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Fox: Videogames will destroy the Earth (one OTT headline deserves another) photo

Not satisfied with making an utter fool of itself over the Mass Effect "controversy," Fox's pathetic attempts to discredit the games industry have reached new levels of ridiculous as it jumps on a recent hypocritical news piece for its site. The "news" source's Web site has published a story (with a stupid headline) that claims research is now blaming videogames for the eventual decline of Mother Nature herself. It only briefly acknowledged the fact that televisions and computers are actually what the researchers reference in their little assassination attempt. 

The report claims that videogames cause people to stay indoors, and staying indoors, suffering from "videophilia," leads to a decrease in one's interest in nature ... this means that they do not care about natural conservation and ... all the bears commit suicide as a cry for help!? I don't know. I don't know HOW they're trying to pass this one off, it defies all logic and sense.  

What's worse, the story's headline is "Video games may hurt nature," but the actual researchers blame television/computer activity on the whole. Although researchers are blaming this so-called "videophilia" for the decline of nature, Fox is trying to pass the buck quickly from TV to games. This is the Network's most blatant and obvious hypocritical attempt to attack games while claiming no responsibility.

The report features some quotes from researchers who talk about how our disinterest in outdoor pursuits can affect the environment, but they do not just single out videogames. That was Fox's doing entirely, and it's sickening. It's a nice try, but we see what you did there, Fox. Heaven forbid anyone points the finger at a TV network whose sole goal is to keep people glued to its shows (and of course, its commercials) for as long as possible.

Fox, you absolutely disgust me. You are whores, you have no ethical or moral drive whatsoever, and your fear of an industry that is sapping your ratings is very apparent. Go annoy the "Internet Hate Machine" some more so they explode your vans, please.

[Thanks Im OK. Slight edits made to clear up any confusion. The original article came from AP, Fox just jumped on it with its "omg games are harmful," crap]


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125 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Spykron's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:27
Spykron
poor bears...
El Fajitas's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:28
El Fajitas
WHAT
TEH
FUCK

Oh, so just because I raid Karazhan a couple times a week means I don't do stuff?
WRONG! I'm a 3 hour drive from some of the cooler campin' spots in AZ and me and the fam go there a few times a year.

But, hey, I suppose my videophilia is slowly crumbling the mountains, drying the rivers, and darkening the skies!

Goddammit. Why must one wait for them to crawl into their hole to end their lame life as a news network?
Silverhertz's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:30
Silverhertz
lmfao. Fox trying to blame video games so it can try to get everyone to jump onto its 'vidja games r evilz' campaign. I got news for you fox...theres a lot more of us and we aint going nowheres.
Timdabrat's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:30
Timdabrat
*facepalm* Video games are destroying the woprld eh...not the wars they propagate, not all the pollution from their umpteen hundreds of stations, not the cancers caused by their satellite signals (needs source for confirmation), but the little 1's and 0's we spend enjoying playing ourselves, not hiding under our desks in fear of an unexpected nuclear assault, they so delightfully warn us about.
BS3 Owner's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:30
BS3 Owner
CNN! CNN! CNN!

Fox & their hypocritical stances...
notdryad's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:31
notdryad
"Fox, you absolutely disgust me. You are whores and you have no ethical or moral drive whatsoever, and your fear of an industry that is sapping your ratings is very apparent. Go annoy the "Internet Hate Machine" some more so they explode your vans, please."

I applaud that paragraph. Great stuff, Jim.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:32
Dexter345
Breaking: Fox News reports something in a biased and inaccurate manner. Hahah, just kind, that's not breaking.
SourGr8pes's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:33
SourGr8pes
What the fuck are the Democrats doing?! They need to get their asses back in gear so FOX News will focus on them once again, instead of our beloved videogames.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:34
Mxyzptlk
Nature is that thing outside that's filled with dirt and bugs and animals that want to kill me, right?
vexed alex's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:35
vexed alex
JESUS ISN'T REAL!

That is all.
The-Excel's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:36
The-Excel
But honestly, what parents haven't surmised this conclusion already?
the GAMEGOBLIN's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:37
the GAMEGOBLIN
OH SNAP OH NO THEY DIDNT.
007's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:38
007
I can't tell if this is a bad joke or not. I have now lost all faith in everyone and everything... Except myself. I rule.
Seth338's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:39
Seth338
Ah those wacky Fox guys what will they come up with next.

It's surprising these guys are owned by news corp who also control a large amount of British media. Can't even call this an american problem.
Necros's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:39
Necros
Wow. They're getting really desperate for ratings.
PrinceofCannedPeaches's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:40
PrinceofCannedPeaches
I'm still waiting for somebody to hack their asses and play the audio loop from the Mass Effect "sex scene" overlaying their broadcast.

