Fox News Challenges EA Over Mass Effect Explicit Sex

[emorphien]

Different groups accept and approve of children being exposed to different things. Nudity isn't as sacred in other cultures as it is here in the USA. Is either one right or wrong? I don't know.

This crusade against Mass Effect and similar games is ridiculous though. The game has an M rating and is not intended for kids. This shouldn't be policed by the government, conservative groups (like Fox) shouldn't be harrassing game companies over it either. Same story for Jack Thompson going after Rockstar for their games. If there's a problem where these games are influencing kids in an inappropriate way, the vast majority of the time I think we can look to the parents. Who else is allowing their child to be babysat by a game with a rating on it specifically stating it's for a mature audience?

I never had this issue when I was growing up, my parents knew what I played or wanted to play and/or new me well enough they didn't have to monitor it too closely. I also never got completely absorbed in any game like some of my childhood friends did. Different people have different personalities and are more affected or addicted to different kinds of games. Just look at WoW, any game that plays like that bores me to death but I know people who have ruined their lives by playing it too much. They are adults now though, it's their job to monitor themselves, but when you're a kid your parents have to know what it is you're doing and how much of it you are doing.

IMO there's far too much electronic parenting. People let the TV, video games or computers babysit the kids. I know people that do this and it may work for some people but it doesn't work for everyone. Some parents may not be concerned about their kids being at a nude beach, or seeing violent content, and that isn't my concern. They should monitor whether they've passed the point where the kid is being overexposed to something that affects him or her in a negative or dangerous way. If the way to do that is block the child from being exposed to everything, then that's what you do (and some people do although I don't entirely agree with that either).

I was more of a Legos kid anyway.

 

[Johnd]

I was more of a Legos kid anyway.

Precisely. And if you were ("a Legos kid") then it seems you did not have this prolific exposure to adult things as children do nowadays. If this game has an "M" rating, which I assume is an acronym for mature...then the Fox story is much ado about not much. No one here has said the government ought to parent our children. Access by children to adult things is another matter entirely.

 

[emorphien]

M is indeed "M for Mature" and essentially every game people have cried foul about (including Grand Theft Auto) has an M rating I believe.

I certainly watched movies that had some violent content or nudity when I was young, or I played games where I shot and killed people, but never in great quantities (by my own choosing for the most part). I agree with you that the big issue is the prolific exposure many parents seem to be allowing in exchange for them actually having to take the time to parent.

 

[Johnd]

M is indeed "M for Mature" and essentially every game people have cried foul about (including Grand Theft Auto) has an M rating I believe.

I certainly watched movies that had some violent content or nudity when I was young, or I played games where I shot and killed people, but never in great quantities (by my own choosing for the most part). I agree with you that the big issue is the prolific exposure many parents seem to be allowing in exchange for them actually having to take the time to parent.

No doubt some, if not many are guilty of this. But some control outside of the parents is necessary. It seems that you don't agree with that. Or a 5 year old could buy Hustler, and a 6 year old a shotgun.

 

[emorphien]

Well I agree that there should be ratings and I don't disagree that children should be blocked from buying those things (even though I have no idea how or why a child should in most cases be in any situation to buy anything like that without their parents). I also don't disagree with rating systems however the solution isn't to go after the game companies. If people want something done to protect children from these things then laws need to be in place controlling how they're sold, not produced.

 

[Rickster71]

Precisely. And if you were ("a Legos kid") then it seems you did not have this prolific exposure to adult things as children do nowadays. If this game has an "M" rating, which I assume is an acronym for mature...then the Fox story is much ado about not much. No one here has said the government ought to parent our children. Access by children to adult things is another matter entirely.

Agreed.
IMHO, the OP's genesis was to take potshots at Fox news.

Though, as you mentioned.
The story, "Is much ado about not much."
We know, all news media loves this type of 'alarmist crap'

 

[emorphien]

IMHO, the OP's genesis was to take potshots at Fox news.

Agreed. I'm all for taking cheap shots at Fox. They're pretty worthless and they deserve it, but it's not like many other "news" outlets are any better these days. Just acknowledge what it is, a comical reaction to an alarmist article by a worthless "news" source.

