up and face the music of the real world and understand you can't control everything let alone the fact you at some point young or old has known a lot of things they are trying to pawn off as bad on to someone else or saying it's bad.

To me if people are going to attack video games why not rap music? I remember a time when rap music was actually good with no name calling and such... of course that time has come and gone very quickly before it was changed into what people call rap nowadays.


Oh well, what's the point of saying any of this when the younger vote is going to put Hillary and Obama in office?


In the end maybe none of it matters... As the saying goes it don't mean nothing.

To me it does because attacking something you know nothing about just makes you look even more stupid! and I hate it when people deny the fact the world is a cruel and nasty place and yet the only way to make yourself feel good is to believe otherwise about fairy tales. When in fact what they are attacking is something that deep down makes them feel good about attacking something they no nothing about and take other people's words over. I mean something people use to enjoy the world in the world we live in today you think would be more supportive.

I mean a university and all it's great wisdom usually throws shit out there about what they know and don't know just to make a point right or wrong.

I say don't judge a cover of a book unless you know what the fuck it's about in the first place.

@Gameboy

Can't rick him informing the public.

@MacBoy
The things that Fox's conservative pundits like Ann "brainless" Coulter and Bill "falafel" O'Reilly say make them far worse than Matthews or Olbermann.

If you need proof, type in the following on YouTube search:
Olbermann - worst person in the world.

Oh yeah, forgot
5. A woman talking about women being objectified who then turned around and laughed at the thought that a boy would choose not to have sex. Sexism is only bad when its aimed at women right? Just like how racism is only considered bad when its aimed at non-whites.

I worked for Hard Copy as an intern for about a month. This is how the researched their stories....

Get an intern and sit him at a folding table with every newspaper in the country. Have him find a story that's already been reported that fits within certain guidelines (odd, weightloss, tragedy). I think Fox News is following the same idea, but surfing the blogosphere. No doubt someone at Fox came across "a$$-hat's" story and they ran with it.

Cooper Lawerence is NOT a feminist. Feminists do NOT go on FIXED News, do NOT put the New York Post on their websites as their claims to fame.

Very typical of the news to overstate things to the point of being false, and being totally cool with it.

Poor Keigh...

Getting mauled by brain-damaged newshounds.

Technically it's the AP, but it's posted on FoxNews.com, so you'd think they'd have checked themselves as sources.

Someone call Bioware or Microsoft's lawyers.

I do hope that one day the game industry locates its testicles. Rockstar should release a press release to the effect of. "Foxnews is lying and are talking out of their ass. There is no full frontal nudity anywhere in the game. They are just trying to scare you peons to make money."

"What I avoid at all costs is the political/current event discussion shows on ANY of the news channels. They’re all equally bad. (And if you’re saying CNN is any better than Fox News, you’re just as biased.)"

I don't remember CNN winning a court case stating that they have the legal right to lie to their viewers. That was Foxnews.

It'd be nice if just one critic actually watched the scene or played the game. Seriously, actually take 2 minutes before formulating an opinion. Guess they're too busy.

“What I avoid at all costs is the political/current event discussion shows on ANY of the news channels. They’re all equally bad. (And if you’re saying CNN is any better than Fox News, you’re just as biased.)”

I don’t remember CNN winning a court case stating that they have the legal right to lie to their viewers. That was Foxnews.

@Eric: I'll second that... except, I don't know what court case you refer too...

Especially since we have a law known as libel and slander. Considering this is spoken, it would fall under the latter part. Microsoft, you know all about libel and slander... this is your game. Defend the bloody thing.

@PhoenixZero

You might have a case of libel and slander with Bioware, but winning it is not so easy. IIRC, you have to prove that the the person/group you're suing knowingly and maliciously put forth false information about something. Deliberate fact-twisting, but not merely being ignorant.

*sigh* you know, it is just embarrassing and insulting how misinformed they are about this, and what's worse is that they don't care. I mean, they are basing this story on some crackpot who never played the game and made the whole damn thing up. I really think they should have given keighley talk more, but Lawrence or whatever her name is kept interrupting him every chance she got. Aparently, professional journalism no longer exists. I mean honeslty, did they even bother to check if any of this crap was true before they went through with the story?

You can find out about Fox News' "right to lie" court case here:

http://www.projectcensored.org/Publications/2005/11.html

The case is aNew World Communs. of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre.