Geraldo Rivera looks like a porn star anyways.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:41
Jim Sterling
Vexed: HIS DIVINITY NOT HIS EXISTENCE IS THE MATTER OF DEBATE ZOMG YOU ARE NOT PRO AT JESUS!
Cheeburga's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:42
Cheeburga
Jimology.
KamikazeTutor's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:43
KamikazeTutor
OH LAWL



You can't escape FOX!
grrza's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:43
grrza
Since when does Faux News even care about the environment??
Aertyr's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:44
Aertyr
I have videophilla, this is no laughing matter. *Cries*
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:45
Cowboy TTop
Not surprised at all, Jim.

Fox are hurting and just digging themselves a deeper grave. They and other sources of tv fear games, and with the current Writers Strike, its made more apparent how stupid tv stations can be.

How funny, because of the tv industries own greed and not giving writers a fair deal, games stand to take more of their bored viewers away from them. Amen to that.
bigfatton's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:48
bigfatton
I'm just done caring about shitty media coverage of video games. Anyone who blindly trusts the media to begin with is already a fucking moron, so them thinking that video games cause AIDS doesn't really bother me.
Luigi takes over's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:49
Luigi takes over
I really can't understand how Fox gets away with such blatant slander and lies. I mean seriously, This isn't the only issue they've lied about. This isn't the only fallacy they've come up with. They've been in the business of OBVIOUSLY "bending"(I use the term loosely because they flat out lie most of the time) the truth for a long time now.

I just have to say, WTF? How come no one cites or sues them? It just doesn't make sense that they can get on the air and make such outlandish, terrible, flat out trashy claims and get away scott free

It blows my mind.
Jonathan Holmes's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:50
Jonathan Holmes
Ten bucks says this is the makes #1 post on Destructoid by this time tomorrow.
Bioautographical's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:53
Bioautographical
"Videophilia". It's like, all they have to do is just attach "-philia" to it and, because things like zoophilia and pedophilia are bad, people will immediately burn their Dreamcasts and sell their homes so as to go live in the jungle with the . . . possums.

Morons.
paulink's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:54
paulink
Sigh, when will this stupid blame game be stopped, Fox?
Sadie G's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:54
Sadie G
I believe everything I see on the news. :(
XEROXM3's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:55
XEROXM3
"Hello, I'm here to talk to you about videophilia. Videophilia is real and will get you if you play too many video games. Haven't you ever wondered why you don't like hunting and long walks through nature? That's the videophilia. So please cure yourself by watching Fox News."
BlackSunEmpire's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:56
BlackSunEmpire
@Luigi

Watch Outfoxed: Rupert Murdochs War on Journalism.

People have tried to sue Faux reporters before, but you have to prove that they knew they were lying, and that it was out of character for them to lie. They lie so frequently, that any thinking person can't possibly take what they say seriously, and therefore it isn't defamation or whatever else you'd like to sue them for.

They also have expensive lawyers.
Puppy Licks's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 20:56
Puppy Licks
oh you gotta be fucking kidding me
Spartacus's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:05
Spartacus
WELL, OBVIOUSLY.
God, could this be any stupider? What f*cking "researcher" would come up with this utter bullshit? To say that videophilia, whatever the hell sort of made-up pathological disorder that is, causes "obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance" is ridiculous enough; I've never heard of it, and one disorder causing all of those would make it vague enough to be caused by any sort of entertainment media. And to go on and say that the sole cause of this is video games, only because the decline in National Park attendees began around the same time the NES came out makes me want to throw up in my ice cream. I don't know how Fox News gets away with this crap.
casualweaponry's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:08
casualweaponry
Shit man, after I play a game of Peggle, I'm all about eating an endangered species, increasing my carbon footprint, decimating a rain forest, and destroying what's left of the Great Coral Reef.

Faux news: We Distort, You Comply (indeed)
Corak's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:09
Corak
I don't know one self respecting person that actually watches that station. Most of the people I know, some republicans, know it is complete shit. The sad thig is there are people that watch it and since its a "news" channel they believe it.

There is no "news" channel anymore, you know like back 20 years ago when there were only 3 and it was actual news. Now when you watch a "news" channel they report on a story, don't really give you any facts, but instead they go to a pannel of "experts" to chime in on it and you are left wondering what the fuck actually happened. Its in this aspect that those 911 conspiracy theorists can thrive because people don't know what to believe anymore.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:09
Samit Sarkar


I had to do it.

Obviously, we know that Fox News is biased to begin with, but as if that wasn’t enough, the study was funded by the Nature Conservancy. Well, what did you think their researchers were going to find?! I’m all for appreciating our environment, but that kind of headline just screams yellow journalism. Well, you know what, you conservative soccer moms and NASCAR dads? You can take your beloved Faux News and go to hell in your minivan.
slapme7times's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:14
slapme7times
what is nature, but a place where every living organism inside it devours another to survive?