 

[Johnd]

Well I agree that there should be ratings and I don't disagree that children should be blocked from buying those things (even though I have no idea how or why a child should in most cases be in any situation to buy anything like that without their parents). I also don't disagree with rating systems however the solution isn't to go after the game companies. If people want something done to protect children from these things then laws need to be in place controlling how they're sold, not produced.

Then we agree. Cheers.

 

[Wayde Robson]

IMHO, the OP's genesis was to take potshots at Fox news.

I’m not sure that what I did was to take a “pot shot” at Fox News per-se. If that is what is being said. I just thought it was an interesting drama being played out between EA and Fox. Video games like Mass Effect are the “new movies”.

Understandably it’s difficult for the “old media” to see it that way and they go on the attack. I lump Fox with all mainstream TV news as that old media that is threatened by this new media. They see video games as being inherently for kids. Well, the kids have grown up and have mortgages and kids of their own. They have no problem seeing sophisticated games like Mass Effect being the province of adults and not children.

But the mainstream media loves the ‘save the children’ angle when vilifying what it doesn’t understand.

I am currently in the midst of a game of Mass Effect and it’s really quite a credit to the video game as a vehicle for storytelling. It’s basically a movie where you choose the outcome. The “adult” situations are pretty tame, no different than a PG13 movie.

There is a big picture at stake here. Video games are new media. Fox News, like CNN and ABC News etc are old media. Old media will always be alarmist about video games and Internet because it’s replacing them.

I see it as relevant to Audioholics readers because Home Theater if anything is about do-it-yourself media. The lines between hi-fi, Home Theater and Internet technologies are becoming blurred. I say: Bring it on. I personally love the chaos of it all. It’s fascinating.

 

[Johnd]

Well, thanks for the explanation Wayde. Sheeesh. Tough isn't descriptive enough...now you must explain your intentions after posting your report.

Oddly enough, I see a need for some governmental control, though not of the games per se, but how easily they are made available to underage children. Extreme gratuitous (or any kind, really) violence is at the top of the list, followed by explicit sexual content.

I never saw your post as a gratuitous attack on Fox. Although, for the life of me, I do not know why they are so undeserving.

My interpretation of your report is as follows:

1) An appetizer of some much appreciated humor with a play on words: witty...I like that.
2) An entree of the facts. Fox put spin on their report...made it "juicier"...ostensibly for a wider viewer count, by claiming that the game was all about violence, and that a Youtube sampling was representative of the entire game, which, apparently, it is not.
3) A dessert of Fox's refusal to issue a retraction, and how mainstream media can misrepresent the facts.

A smorgasbord Wayde. I get it. Some may still refuse to receive "it", even after your explanation. Kudos for your earnestness. I truly abhor misunderstandings. How your report can be so easily tangentialized is beyond me. I hope you have a thick skin...this crowd can be tough.

 

[Wayde Robson]

I appreciate it Johnd.

I enjoy the conversation, I don't really feel I had to defend anything I said. I just like getting involved. It's great that there was enough to say about this story to fill three pages. it's a good thing.

 

[Johnd]

I did not mean to infer that you needed to apologize. My rant was my dry humor again. Is it not enough to print the report? Of course there will be some misunderstandings...it's inevitable. Inference is usually the biggest culprit, I find. As I initially wrote, it was a good read. A tidbit that I had not known before. That is one of the good things about this site: new info, with feedback and explanation from the moderators and editor. Ahh the patience of Ghandi. And yes, it is good: it's of general interest...at least here at Audioholics.

 

[Alamar]

What gets me is that I can watch Nip Tuck or The Shield and see far worse things than what you get in Mass Effect. Those shows are accessible to a far wider number of children than Mass Effect ever will be and they have similar "ratings" [Mature ....]

Of course I doubt Fox News would bang on an FX TV show ....

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As far as regulations go I don't see the point per-se. There are V chips in TVs / the equivalent parental lockouts in gaming consoles / etc. The tools are there for anyone that cares to use them .....

The only thing that I see that's close to a problem is Joe-Sixpack-cashier at WalMart doesn't check [and the computer doesn't prompt them to do a similar to alcohol check] the age of the buyer of a Mature rated video game. This just means that whatever existing laws that are on the books need to be enforced and for people to take the age recommendations on material seriously.

 

[Rickster71]

The phrasing I interpreted as pot shots at Fox news, is as follows:
"Fox News has challenged EA to an on-air monkey court"
" Disguised a debate it was a typical Fox News piece"
I don't like Fox news any more or less than other news; which isn't much.
In my view, all of media drinks from the trough of sensationalism.