In a nutshell, Jane Akre was a Tampa City anchorwoman, who was ordered by her superiors to report a story she knew was false. (The story covered a pharmaceutical drug to make cows produce more milk, and distorted the drug's side effects -- specifically, it caused udder infections.) When she refused to report the story, Akre was fired.

She sued for wrongful termination, citing whistleblower laws that prevent the firing of an employee who points out her employers' illegal activities. Initially, she won, but Fox won on appeal, arguing that, yes, they lie on the air, but it isn't technically illegal. (There are FCC regulations against distorting the news, but Fox successfully argued that those regulations were only guidelines.)

Hit them where it hurts and write their advertisers. Especially sponsors in the tech sector, or any who otherwise cater to the primary gaming demographic. After you write them, tell people at other gaming sites to do the same.

If enough people make noise, you will get results.

As for CNN, well, they lie to promote their agenda all the time. They're just smart enough to lie about things in general without naming names, so as to avoid slander and libel suits..

There HAS GOT to be a way to stop this stuff. But I don't know what it is. Just telling the truth doesn't appear to be working.

I put it on Gamerdad. I put it on Gamerswithjobs. We all write it here and everywhere else we know over and over. But somehow it's not getting to the right people or something.

I'm not giving up. But I'm a little tired right now.

Fox does have something where you can submit videos. I would think that if they got 30-40 videos submitted about how inaccurate this was they might revisit the issue and address some of the issues. http://www.foxnews.com/us/ureport/index.html
(If anyone does it be sure to select Live Desk as the show in question).

*Headdesk*

We just can't win, can we? We get one blogger realize his screw up and then a national network beams the 'accusations' across the airwaves to millions of people, many of whom aren't informed about video games and accept the news at face value. Of course

It's ridiculous.

@Majestic_12_x:

That was Susan Bartell (I should know), and she happened to be the first person I thought of when I saw this, but this was worse due to Lawrence's dismissive and condescending attitude.

I took the last so-called psychologist, somebody else take this one.

If you're worried about your kids palying your games while you're gone all you have to do is take the game with you. They take up only a small amount of room, and if that can't be done then there's parental controls. And of course if you can't figure out the controls there's the possibility of hiding the games somewhere (like in a locked suitcase for instance).

To wikipedia with this.

Lawrence calls Keighley, "Darling"? Rather sexist comment if we follow her modus operandi. She then cuts him off and says "she's gotta go with the research"... ...to which she mentions some vague study at the UMD that doesn't really support her argument directly.

Even Martha MacCallum responded toward the end that the extent of her "research" on the subject at hand consisted of an afternoon of surfing the web, to which she could find nothing graphic, yet the accusations of "full frontal nudity" and "graphic sex" fly right off the bat.

Amateurs at best and rather pathetic journalism. I see scapegoatism for ratings all around, with shoddy research thrown in for kicks.

I find the fact that Faux News is even reporting on this issue (sex in the media) highly ironic if you use their regular programming as an example.

The mainstream media in general is in a sad sad state of affairs.

I sent the Live Desk this email:

As a person who watches Fox News only, and never views other news networks, due to Fox being truly the only fair network out there, I am continually disappointed with Fox's coverage of any video-game related issue. Your "Sexbox" segment on Mass Effect exemplifies why.

Mass Effect is a cinematic SciFi RPG. This means that it is a Role Playing Game, or a game with great emphasis on story, plot, and character development, in a Science Fiction setting. It has been rated M, the video game equivalent of an R rated movie. However, it does not contain full nudity or interactive sex scenes as your segment stated. A major portion of Mass Effect is having conversations with various characters, and if, throughout the course of the game, you choose to have the main character respond in a certain manner to another character, a very short scene may ensue where it is implied they have sexual intercourse. Mass Effect lasts around 30 hours. The entirety of sexual content is about 2 minutes long. That's it. The scene is less graphic than many scenes in PG-13 movies or TV-14 episodes of television.

If parents do not want their children to play M-rated video games they do not need to "hover over them every second" as, on every video game console, including the X-Box 360 platform upon which Mass Effect was released, parents can automatically set the system to restrict play to games rated T or under (analogous to a PG-13 movie), or only play E rated games (analogous to a G rated movie). When a child plays a disc into the system which has a restricted rating, the system will not load the game. If the parents themselves wish to play M-rated games they can place a password on the option to play a rated M disc, so even if, as one panelist described, a child wishes to play his parents video games while they are gone, he cannot play them unless he has their password.

