Initially, I had no intention of watching this "report," much less posting it on Destructoid, but after reading the transcript on
GamePolitics, I finally broke down and sat through the whole sorry affair. Now, I may goof on my research now and again, and I hold my hands up to that, but watching this video is akin to watching a group of men talking about how painful period pains are. These are people with no experience or knowledge whatsoever regarding
Mass Effect, trying to pass themselves off as experts and it's finally ground me down to the point of sorrow.
It's hard to remain angry about these kinds of ignorant attacks against videogames, because they've become so frequent and so mind bogglingly stupid, that it takes far too much energy to be mad. You just bash your head against a brick wall until your skull is liquid and you've slumped onto the ground, unable to do anything but twitch. The smug ignorance of Cooper Lawrence as she giggles and grins her way through Geoff Keighley's eloquent and intelligent debate is disgusting, and the way that Geoff's sole voice of reason is effectively squashed in order to hand over to a panel of people who'd clearly never seen more than thirty seconds of game footage is a depressing shame.
Most shameful of all, however, is the pitiful reaction of host Martha MacCallum who answered the rightful claim that "it's up to parents to control what their kids are seeing," with "it is, unfortunately."
Unfortunately ... it's become unfortunate that parents have to take responsibility for their own flesh and blood. I don't even think I need to point out just how miserable that statement is. I'm at a loss, really. For what it's worth, I think Geoff did an admirable, if futile job, and I'd like to thank both Lawrence and MaCallum for reminding me why misanthropy is almost noble.
01/22/2008 23:54
01/22/2008 23:54
01/22/2008 23:56
01/22/2008 23:57
This just shows how ignorant people are. Apparently they would be happy if all of our rights were taken away so it would make it easier to raise children. Or more aptly, not raise their own children.
The world is in a sick state of affairs when you have to make up lies about how bad and indecent video games are.
01/22/2008 23:57
01/23/2008 00:01
The one woman's point that a lot of children let themselves in after school and can go and have free reign over the video games is made entirely invalid by the part run earlier in the segment where Microsoft explains that parents can quite easily lock out certain game ratings and limit play time.
The actual informed debate was cut short so a bunch of jerkoffs who know little about the topic could have a little roundtable discussion amongst themselves.
And then, yes, it's not a right of our government to control what we can and cannot play, but rather, that onus belongs to the parents. Unfortunately.
01/23/2008 00:01
Hopefully Fox will recieve as much backlash for this as Kevin McCollough did for his uninformed drivel-spewing outbursts.
01/23/2008 00:02
Worst possible scenario is Kudo Tsunoda on the tail end of a 3 day booze and coke bender defending Mass Effect on Fox News.
01/23/2008 00:03
01/23/2008 00:05
But seriously, WTF was up with that panel in the second half??? Do people really listen to the completely vapid nonsense that comes out of their mouths? People need to stop worrying so much about children and videogames, and start worrying a little more about the corrupting influence of Fox News on adult mental states.
01/23/2008 00:06
01/23/2008 00:07
"But you have to pick up the box and look at the back for the rating and then..you have to be involved in what your kids are looking at."
GOD-FOR-FUCKING BID YOU HAVE TO BE INVOLVED WITH YOUR CHILD'S LIFE! These people are morons. And the Black woman says that it's dangerous to have games like that in the house because a kid is going to say "I'm going to play my dad's video games." Did she not read Microsoft's statement about parental controls? Is she an idiot?
I'm just FUCKING tired of these things because no one gets to have a word in the topic. Anything that's worth listening to, anyway. What's the point? What's the point if you're going to have these right-wing dip shits have more time to spew out their ignorant word vomit? Geoff did not get the time he deserved to talk about the topic.
There has to be some major news cooperation that has some intelligent and lengthy discussion about this.'
"I'm surprised that this game wasn't rated AO."
FOR SHOWING A FUCKING SIDEBOOB AND AN ASSCRACK!? If that's the case, you dumb cunt, then we should have any movie with a sex scene be rated X.
