EA Calls Fox Out on "Insulting" Mass Effect Inaccuracies

[Zer0-Sum]

Electronic Arts, likely sick of having their role playing game Mass Effect dragged through the mud on national television, has requested that Fox News Channel correct their error-plagued segment on the game.

In the letter, which cites Kotaku, Jeff Brown, EA's vice president of communications, asks Teri VanHorn, producer of the Live Desk with Martha MacCallum, to clarify "serious errors" the channle made in their Mass Effect story.

"As the parent company of BioWare, the studio which created the game, EA would like you to set the record straight on a number of errors and misstatements which incorrectly characterize the story and character interactions in Mass Effect." The letter starts and then proceeds to outline their very strong case.

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

FNC voice-over reporter says: "You'll see full digital nudity and the ability for players to engage in graphic sex."
Fact: Sex scenes in Mass Effect are not graphic. These scenes are very similar to sex sequences frequently seen on network television in prime time.

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

The letter goes on to point out that the people who wrapped up segment with a round table were equally clueless about the game. "they have had zero experience with Mass Effect and are largely ignorant about videogames, the people who play them, and the ESRB system that governs their ratings and sales."

The story wraps up by pointing out how insulting the resulting story was to EA and Bioware and asks, not demands, a correction:

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?

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

Sincerely,

Jeff Brown
Vice President of Communications
Electronic Arts, Inc.

Good for you EA, it's important, I think that publishers step up to the plate to defend themselves, especially in light of such outrageous and patently false claims.

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

SMACK DOWN! EA stepped up to the plate. That is really kool. Good for them and FUCK FOX NEWS.

[Coded-Dude]

This is outrageous.....FOXNEWS is Fair and Balanced. :shifty:

[D3adcell]

EA doing something I approve for once. That was a very nice move on their part.

[Pro A.]

Yes, good to see them stepping up to the plate for one of their own and absolutely trashing the pundits. Bravo, bravo.

[Zer0-Sum]

"I will kick you in the nutz! - Cartman":pinky:

[woundingchaney]

Fuck Fox News.

[Lucent Beam]

Good. Glad that EA stepped in to defend the game.

[OG_Monkey]

does it really matter what fox says?

This is like that guy getting fired for that review off gamespot. You can't TELL people how to judge things, its their opinion.

Or am I missing the point?

[D3adcell]

The point is that they lied about the content of the gaming basically saying it was a sex simulator. With "Virtual Orgasmic Rape"

[OG_Monkey]

oh...

[JasonXe]

im a savior of hookers in mass effect, why don't they reflect on that!!

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Fox news is so bad it's gone past comically bad to downright upsettingly bad.

[D3adcell]

L13Ct40cFIU

On Monday, I mentioned an article by the irrelevant Kevin McCullough entitled "The 'Sex-Box' Race For President," a poorly titled, poorly sourced, and generally just poor piece of journalism. As the game has now been available for months without attracting his attention, I can only assume that his flailing response was based on this other report, itself already far removed from Mass Effect, the game which is ostensibly being described.

His recent post responding to enraged gamers is absolute literary wreckage, and it might take you weeks to find your way out. He has modified the particulars of his original argument so that the most egregious lies are smoothed away. He retreats at full speed from the items that can't be supported, while simultaneously claiming that his argument hasn't changed. And then, apparently to fill the space left by the original falsehoods, he suggests that the game is actually worse than he originally claimed, but won't say how. This is Calvinball of the worst sort, and we need not play.

He suggests in this column that what gamers really crave is bestiality. After breathless prose in the original piece about orgies and sodomy, acts which are manifested nowhere in the product he's discussing, he literally begins to fantasize in the body of the text about a machine that can rape people - and rape them "orgasmically" - at a distance. He does not warrant our time, but I will speak in the clear manner that one must when managing animals: these things are not simulated by this or any other piece of entertainment software available at retail. Indeed, it was precisely the lack of sodomy that created a stir before release.

What, then, is the source of this imagery? To find it, you must drill deep down through the artifice and find the undulating reservoir of sexual fetish that boils beneath. This scheming, grotesque caricature of a "concerned citizen" is about as transparent as it gets.

It really is incredible: this is a man whose job is lying to people who want to believe him. The inescapable result is that it has taken a craven, manipulative opportunist and reinforced these qualities. We suggested as a joke that he would attempt to manipulate the community, and he has done so - we have allowed it to the extent that we thought it would entertain you. I urge you not to encourage any further outbursts on his part: the man is strictly small-time, and you have the power keep it that way.

(CW)TB out.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2008/01/16

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080115.jpg

[LiquidEagle]

Christ almighty that guy's fucking amazing, and Fox News never fails to impress. I love how Geoff Keighly (sp?) straight up asks Cooper, "have you ever played the game before?" and she laughs as she says no, as if it's preposterous that she would gain hands on knowledge with something she's trying to act like an expert on.

[Zer0-Sum]

does it really matter what fox says?

This is like that guy getting fired for that review off gamespot. You can't TELL people how to judge things, its their opinion.

