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Modern Warfare 2 On Fox & Friends

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This morning, American broadcast network Fox brought its “fair and balanced” reporting to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The headline? “A game that lets you play as a terrorist?”

That was followed with this pre-commercial quip: “Is the game going too far? We’re going to have a fair and balance debate to find out.”

Jon Christensen of website Slash Gamer and Common Sense media CEO Jim Steyer discussed the issue with the Fox host. Reader Ryan transcribed the conversation from his television set. It follows:

Fox Host: Jim, you got some problems with this game?

Jim: It’s mainly for adults and a well made game, but there’s no doubt there’s a link between violent video games and kids.

Fox Host: Jon, you essentially get to be a terrorist and kill people and it’s very realistic.

Jon: You’re not actually a terrorist. You’re a CIA undercover agent. You are infiltrating a terrorist organisation and the game specifically says, when you go into, uh when you work with this terrorist organisation. You are um… (Jon loses his train of thought, awkward moment) You are a a a uh a a a CIA operative. (chuckles) I’m sorry.

Fox Host: Jim at what age is this game appropriate or is it ever appropriate?

Jim: The main issue with violent video games, including very well made made games like COD. There’s no question there’s colouration between violent games and kids blah blah*. It’s up to the parent to decide whether they buy the game for their son or daughter blah blah*. You need to use common sense.
*blah blah blah added by reader Ryan

Fox Host: I’ll give you the final word, Jon.

Jon: Kids can definitely pick up the game. If parents buy it for them. I have a buddy who’s a manager of a store. Little kids came in to buy the game and he asked if they were over 17. They said no, so he didn’t sell them the game. Retailers are doing a good job. It’s been proven time and time again.

Fox Host: You bring a violent game into a house with an eight-year-old, nothing to stop that kid from playing it and becoming a terrorist… on a video game.

Jon: That’s ridiculous! You’re not a terrorist! It’s pixelated violence! You’re not a terrorist!

Fox Host: It’s violence.

Jon: (closing his eyes) It’s not real. It’s not real.

Fox Host: Jon and Jim. The debate goes on.

Not nearly as exciting as Fox’s take on Mass Effect!

And yes, we’ll post the actual show clip when it pops up online.

Watch Totilo On Fox News, Ask Him Questions

Brian Crecente — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Our very own Stephen Totilo will be spending an hour today in Fox News’ Strategy room talking about the gadgets, games and gizmos of E3.

Hop on over to the site to lend your support and pepper him with show questions. The show goes live streaming at 2 p.m. EST.

Strategy Room

Catch The Awesomeness Of TDTESS On BD, Today

Kym Weathersten — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:30:07 +0000

If ever there was an action/sci-fi film that was made for the increasingly popular BD format, the Fox blockbuster ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ must certainly be it. Granted, remakes of awesome 1950s flicks, starring Keanu Reeves may not float everyone’s boat, but there’s no denying the awesomeness of seeing the film’s CG special effects and explosive scenes in high definition.

Along with all the standard features that are packaged into Blu-Ray disks these days, the two-disk TDTESS pack, available to rent or buy today, includes a detailed commentary on re-imagining the 1950s anti-nuke classic, “Build Your Own Gort” BD-Java game, as well as an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the environmentally conscious film set (the film was the first step to towards the studio’s parent company News Corp.’s aim of being entirely green by next year).

Of course, for those not yet caught up in the BD revolution, don’t fret; TDTESS is also available on DVD.

Fox Gets Terminators In Our iPhones

Stuart Houghton — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:20:00 +0000

Noooo! Anyone who has seen Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will tell you two things – 1) lady terminators are pretty and 2) if the bloody things can get on the internet they can hack anything and cause all kinds of hassle.

Fox has only gone and introduced the glow-eyed menaces to the iPhone. Great. Now death will be both swift AND stylish.

Terminator: Ambush is a mini MMO that can be played via the iPhone or a web browser. the idea is that players using the web interface hunt down and terminate those using the iPhone version. There is a GPS component to the game, so don’t play if you actually are being hunted by a killer robot – this will lead them right to you.