01/23/2008 00:07
01/23/2008 00:08
Goes to show that Fox News is crap.
01/23/2008 00:10
I can't believe this video. They give Geoff a grand total of maybe 30 seconds to defend his position... Of course, I guess I should have expected this from Fox (Faux?) News
01/23/2008 00:12
"It has an M rating, says Sexual Themes rught on the box"
"But don't you think that--"
"It has an M rating"
"Right...but what about--"
"It has an M rating"
"Yes I see but if--"
"M RATING".
"BUT THE CHILDREN!"
"ITS M!".
Geoff Keighley is awesome.
01/23/2008 00:13
Ms. Cooper,
I recently watched your interview on Fox News regarding the nude content within the videogame Mass Effect and I was quite taken aback by the level of misinformation that was displayed.
"If you look at the statistics, who is playing videogames? Adolescent males - not their dads."
This was the first statement that caught my attention. It appears that you are unaware that the average age of a videogame player is 33. Only 20% of game players are males under the age of 17 (compared to 31% of gameplayers being females over the age of 18). I'm afraid you have fallen prey to the stereotype that adolescent males are the ones who make up the majority of game players.
Source: http://www.theesa.com/facts/gamer_data.php
"Seeing these women as objects of desire, as these hot bodies. They don't show women as being valued for anything other than their sexuality."
I would agree with this statement to the extent that this is a general trend in the media that is problematic. It gives young men the wrong idea about what to expect from women and can lead them to objectify females. However, this really is not a prevalent theme in Mass Effect in particular, which you might know if you had played the game. As Geoff explained, the partial nudity exists for only a few minutes in a 30 hour game. It seems that some people are unable to see nudity in any form of media without considering it objectifying. It is important to remember that it can also be used to further a narrative of a romantic relationship. The sexual situations come as a result of the relationships you have with the characters.
It just seems to me that any time nudity is in a videogame, the media fails to consider the context. Sexuality is a part of human nature and I don't see a reason why a videogame cannot explore this aspect of humanity without a barrage of uninformed criticism. Notice that we do not see news segments discussing nudity everytime it appears in a film (wherein it is usually infinately more graphic than what is displayed in Mass Effect). The reason is simple - people think videogames are just for kids. This is untrue, but most people refuse to believe it.
01/23/2008 00:16
Here it is the big porn scene hahaha!
01/23/2008 00:18
Its a good thing all that partial nudity from the movies that nutjob watched in the 80's didn't make her a wacky repressed cunt. Research also shows that parents don't talk to their kids about sex and they have to figure all that shit out by themselves, or better yet, in college when it's time to get drunk and explore the joys of rape! Research that!
Golgo 13, anyone?
01/23/2008 00:18
01/23/2008 00:19
Man, I feel bad for Geoff. He’s absolutely right: the psychologist and the panel were completely misrepresenting Mass Effect, and video games as a medium in general. It seems that any discussion of video games on the mainstream media just turns out to be a way for non-gaming adults to spout fallacies and propagate smear campaigns against video games. So, Martha...parenting is a chore, is it? It’s unfortunate that parents have to regulate what their children have access to? The government should do your job for you? Maybe you never should’ve had kids in the first place, if you weren’t ready for the task of raising them.
01/23/2008 00:21
Anyways I bet very few kids under 18 would have the attention span to play through the whole game and even get the X-rated scenes as well. You really deserve it. Do you get any achievements for it?
If no, then you should.
01/23/2008 00:22
01/23/2008 00:23
To quote the stupid woman herself -- "Let me at 'er, Martha."
01/23/2008 00:24
01/23/2008 00:25
01/23/2008 00:28
01/23/2008 00:29
Actually I have to comment on this. One defense that never gets used but I SO WANT someone to say is that when someone says "Well the University of Elves says that games have a damaging effect on young people" to just go "Actually the study I have here says that games turn 99% of people OFF violence, get them more friends and usually increase the amount of money they earn each year two fold". As soon as they say "Can you prove that statement?" you just say "Can you prove yours?". Combat BS with BS.