Ms Lawrence commented that we should "look at the statistics," and if we do, we see that it is in fact the Dad's , not the adolescent males, that make up the majority of video game players.Also, the FTC has found that, not only are adults the majority of video game players, but in all major stores it is very difficult for kids to buy M rated video games, just as they it is with R rated movies. She later comments that "the research shows that violence has a desensitizing effect". The overwhelming majority of research in fact only shows that, while playing video games, similar areas of the brain are stimulated than would be stimulated if you were actually performing that activity. If you play a racing game, the portion of your brain that would kick in in real life kicks in to help play the racing game. No long term effects have been shown- in fact, the number of youth video game players has been inversely proportional to youth violence in the past few years. Ms. Lawrence later comments that Mass Effect portrays women as "objects of desire". In fact, the characters of Mass Effect at the very least as complex and interesting as the characters in modern televised drama, if not more so- this is not surprising, as Mass Effect is an RPG, a genre that focuses a great deal on characters. Of course, Ms. Lawrence ignorance is revealed to be due to the fact that she has never played the game.

It was commented how a very simple age input screen was all that was necessary to reach Mass Effect's website. This is the norm for all websites devoted to R rated movies or M rated games. The websites themselves do not contain any R rated or M rated material, thus the simple process.

A panelist commented that she wasn't sure why it didn't receive an AO rating. This rating is equivalent to the theatrical NC17 rating. Not only does Mass Effects PG-13 level sexual content not merit this rating, but any and all games released with an AO rating will not play on any video game console. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, restrict access to AO games- it is impossible to play them on the XBox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 3.

Another panelist commented that Mass Effect is analogous to "Luke Skywalker meets Debbie does Dallas". As noted before, out of 30 hours of game-play, sex constitutes a 2 minute cut scene. Mass Effect, like a great deal of modern releases, has an engaging story and strong, interesting characters. Video games are no longer like Pong or Pacman, with points or high scores as their ultimate goal- instead, they have become another narrative medium, at times just as effective as cinema or television.


Please, whenever you do a video game related segment in the future, consult informed individuals on the matter. Two very good resources I would recommend are gamepolitics.com, which covers most video game controversy, especially in relation to politics, and joystiq,com, which is possibly the most comprehensive video game news sight on the Internet, or at the very least have experts who have actually played the game in question.

[Name removed], Fox News Viewer and occasional Video Game player.

Hopefully it won't blow out of proportion anymore than it already has.

looking at it, yah those two changes would have made it more effective.

I should have posted it here before I sent it, I suppose.

Wow... some people on this program actually had COMMON SENSE??? ITS THE APOCALYPSE.

Yayy for FauxNews and an utter lack of research beyond youTube. I'm on my second playthrough of this game (going for lvl 60 and Renegade achievements) and I have to say that, all in all, it's better than alot of other games in that it shows that every decision has a consequence and so on. While it *does* have it's flaws... horrible lack of checkpoints and autosaves for example, it is completely undeserving of the outright missinformation that is being spread about it. When will someone hold Faux responsible for its incompetence?

Remember "unbiased" news oulet CNN's creative editing of John Cena's interview on professional wrestling and performance enhancing drugs?

Too bad for them Cena was secretly video taping the interview so that we could all hear the real version. Opps.

They disgust me.

Damn... normally this would slightly amuse my sick mind. But this time it's my stomach that's feeling slightly ill. And I've go to get back to work soon. Urgh.

Guys... we need bowel disrupters. Cuz some people are just full of shit.

"Darling, I gotta go with the research. And the research says there’s a new study out of the University of Maryland right now that says that boys that play video games cannot tell the difference between what they’re seeing in the video game and the real world…"

Well aren't you a condescending moron.

Well when I see other news organizations starting to do the same as fox news, and start spewing lies or give reports without researching then it becomes a News Agenda.

I do remember back when I was taking TV criticism class someone was researching the differences being portrayed by the 3 main 24 hr news organizations.

It was odd she found the same footage that show what was happening after hurricane katrina that all the news stations were using.

Fox news showed the footage and it showed 3 black men breaking into the store and taking items and cut the clip.

CNN aired the same clip and did not cut after they were coming out of the store but continued airing the clip till there was a shot of group of Black people surrounded around an area.

MSNBC aired the same clip but edited, they showed the 3 black men breaking into the store, cut, getting out of the store, cut, then showing the men blowing up air rafts, cut, then trying to help a pregnant women and a couple of children getting into the raft.

