EA Responds to Fox News Bulletstorm Allegations
- Thread starter vansau
- Start date
At least it sounds like he scares you in the right way: in that it's scary how many people take him seriously.danpascooch said:
The problem is that he (and others at Fox) get a lot of noermal right leaning people paranoid and frightened for their freedoms and their lives by overblowing their outrage over things like gay marriage and making up things like Death Panels.
I like conspiracy theories and everything but these dbags not only make them up but try and get people to believe they're facts.
I don't think the FCC should take them off the air but they should make them stop calling it news. They could call it Fox Right Wing Propaganda or Fox Conspiracies or Foxin Nuts.
Alright, let's straighten a few things out. Here is the full article by Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/08/bulletstorm-worst-game-kids/?test=faces
Here is some stuff on rape statistics
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap-crime-rapes
http://almostdiamonds.blogspot.com/2009/06/us-rape-statistics.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-10-06-rape-decline_N.htm
http://www.paralumun.com/issuesrapestats.htm
http://www.stoprapevermont.org/statistics/national.html
Okay, I did a quick search and didn't dig up all the information I wanted to as I'm not feeling especially well at the moment, but this is a pretty good cross section of information.
Simply put the basic situation in the US as far as rape goes is that we are basically the #9 nation in the world as far as rapes go on a per capita basis, and the #1 nation as far as recent numbers. Now granted this DOES seem like a bit of US bashing going on with those compiling the statistics, but the point is someone doing research could come up with a pretty shocking picture here. I notice that in some of the articles I liked to, there is a question as to the validity of the number being reported by a lot of these studies, but honestly even when you look at reports like rape being at a 20 year low we're still looking at OMG numbers. A Rape crisis site from vermont is claiming that 3 women are being raped every minute, probably an exagerration, but okay.
The actual Fox News report is a little differant than I think it's being presented as, the person talking about the rape statistics is an author stating her opinion. That's not Fox News saying "we've researched this and this is what we think". Maybe they picked the wrong source, maybe not, but if that's what she said there is no real reason to censor her, especially seeing as in the little bit of research I just did I definatly see what seem to be contridictory statements.
Also, as I read this article, the impression I get is that Fox news is mostly speaking from the perspective of it's impact on children and their behavior. EA is correct in it's response that the game is directed at adults, but Fox is pretty much speaking from it's position that the ratings are meaningless and this game is ultimatly going to find it's way into the hands of those 9 year olds. Sad to say it, but with the state of parenting in this country they are actually probably right on that account.
Don't get me wrong, I disagree with the overall point they seem to be reaching for that the game is bad, or something should be done about it. I mean the game is properly rated, and any problems that derive from it getting into the hands of children are the fault of the parents. How offensive the game is, has no bearing on anything since we adults DO have a right to our entertainment and you can't blame society as a whole for parents who are going to buy a game like that for a little kid irregardless of clearly marked warning labels.
I'll also say that I disagree with the connection that video games have anything to do with rape. I'll be blunt, I'm not ready to agree with people pointing to the statements that our rape rate is going down, for all I know that actually is people just trying to react to concerns from the statistics. In the end it doesn't matter because looking at the numbers it's absolutly ridiculous any way you look at it. I have a link up there to a paper from 1996 and honestly hitting a "20 year low" with numbers like that is like trying to say "hey, the black plague only killed 20 million people this year, instead of the 26 million last year". See the big reason WHY her point is invalid isn't so much her claims about rising statistics (which I'm sure she could defend, I mean ifI was so inclined I think I could defend that position to the extent that someone with the opposite opinion couldn't get anywhere... there is that much contridictory garbage), but simply the fact that by the numbers we've always had a pretty huge problem, going back to well before video games were a major societal force. In general, an increase, if she was to defend it, would just be in keeping with the general trends shown by the statistics.
Now look, I get it that for people leaning towards the left it's cool to knock Fox news. As a right winger we could argue about their validity as a news source at length, and you could bash them, I could bash CNN, and we could get nowhere. I don't agree with them on everything though, and I mosty definatly don't agree with this. HOWEVER in disagreeing with it, don't try and paint it as something a lot nuttier and off the wall as it is. Wrong it may be, but it's not jumping quite that far off the deep end, and some of the criticisms I've been reading make the people expressing them seem just as bad a what they are claiming the other guy is saying.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/08/bulletstorm-worst-game-kids/?test=faces
Here is some stuff on rape statistics
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap-crime-rapes
http://almostdiamonds.blogspot.com/2009/06/us-rape-statistics.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-10-06-rape-decline_N.htm
http://www.paralumun.com/issuesrapestats.htm
http://www.stoprapevermont.org/statistics/national.html
Okay, I did a quick search and didn't dig up all the information I wanted to as I'm not feeling especially well at the moment, but this is a pretty good cross section of information.
Simply put the basic situation in the US as far as rape goes is that we are basically the #9 nation in the world as far as rapes go on a per capita basis, and the #1 nation as far as recent numbers. Now granted this DOES seem like a bit of US bashing going on with those compiling the statistics, but the point is someone doing research could come up with a pretty shocking picture here. I notice that in some of the articles I liked to, there is a question as to the validity of the number being reported by a lot of these studies, but honestly even when you look at reports like rape being at a 20 year low we're still looking at OMG numbers. A Rape crisis site from vermont is claiming that 3 women are being raped every minute, probably an exagerration, but okay.