01/23/2008 00:29
That's nice.
01/23/2008 00:30
01/23/2008 00:32
Awesome work! Hope you hear back from her, although I doubt that shameful fraud will have the guts to say anything when presented with the cold hard facts of JUSTICE!!
01/23/2008 00:32
01/23/2008 00:33
01/23/2008 00:34
01/23/2008 00:38
This statement infuriates me to no end. Yes, video games are guilty of doing this... however, FAR FUCKING LESS than most other forms of media, notably movies and television. There are far more respectable women in video games than in god damn television. Look at Super Smash Bros.; Zelda, Peach, Samus... all hardcore badasses.
God I hate people.
And the fact that I'm a psychology major. *spits on myself*
01/23/2008 00:39
Best way is for people to educate themselves, unfortunately many are too lazy to do even that, and settle for spoon fed lies and ignorance.
I've always said, the established media see games as a rival for peoples time and money, and will thus always seek to dumb the games industry down and focus on anything remotely negative about them. They fear the day people switch off the news and on their consoles.
I never trust these so called experts (even Hitler had some of them). It gets like the very draconian nations we are trying to topple every day. And the weird thing is these same propaganda pushing news outlet, take cheques for running game ads on their stations. It seems that developer/publisher money is good enough for them, but the truth about games isn't for their public.
Its no different in the U.K with Sky News or BBC either.
01/23/2008 00:43
that right winged bitch on the left in the beginning can go suck a chode. she has no idea what the research means, so instead she twists the data to represent her side of the argument.
i think i had about 5 "you've got to be kidding me" moments when my jaw just dropped at what these... artards are saying about the game industry.
my dad loves playing video games. LOVES them. and hes fuckin 60. given that he mostly plays gliding and flight simulators, they are video games nonetheless.
kids are NOT the majority gamers for god's sake, they're just blown a lot more out of proportion because it can make bs news.
geoff, again, man props.
@everyone
i am so glad we all have a decently level head about all this crap. i just wish people outside of our community LISTENED.
01/23/2008 00:45
........
"Fox News:
News for the criminally inane!"
01/23/2008 00:49
01/23/2008 00:50
Seriously after the chick said she never played the game, I would've ended the conversation right there. It just goes back to people who bash a game they've never played. Reading up a bit on it, watching a few vids, then they think they know all about the game when clearly they don't.
01/23/2008 00:51
01/23/2008 00:56
if you wanna see something funny, you should see reviews of the book. Most people don't even read reviews, but if they see 1 star they just steer clear of it. serves her right.
01/23/2008 00:57
01/23/2008 00:58
01/23/2008 01:01
I'd also like to point out that becoming one with the Asari gal (no penetration at any point) requires a powerful amount of thought, rationalization, and just old fashioned flirting. Kind of like a REAL RELATIONSHIP.
Old media is a joke. I expect its death within 15 years.
01/23/2008 01:05
and could someone tell me why on earth they had that panelist part at the end? Rather than let the expert tell you something about the topic, we are given crap some idiot has trouble reading the back of a box. I honestly can't understand how anyone gets their news from TV any more.
01/23/2008 01:07
01/23/2008 01:11
01/23/2008 01:12
"Let me at 'em, Martha"? Fuck you. Get your own talk show, if you want to work your own agenda and call in your friends to help you gang up on your guests. You're on a major news network, so act like it.
What the hell are we supposed to do when that's who's against us, people who have no rhyme or reason, who bask in their own arrogance and sense of superiority as they and their cronies gang up on their "childish, game-playing" opponents? I would love to've seen Adam Sessler or Chris Kohler (they originally had contacted him) on there, people who wouldn't have taken any guff and would've talked their asses off.