Now after seeing that I can see the bias in reporting and who did there homework. So if I get angry at Fox news, I wonder why?

Right Wing idiots, so incredibly narrow minded.

Am I the only one who thinks the reason why the media bashing of videogames and the internet is becoming a weekly sport is due to the fact the TV industry is feeling threatened by new types of entertainment? I mean, last year's annual videogames profit ran up to $17 billion! Now THAT'S a lot of cash NOT going into sitting on your ass watching FOX and reality TV. With the current state of most television content these days, I wholeheartedly welcome the coming apocalypes on traditional media!

Of course, this is just me taking out my tinfoil hat... but you never know!

My comments during the video...
"WTF?" "Damn Bitch" "Damn Straight, Keighly" "Bloody Morons" and last, not least, "Fox News needs to die now". Not a threat or anything, just how im feeling during the clip.
Now then, these people are clearly biased on all positions. Not a single one of them is a gamer, is related directly to a gamer, or probably even knows a gamer. They need to bring in more than just one man on a camera, they need to bring in a person live to argue the point. Keighly is good, of course, but in person is MUCH more effective. If it werent that it was last night, id call them up to yell at them right now. Sorry for cursing, any and all who take offense at that shit.

Ken Says:

January 22nd, 2008 at 8:38 am
"People still watch Fox News?"

I know! i seriously didnt know people still put up with their half truths and flat out lies.

“boys that play video games cannot tell the difference between what they’re seeing in the video game and the real world…”

Wow...so only retar...i uh mean mentally challenged males below the age of 18 play video games?

That spike tv guy is sort of...well stupid he said you see the side of a boob when it is so obviously the side of a(n) Tookus/Keester/Rump/Ass
(take your pick)

it really pisses me off when adults belittle teens and conviniently forget that most gamers are above the age of 18

@ Buckeye531,

This thing, this show...

It's ... fun ... It's awesome!

By now I really think Bioware should sue for slander. They'd have case, no doubt about it. This is just bullshit.

"2nd Male Panelist: I would argue that the governement cannot and should not censor everything coming across the web and in video games. At the end of the day… it’s up to parents to control what their kids are seeing.

MacCallum: It is, unfortunately."

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

Seriously though, they aren't representing a conservative viewpoint in this case. True conservatives are for the first amendment. These "conservatives" have gone so far to the right that they wound up on the left again.

And Lawrence was obviously liberal. She makes her living off of writing extremely feminist books.

people not poople
my bad

I laughed so hard when she said "Let me at him Martha".Fox News Lowers the bar...again.

I'm surprised they even had a knowledgeable guest on. (the bar is so low for FOX)

During the Manhunt 2 controversy they had some random guy who had no idea what he was talking about face off against Jack Thompson.

Thompson got away with comments that any person who follows game politics would call him out on.

It's progress that they had another view point besides their own.
Still sucks that they are horribly wrong about the issue and had 6 out of 7 people (host counts as anit-game) against games and uninformed.

I saw some of that broadcast when I woke up that morning. Well, if they call it a "se"xbox, I guess the Wii must should be called a Nintendo "W"ang, or the Playstation is another Sony "porn"station. So the next time any other news station or legislature uses these terms, I will sue their whining lawyers.

Thanks Rupert, I know you want your news shows to be like 'The Daily Show' or 'The Colbert Report', but can you actually make it more faker, without being funny?

Now more underage children will want Mass Effect because stupid adults say is a filthy game. Good job, Fox News...

Man, hope they don´t find any Illusion Soft Games or even Newgrounds.com lol

When they lie about who has won the presidency, is anyone even remotely surprised about them lying about a computer game?

@Anonymous

amen brother

And you people say Im crazy when I say we should sue the hell out of these assholes.

Maybe then they'd stop this bullshit.

@Yuki:

It was already attempted, and much like Fox News themselves -- it failed.

that video gets funnier and funnier each time i watch it
bull is just so funny

Most of the time the news gives the news, its very one sided, so this not really suprising. Just the headline on the screen made it one sided against the video game industry. I can't those idiots who put stuff on the news and claim to be experts or witnesses to something they never even say or used. Its pathetic.

Can the game makers/publishers sue for slander?

