01.24.08
EA delivers huge burn to Fox
I gotta say, EA very rarely gets the sympathy vote from me, being that they usually fill the role of the Faceless Megacorp who buy smaller successful studios only to squeeze them for every dollar they’re worth and then shut them down. However, I have to give them kudos for their handling of Fox News’ outrageously slanderous segment about the sexual content in Mass Effect. I’ve already discussed the subject to death on the forums I frequent, and I know there’s nothing I could possibly add to EA’s letter itself, so I might as well just link you to Kotaku’s reproduction of it so you can enjoy the experience of Fox News receiving the retaliation their incompetence calls for:
Kotaku: EA Calls Fox Out on “Insulting” Mass Effect Inaccuracies
I especially enjoyed this particular huge burn:
As video games continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment. But this represents a new level of recklessness.
Ouch. Touché, EA! Touché 
dotdkay said,
January 24, 2008 at 12:31
Finally EA is doing something good, and I also specially like the quote you selected Jonas.
Btw. why is Mass Effect so long?
Jonas said,
January 24, 2008 at 13:12
Mass Effect is not long, you are just a goddamn pansy, man. Nobody’s telling you to explore every backwater un-charted world, just concentrate on the most interesting side missions and the story planets. There are only 5 of them, each taking a couple of hours at most, I’d hardly call that “long”.
Jonas said,
January 24, 2008 at 13:14
Aaaaand a little follow-up:
http://kotaku.com/348355/quack-gets-amazon-book-rating-spammed
fox said,
January 24, 2008 at 15:06
HAA HAA HAHA! (She deserves it.)
fox said,
January 24, 2008 at 22:29
Amazon began to delete some “reviews” for her latest book and it seem they have deleted all customer reviews for her older ones.
Jonas said,
January 24, 2008 at 22:56
Noooo Amazon! Don’t you realize she had it coming!?
EER said,
January 24, 2008 at 23:44
*Applauds EA*
*Boos Amazon*
Jonas said,
January 25, 2008 at 00:01
Honestly I think this is generally a childish way to strike back at people like her, I don’t usually condone such methods because they tend to just give these idiots more firepower - they can return to the show and play the victim because “look what all these mean gamer types have done to me” and they’ll talk about the right of free speech etc.
But some of these comments are just so masterful, I can’t possibly criticize them: “I never read the book, don’t know who she is, and don’t really care what she’s writing about.” Brilliant.
EER said,
January 25, 2008 at 00:15
Amazon seems to have put all reviews back up btw.
I found this one to be most amusing:
“From what I have heard, this book is not just pornographic and ethically-repulsive, it is dangerous. Unlike the video game and movie industries, the publishing industry is not regulated by a ratings authority. There is no mechanism in place to inform parents about the contents of this book, or any other book, before allowing their children to read.
This book’s title seems positive, when the actual book is anything but. The effort of the author and publishing company to market this book towards children is disturbing to say the least. While they claim that this book is actually marketed towards young adult women there is not yet an effective way to stop children from purchasing this book. The purveyors know this and see it as nothing more than an advantage to their bottom line.
And even if there was such a mechanism in place, do you really think that children wont be able to get their hands on this book? Do you keep your pornographic books in a locked safe? The majority of book readers do nothing to protect their children from offensive books. And why should they have to? The job of being a parent is hard enough without filth like this infecting our children’s minds. ”
I’d like to see if Fox responds to the EA letter.
EER said,
January 25, 2008 at 00:18
This one I just found hilarious:
Rating ***
“You might have to use three or four pages, they’re a little on the rough side and take a couple of flushes, but it’ll do in pinch!”
Jonas said,
January 25, 2008 at 00:25
Bwahahahahah that comment is pure brilliance. I especially loved the point about the publishing industry lacking a ratings authority
Gelo said,
January 25, 2008 at 15:41
Seems a little harsh. Yes, she was foolishly uninformed…but I don’t know if she deserves to have this much anathema heaped on her :-(. We all make mistakes.
fox said,
January 25, 2008 at 16:07
Well, usually I am quite peaceful and fair. Also I am against eye for an eye politics normally but I think it is about time that ordinary people raise their voices aginst such selfish and unbelievable ignorant persons like she presented herself. I consider her interview as a part of the propaganda machinery of those assholes and fanatics who aim to cut my rights and freedom as an adult. As german citizen I know where this sort of bullshit leads and every person who supports it has to face consequencies of their own doings. Money is where it hurts them and that is pretty much the only effective way to show that there are actually lots of people they attacked just to get more publicity/money themselves. In real life everybody knows that it would be a real bad idea to go into a stadium, grabbing the mic and calling them idiots. Nobody does it because obviously there would be consequences following.
The Gamespot/Kane & Lynch thing was much more ambivalent, since it was the publisher and cnet who were responsible but it also hit the devs. It was good to show that people have at least this way to fight back. It’s all about money for them, so this is the way to go. Maybe I’d change my mind if there were other effective and praticable methods but there aren’t.
Gelo said,
January 25, 2008 at 16:16
So slander and insult become valid tools because you lack the imagination for a more constructive solution?