01/23/2008 01:13
01/23/2008 01:15
Something needs to be done about this. I'm serious. The industry needs someone who can reach out to the housewives. Someone who can sympathize with their desire to protect children from violence and sex and keep them "kids", but at the same time can educate people to realize that the video game industry isn't filled with depraved people.
Also games made by people other than Rockstar need some press.
I think Ninendo needs to bring some Wii's and DSes to Fox news and some smiles, but that's an aside.
01/23/2008 01:18
01/23/2008 01:19
01/23/2008 01:19
01/23/2008 01:20
What happened to Silent Movies and Black and White films?
What happened to Record Albums and 8track?
What happened, things evolved? I don't get it. I thought everything moved forward. Except video games. Which always stay the same. Aren't we still playing Pacman? What the hell.
01/23/2008 01:26
01/23/2008 01:36
01/23/2008 01:36
01/23/2008 01:36
This whole argument has the merit of complaining about a sideboob in an R rated movie: Utterly pointless.
And this coming from a society that grabbed the pitchforks and torches when Elvis would gyrate his hips...
01/23/2008 01:38
oh and the other day i was playing halo and i shot my freind because i thought he had an overshield. damn i just cant tell the difference some times...according to a study
01/23/2008 01:43
I also like how they say that kids won't be able to tell virtual sex from real sex. So by that logic, when kids watch this 2 minute scene they'll all think that its okay to have sex with any blue skinned alien that they see walking down the street! Oh the humanity!
01/23/2008 01:44
seriously folks. If they have time to bitch and complain about 30 seconds of sex, we have time to bitch and complain about how stupid media continues to rub themselves to all.
01/23/2008 01:47
These uneducated researcher-wannabe´s really need to do their homework sometimes. This report stinks.
Fovorite Quote:"I´m not gonna let ME into my house"
Sad, sad, sad...
01/23/2008 01:48
01/23/2008 01:54
gotta love how they cut off right when Geoff gets worked up. I wish to write hate mail towards Fox. Matter of fact, I may just do such a thing tonight.
01/23/2008 02:20
And being fair in it, that's the most important part of it.
Among the things I spotted wrong with this, here's my list!
1. A new video game leaving nothing to imagination: Overdone line, completely false once again. Mass Effect is not perfect in this sense, no game is.
2. Some parts of the game featuring full digital nudity: Again false. It happens once and it is not full digital nudity. You get a side boob and a very brief butt shot. There's worse in PG-13 movies.
3. The person that's playing the game gets to decide exactly whats going to happen between them: A practically completely false statement. The only control the player has is whether or not the scene happens at all.
4. Critics say the game is being marketed to kids and teenagers: Another lie. This lie on behalf of the critics moreso. This game was not marketed to kids and teenagers, and received no additional hype than any other game. Simple fact is that it is a video game, it had hype, thus critics just spouting bullshit trying to meet their quota like a cop pulling someone over for going 1 MPH over the speedlimit. These critics are archaeic thinkers and are still stuck in the NES/Atari Generation.
5. Cooper Lawrence's New Book: A failure on her part to not abide by the very words she is speaking. For someone who appears and speaks about "How boys see girls" I wonder why she wore her fancy getup and even had her book mentioned on the show? Her little "I'm a sexy gal in a girl power pose" she had going on for the cover of her book speaks exactly against the point she was trying to make. If she was actually serious about the situation, she wouldn't pose for her book or even mention it. She would let her words say what she is trying to convey and not gather attention to her book via the picture on the cover.
6. All that jazz about monitoring the time and the options: Complete lie once again. I'm surprised these people still have jobs.
7. The Statistics: According to Cooper, the statistics still say that adolescent males are playing video games. Despite that female gamers are on the rise and the actual average age of a gamer is in their twenties.
8. We all know the research says that violence has a desensitizing effect: Many things desensitize. They don't all get on fox news. And why is that? Because it's natural. People naturally become more and more desensitized as life goes on. What are we going to do, begin censoring that image where the ball tossed by the pitcher hits the bird in mid flight at a MLB game? I'm sure most have seen it. It was broadcast no less than 100 times on national news. Not censored once. Matter of fact, it was slowed down to the point where you can see the bird hit, feathers flying everywhere and all. Desensitizing is of no effect in our culture anymore.
