January 22, 2008 -
Like a bad penny, allegations that highly-regarded Xbox 360 title Mass Effect is porn disguised as a video game keep turning up.The smear campaign crossed over to the mainstream yesterday with a Fox News report which aired on the network's Live Desk program.
Talking head Martha MacCallum hosted the segment, which featured a brief, tense debate between talk show host/author Cooper Lawrence and Spike TV game guy Geoff Keighley. While Keighley did a commendable job defending the game, right from the start it was clear that Mass Effect was in for a beat-down. As the segment opened, a Fox News graphic read:
"Se"Xbox? New Video Game Shows Full Digital Nudity and Sex
MacCallum: ...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! And the ability for the players to engage in graphic sex and the person who's playing the game gets to decide exactly what's going to happen between the two people, if you know what I mean... Basically, Pandora's Box is open. I mean, kids have access to these things... How damaging is it, really?
Lawrence: ...the damage is this. We know that all the research shows that violence has a desensitizing effect. Well, sexuality does too... Here's how they're seeing women. They're seeing them as these objects of desire, as these hot bodies. They don't show women as being valued for anything other than their sexuality. And it's a man in this game deciding how many women he wants to be with.
Keighley: That's completely incorrect... first of all you can actually play as a man or a woman in the game. Cooper, have you ever played Mass Effect?
Lawrence: (giggling) No...
Keighley: ...you mentioned it has full graphical nudity, that's completely incorrect. There's no full nudity... there's the side of an alien boob... it's a small sexual situation in this game which is about two minutes out of a thirty-plus hour experience... you can actually play through this game without the sexual situation ever happening -
Lawrence: (interrupting) Right, and a young boy's going to be choosing not to have sex. That'll be what they choose. I mean, let's be realistic here -
Keighley: Cooper, it's not a simple choice. You don't turn on the game and it says, "would you like to have sex or not?" It's through the evolution of a relationship with characters and the fact that this game has incredible artificial intelligence. You can actually fall in love in this game. It's just like modeling your life...
Lawrence: (interrupting) 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...
Keighley: You're completely misrepresenting the game...
Lawrence: Let me at him, Martha...
Keighley: It's a fantastic game and sex is a small, little part of it.
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...
Male Panelist: 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...
Female Panelist: I'm not sure why it didn't get an Adults Only rating. That's the highest rating it can have. So, first of all, this board that rates them needs to have their head examined...
2nd Male Panelist: I would argue that the government can not 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.
GP: Another disgraceful game bashing from Fox...
GamePolitics has previously demonstrated how shoddily some of these reports are thrown together (see: How Fox Morning Show Sensationalized the Halo-in-Church Issue). Nor are gamers likely to forget Fox's allowing Jack Thompson air time to bash video games while the Virginia Tech massacre was unfolding.
As for Cooper Lawrence's expertise with video game issues? It's apparently nonexistent. She is the author of several books - on dating: The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever; Been There, Done That, Kept the Jewelry; The Fixer-upper Man: Turn Mr. Maybe into Mr. Right in 5 Easy Steps; and the unforgettable Cosmo Girl's Quiz Book: All About Guys.
Comments
Re: Fox News Smears Mass Effect
<.< ...it's...a...game...Big deal. >.>
I mean, wats teh big deal? I could look up porno on the internet if I wanted 2.
Eh... Have they seen that movie? Mass Effect is like Bob The Builder compared to it... Ugh, I hate ignorant people
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
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.
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.
At least the Kevin guy apologised, and then removed the collumn entirely.
Someone should have told Fox News that little tidbit.
She is no professional in ANY sense of the word. Quite frankly, she's the most corrupt, incompetant professional alive today. She admits she's done NO research on the game directly. She throws around gender bigoted claims about males then tries to link them to a video game which she's made FALSE claims about to being with.
THIS is the type of professional that makes me totally not trust ANY research, of any kind, that has been done.
Naturally, it isn't unexpected of a News organization that openly fought for the Right to Lie to it's viewers. Tabloid trash would be nobel prize winning work compared to this ignorant bigoted garbage.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
This might explain Cooper Lawrence's ineptness:
http://www.cooperlawrence.com/
I have nothing against feminism in general. Its their extremeists that just happens to piss me off.
If anyone takes Fixed News seriously. they should look at this (it is not funny) http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/20124-fox-blows-it
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!
And then what about Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. I take that one slipped under Fox's all encompassing radar. Well, at the risk of giving them another witch to hunt - Controllable sex, sex in a cutscene involving a man who is technically dead (ooer), a strip tease unlockable cutscene that does little to tease.