Or am I missing the point?

They effect the public opinion and those same people are morons and vote. If Fox is lying out right about the game then it is not an opinion, it is a lie. They need to be called out on that lie.

Christ almighty that guy's fucking amazing, and Fox News never fails to impress. I love how Geoff Keighly (sp?) straight up asks Cooper, "have you ever played the game before?" and she laughs as she says no, as if it's preposterous that she would gain hands on knowledge with something she's trying to act like an expert on.

The willful stupidity of these people is shocking and amazing. Where do they grow these pod people?

[Xer0]

The willful stupidity of these people is shocking and amazing. Where do they grow these pod people?

but dude, the surveys, think of the surveys

[JasonXe]

her book is getting one star reviews by gamers on amazon. The karma is that there giving their opinon for a book the never read while she gave her opinon on a game she never played. Karna is a bitch and i like it :-)

[Zer0-Sum]

Mass Effect
Fox Responds to EA, Invites onto News Show

20030410-foxnews-lies.jpg This Fox News Mass Effect imbroglio is turning into quite the drama. To bring everyone up to speed: Fox News made erroneous claims about Mass Effect. Game journalist and one-time Kotaku guest editor Geoff Keighley tried to clear the air, but the network's panel and dime store Freud shrink Cooper Lawrence wouldn't listen. The internet got angry and spammed her book's Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble listings. Amazon.com has since turned off the comments and erased user added images for her book's page.

Electronic Arts, likewise, got upset and called out the news network on its "insulting" inaccuracies. The Fox producer of the segment in question blew off Electronic Arts' request for a correction. There still hasn't been a correction or an apology from Fox News. The game publisher added that it won't back down and will continue to "step up when someone maligns our creative teams." According to MTV Multiplayer, Fox News issued this statement:


Fox News Channel has extended several invitations to EA through a company representative to appear on Live Desk With Martha MacCallum to discuss Mass Effect and the segment which aired on Monday. We have received no response.


Hey Fox, the point isn't inviting EA onto your dog and pony show to set the record straight. It's for you to do that yourself. Get a clue. This is libel.

http://kotaku.com/348791/fox-responds-to-ea-invites-onto-news-show

I hope that EA sues the fucking HELL out of Fox New Channel. What is Fox thinking? EA is like Microsoft, they literally have killer pit bull lawyers and billions of dollars. Fox is just being fucking dumb about this.

[nayrk]

I love how at the end the panel discussion everyone is all "wtf i aint buying this for my kids!" gee... isn't that how its supposed to work?

And omg! at the black lady... system has parental locks... if parent chooses to not use them... whos fault is that? And if a parent is so worried about kids seeing this content they wouldn't bring it in the house to begin with!

I feel sorry for Geoff K.

[HolyPaladin]

Fuck Fox News.

My sentiments exactly. I've hated their horse shit for quite some time already, and avoid their "news" network like the plague.

[Zer0-Sum]

My sentiments exactly. I've hated their horse shit for quite some time already, and avoid their "news" network like the plague.

They ARE the Plague....:hugegrin:

[XboxEvolved]

I think what is really amazing is that people are treating a cable news channel like millions of people watch it.

[Zer0-Sum]

EA Has No Interest in Debating Fox News

Invitation or no, Electronic Arts has said that they have no plans to go on TV to talk with Fox "experts."

Posted by James Brightman on Friday, January 25, 2008
EA Has No Interest in Debating Fox News

Following the news that Fox apparently invited Electronic Arts onto "Live Desk With Martha MacCallum" to discuss Mass Effect, we wondered what EA's reaction would be. It seems EA's not interested.

When asked if there's anything new to report, EA VP of Communications Jeff Brown told us, "Not much to say other than there's no interest here in another debate with an 'expert' that will say anything to sell a book. They need to step up and correct the record."

Gamers and industry pundits would seem to agree. Many have said that Fox has to simply issue their own correction and make their viewers aware of what Mass Effect is really about. If someone from EA goes on television and they're treated in the same abrupt, condescending manner that Geoff Keighley was, then that serves no purpose and only stirs the pot further. That said, if a member of EA is actually allowed to speak at some length about Mass Effect and the growth of games as medium, then it could do some good, we believe.

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/ea-has-no-interest-in-debating-fox-news/19210/?biz=1

EA says FUFFUUUUCK YOU FOX NEWS! :moon:

[Gummy]

Cooper is a dumb bitch!

I fucked a Krogan, omg!

[the poe collector]

I'd like to see EA go on tv and kick ass, but they'd probably only end up getting screwed over.

[Zer0-Sum]

I'd like to see EA go on tv and kick ass, but they'd probably only end up getting screwed over.

That is why they wont. They just might sue for libel/slander though. But only if they experience a negative monetary effect from this BS. Otherwise they will just laugh it off.

[Viper]

None of the major networks is any better than the others. They all suck a tremendous amount of Military Industrial Complex wang.


Maybe next they'll report how Mario influences drug use by eating mind and body altering mushrooms and thinks he can fly.

