senna777

Those who said that evangelicals need to understand the way of academia....nice job generalizing, I am Christian and graduate student and know very well how to construct an argument. I also know how to properly discuss issues I am unclear on etc.

Second:

I love the game it is awesome. However, sex does not belong in video games. Sure kids can be blocked, etc, but that doesn't mean they cannot see it. EA's response was ridiculous because it was trying to justify the game based on prime time television.... Just because it happens one place does not make it right. You might as well say " Well in other countries people torture dogs and ten kill them, so if we do it here I dotn see the difference". I was not annoyed by the scene, more so shocked that it would end up in a game. It was not pornographic, but it does not belong in the game.

Before you start criticizing Fox, or anyone else, look to the person who wrote the letter. It is a pathetic attempt to argue his point. Someone should inform him that hiding behind others does not prove your point. The whole idea of "well you have to build a character relationship, you have to choose to do it, blah blah blah". That is a poor attempt to defend oneself. I would have had more respect if he said well, it is not orthodox for games, but we wanted to create a mature game with a mature storyline. I am sorry of some are offended but we did warn. I would still find it bogus, but I would have have more respect for EA's letter.

senna777

That way, when FN has stories about games like Mass Effect, they'll have their data straight, right from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

One_Crazy_Idiot

...I need to stop playing Portal.

...I can't believe I just said that.

man_in_gauze

gnarledrose

Altima NEO

taomaster99

PariahComplex

Unclean0ne

Tyler Menezes

Kytano-Skorpius

Ditto.

Tsukibara

Mysticgamer

maver1ck89

djcoffee

Tarmus

For myself, I told them to focus on effective PARENTING next time, not a game with fake nude aliens.

- Racer

lcracerx

I've always been partial to the "Fox Noise Channel", myself.

Kudos to EA for being the more mature party in this situation.

Lightbunny

Orc

johnnylineup

cybereality

Notice how they completely ignored the guy who actually played the game? Immediately after the interview, one of the panelists classified the game as luke skywalker meets debbie does dallas? What a moron.

Then, my favorite part of the show is when last guy on the panel say "The government shouldn't have to regulate or censor content, and it should be up to the parents to monitor their children's experience".

The mensa candidate host of the show responds: "Yeah its unfortunate but true... It sure makes being a parent hard."

What makes it hard, watching your kids? It only serves to terrify me that these people not only reproduce but probably make up the majority of the voting public.

lucidz

ozzzy

KeFkA666

nicopolitan

amzo

ghostgirl

finalgearsolid

Reminds me of richard dawkins point about the atheist scientist in the US of A.

Fabrice

zzt711

regardless of the fact that they are EA and there are multiple reasons to dislike this company, they really earned some points with this one.

oh yeah plus mass effect ruled.

SwampApe

slkboy

retronaut

ThisCharmingMan

iainttha1

enspik

wallapuctus

Lastly, I am continually shocked at just how little research is done by these news organizations. If this is the level of effort made by news organizations over a game, imagine the far more serious implications of reporting on a foreign war and the people involved who are much more difficult to check facts on.

Cell9song

Sasquatch

Blackjack1353

Today EA Games announced the start of production on a new game titled "Madden Courtroom Beatdown 2008 : EA vs FOX".

Everyone will now be able to enjoy the thrashing of the FOX news network to the sounds of John Madden commentary in their very own homes.

ehlaren

avanderveen

Y0URGOD78

Pancho_Villasan

JamieA

Joking aside, this is awesome, and I can't wait to see Fox News's response. Comparing it to Family Guy - which more kids are likely to tune in to than play Mass Effect - was just pure genius. Bravo EA, bravo.