I've never seen so many stupid women on one news network :O

This is what I wrote



To whom it may concern,

I would like to start off by telling you that your show is garbage and that the level of journalism and broadcasting I have seen disgraces all those in that field. To think that you would bring in unqualified "professionals" into a field where they have no knowledge in, making their own OPINIONATED remarks WHICH IS THE CARDINAL SIN OF NEWS BROADCASTING AS WELL AS JOURNALISM. How can you be so conceited as to think that you can do this to such a huge community? Let me run the numbers for you, the Video-Game industry has been growing at a exponential rate of over 200% every year since the 1990s. They have overtaken sales in DVDs as well as sales in the Music Industry. We are a growing community of over 1 billion members. Soon Video-Gaming will over-take sales in Movies and what you fear the most, TELEVISION. The world should be enraged by what you call journalism. I understand, you cater to your audience. Keep the crap to yourself you bigot. You and all your cronies, sycophants and sexism. The only reason you're even on T.V. is because of the way you look. I hope you realize that you're being used by the males in this world. You always will be a sex symbol, don't be upset that you went to college for no reason -- don't be upset that we look at your breasts instead of your eyes. You cannot escape that and the fact that you bring on Geoff Keighly the only credible source that you had THE ENTIRE SEGMENT did not show him the respect he deserves. He knows more about the field then you ever will. This is outrageous and ludacris how none of the PhD's at Fox could not figure out and do some easy research about the game. Look at the transcript "TOOTS." Your main argument was that it desensitized boys it made them totally unable to distinguish a fictional character in the T.V. and girls -- don't channel that anger of men onto the gaming community. We know that you're angry about the men in your life, you and your sycophantic lackeys i.e. that psychologist that you brought it. Oh yeah, be sure to let her know her book about MEN AND THEIR SHOES IS WRONG. You want to know why shes sexist and so are you? Because she writes books about how WOMEN should "TRAIN" their men...Obedient eh? Calling Geoff a "darling" certainly did not help either.

Your arguments are false, the "full-frontal" nudity makes me cachinnate when you see the back-side of a female and a side boob that is comparable to the CLEAVAGE of YOUR SHIRTS. You should be ADULT ORIENTED, Martha. I know you won't read this, because you don't want to believe anything anyone tells you but your own opinion. I just want to let you know, you disgust me. I can't believe you would think that boys even at a young age can't distinguish what is real and what is false. I guess we all grew up and still believe that Santa Claus is real, the tooth fairy and because of that we, the gaming community are all "nerds." Your lackadaisical comments appall me. Look at the shows Fox produces, on PRIME-TIME TELEVISION. We see Homer Simpsons BUTT oh I bet thats ADULT ORIENTATED. WE SEE MARIAH CAREY IN THONGS ON TMZ. We see Kramer showering -- KRAMER, the fiasco he has had in the NEWS at least A&E took out DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER. FOX has not taken off Seinfeld. Look at Prison Break where homosexuality was a common theme in seasons 1-2, and how you can show the remains of a SEVERED head. THE FIRST 15 MINUTES OF "TERMINATOR: SARA CONNOR CHRONICLES" was MORE graphic. DO RESEARCH BEFORE YOU ASSUME PLEASE.

Justin

This is SO 2007.
The new Bully is out, Fox is lagging behind here.

But then again they're also lagging behind in other areas, such as research, objectivity and overall competence.

@Blase

The Conservative blogger paid for it. He was possibly silenced by his own blog.

is there anywher we can go to leave feedback on this 'report'?

i think itd be great if they faced an angry wave of gamers again and we united till they apologised.

@Twin-Skies :

I agree : we shouldn't do such a thing. And what happens at Amazon is a terrible news for us, because it'll be interpreted as harrassment. If gamers want to oppose her, they can email her and point her errors in a civil way.

Plus, I'm starting to read to many "bitch" quotes about her, and I'm afraid it's the only thing that will catch a non-gamer's attention. I don't want to live the "Resident Evil 5 fiasco" again.

@Blackened619

This is why I specifically stated that we'd be no better than Cooper if we resorted to this form of vandalism.

@DarrelBT

That's not enough in my opinion, not even close. He did withdraw *some* of his statements but he never really apologized for being a douche and calling gamers the way he did.

Anybody seen this response to the video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPGvIn288JM

This dude wishes there was MORE sex and nudity in the game. I don't know whether to agree with him or think he's a retard. lol.

Its so refreshing to see that Geoff got all of about 30 secs of time to give his side of the story.... Free Speech for all indeed

@ DrmChsr0

Hey, alert /v/ about this BS; they'll know what to do!