9. The developing mind: A completely pointless notation that was ruled out when she claimed lies about the age and desensitization.
10. Objects of Desire: Sex Sells. No TV station or advertising board. No Magazine or Newspaper is void of this. And every publisher or distributor is guilty of selling sex at least a little bit. This is no more Bioware's fault than it is Fox News itself, or Miss Cooper for putting herself in that pose on her book.
11. It's a Man in this game deciding..: Again false. I also picked up that slight condescending tone on the "Man" part.
12. "Cooper have you ever played Mass Effect?" "No": This is the part where a lot of gamers get really huffy about "if you don't actually know what goes on in the game, what right do you have to speak about it?" In her defense, I do this at times myself on different topics. I think we all do. But she partially laughed when saying No, as if it was something extremely unbelievable. It was as though Geoff was asking her if she had ever masturbated in a public restroom. It was a simple question that did not need to be associated with the laugh. What does that laugh imply? It can imply many things. Perhaps she feels that games are below her, video games are smut, girls don't play video games, etc.. Whatever the reason, I think her scope is extremely narrow - and I now have a good idea of how well thought her book will be.
13. "[sarcasm] Right. And the young boys will be choosing not to have sex. That'll be what they choose. [/sarcasm]": That is not Biowares fault. The choice is there, but it is not forced. Bioware cannot control who gets their hands on an M Rated game, and what they do with it when they get home.
14. "Who can argue that Luke Skywalker meets Debbie Does Dallas is a good thing?": Pretty much no one unless you just happen to be cruising the porn aisle, which i'm fairly certain there's a porno out there based on Star Wars. But that's the problem. This is not that scenario. This is an example of a misinformed little knowledged douchebag speaking to a large audience about things he knows nothing about. In reality, this is more of an example of "Luke Skywalkers meets Princess Leia in that slave outfit".
15. "I'm definitely not going to let Mass Effect into my house": The smartest thing coming on behalf of Fox News throught the entire segment. Parents have ultimate control. You don't want it in your house, don't let it. If your kid wanted to bring a rat into the house to keep as a pet, or a lizard they found in the front yard, would the parent allow it? Sure it's not going to cause the end of the world to come about, and it might be dangerous in some fashion - especially if mishandled. But it's up to the parents to make this call. But if little Timmy decides he wants to have big brother/sister or wants to test his luck at a store and then smuggle it into the home - it's still up to the parents to put precautions up to prohibit the experience.
16. "Once its in the house.. Not always supervised.": An excellent point, but as the microsoft response earlier in the segment said, there are multiple options available to parents to block this kind of content. Even if the parent is not around, if the child does not know the password - the child cannot play a game of that rating. Period. I say congrats to this person to not paying attention to the very talkings going on that were taking place no more than 5 feet away.
17. "Not sure why it didn't get an adults only rating": Interesting comment. Has she played the game? Doubt it. Did she read the cover of the box? Doubt it. Did she do any research at all? Doubt it. Is she just tossing her commentary in there so she can bring up some kind of contribution to the talks so her boss doesn't call her useless and fire her? You'd be sure as fuck that this was the case jimbob!
18. "This board that rates them needs to have their head examined.": Irony.. The Nuclear Hot Sauced Irony. The board does their jobs correctly and labels the game as it was supposed to be. But obviously the half of the newscasters have completely failed to properly research a game before speaking about it. If anything can be learned from this, it's that "Youtube is not supposed to do Your Job for you."