I mean... let's look at this logically, do the organisms in nature actually want to be preserved?

go ask a gazelle that question when a lion devours it's intestines while it is still breathing :)

seriously, preserve nature? why?
vexed alex's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:19
vexed alex
@ Christiangamer

:)

@ Jim Sterling

:(
Spartacus's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:22
Spartacus
@slapme7times

I doubt you're reading this, but we do actually want to preserve some nature. We need to find medicines, keep trees for oxygen, have meat and plants to eat, and keep stuff unpolluted. Believe it or not, nature is a good thing to have. But saying that video games will destroy it is downright ignorant.
ScottyG's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:27
ScottyG
But... but... but... watching Fox news causes you to stay indoors!

Dear god Fox, Think of the bears! :(
EatonTJ's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:29
EatonTJ
Really Jim?...

C'mon, this is an AP article and it appears many places:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Less+time+spent+outdoors+means+less+contact+with+nature+and%2C+eventually%2C+less+interest+in+conservation+and+parks.%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

And if you have a vendetta against Fox News, try to come up with something a bit more substantive. The article actually makes some pretty interesting points:

1. More people play video games (or surf the internet, or watch t.v., etc) now than ever.
2. People are spending more of their leisure time inside.
3. As a result, people will care less about what's happening outdoors.)

Is this really controversial to you? It's someone making an argument that as more leisure time is spent indoors, people will place less importance on preserving the outdoors (where they are no longer spending as much time). It's just someone giving their opinion (or really, the AP giving news coverage of someone's opinion)... which is pretty much what you do everyday.

I understand that Fox News totally blew the story on Mass Effect. The hosts of their morning show, and their guest "doctor" had their own agenda to push a story out about "games being dangerous for kids"... so they did no research and let their bias take control.

You, Jim Sterling, are doing the exact same thing. Your bias against Fox News has blinded you from accurate reporting and you are taking a story out of context and attributing it to Fox News when a simple reading of the byline (something I assume you should be able to find as a journalist) would have revealed it is an AP story.

Mr. Sterling, all you are doing is playing to your crowd. You can do better.
therepublica's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:33
therepublica
Wow Jim, looks like you didn't read the story. So you say they didn't single out videogames one time out of the story? Really Jim, what is this then?


The decline, found in both the United States and Japan, appears to have begun in the 1980s and 1990s, the period of rapid growth of video games, they said.

What, you are angry someone actually said something bad about videogames? GOD HELP US ALL! I don't agree with the article, but I also know you can't read very well either; like one other poster said, YOU JUST READ THE BYLINE!
bloodylip's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:35
bloodylip
DON'T LET WARDROX HEAR THIS! HE'LL GO BATSHIT INSANE!
notdryad's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:35
notdryad
A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES?
therepublica's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:38
therepublica
Oh one more thing, lets try not to exaggerate the situation with destroying earth than saying may hurt nature.
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:40
Sharpless
Just to put this in perspective, this same story has been everywhere, over the past few days - not just Fox News. (I subscribe to tons of RSS feeds, and I saw it at least a half-dozen times.) I agree that Fox's sensationalist headline is disgusting, but it's not like they invented the story or were the only ones spinning it that way.
Sharpless's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:41
Sharpless
@alex

duhJeenyus's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:41
duhJeenyus
Gamers are the new minority. I wouldn't be surprised if I started to see news reports about cops shooting gamers for having wii-motes in their hands ("I thought he had a gun...or a lightsaber"), getting beat up and detained at airports for having an xbox 360 in their backpack ("I thought it was a bomb"), or for wearing a Mass Effect t-shirt ("He looked like one of them...gamers"). All on Hannity & Colmes.
EatonTJ's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:44
EatonTJ
@duhJeenyus:

I would be surprised.
Dr Milkdad's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:45
Dr Milkdad
Breaking: Fox News is destroying humanity!

WASHINGTON — As people spend more time listening to Fox News with their televisions and computers, the impact is not just on their mental health, researchers say, it's affecting humanity as we know it.
--------------------
That's from researchers and experts so you know that shits true
Qraze's Avatar - Comment posted on 02/06/2008 21:45
Qraze
it's all because fewer people are watching tv and more are playing games. fncking sad they blame everything but themselves. an fox nonetheless. give me an address, i will show fox what a video game player can do. you think it would...you know it helps the environment because we aren't out their polluting and pissing into rivers driving our resource eating go machines to the airport that once was lush forest. i am tired of this.those fncking hypocrites, does anybody want this to stop? getta hold of fox,nbc,abc,mtv and lets tell them of this.only we "the people have control"they just cover up truth with lies.take my love,take my family,take my money,take my life, but do not take my truth. i love truth and fox is making up fairy tales so they can say"we reported it first. psn:Qraze qraze1@charter.net please hit me up. together all stand, divided i fail.and i love JESUS! and i love all.the way of truth is THE WAY
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