Ryadic

Atrius

suburbanhell

GargantulaKon

hikkifan1986

As I started out saying this all comes down to parents (and old people) not understanding and not even trying to understand games. The thing is if and when this thing blows over, they will find something else. Parents (and old poeple are like that) througout modern history they have been afraid of anything from comic books to the music young people listens to. Old people will never understand what young people do and likes:

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."
Socrates 469-399 BC

Barl

RobTheBuilder

Toothy

dadditude

Tellurian

And if this isn't a legal threat, the next one should be.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

[www.pcvsconsole.com]

"Electronic Arts, Twentieth Century Fox Television and Gracie Films today announced a long-term deal that grants EA development rights to multiple videogame titles based on the FOX hit series THE SIMPSONS. Working closely with the television studio's Licensing and Merchandising division, Gracie Films and THE SIMPSONS writers, EA will create original 'Simpsons' game content for next generation videogame systems. This groundbreaking deal between Fox and EA is the first development deal between these two entities."

[Okay, answer: not at all because there's lots of money at stake...]

awesom-o-4000

It's a win-win(-win): Fox get to be correct about something (would be a red letter day for them); EA boost sales; I get to see naked blue aliens, you know, doing it.

awesom-o-4000

Tiberian

EvoAnubis

AWESOME.

Medicine Seller [ZTF]

Soralinkyuna

BLloyd607502

CaptainHarrison

Beyene

TrickyBAM

Himiko

Ampillion = That Man.

Let's hope that their remarkably polite complaining powers are super-effective...

awesom-o-4000

The_Game21x

残心

HoxtonHero

dowingba

jtraveller

Violence OK! Sex bad.

Immutablyme

LetsFightingLove

Vileyaser

[www.amazon.com]

damon53

rich8606

francoamerica

Other then that,ABOUT TIME somebody stood up to this.I couldn't believe the utter bullcrap I was hearing from Fox News.

Shiro_Shishi

FeendRendor

If they don't correct their statements, then I really think they should face some sort of civil litigation. They have to know that if they try this stunt again, there will be consequences that they'll have to deal with.

And yes, I am still fuming from that "Debbie does Dallas" line...

Bremen142

dirkxxdiggler

thinkfreemind

tehFluffz

RawSteelUT

Good to see I'm not the only one who thinks is the only reason why video games are picked on...

FunkyJ

Katana3160

As for fox trying to correct this issue? I think not. Their own pride will swallow them alive.

Shijirou

PeteeWJ

M. Kava

Shavo

As for agreeing with EA, i think i need to take a shower now ;)

therolow

San

[foxattacks.com]

Trojita

Sheogorath

corner

Arkam_Asylum

So far, I have to say they're being ultra-classy, so good on them.

108

Gunhaver

"The resulting coverage was insulting to the men and women who spent years creating a game which is acclaimed by critics for its high creative standards. As video games continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment. But this represents a new level of recklessness.

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

The problem is that in the first paragraph, tv is losing viewers to games, then the second paragraph asks if people have more access to prime time shows with questionable content. The idea is that if video games are taking away from tv viewership then a video game would have more exposure than tv. Basically it would fuel Fox's argument that kids have more access to "dangerous" material

It IS a weak argument but I suspect if Fox news uses any angle, it will be that one.

SharpBanana

rojo

Krackatoa

PurpleMonkey

pfive81

Maldron

go ea???

schizorogue

okenny :)

220

EA FTW!

dnzperson

Ashkihyena

TheFlamingCarrot

I did mention, over the course of the e-mail, that if this game could be considered "Debbie Does Dallas meets Star Wars," General Hospital may as well be considered "ER meets Deepthroat."

I still can't get over that one member of their panel comparing the game to hardcore porn....ignorance or politicing, it's equally horrible....

GorbyGipper

anachreon_

Passa

The man has guts AND pride and for that I take my hat off.

Kirth Gersen

And

As everyone else has said....I feel dirty, but I am on EA's side this time.

d1sCo_d3aTh

hellhound

GM08

Nonetheless:
s video games continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment.

How can you substantiate that claim? Easy. Check out how many people are online playing games instead of watching TV - every player is yet another person who won't be watching whatever programming is on the air at that time. And considering that it's easier to get on-air content nowadays (by iTunes, torrents, or what have you), and you can see how EA has a point.

