OrtizGames

A parody video of the report on Mass Effect was released by Leading Ready Run, and I thought it would be nice of me to post it for you all.

Luckily, the scandal is over, FOX News have been called bigots and Cooper Lawrence has personally admitted she had had no prior research or knowledge of the game, and was very sorry for having agreed to go on air and crack at it. She had no idea what the sex scenes in the game were actually like when she was on the show, and for that I give a Tip of the Hat to her and a Wag of the finger to FOX News. I suddenly respect Cooper Lawrence infinitely more. It takes guts to admit your mistakes.

Note: Jack Thompson never admits his mistakes.

But he did defend Mass Effect, which was utterly mindblowing. He may simply be jealous because the spotlight’s not on him anymore. Just go to jail, Jack.

Source: http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/302/max_effect

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.473881&w=425&h=350&fv=mediaId%3D641843%26affiliateId%3D24664%26allowFullScreen%3Dtrue%26pngLogo%3Dhttp%253A%2F%2Fwww.loadingreadyrun.com%2Fimg%2Frevdots_grey.png] from loadingreadyrun.com posted with vodpod

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So, remember Cooper Lawrence on the Fox Newscast? EA sent a letter to Fox News noting the various inaccuracies of the report and suggesting the unfairness and bias behind it, and basically asking for, if not a recant, acknowledgment of the mistake.

Well, Fox News technically replied to that email–in form of a Blackberry text message that read one line something along the lines of “Please contact the Fox public relations department.”

EA Vice President John Brown is not about to let the matter slide, for which I’m thankful, but I think in this situation we may have to concede the fact that Fox News is really not important anyway, and probably we should all just stop watching it instead of expect it to give us proper news. We’ll turn to the BBC or something.

Still, let’s hope that EA really starts to crack down on the absurd and outlandish statements made about video games nowadays. From journalists looking to aggrandize themselves and political candidates spewing nonsense about video games in order to promote their campaign, video games are entering the spotlight stage–much like books and movies before them. Let’s put on our best defensive faces and fight back with all we’ve got. Eventually the media’s glaring look will turn back to petty scandals and gaudy celebrities, and we can have our video games in peace.

This is a diplomatic war, gentlemen and ladies. Here’s to the future victory.

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While I discourage any desires to give attention to stupid people who don’t deserve a second glance, I always appreciate the chance to laugh at ignorance when I have the chance. Hence, I present to you this video from Fox News on Mass Effect, which I have to say I enjoyed deliciously. Not only is it wrong, but it’s so self-absorbed and misinformed that I can’t help but feel some kind of malicious pleasure. I’m starting to feel bad about myself. I think I might be kind of cruel.

My favorite parts of the video:

“The player can decide exactly what’s going to happen between these two people–you know what I mean?”

No, I don’t know what you mean. Do you mean I can decide whether they can have sex or not? Yeah, I can decide that. I can’t really do anything else other than watch that, though.

Cooper Lawrence: “If you look at the s-statistics, who’s playing video games?”

Adult males between the ages of 18-35, last time I checked. Are you sure you studied enough to go on air, Cooper? What? Adults don’t play many games? I’m in college right now with 6,000 students, all of which play some form of video game, whether on Facebook, a console, their computer, an iPod or a Nintendo DS. I have not met a single student so far who has told me “Oh, I really don’t play video games.” And I’ve met a lot of students.

Cooper Lawrence, take your college degree and master’s degree. Hold them in both your hands. Now rip them apart. That’s how much you’re worth in the realm of video games. You know nothing. So don’t say anything.

Shut up and you might learn something.

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Kevin McCullough, columnist behind the Mass Effect article I last posted about, somewhat recanted today by making himself look even more like an idiot.

I’m amazed someone can be so wrong about so many things and still manage to hold an aloof air of superiority when they’ve been beaten to the ground. I guess it doesn’t help that so many gamers replied to the article–we should have read it, been amused, laughed about it with friends and come to forget it instead of giving it the limelight.

Honestly, after reading what he said in retaliation against replies to his article, I’m not at all impressed. Especially since to a certain degree I could agree with some ideas he had–parents should be actively seeing what their kids play, like my parents did me, and I somewhat have done with my little brother. But the sheer ego demonstrated in the lines, “Many challenges stated that unless I played it myself then I had no business pointing out its objectionably content. Would they say the same of a strip club at the end of their block or hookers knocking at their door? (Well maybe sexually repressed gamer-nerds would…) Normal people would not.” I mean, he’s just full of himself. He’s trying to get a rise. And of course, he’ll probably get it from people who aren’t so eloquent as he is, and he’ll be able to use their comments to further bloat himself like a greasy pig. It’s disgusting. Trust me, he won’t be getting any more attention from my end of the field. I’d love to see him deflated.

He also proceeds to insist it wasn’t he who was misinformed–no, it was his “Gamer Nerd” friends who gave him faulty information. So, you’re trying to point out it’s the “Gamer Nerds“‘ fault? That’s rather rich of you, Kevin. Especially since you, as a journalist, are technically supposed to be responsible for what you write as well as your sources. It doesn’t reflect badly on your scapegoat when you’re wrong–it reflects badly on you.

Had he taken this more graciously and admitted that perhaps he had not gotten the details right, and maybe he needed to actually play the game before he decided what it was about (he watched a YouTube video, for Christ’s sake) I probably would have respected him a great deal more and would have loved the opportunity to interview him.

Now, if I ever get a reply from the site about an interview, I’m going to tell them to forget it–Kevin McCullough isn’t worth listening to.

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Give this a read.

Apparently, Mass Effect (which is an M-rated Star-Wars-like RPG shooter game where you basically race across the galaxy in order to stop the destruction of all universal life as we know it) has now been compared to a virtual sex game (totally NSFW). While I understand the shock upon learning that there is sex in an M-rated video game (God forbid, since we all know R-rated movies don’t have any sex in them and kids can totally watch them) I’m a little unconvinced as to the validity of the analysis of the situation. I mean, I’ve been playing Mass Effect for over 10 hours now starting Sunday night, and I haven’t run into any sex whatsoever…

And it’s not like this article is all wrong. See, I agree perfectly with the idea that parents should be focused on what their kids are doing. Absolutely. My parents didn’t let me watch Titanic, and I’m glad–I didn’t even like the movie when I watched it once I was “old enough.” Same goes for video games–you think something in the home is any less dangerous than outside? Just because your kid can’t get into a movie theater to see an R-rated movie doesn’t mean he can’t just pop in your Tarantino DVDs back at home. Do you want your kid watching Tarantino?

That’s why game companies have added things like Parental Control on their consoles. You can actually set up a console so M rated games and T rated games won’t play without your consent.

The thing that bothers me is 1) how incorrect, and disgustingly warped the review of Mass Effect is and how misinformed it leaves the reader and 2) why are people pointing the fingers at game companies and the game industry in general? I mean, we don’t make games like Mass Effect for kids, any more than Tarantino makes Reservoir Dogs for kids.

I’m going to go ahead and apply for an interview with the writers, though I know I probably won’t get it. It’s just… it blows my mind to see how people come to such extremist conclusions on the most basic and tentative steps. Maybe we really need to listen to the critics and ask them what exactly is the reason they’re so adamant. Maybe they need to listen to us. I don’t know. It’s a really messed up world out there.

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