This type of knee jerk reaction, has been around a long time.
All under the guise of saving the children.

Remember the story, when Elvis was on the ED Sullivan Show?
The media refused to film him below the chest; he swiveled
his hips too much.
In the New York Times, "Jack Gould began his review:
Elvis Presley had 'injected movements of his tongue and indulged in wordless singing that were singularly distasteful.
'Over stimulating the physical impulses of the teenagers was 'a gross national disservice.' "

Unfortunately, little has changed in 2008.

 

[Johnd]

What gets me is that I can watch Nip Tuck or The Shield and see far worse things than what you get in Mass Effect. Those shows are accessible to a far wider number of children than Mass Effect ever will be and they have similar "ratings" [Mature ....]

Of course I doubt Fox News would bang on an FX TV show ....

******************************************************

As far as regulations go I don't see the point per-se. There are V chips in TVs / the equivalent parental lockouts in gaming consoles / etc. The tools are there for anyone that cares to use them .....

The only thing that I see that's close to a problem is Joe-Sixpack-cashier at WalMart doesn't check [and the computer doesn't prompt them to do a similar to alcohol check] the age of the buyer of a Mature rated video game. This just means that whatever existing laws that are on the books need to be enforced and for people to take the age recommendations on material seriously.

But now you have entered the province of the home Alamar. The children in that environment can, and should be monitored by their parents. It's that simple.

No one here has suggested that games be strpped of any lewd or violent content. It is that those games are readily available to children that concerns me...and that is a wholly different matter than what is watched, and for that matter, what is available on the tube in the privacy of home. What I am suggesting is a penalty to the retailer that sells prohibited material to children, and that that material is first identified as such.

 

[Wayde Robson]

The phrasing I interpreted as pot shots at Fox news, is as follows:
"Fox News has challenged EA to an on-air monkey court"
" Disguised a debate it was a typical Fox News piece"

Yeah, I guess you're right. That might have been what got that first guy marking me as some kind of leftie liberal, nothing could be further from the truth.

But if CNN or ABC did the piece I'm sure it woldn't have been any different.

Monkey court is a strong term, but what else do you call it when the conclusion is pre-decided and you completely ignore the argument of the other side. I felt like I was watching a Colbert Report skit.

 

[emorphien]

Monkey court is a strong term, but what else do you call it when the conclusion is pre-decided and you completely ignore the argument of the other side. I felt like I was watching a Colbert Report skit.

Near as I can tell, that's all that ever happens on Fox. They're worse in that regard than some other channels. Their "debates" and "interviews" often seem more like "yell at or insult/mock guest, then ignore or talk over their reponses"

Fox may or may not be the worst. It often seems like they are to me but I'm not going to make that assertion. CNN is really bad these days too.

 

[chrisw1]

Seems like someone changed their mind and admitted they didn't know what they were talking about:

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/01/mass-effect-m-1.html

 

[Johnd]

Thanks for the update chrisw1.

It's amazing what a little prompting can facilitate:

"Lawrence may have been inspired to revisit her opinion after hundreds of angry gamers lashed out at the author by submitting one-star user reviews for her book The Cult of Perfection, torpedoing its rating on Amazon.com."

Whether Lawrence capitulated for the purpose of truthful reporting, or because her pocketbook was thinning due to slow book sales matters not (other than philosophy): she capitulated.

 

[Alamar]

But now you have entered the province of the home Alamar. The children in that environment can, and should be monitored by their parents. It's that simple.

No one here has suggested that games be strpped of any lewd or violent content. It is that those games are readily available to children that concerns me...and that is a wholly different matter than what is watched, and for that matter, what is available on the tube in the privacy of home. What I am suggesting is a penalty to the retailer that sells prohibited material to children, and that that material is first identified as such.

No one here may be suggesting that but I'm sure that there are people that either want or are suggesting that somewhere.

I just don't see the fuss though. Aside, as I pointed out from my post, from WalMart not doing an age check on people buying video games with certain ratings I don't see any issues.

Even then if parents didn't want little Johnny playing M or AO games then they should configure the game console to disable that. Parental Lockouts & Tools are great for those parents that are actually willing to do their job.