I'm not willing to go "Yay EA!", since I doubt fair play was the sole motivating factor, but if this ultimately means that the general media will do some, um, RESEARCH before talking about a topic they know nothing about, then let's go.

bassiladelph

PooPooKaKaBumBum

Shindokie

runandgun

Also, the most recent 5-star review reads as follows:
"Absolutely wonderful book! It is both an incredible sexual aid but is also quite useful for cleaning up messes that my dog has created."

If I'd been drinking anything at the time, I would have spit it all over my computer. Funniest thing I've seen all week. I seriously can't stop laughing.

Fitz Rhapsody

Like many gamers, I have to give EA applause for sticking it to Fox News.

ChaosBahamut

bigd63

Kudos to EA and high-five for Kotaku for being included as an attachment in a letter from EA to Fox News. Hittin' the big time.

mariospants

Troyd

Dr Terror

HAL9triple0

grecords

StolenName

Bwhaha hahaa

Sparkamus

gatsu

@durrem:
Already did. She basically put her own career on the line by not doing research/preparation on a subject she was commenting on. A no-no for any so-called professional.

njhardcoreguy

Taco Bell™

However:
"Electronic Arts, likely sick of having THEIR recently-acquired role-playing franchise Mass Effect dragged through the mud on national television, HAS requested that Fox News Channel correct THEIR error-plagued segment on the game."

Ok, EA is now singular ("has")? Unless it's plural ("their"). But FNC is, of course, plural ("their"). Wha? You guys need a style guide.

bluerondo

GameChad

Talk about gamers kicking some ass... I almost feel bad for her, even with the "eye-for-an-eye" justification. Almost. Then I remember that from the interview, well... she just kind of seemed like a huge bitch. One of those radio "personalities" who just acts like a total jackass to raise ratings (see: Don Imus, Mancow, etc). More power to dragging her undoubtedly awful book in the mud ^^

Fitz Rhapsody

Grukk

durrem

Antiterra

Kudos to EA. Well done.

mtvernon

Saith17

Reneg

Give her book a bad review!:
[www.amazon.com]

njhardcoreguy

EmeraldDragon

Sugaray

Antiterra

Rock on EA. GO BIOWARE!

Black_Ops_19

Enimor

Red_Breast

LORDofDANCE

The Duck Has Spoken.

PsychoDuck

antialias02

Got my popcorn and kakimochi; I'm good to go.

boopadoo

kiruyama

Uninformed parents and adults want a way to indentify and villainise a popular phenomena they don't understand. It makes them feel better, and Fox News ratings jump. We (as gamers and semi-intelligent people) can uniformly agree it's bogus.

So EA responds with an open letter we can uniformly agree is pointless. Fox News' reputation or credibly is under zero threat here. None. You'd be delusional to think this letter will change a thing. It's only point is to make the gamers and informed people feel better, and make EA look better.

Both sides just have the bottom-line dollar on the mind, and although EA goes about it in a much more mature way, they still sink to Fox News' level.

Outrage

Demonbird

Sadly :( every post about this has been locked on the Bioware forums, even on the off topic forums, claiming it to be political. As I see it, it is far from political. It is just fans sticking up for Bioware (and gamers everywhere) when a TV show like Fox News makes false accusations against a game being developed by an game company owned by EA. Instead of locking these threads down, I think that Bioware should be joyus about that so many people want to defend Bioware and Mass Effect from (or of?) these false accusations being made. Or at least say 'thank you for your support, we're looking into it'. Gamers just want reassurance that something's being done to sort of set the record straight when it comes to ME and Bioware. What really bothers me is that I can't make a thread about this over at the Bioware forums without it being locked down. Oh well, c'est la vie...

I just want to applaud EA for pointing out the obvious about Mass Effect to Fox News which is something that we all hopefully know about Mass Effect. Personally, I would have liked the EA-guy to pull the latest ESA statistics that clearly shows that the average gamer now is about 30-35 years of age, and at least 25 percent of (rpg)gamers and over 50 percent of adventure gamers are women as of today.

The misconception these days clearly are that gamers are still young pimpled teenage nerded boys who sit around in their parents basement playing games while drinking coca cola and eating pizza. Nothing could be, in fact, farther from the truth today.