Keep in mind it’s actually mostly like the people who ran the Fox News program that are at fault. Usually segment ideas are pitched to a producer whose job it is to vet stories. The guests and the hosts of the show don’t have the time to go out and play Mass Effect so they were relying on bad information.
fox said,
January 25, 2008 at 17:56
Seems like all those people who participated in those “review”-actions (I didn’t) and also all those who just did nothing at all ( Hello!) couldn’t figure out a better way. Can you? I am not a buddhist (although I share some of their thoughts) who endures everything. Actually there are things that make me real agressive and manipulation attempts via massmedia is one of them. If they don’t have the time to go through what they are talking about on massmedia, they simply must stand back and shut their mouths about it instead of acting like experts. Lots of people are buying this bullshit as truth and this is exactly the intention (I really believe)! It’s not even a lie when somebody writes ““I never read the book, don’t know who she is, and don’t really care what she’s writing about.”. She tried to make a quick buck and she failed because people realized that she was decieving them. She was so impudent that it’s no wonder that people are up in arms against her. I do understand them and additionally this serves as a (second) warning to anbody else. Oh and yeah, the people in charege at Fox News and Murdoch himself can go to hell as well. Maybe these statements make me a conservative hardliner in your eyes but I am not. I am just mad at the system that fools the world every day and she participated - most likely only because of selfish greed but she did it. I am totally against law and order, death sentence etc but I feel this kind of reaction is rightous and healthy.
Gelo said,
January 25, 2008 at 18:14
In the time it took me to read your comment I already thought of three things to do rather than to rant on someone’s amazon website to make to get a fix of self-righteousness:
1) Send a letter to Fox News asking them what they plan to do to make ammends for running such a shoddy piece of news work.
2) Forward an email (or EA’s letter) to a competitor of Fox News, like CNN listing out exactly how a horrendously inaccurate story got through their vetting process. I’m sure they’d love to run a story that would expose Fox New’s shoddy newswork. You could even attach whatever response you got from #1. Or alternatively you could beef up #1 with a threat of doing #2.
3) Actually read her book and send her and email asking what she’s going to do to make ammends for taking part in a shoddy piece of news work.
That’s what I call fixing a problem instead of being a part of the problem. Trust me, I’m not for sitting on your but while injustice is going on, but I hate the “righteous Satan” mentality that says you can act like a punk just because the other person did.
fox said,
January 25, 2008 at 19:41
The problem with your solutions is that I am pretty sure they won’t work and the same stuff will happen again and again. In fact this seems to be the standard for media like Fox News and all the biased tabloids of the world (in germany it’s “Bild”). As long as people see a good chance to boost their own sales with whoring to the media this won’t change and I am sorry but I am too much of a realist (many will call me a pessimist) to believe in your way of handling such situations. It’s not only my thoughts it’s also my personal experience I’ve gained through around 10 years of activism against surveillance, censorship and the degradation of civil rights. Manipulation attempts like this are a big part of that as well. I haven’t lost my humanity and I hope I never will but my illusions are long gone. I don’t wish her total bankruptcy so that she can’t get a feet on the ground ever again but I hope she will experience the consequences and I hope others will notice it.
Gelo said,
January 25, 2008 at 19:56
Why not try it out? I’m pretty sure #2 would actually work pretty well. I can see that you’ve been burned in trying to change society (I think that’s a more fitting term than pessimist?), but seriously, being bitter and effectively beating up on people online can’t possibly be a lasting solution. It’ll just lead to the same bad blood that you’re feeling.
Jonas said,
January 25, 2008 at 22:52
It was funny as hell though!
And she did have it coming.
Gelo said,
January 26, 2008 at 00:37
Admittedly it was funny and pointed satire. But did she deserve to have her Amazon site spammed and have everyone think that her work was porn? Yes, I *know* she’s guilty of the same sin. I hope we grew out of eye for an eye back when Jesus was around. Did she have left her open for it? Absolutely, but there’s a difference between leaving your self open for assault and being assaulted.
Man, I feel so 40-years-old right now :-P.
Jonas said,
January 26, 2008 at 00:43
You sound 40 years old too
But I understand and respect your opinion. You just haven’t convinced me yet. I think it was a hilarious way to get back at her. One could only wish she’ll realize the irony instead of dressing up in all the hypocrisy she can muster and shouting some more at the gaming population.
I think we all know how likely that is though.
fox said,
January 26, 2008 at 01:38
Ok, how about one of you writing this letter to Fox News and we’ll see what happens?
Gelo said,
January 26, 2008 at 03:53
Hey Fox, I will actually take you up on that offer. But I’d like you to be invovled at least a little bit. If you can get me a contact email for Fox News I will write them.
Btw:
:-O
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314541,00.html
-Gelo
fox said,
January 26, 2008 at 11:01
Yeah, strange how they ignore their own output. Anyway here’s the email adress:
Feedback@foxnews.com
fox said,
January 26, 2008 at 20:02
Update! http://kotaku.com/349296/ea-vs-fox-lawrence-recants-mass-effect-judgement
Jonas said,
January 26, 2008 at 21:09
Seems she’s actually not so bad. I hadn’t imagined she would take her words back no matter how pressured, but she seems surprisingly sensible after all. It’s just too bad she hadn’t the time to check out the game first-hand before the segment, or we wouldn’t have had to contend with this slander in the first place.
But I consider her reputation mostly redeemed.
Gelo said,
January 26, 2008 at 22:12
Cool :-D. Still want me to shoot the letter to Fox? Looks like they haven’t apologized.
Jonas said,
January 26, 2008 at 23:08
I do, but it was Fox’ idea, so he decides
fox said,
January 26, 2008 at 23:19
I’m still curious what they’d reply and if it turns out like you hope it will but the question is if you still want to write the letter? My opinion is that she would have never admitted her mistakes if those “reviews” didn’t exist.