Mass Effect and Fox "News"...

[Dr.Jeckyl]

Since this is kind of in the middle of general conversation and gaming related I'll just put it here is Chit-Chat..

Anyone following the happenings of Mass Effect and a show on Fox "News"?

What started it..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...pr_product_top

EA Games took a little more straight-forward approach with this letter.

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 channel 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 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.

More...

Linky1

And the latest...

Linky2

Thoughts?

[BajaBravo]

How do people like this get jobs as reporters? Why do they put ignorant people on TV?

[farmboy]

here is the number one rule I live by:
if you don't know what you're talking about, shut your fucking mouth.  I know enough law to tell you this is grounds for slander.  This is intentionally misrepresenting and degrading not only a corporation, but an entire medium of entertainment, and it is illegal.

[achilles118]

ok, well, yeah sex in the game and you dont like it got it. movies...............yep. internet........................oh boy. just a ratings getter like every other network. it probably wont influence the games sales to much. people who want to keep there kids in a shell normally wont let there kids have games like that anyway.





btw..........they completely skipped leisure suit lary and went after this?!

[MiStA PePPa]

I stopped watching after that (expletive) in purple started talking.

"It's made from Microsoft's Xbox system..."  WTF?!?!

[Lostroth]

wow, just wow. i played Mass Effect, the "sex" scene they are talking about last 5 seconds, has no nudity, and no "sex" whatsoever in it. it also has a Mature rating, so no 14 year old kid is going to be buying it.

[Da Fish]

Great..... I wonder if any one actually believes anything that comes on Fox news these days?

What is bizarre is that they skipped right by the trouble Rockstar are having getting Manhunt 2 released, which is alleged to be (note: i haven't seen it or played it) perpetual violence all the way through.

Still I wonder how many of those people sat there have films like Basic Instinct in their movie collection? (not including the guy from spike.... that's a given!)

Surely, given the fact that sex and violence are part of human nature (given the people here with kids and who have served in the forces), it shouldn't be completely about the content but almost entirely about the context of the sex and violence?