19. "What happened to Atari and Pinball and Pac-Man?": Firstly, she looks like she is in her early twenties. If she is much older than that to actually be around in Atari's big days, then I have to say kudos to keeping up the looks! Secondly, Pac Man was in 1980. A lot has changed since then. If we went on dependancy of the newscasters to bring things about to our attention, there's a hell of a lot to say about assassinations, murder, weapons, computing, consoles and almost everything else under the sun. It's their job to remain informed, especially in a group that makes a living to bring information to the public at large. When a person cannot fathom what is going on in the gaming market, considering the weeks of coverage on multiple 'game-related' ambulance chasers such as Jack Thompson, then they are obviously not doing their job.
The total of all of this? Somebody needs to start a petition of making multiple images, printing them out and every single one of them mailing Fox News with the bold letters across the image reading "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!"
01/23/2008 02:21
But seriously, the amount of ignorance in there is incredible, and the worst part is that to the average fox viewer Geoff probably ends up looking like the fool just because he's the one with the different, even if truthful and educated, opinion.
01/23/2008 02:22
Ah well, what can I do now but apologize and promise you guys it'll never happen again.
But it could have been worse. It could have been a giant wall of text. At least I spaced it out and all, eh! Made it nice and pretty to read?.. Though, honestly, if it weren't my own post - i'd likely say to m'self "Too Long. Didn't Read."
Ah well, sorry again.
01/23/2008 02:26
Well firstly, Bioware is not at fault for The Internet. They cannot be held responsible for anything going on outside of their own web domain. Anybody speaking against video games should know that and remember that as they are speaking.
On a latter note. Most of my friends are female. They hold the same position on games as I do. They are just entertainment. At the most they affect my life, are inspiration, pure fun, a cure for boredom or an escape from daily life.
Also... Curious how she knew you could access porn on your phone... *squint*... I thought about that for a few seconds then became suddenly very curious. I assume if I mailed her and asked, that she would simply respond with a Cooperian Laughing No response... I just made that one up, Cooperian. I am quite proud of it.
01/23/2008 02:27
01/23/2008 02:35
01/23/2008 02:38
01/23/2008 02:39
01/23/2008 02:41
01/23/2008 02:46
Seriously, I don't believe I've ever facepalmed so much is such a short period of time.
01/23/2008 02:50
01/23/2008 02:58
I mean, holy shit! The psycologist called him "darlin'", and the host used that tired cliche that "pandora's box has been opened".
Plus it's pretty hypocritical of FOX of all stations to lecture about how violence and sex desensitize kids.
01/23/2008 03:08
01/23/2008 03:21
LOL! Exactly.
01/23/2008 03:44
O_o
01/23/2008 03:49
only because you don't know how to work the fucking lock! (parental control)
01/23/2008 04:01
01/23/2008 04:07
Now, if we are talking about the Xbox 360, well, yeah. I can buy it then.
01/23/2008 04:13
01/23/2008 05:00
Also, I always the thought that being a parent was to, you know, parent things, like your children. I guess i was wrong. But thats what the government and religion are for I guess.
01/23/2008 05:03
That video made me far angrier than I wanted to be first thing in the morning, bastards!
01/23/2008 05:08
01/23/2008 05:37
Really? Really? You honestly think that games should be regulated to the point that you don't actually have to act like a true parent? It's like they haven't heard of the ESRB; the panel that was formed because people couldn't spend five fucking seconds to watch the game that they had bought for their own child.
America=Epic fail.
01/23/2008 05:37
And want to talk about warping the minds of the kids? What about all the shows on Fox television? Certainly Family Guy or whatever reality show they are running involving the winners gangbanging a midget is more of an assault on the children than sideboob.
So yeah, Fox turns out more one sided, ill informed, sensationalist garbage. This time its about video games instead of politics. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
01/23/2008 05:42
Oh wow, couldn't even listen to half of this, got way too embarrasing... Cooper is [censored]*, and from what I heard (and I would have loved to hear it all but the idiocy of the others is too much) Geoff needs much love and appreciation.
*What I think about her is censored, she on the other hand unfortunately isn't....
01/23/2008 05:50
I hope everyone on that panel and Cooper get raped and run over by a car today.
01/23/2008 05:58