Ugh...

I wasn't offended by the anchor woman (would it be evil to point out that the fact that news women who were not 'hot' wouldn't get their jobs? Anotherwords a woman of equal talent doesn't have her job because attractiveness sells protesting cause the women in the video game are 'hot' and relationships are unrealistic?) but I was by the psychologist. If you want people to respect your opinion, don't talk in generalized sound bites even if it does get you on the news.

Sorry for doing this in your blog Balek. +1!

Nice! I havn't felt this animated about a subject in a long long time... damn i'm old.

Here's what I wrote. Hello Ms. Lawrence, I hope this day finds you well. In respect to your views of the game Mass Effect. If you would have played it or even read a synopsis on one of the many game review web sites, you would see that the sex in the game is a very minor part of the game. Also, unlike the way you chose to portray the sex act. It is something that builds over time. If you do not take the time to talk to the "love interest" and learn their back story and the best way to interact with them then you will not have the sex scene in your game. Sounds kind of how a real relationship works. Get to really know some one through conversation before anything romantic happens. Also another point of yours I take issue with. You said it is adolescent males that are the game playing majority. I would direct you to this web site for some more accurate information. http://www.theesa.com/facts/gamer_data.php As you can see in relation to video games played on a console (which Mass Effect is) 60% of the players are over the age of 18. Also something you might find interesting is that * Thirty-eight percent of game players are women. * Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger (23%) Anytime you would like to see some of these numbers in action for yourself then please stop by www.2old2play.com. That is a web site for older games (only 25 and older are accepted). In not even three years of the site being live we have swelled to over 13,000 members and we are not the only kid on the block. There are a few sites out there that cater to the older, game buying public. We as a country have moved from rock music to playboy to now video games as the latest and greatest threats to our children's up bringing. When will we as parents look at our actions individually and assert blame there when needed? It is always easier to blame the outside influence so that we don't look at ourselves to hard. I grew up playing video games (all the violent ones) and am pretty well adjusted. I even listened to rap music. I know what is right and wrong, real and fantasy. I also detest any real life violence. It was because my parent played an active roll in all forms of entertainment I was interested in. I'll end my rant now. Just for the record I do believe our children are under attack, but it's the lack of responsibility that we teach them by constantly blaming others for our problems. Thank you for your time. Korey Fonner Parent/Gamer

ahem.. Here is goes: Dear Moron... OK let me try again. Dear Dimwit wait, wait wait I can do this... Dear Jackass... ok.. let me try tomorrow.

AWESOME responses everyone! I'm sure she will have quite a full inbox next time she logs into her email.

Has anyone been to Amazon.com? People are giving her book a lot of negative ratings all due to the Fox Segment...

Panel Guy "It's up to parents to control what their kids are seeing." Anchorwoman "It is, unfortunately" WTF! It's unfortunate that we have to parent our children. And what's with the panel chick saying the game should get an AO rating? By that rationale most R rated films should be rated X.

I swear that these people are idiots!! Here comes an e-mail tonight.

here's what i wrote (it's a little long winded, but i doubt it'll be read anyway): Ms. Lawrence, I was very disappointed with the serious lack of journalistic professionalism in your report of Mass Effect and the 'graphic sex' it portrays. Your facts (or whoever supplied them) are way off base. The 'graphic sex' you mention is completely on par with something out of a PG-13 movie. The sex also comes as a result of pursuing a love interest with another character in the game, which takes quite a lot of work on behalf of the player. It's also very possible the player never encounters the sex at all. The entire subject was being blown far, far out of proportion. As for the 'discussion panel' that took place after the interviews, let me say that it had no place in the report. It was extremely clear that the panel members had not researched the topic at all, and had generally very little idea of what they were talking about. One young lady said the game deserved an 'adults only' rating. Again, the sex in the game is honestly on a PG-13 level and by her reasoning, every PG-13 movie with the same type of content as Mass Effect deserves to be rated X. This game isn't anything like Showgirls or Striptease. It is much more like Star Wars. It's full of deep character development, action, spaceships and exploration. I am was deeply disappointed with the entire segment. You must be aware that many members of the general public already feel that Fox News lacks any type of honest journalistic credibility. And knowing that, how can your program air something that proves the public is correct? With all that being said, I will no longer watch your program, and will encourage anyone I am able to to follow suit. I have more faith in reporting from the BBC in England than the news corporations of my own country. Next time you do a story, I really and truly hope you don't base it off your opinion and instead present facts as facts. No Longer a Viewer, Mac 25 Year-old Gamer