FOX Launches ‘Terminator’-themed, location-based MMORPG [Touch Arcade]

Jack Thompson Is “First Amendment Attorney”

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:00:13 +0000

Last seen on Fox News as a “School Shooting Expert”, Jack Thompson is now, according to a Fox News broadcast last Thursday, a “First Amendment Attorney.” This is not an April Fool’s Joke. Neither is Fox News. Yet both strangely seem like one. Everyday of the year.
This Is Not Joke [Game Politics]

Juno Game Not So Real After All

Mark Wilson — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:40:37 +0000

Has everyone seen Juno? It’s what I consider the Bestest Picture of the Year, therefore meaning, yes, it’s mandatory viewing lest Witz need to take you outside. But what about that very weird-sounding game based upon the movie that was floating around the internet last week? It sounded weird for a reason. It doesn’t exist.

An analogy comparing small budget games to small budget films was taken out of context—the true story is really quite lame. Luckily, it means that the video game industry hasn’t figured out how to spoil the few good movies that come out of Hollywood…yet.

Juno getting game treatment? [Gamespot via DigitalBattle]

Did BioWare Have Their Heads In The Sand Over Mass Effect Controversy?

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:20:00 +0000

That’s certainly what N’Gai Croal is suggesting over at Level Up. Having had the chance to sit down with BioWare’s Ray Muzyka at DICE last night, he asked why it had been journalists and publishers who had come to Mass Effect’s defence after it was attacked on Fox, and not the game’s creators themselves. Muzyka’s response? That they were happy to let the “community” be the first to come to their defence. And aside from a short statement issued to the New York Times, that’s exactly what they did. Let others come to their own game’s defence. Which doesn’t sit well with Croal:

In order to sit at the grown-ups table, culturally speaking, developers are going to have to act like adults. And that means not letting other people do their fighting for them.

Little harsh, perhaps, but also largely on the money.
Like Having A Gun Pointed At Your Baby: Discussing the Fox News/Mass Effect Controversy With BioWare General Manager Ray Muzyka [Level Up]

FOX News Mass Effect Spoof Parodies A Parody

Mark Wilson — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:20:56 +0000

Can parody be parodied? That’s the question we ask ourselves after watching this spoof of Geoff Keighley’s appearance on FOX News. While the skit itself is alright, it was the reporter’s opening monologue that made the clip post-worthy. So without giving anything away, we’ll just say that, damn, we really wish we’d played the publicised version of Mass Effect. Because it sounds really freakin’ hot.

Max Effect [loadingreadyrun via Maxconsole]

Jack Thompson Defends Mass Effect

Brian Crecente — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:03:38 +0000

Believe it or not Jack Thompson and I email sorta regularly. Granted he usually emails me bizarre, over-the-top press releases (which I often don’t post) and I respond with disjointed quotes from movies, which I hope will one day remove that last wobbly hinge of his. (No luck yet).

Last week Jack emailed me a press release entitled “Grand Theft Auto IV to Be Released April 29; Culture War Begins Now” and after my typical poking, I got on to the topic of the Mass Effect controversy and was shocked, literally out of my socks, to find him defending the game… sort of. Apparently, even anti-gaming crusader Jack Thompson found self-help author Cooper Lawrence (who he refers to as a man), uninformed and the entire controversy contrived. Hellooooo kettle.

To: Brian
From: Jack
Immediate News Release – January 24, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV to Be Released April 29; Culture War Begins Now

To: Jack
From: Brian
I like your new glasses.

To: Brian
From: Jack
Wow, as usual you’re grasping the real news here.

To: Jack
From: Brian
I’m surprised you haven’t been looking into Mass Effect.
http://kotaku.com/348692/ea-fighting-mad-about-fox-news-but-still-no-correction?cpage=2#viewcomments

To: Brian
From: Jack
Why would you be surprised. I don’t see any problem with it. The guy who shot his mouth off about it had no idea what the Hell he was talking about.

To: Jack
From: Brian
You mean you’re OK with mass effect?

To: Brian
From: Jack
Of course. This contrived controversy is absolutely ridiculous. Report that, why don’t you?

Consider it reported. Now where did my socks go?

EA vs Fox: Adam Sessler Weighs in

Flynn De Marco — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:45:12 +0000

G4 host Adam Sessler gives his opinion on the whole Fox News/Mass Effect imbroglio in this clip from a recent episode of X-Play. He presents the facts with much more aplomb and fairness than Fox did, but in the end turns the tables to give the network and author Cooper Lawrence a taste of their own medicine. Although Lawrence has since apologised for her missteps, it’s still fun to watch Sessler take her and the dubious Fox News to task.