Sometimes I think the people that start these fires ought to be rounded up and shot, but of course, I only think this because I play games and it is my only response.
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?"
Of course not. Adults playing with children's toys? That's just silly.
Seriously now, kids can re enact sex scenes with Barbie dolls or even Legos, so I dunno where these people were when the first Lego Pron was coming out on the web.
Hell, unless modded The Sims is also no better.
http://foxattacks.com/blog/18210-fox-attacks-decency-with-bill-o-reilly-...
I'm not really even pleased by the less than extreme segregationists either. But they don't rile me up as much as the bigoted segregationists, such as Ms. Lawrence clearly showed herself to be.
True Equality/Non-Discrimination doesn't come from treating each other as groups based on race or gender or any other grouping as seperate from all others. It comes from treating each other as individuals and recognizing the quality of each individual. That's what I got from King's speeches. But sadly, so many others felt it had more to do with rising up and segregating one group from another.
There are two other ways I try to show this in my own ways:
(1) I don't follow the traditional idea of "what does want? What do they think as a group?". I concern myself with what my friends, family, and aquaintences think, feel, desire, etc. Much easier to know what the individual is than worry how they compare to other people whom I don't know personally.
(2) I don't count how many of a particular group that I have as friends. I don't worry myself with "I have too many friends who are " or "I don't have enough friends who are ". In some people's eyes, I may appear to associate myself with one type or another. But in truth, I couldn't care less what groups they do or don't belong to. I get along with people who get along with me. That's all that matters to me.
Ms. Lawrence, however, shows herself to be the type of person who follows the ignorant idea that if someone doesn't live up to her bigoted stereotype, then they must be "exceptions to the rule" rather than "they are individuals who prove the rule false to begin with".
Sadly, such individuals have organizations such as FOX News to spread their misinformation and deceit and incompetence all around, while covering up opposing viewpoints as much as possible. And why cover it up? Simple. The arguments made by such individuals such as Ms. Lawrence cannot stand up to the Truth, The WHOLE Truth, and Nothing But The Truth. So, they limit opposing viewpoints as much as possible.
Nightwng2000
NW2K software
But who is smearing, and why? I guess the most likely bet is a PR company working for another game concern.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
And the headline! Sexbox? really? Can it be more pathetic. A Journalist is supposed to expose the truth and enlighten the world. What the hell is this? The only program that has truly been honest about this topic is The Daily Show, and that is a very sad thing. I'm just thankful that someone was there to say the truth.
I'm just complaining about the media in general at this point.
It's painful to watch though. You see these people who say these terrible things, and they are so very very wrong. But no matter what you say, they still nod in agreement and laugh at you.
I hate that they had to choose Mass Effect as their target, it's an amazing game. So many games have tried to do what it has done with putting you into a story and it's come closer than anything else I've seen. I think it's an example of things to come. I don't really see games as a nerdy little hobby, they're genuinely important to me. I want to see the medium grow, the way american comic books DIDN'T grow for such a long time, due to censorship and all that nonsense.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant didn't it?
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?
Let's be honest - people who believe Fox News also drink in Townhall's message verbatim. I think Mass Media should be a required course, before High School. We need to teach people to be critically wary of the news. GP has shown before how little preparation is done for these "pieces." I wonder how many Americans know that the TV "s"experts (see what I did there Fox?) have no credentials and are given copy (and by copy, I mean a writer has the 'report') around 15 minutes before broadcast. 24-hour coverage means a lot of air-time to fill, and that means NO RESEARCH.
It's odd that even Fox talking heads say things like, "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…"
That's exactly what everyone wants, knows, or is trying to teach people. But that gets lost in the charade of "debate."
But I'm going to take that a step further. Parents should research the news they watch with the same intensity. But you'll never hear that on TV.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
Headline translation:
Fox news leads the way in the fight against sexuality with OUR biggest dick!
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.
Other types who watch it are those who consider drinking any coffee other than Starbucks a big sacrifice.
Starbuck's black muck is..."coffee?"
So we all know a young boy will choose sex if they have a chance..... so the answer is to hide it from them... cause if they don't know about it how bad can it be. This is whats wrong in this country everyday normal stuff gets turned into something evil and instead of explaining and educating our children we just hide it from them and then wonder what happened when little Suzy has a baby or Johnny gets AIDS.
Ah Cosmo, porn for teenage girls.
What, don't believe me? Flip through a copy next time you're in the grocery aisle...
With such socially responsible titles as "Make him orgasm every time!" "1001 sex positions!" and the ever favourite "What does the shape of his genitals tell you about his personality?"
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.
Good one.
Yeah, it's called Sexy Beach 3. I'd love to see what Fox would say about this game.