This is what I wrote to Martha, the interviewer, at martha@foxnews.com Maybe you should try playing Mass Effect at some point. Then you will see exactly what Geof Keighly was talking about. Granted you should prepare yourself to be completely embaressed once you actually see the entire content for youself as you will realize just how incorrect your and your colleague's statements on the game actually were. The game has one sex scene in it where you see anything at all, and all you ever see is the outline of the female's lower back and posterior. You see more skin in every prime time drama then you do in this game. The snide remark about "Luke Skywalker meets Debbie does Dallas" is as uninformed a remark as I have ever heard, and just clearly shows how little about this topic you and your friends know. Games are not something you can learn about by perusing a website, they can only be learned about by actually playing them. That is akin to reviewing a movie simply by reading a plot synopsis. You, and everyone on during that segment with the exception of Mr. Keighly owe the wonderfull designers at Bioware a huge apology for this slight, and you should hope they do not sue for slander since the comments made about the game really are grounds for it.

This is what I sent to Martha: Martha, OMG where to start. How you could in good conscious air a segment about a game that obviously neither you are anyone on your panel knew anything about. First you start off by saying that the game shows full digital nudity and sex. This is a flat out lie. You go on to say that the player can engage in graphic sex and control what happens. Another flat out lie. After showing Microsofts statement you totally disregard it. Did you or anyone else on that so called panel of experts try out the family safety features built into the XBox 360? No, I'm sure you didn't. Then you bring on this woman, this so called expert to spew further lies about something that she obviously knows nothing about. The only person there that did, Geoff Keighly, was cut off when he started making you all look silly. Just about everything you're panel said about this game is wrong and talking about the dangers of the Internet has nothing to do with the Xbox. I have always thought that FOX news was little more then Sensationalist Journalism but this really seals it. You owe Microsoft, Bioware, and gamers(who's average age is 33 btw) everywhere an apology.

The problem is that most in the media assume that only kids play video games.

Yeah, i'm pissed.

They will never, ever 'get it'.

This is ridiculous. Bioware should start suing people for liable. Mind you they have to say that they have lost $$$ becasue of all this....

"What happenend to Atari and Pac-man" Are you freaking kidding me? How is it possible in this day and age to make such a moronic statement like that? The panel of people at the end were worse than the psychologist asked to comment. At least she has something to base her conclusions on, the panel are a bunch of people who admittedly don't play video games. How the hell can you comment on something you know nothing about and expect anyone to take you seriously? @BigOne - right on. Plus the whole "once its in the house it's going to be played by a kid" is just ridiculous. Be. A. Parent. Do your damn job and monitor what your kids are doing ya know? Don't buy a *M* game for your 13yr old. Don't let your 7 year old play Halo 3 or CoD. Its pretty flippin' simple.

Is there a link where we can write these dumbasses and voice our opinions?

I'd like to know the same thing, but would it only fuel their fire? Let it die quietly? Or Pound the issue hard.

Here is what I wrote to her.. if you feel so inclined, drop her an email at: cooper@cooperlawrenceshow.com Oh Ms. Lawrence... Way to go! Speaking on a topic you know nothing about. That game has maaaybe a 30 second shot of a half of breast. This may or may not be shown depending on the choices you make in the game AND is shown maybe at the last 45 minutes of a 30+ hour game. In order to even reach this point, you have to constantly talk to this particular character multiple times and choose the correct responses. Furthermore your comment on how it's mostly teens playing these games um have you ever visited sites like www.2old2play.com or www.geezergamers.com? These are only two examples of many sites dedicated to the older video game player. This demographic is only going to increase. Lastly way to do your fellow women service by calling Geof Keighly 'Darlin'. I wonder how you would've felt had he called you 'sweetie' or 'toots'? I'm so tired of people jumping on the 'video games are bad' bandwagon, when they are so clearly not educated on the subject matter at hand. Parents need to wake up and take a more active role in their child's life instead of blaming tv, videogames, music, and film. Sincerely, Andrew, a 37 year old gamer..probably only one of a dozen or so....

I couldn't resist. Ms. Lawrence, Watching videos on the internet of something your doing a story on is perfectly acceptable. The demographic of gaming may need to be clarified for you. I sincerely apologize for your lack of research. Mass Effect displays less nudity than a beach volleyball game on ESPN. Parenting is a full time job, people cannot be too busy to keep track of their progeny. I’m not sure what you or your employer’s agenda are. I can only hope this appearance of negligent journalism isn’t as wide spread as I assume. Best regards, 33yr old gamer Jim

nice post Mircoscent! I'll admit mine was a bit on the angsty side, but holy crap these people need a wake up call.