[Gikoku]

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"Gamers don't intend to be societal punching bags any longer." - Dennis McCauley

FOX Slanders Mass Effect

Warning, this is a spoiler!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCPXQvdmys0

Originally Posted by Joystiq

It was great to see VP Jeff Brown pull no punches in protesting Fox News' Mass Effect hatchet job. Brown got it exactly right, pointing out that Live Desk anchor Martha MacCallum and guest Cooper Lawrence were dead wrong in their characterization of the game as, essentially, interactive porn. Brown also took Fox News to task for institutional hypocrisy. As the EA exec pointed out, Fox lambasted the critically-acclaimed Mass Effect over a single, tastefully done love scene, while nightly serving up far more suggestive fare on prime-time shows like Family Guy and The O.C..

The Mass Effect porn smear campaign has been going on for more than two weeks, in fact. As I wrote on January 11th at GamePolitics, it began with an outrageous report from the Cybercast News Service, a conservative outfit founded by Brent Bozell, the same guy who started media watchdog group the Parents Television Council. Within days the theme was picked up by conservative author and radio host Kevin McCullough. By Monday, Fox apparently decided the story was sufficiently lurid for its national TV audience.

Until Jeff Brown's letter to Fox on Wednesday, gamers and bloggers stood alone on the frontline of the Mass Effect battle. And that has been too frequently the case as far as the video game industry is concerned. Publishers and their lobby, the ESA, generally remain tight-lipped, apparently hoping criticism will simply fade away.

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. But that's not the point. Look, when someone trashes a game like Mass Effect, it stains not only the game but its fans, as well. As gamers, we've grown weary of the stereotypes placed upon us by non-gaming society: nerdy, weird, obsessed, desensitized, perverted, violent.

During the first two weeks of the Mass Effect incident the industry sat on its hands while a few bloggers (yours truly included) ranted about the unfair coverage. Gamers, not game companies, posted comments and bombarded Kevin McCullough with e-mails and calls to his radio program. And guess what? McCullough relented. He apologized. In response to Monday's Fox report, gamers tracked down Cooper Lawrence's book on Amazon and tagged it with one-star reviews. Hey, I can't condone that kind of behavior, but I understand the frustration that led to it. Because Lawrence slammed Mass Effect without having played it, some gamers apparently felt empowered to ding her book without having read it. The e-mails, the radio show call-ins and the bad book reviews represent a new kind of guerilla activism that says gamers don't intend to be societal punching bags any longer.

But the industry needs to show that respect as well. When culture cops launch their outrageous attacks on video games – and, by extension, on gamers – the suits need to stand up and be counted. It looks like EA's new boss John Riccitiello plans to do just that.

It's about time.

On top of that, Cooper Lawrence (The woman responsible for ignorantly trashing Mass Effect) had her book completely destroyed by negative reviews over at Amazon.com, what goes around, comes around.

[Dark Drakan]

For a start its the Xbox 360 and not Xbox... silly reporter and its not full digital nudity and no engaging in 'graphic' sex. Saw that video on the Mass Effect Forums the other day posted by Steve on main page. Also Geoff Keighley was dead right about everything he said and Cooper Lawrence needs to get an idea of what shes talking about. Shes never even played the game or seen it properly and jumped to conclusions, she even laughs when he asks if she has played it like it would be embarrassing to do so.

[Tsuyu]

And guess what? McCullough relented. He apologized. In response to Monday's Fox report, gamers tracked down Cooper Lawrence's book on Amazon and tagged it with one-star reviews. Hey, I can't condone that kind of behavior, but I understand the frustration that led to it. Because Lawrence slammed Mass Effect without having played it, some gamers apparently felt empowered to ding her book without having read it.

Justice.

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Tsuyu

Justice.

Got that right, pass judgement with no knowledge of the product just like her... what comes around sure does go around.

[Tsuyu]

You know what? I'm gonna do just that. She seems like a ***** and I bet her book blows.

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Tsuyu

You know what? I'm gonna do just that. She seems like a ***** and I bet her book blows.

Id agree because she looked so smug like a typical think they know it all kind of person and wasnt interested in anyone elses views or opinions.

[Tsuyu]

Originally Posted by Dark Drakan

Id agree because she looked so smug like a typical think they know it all kind of person and wasnt interested in anyone elses views or opinions.

Thus her book must suck. No idea what it is about, but it sucks big time. I don't even know the title, but it sucks.

[Zingo]

Agreed, it sucks. I registered on Amazon.com to give it a bad review. I mean, look at the cover! It surely contains pornographical content...

And I'm happy EA reacted on this...

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Zingo

And I'm happy EA reacted on this...

Who would have thought we would all agree with EA on something.

[XXXREAPERXXX]

From : EA vs Fox: Lawrence Recants Mass Effect Judgement



Self help author Cooper Lawrence, along with Fox News came under heavy fire from gamers last week when they mindlessly branded Mass Effect as pornography. While Fox News hasn't come forth with an apology, Lawrence has admitted her mistakes in an interview with the New York Times yesterday after angry gaming fans trashed her book on Amazon.

...Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. "I recognize that I misspoke," she said. "I really regret saying that, and now that I've seen the game and seen the sex scenes it's kind of a joke. "Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it's like pornography," she added. "But it's not like pornography. I've seen episodes of 'Lost' that are more sexually explicit."

While I don't think situations like this will ever change the way Fox News handles its sensationalist stories, perhaps it will send a message to the so called "experts" they bring on the show to do their research before going on air. As vehemently protective as gamers are of their genre, it will only end up coming back to bite these allegedly knowledgeable people in the ***. Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned.
Author Faults a Game, and Gamers Flame Back [New York Times]



Beware the fan , da fan will get you , beware the fan.


Also at Zingo +rep for being a Badass

[Dark Drakan]

Thats awesome and glad she has acknowledged her huge mistake and oversight, maybe she will actually research her material a little better next time and not jump to conclusions after she heard something from someone else.

[XXXREAPERXXX]

Originally Posted by Zingo

Agreed, it sucks. I registered on Amazon.com to give it a bad review. I mean, look at the cover! It surely contains pornographical content...

What is funny that she mentions that people trashed her book on amazon. That is funny. You are trashing for a good cause on a profesional level.


Beware the gamer

Zingo will lead the uprising

[Gikoku]

I dunno, after seeing the way she acted on FOX, I find it hard to believe she actually sat there and watched someone play the game for over 2hrs. But if this is a start for someone like her to keep her mouth shut about things without even doing any research, then I guess it doesn't matter.

But an off-camera interview of her apologizing, isn't going to change FOX's typical biased and one-sided actions they always pull. Who knows, if people continuing pirating FOX's shows, maybe they'll go off the air.

[XXXREAPERXXX]

Hint' Hint'

They already los Futurama,

I live in South Africa , I don't really know what Fox is all about , but since they can go judging stuff without knowing what its about. I am assuming that its a network run by monkeys, ruled by the monkey king and sucks by the buckets

now anyone can do it, can't they

You've just been Foxed my dear.

[Tsuyu]

One thing, my view on the Bioware/EA affair has gotten a lot more positive.