Over at rpgwatch.com we sometimes have been visited by Patrick Weekes who actually works for Bioware and has written some of the quests in Mass Effect. Patrick is married to a co-worker at Bioware who actually also was his boss at some point. And Patrick's wife are very much keen on making it so that women are not seen as either stereotypes or as objectifiable pieces of flesh (to put it that way) for men to use at their pleasure. In Mass Effect you have to develop a relationship with the person with whom you want to sleep - and going the relationship route in Mass Effect is entirely optional.

As for seeing full digital nudity, it really depends on what what you call 'digital nudity'. Nudity in the ESRB sense means full frontal nudity but if you look closely at the clip from the FCN about ME, you will notice a short clip from the game showing a naked blue lady's back and a sideboob as well as a (naked) rear end. That's what the ERSB calls partial nudity. (and quite frankly, I have seen more nudity in a Danielle Steel romance movie...).

The point really is that I'm pretty sure that most adult players of ME agrees that children shouldn't be playing ME and that it really is the job of the parents to monitor what their kids are playing. And luckily, you can. Both the Xbox 360 as well as Vista (and to a smaller extent XP) have parental controls that will keep your 12 or 13 year old kid from playing Mass Effect.

Bioware (and Microsoft) have always said that they wanted to make a more sinister and darker game than they have done before e.g. a game for the more mature gamer. And so they did. That's why they went for the
M(ature) rating and got it. Now, graphic sex would be just like the deleted cut scene? in Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit in Europe) that was cut from the US version because it showed explicitly graphic sex.

I think everyone knows that if you say 'this isn't a legal threat' there's an implied co-understanding to the sentence that means that if we don't get what we want from you e.g. an apology, we will sue you...

Here in Denmark where I live we have something called the Press Board or the Board of the Press. If you feel you have been misrepresented by the media, you can file a complaint about the way the media treated you.
Do you have anything like this in Canada and the US?

thurauh1

"I'm no expert in books, and have never read this, but it's obvious that there is a full-blown sex scene within, judging by the cover. I'm contacting Fox News right now, so hopefully I can set up a one-sided argument where I can yell louder than my opponent to get my point across with a smug smile of my face. This book is a travesty and should be banned from bookstores."

"I am giving Ms. Lawrence a poor review because she makes assumptions that are not based on fact. During her Fox news report, she blatantly lied and completely misinformed the public. This is not acceptable behavior, and how does she expect me to read her book and believe what she has to say?"

"This book made me want to crush my eyes out with a diamond studded cross in an Oedipus like fashion, because that is the level of shame and disgust one feels after finishing this book. Nothing this author says should be taken seriously, I can only assume the publishers were blind themselves. Anyone who enjoys this book is most likely a big fan of coloring books as well."

"This book contains questionable material and should be rated XXX or given a AO rating. Don't let your child read this book! What? It wasn't written for children? However, your children could still obtain this book. So please be careful not to let this book make it's way into your home."

gozirah

PokeParadox

Fox News is all about making shit up so I'm not sure what this letter is going to accomplish. I can see the lawyers at Fox laughing their asses off as they fax this EA letter over to their buddies at the National Enquirer. Fox News is a joke - EA knows it, Rubert Murdoch knows it and anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows it.

JimyD

Check out the reviews for Cooper Lawrence's book. They are hilarious!!!

[www.amazon.com]

livingfire2k8

killr_klown

slickchris7777

Ali

Poffy

Danarcho

Romero715

They should be very proud of Mass Effect. It's a great gameplay experience, and the work they put into it shows.

Xeneizes

CaptainChaos199

Phazonmasher

Politely, firmly, ask that they correct their innacuracies.

siempre

Mmfok

Poojipoo

Antiterra

subterfunk

Ping5000

Jomo7

Strider-No.9

i can't believe i'm saying this about something from EA but, damn that was awesome.

tetracycloide

Xander

Oyn

TheToiletDuck

dblueguy

Jest

DugDawg