HIVE MENTALITY FTW!!1!1

[...] Social evaluations of stereotypes in video games (Brenick et al., 2007) Gamepolitics.com featured a Fox News show called Live Desk where they talked about the sexual scenes in Mass Effect. What got my attention is the study that Cooper Lawrence had mentioned.  ”Darling, I gotta go with the research. And the research says there’s a new study out of the University of Maryland right now that says that boys that play video games cannot tell the difference between what they’re seeing in the video game and the real world…” [...]

[...] Transcript Who can argue, possibly, that Luke Skywalker meets Debbie Does Dallas is a good thing. It’s not. And I’m definitely not going to let Mass Effect in my house… [...]

The "It is unfortunately" line irks me greatly. It is obvious that FoxNews is a Republican leaning news program. I am not a Republican myself, but just what happened to those Republicans who wanted to get the government out of our personal lives? Where the hell did they all go?


Furthermore the "it is unfortunately" line pretty much in itself IS the cause of massacres such as Columbine. Having governmental control to "protect" children from video games won't make the problem of violence lessen, on the contrary. I believe it will make the problem worse. As it will breed parents who are even lazier than they already are. If not for parental apathy violent crime wouldn't be where it is today.


Irony. The people railing against video games causing violent crime are actually the problem. Who would have though it?

I'm still trying to forgive FOX for cancelling Dark Angel and Firefly, but everytime I get close they remind of just what bloody frickin idiots they are.

Honestly people, if you're going to bash a game, at least play it first. That's like telling someone, "Anne McCaffrey? Horrible writer" and not having read a one of her 100+ something books. Better example, people that walk around screaming Harry Potter is evil when they haven't so much as touched a single cover of any of the seven.

I don't even play Mass Effect and I know that ya'll are the ones needing a head exam.

What these people do not know is that the video game industy is evolving and gamers and game designers are looking for real life experiences. Everyone envolved with games are looking for, not realality, but believablility. Not saying that fighting alien beings are believable but the emotions are. game designers are trying to get that emotion from people like what movies do. When you see your mom cry while watching "The Notebook" That is a emotional media that is excepted by the public like all movies are. let's take umm...the movie "Taking Lives" Staring Angelina Jolie a basic thriller rated R for adults right well Angelina's sex seen is probably worst then Mass Effect's sex scene and you don't hear the news talking about that. What i'm trying to get at is that the gaming world has evolved and it not directed for children either but the public in genral. Games has blood violence and so do movies, but movies can have sexual emotions and crude behavior but games can not?....I believe a video game isn't just swinging a sword or firing a gun...A video game is another way to tell a story.

[...] Mainstream media is once again trying to put video games in a bad light. In a recent report, Fox News bashes Bioware’s Mass Effect , claiming the game shows “full digital nudity.” They also refer to the Xbox 360 as a “Sexxbox.” Funny how the reporter admits to not playing the game. If she did, she would have realized there is no full digital nudity in the game. Check out the videos below. You be the judge. [...]

I fired one off myself...


****************

Dear Martha;

Your coverage of Mass Effect was absolutely appalling. Not only was it biased, sensationalist and bigotted, it was supremely uninformed. Your responsibility as a newscaster is to inform the public, instead what you did on this issue was spread falsehoods. The segment in question was ignorant of the game, ignorant of the culture and ignorant of the ESRB, the board that rates these games.

Mass Effect is rated "M" for Mature, as you well know. This is NOT marketed to children, it's marketed for adults which is, in actual fact, the vast preponderance of gamers. Secondly, if the concern of your panel of "experts" (and I use the term to denote their chosen professions and fields of study as they are clearly not experts when it comes to this game or to gaming in general - quite the opposite, in fact) is that children will play the game when their parents aren't there then the clear answer is to have the parent who owns the game set the parental limits on the XBOX360 unit with a password. Parents not only have ultimate responsibility when it comes to what their kids play, something that Fox News doesn't seem to understand, they also have ultimate power. The systems are in place to ensure this.

Your discussion is concerning a two minute cut-scene (hence, non-interactive) of two people expressing their feelings for each other physically. With the exception of a blue, female bum, there is no nudity whatsoever. In fact, there is nothing worse than what can be seen on programs airing on Prime-Time TV... many of which air on the Fox Network... ironically. The game and story are constructed in such a way that this scene flows with the narrative and makes sense in terms of the evolution of both the plot-line and the character played by the player.