The actual Fox News report is a little differant than I think it's being presented as, the person talking about the rape statistics is an author stating her opinion. That's not Fox News saying "we've researched this and this is what we think". Maybe they picked the wrong source, maybe not, but if that's what she said there is no real reason to censor her, especially seeing as in the little bit of research I just did I definatly see what seem to be contridictory statements.
Also, as I read this article, the impression I get is that Fox news is mostly speaking from the perspective of it's impact on children and their behavior. EA is correct in it's response that the game is directed at adults, but Fox is pretty much speaking from it's position that the ratings are meaningless and this game is ultimatly going to find it's way into the hands of those 9 year olds. Sad to say it, but with the state of parenting in this country they are actually probably right on that account.
Don't get me wrong, I disagree with the overall point they seem to be reaching for that the game is bad, or something should be done about it. I mean the game is properly rated, and any problems that derive from it getting into the hands of children are the fault of the parents. How offensive the game is, has no bearing on anything since we adults DO have a right to our entertainment and you can't blame society as a whole for parents who are going to buy a game like that for a little kid irregardless of clearly marked warning labels.
I'll also say that I disagree with the connection that video games have anything to do with rape. I'll be blunt, I'm not ready to agree with people pointing to the statements that our rape rate is going down, for all I know that actually is people just trying to react to concerns from the statistics. In the end it doesn't matter because looking at the numbers it's absolutly ridiculous any way you look at it. I have a link up there to a paper from 1996 and honestly hitting a "20 year low" with numbers like that is like trying to say "hey, the black plague only killed 20 million people this year, instead of the 26 million last year". See the big reason WHY her point is invalid isn't so much her claims about rising statistics (which I'm sure she could defend, I mean ifI was so inclined I think I could defend that position to the extent that someone with the opposite opinion couldn't get anywhere... there is that much contridictory garbage), but simply the fact that by the numbers we've always had a pretty huge problem, going back to well before video games were a major societal force. In general, an increase, if she was to defend it, would just be in keeping with the general trends shown by the statistics.
Now look, I get it that for people leaning towards the left it's cool to knock Fox news. As a right winger we could argue about their validity as a news source at length, and you could bash them, I could bash CNN, and we could get nowhere. I don't agree with them on everything though, and I mosty definatly don't agree with this. HOWEVER in disagreeing with it, don't try and paint it as something a lot nuttier and off the wall as it is. Wrong it may be, but it's not jumping quite that far off the deep end, and some of the criticisms I've been reading make the people expressing them seem just as bad a what they are claiming the other guy is saying.
Didnt EA claim they were gonna stick to their guns abot having the taliban in Medal of Honor and then they bitched out at the last second? My guess is theyll do something similar here.
I used to watch Glenn Beck when he was on CNN. Back when he was sane, and simply offered a slightly different viewpoint than most of the other news shows on that channel. Then he went to Fox and went insane. Every time I hear him talk (for all of three seconds before I change the channel) I shake my head and wonder if the real Beck was replaced by aliens. He's not the same man.danpascooch said:
On Topic: Just ONCE, I would like to see someone--besides MSNBC, because their entire network is built on this, which makes them only slightly more credible--look straight at a camera and go, "It's Fox news? What did you expect? They're like the crazy people you meet on the street shouting 'The end is near.' We all know they exist, they're wrong, and there's nothing we can say to them will make them change their minds. So what do you do? You ignore them and go on with your life."
I'm pretty sure that would cause several people to die at Fox because they'd become so angry that their heads would explode.
So, wait...people who probably don't give two shits about video games are being misinformed about them? Sounds like one of those "and not a single fuck was given that day" type of things. EA's response was short and concise, and they are very much right. But getting past Fox News itself, it seems the vast majority of people still believe all video games are for children. Fox News is wrong in this respect just as much as the liberated, "cool" parents who actually buy their children these types of games. It says 17+ on the box for a reason.
EA, like any video game company, are like any other industry that makes products for adults. We don't blame car manufacturers when an unlicensed kid takes their parents' vehicle for a joyride. It should go without saying that just because the said product happens to be a video game doesn't mean a company is marketing it towards children.
EA, like any video game company, are like any other industry that makes products for adults. We don't blame car manufacturers when an unlicensed kid takes their parents' vehicle for a joyride. It should go without saying that just because the said product happens to be a video game doesn't mean a company is marketing it towards children.
But they tried a weak central government. It failed, the indiviual states were too busy fighting amongst themselves to do anything worthwhile. I think you need a balance when it comes to the strength of governments. Too strong, it turns into a dictatorship, or at least something close that stomps on basic rights. Too weak, a nation devolves into near anarchy and collapses from infighting.Baresark said:
That or they just edit the interview to make it look like it went in their favor.uppitycracker said:
Did they respond "OMFG thank you so much for the free publicity? We can't buy this kind of press but you gave it to us!"
"At People Can Laugh, we're grateful for the free publicity but must inform you that everything you've said is 100% bullshit. Good day, Fox News."SomethingAmazing said:
Only the royally stupid take anything FOX says at face value.Kayden said:
Sufficed to say, there aren't many fellow Americans I know who buy into their shit.
The Colbert Report and Tosh.0 get more attention than FOX at this point.