[Gummy]

Green shrooms = extra life!

[Zer0-Sum]

Cooper Lawrence apologizes for Mass Effect attack

By Ben Kuchera | Published: January 28, 2008 - 09:23AM CT

It can be hard to watch the video of FOX News blatantly misleading viewers about the content in Mass Effect. The smug and self-satisfied way talk show host and author Cooper Lawrence ignores the counterarguments and cuts off Geoff Keighley's arguments defending the game is stomach-turning. EA defended the game, a defense which FOX countered by claiming it invited EA on the show, but EA declined. Now Cooper Lawrence is claiming that she spoke out of turn while discussing the game, and apologizes for her remarks.

"I recognize that I misspoke. I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it's kind of a joke," she told the New York Times. "Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it's like pornography. But it's not like pornography. I've seen episodes of Lost that are more sexually explicit."

Let us focus on the fact that FOX viewers aren't likely reading the Times, meaning this is a nice case of having your cake and eating it too. Let us also discount the likelihood that she apologized only because her book was getting pounded by negative reviews on Amazon.com. Going by her words, she showed up to talk about games, was told what to think, and then aggressively argued about a game she knew nothing about. The fact that she was comfortable taking that a demeaning tone on the topic and then admitting that she had no clue what she was talking about when called on it makes her look worse; her argument seems to be this isn't her fault, since she can't be expected to actually learn about what she's attacking.

Hopefully, other empty-headed pundits will be paying attention to this story and will realize that having FOX News tell you what to think in exchange for a few minutes of airtime could have negative consequences. Or they can see it as a blueprint for publicity: you make FOX happy by going along with its agenda, and then you make everyone else happy by apologizing to another news organization. FOX gets to keep its sound bites, you look like a decent human being, and everyone gets the news they want to hear. Fair and balanced, indeed.

EA made Fox and Co. eat a big old fat plate of crow with a side helping humility. I hope they liked their meal....

[Zer0-Sum]

Jack Thompson Defends Mass Effect

jackglasses.JPG

Believe it or not Jack Thompson and I email sorta regularly. Granted he usually emails me bizarre, over-the-top press releases (which I often don't post) and I respond with disjointed quotes from movies, which I hope will one day remove that last wobbly hinge of his. (No luck yet).

Last week Jack emailed me a press release entitled "Grand Theft Auto IV to Be Released April 29; Culture War Begins Now" and after my typical poking, I got on to the topic of the Mass Effect controversy and was shocked, literally out of my socks, to find him defending the game... sort of. Apparently, even anti-gaming crusader Jack Thompson found self-help author Cooper Lawrence (who he refers to as a man), uninformed and the entire controversy contrived. Hellooooo kettle.

To: Brian
From: Jack
Immediate News Release - January 24, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV to Be Released April 29; Culture War Begins Now

To: Jack
From: Brian
I like your new glasses.

To: Brian
From: Jack
Wow, as usual you're grasping the real news here.

To: Jack
From: Brian
I'm surprised you haven't been looking into Mass Effect.
http://kotaku.com/348692/ea-fighting-mad-about-fox-news-but-still-no-correction?cpage=2#viewcomments

To: Brian
From: Jack
Why would you be surprised. I don't see any problem with it. The guy who shot his mouth off about it had no idea what the Hell he was talking about.

To: Jack
From: Brian
You mean you're OK with mass effect?

To: Brian
From: Jack
Of course. This contrived controversy is absolutely ridiculous. Report that, why don't you?

Consider it reported. Now where did my socks go?

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

What is the world coming too? This is just wierd....

[masteratt]

Why would you be surprised. I don't see any problem with it. The guy who shot his mouth off about it had no idea what the Hell he was talking about.

Ummm.....uh.......jeez, ummm....
Isn't it painfully obvious that he is describing himself there?

Someone give him a mirror.

[Zer0-Sum]

QFT^! Jack is smoking crack rocks. He has lost what ever bit of a mind he had left.:tardbang:

[Gummy]

Hahaha, I missed out on the Amazon review!
It's still funny that her book was a total fail either way.

[Viper]

Whoever "told" her about the game prior to going on air probably feels like shit right now. He/She single handedly destroyed her book sales/reviews.

[Zer0-Sum]

Whoever "told" her about the game prior to going on air probably feels like shit right now. He/She single handedly destroyed her book sales/reviews.

On the flip side she is the dumb ass that swallowed the agenda hook, line, and sinker. She is just dumb. I would expect a person with a degree like hers would do a little more critical thinking. I guess not.

[JasonXe]

Ixt1eu11LXk

[<3frosty]

Bwahahahahahhahahahahahha. That gave me a good laugh quite a few times. I loved when they censored that guys face because he was crying from seeing so many penises.

[JasonXe]

lol he does look like a penis :-D

But if you look at the scrolling side bar at the bottom, its gold.

"nintendo announces a new standing game for the Wii system called WiiStanding" lmao.

[Gummy]

Damn, I knew there were penises in the game.