Your coverage of this game, and the Fox News coverage of gaming in general has been and remains disgustingly partisan, abhorrently sensationalist and grossly uninformed and ignorant to the point of being downright negligent in regards to your responsibility to the public as a news organization. It is clear that there is nobody at Fox News that knows a thing about gaming or the gaming culture or the games that are being published and what's worse is that it's clear to everyone watching that you don't WANT to know. It would be so simple, so basic for you to do some research, even if it meant hiring someone who knows about these things, but instead your idea of a "Video Game Expert" is Jack Thompson, a known liar and charlatan who is currently under review by the Florida bar for a laundry list of professional misconduct issues. And when you do occasionally get someone who knows a thing or two about the issue at hand you invariably give him half-time with whatever "expert" you have touting the anti-gaming agenda. This time it happened to be a woman who has written books with titles like "Been There, Done That, Kept the Jewelry" and "Cosmo Girl’s Quiz Book: All About Guys". Nice... watching Fox News report on gaming is like watching a monkey hump a football.

*looks at metroidprimegmr and feels a chill down his spine*

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

Oh Wow. It's good to see EA get involved like that, rather than letting it slide. BRAVO EA!

OMG! He wrote almost the exact same letter as I did!

Am I...

...

Am I the CEO of EA?!

@.@

Yeah, take *that*, Failx News...

Fox. Murdoch. Republican conservatives. Misinformation.

Nuff said.

@ metroidprimegmr

LOL Fair enough mate. I'm more of a /co/mrade anyway.

the best part was when they said a 13 year old has never seen a playboy magazine. who the hell are they kidding? when you dig around your parents bedroom for presents when you were younger, you find things...

props to Geoff, shame that those retards dismissed him so quickly.
get this: i see little kids at R-Rated movies ALL THE TIME, why isn't anyone doing anything about that? oh, because video games are corrupting the youth now! right...

Oh dear lord, I just picked this up

MacCallum: You know when you buy video games… you have to pick up the box and *look at the back for the rating* and you have to be involved in what your kids are looking at…

"Look at the back for the rating"

Look at the back for the rating....


I hate you. I hate you so much...

Do I even need to clarify the inaccuracy of this? Honestly.

I'm so damn sick of these religious fundamentalist conservatives screwing up life for the rest of us. If you dont like something stay away from it. What ever happened to "live and let live" for Christ's sake?

Video games are not only for childern and it is a legitimate art form give it a rest already.

Anyway, some people are already reviewing her books with equal measure on Amazon. This is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599211793/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

Way to go Geoff.
Defended it well.


That Cooper chick has absolutely zero validity. Right when Geoff asked her if she had ever played it and she giggled no, she can't talk trash on it. She has had no experience with the game. And that panelist thinks it should be ADULTS ONLY?! Thats got to be a joke. There is almost zero profanity, and the "sex" scene is just some naked ass shown and a female body crawling.

Oh yeah, and that psychologist bitch sounds like a total floozy.

HAHAHAHA! I GET IT!!!

see, "SEX" BOX sounds just like "X-"-BOX!!!!!!


Newsfolk and bloggers who use that term are SOOOOOOOO clever!


GENIUS!!!!

[quote]There should be a place in the world we can send all the stupid people to exist together in harmony. And it should be full of very large spikey objects, flame pits and killer bee swarms, so the rest of us sensible people can get on with our lives in peace. [/quote]

@ Canary Wundaboy:

We created such a place... its called the United States of America... And this is what you people come up with

@ DarrelBT

The more we flame her book, the more we end up proving everything these so-called "experts" call us - assholes who are just as likely to hit back with misguided knee-jerk reactions.

We claim that the majority tend to have hive mentality towards stereotyping gamers, and yet we end up being guilty of the same crime.

Has anyone seen this yet?

"EA Tells Fox to Set the Record Straight"

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8813&I...

Yay EA! Finally grew a pair...

@DarrelBT

"The only way to combat dirty players is to beat them in their own game, because let’s face it, the mass public is on THEIR side, and playing fair won’t make a single difference no matter how rosy you paint the picture. After all, welcome to politics."

Indeed, politics. If I had it my way, I'd have these moron would be dragged out into the open and shot. Call it cleaning the gene pool.


Well, I'm done trying to discourage the inevitable - Cooper's got 390+ reviews on her book already.

...got any more popcorn?

It appears the reviews have been culled from Amazon. Shady.