Keighley takes on Fox News' seXbox seXpos�

by Christopher Grant { Jan 21st 2008 at 10:20PM }

SeXbox? Really, Fox News? You can't even pretend that you didn't crib that title straight from last week's insane rant on Mass Effect, wherein one right-wing blogger claimed players could "hump in every form, format, multiple, gender-oriented possibility they can think of." But you didn't just crib the title, you covered the same topic in the very same game and even managed to recycle the same erroneous claims that the original creep had already recanted! And it only took you what ... two months after the game first landed in the impressionable hands of pre-pubescent boys everywhere? Bravo!

But oh, what's this? You invited the capable Geoff Keighley on the show to combat the embarrassingly uninformed opinions of one Ms. Cooper Lawrence (loving that book cover, Cooper), a "developmental psychologist" who literally laughs at the mere prospect of playing a video game before flapping her gums about it on national television. Sure, they don't give Geoff enough time to get as many punches in as we'd have liked to see, but that double dose of "that's completely incorrect" is sure to leave a mark in the morning.

Tags: Fox-News, Geoff-Keighley, Mass-Effect

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

PointyThings @ Jan 21st 2008 10:28PM

Fox: Fair and Bollocks.

BigD145 @ Jan 21st 2008 11:15PM

From the 'people' (I use the term lightly or not at all) that brought you gay marriage = sheep marriage and snake marriage.

Matt @ Jan 21st 2008 11:17PM

"Miss Cooper, have you even played Mass Effect?"

*five second pause, as she realizes she's been owned*

"Um... no, of course not!!!"

Dan @ Jan 21st 2008 11:37PM

WTF, Full nudity?? where's mine??

StrangeBum @ Jan 21st 2008 11:38PM

Pretty much stole the words from my mouth there.

Me thinks it's time to author a couple of emails to the senior editors/writers or whoever is in charge of this bullshit. Fox is the most biased media corporation that I can possibly think of and they really have no right to say these things. Especially considering that they didn't give Geoff Keighley any time at all to make a valid rebuttal.

Consider me pissed.

Fandel @ Jan 21st 2008 11:52PM

Fox News...

We Lie. You Comply

PointyThings @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:48AM

What's really sad is, at least one kid out there is going to have his Mass Effect taken away but some ignorant parent that has, somehow, learned to associate Fox News with journalism, and actually believes this shit.

Slogo @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:52AM

Well just wait until next week when they have a whole big segment on how the playstation 3 can play ultra-realistic blu-ray porn.

It's funny because even a Pg-13 movie is allow to show a little bit of nudity. Meanwhile a 16+ rated video game can't.

phosphor112 @ Jan 22nd 2008 4:00AM

Feedback@foxnews.com
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US SHOULD EMAIL THEM.
lets do it.

Ten Dolla Bill @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:24AM

An adults only rating for a little side boob?

hotnutz @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:42AM

I like how the psychologist says that the games are objectifying women. Maybe she didn't notice that every person on the show was in the good looking and higher range. What kind of message does that send to people? What if they had a smarter interviewer or a more educated panel, do you think they would get better ratings if they weren't so pleasing to the eye?

Yes, there is violence and sex in video games, but it's also in our daily newspapers, magazines, music videos, CDs and movies. When will those clowns realize that our culture is fixated on sex and violence in all forms of media? They are looking for excuses and like the whole "terrorist" thing, people are not digging deep enough to find out the "why"? Sorry for sounding like a cliché but they should be looking for the source, not the symptoms.

Also, when the host said the "parent is tough" comment I could not help but roll my eyes. She is someone we should probably sterilize - she's already had a lobotomy from the sounds of it, just a bit more and she can't no longer be a threat to our intelligence.

Platinum_Skeet @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:59PM

EVERYONE VOTE COOPERS BOOK A ONE STAR ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE'S!!!

HIT HER WHERE IT HURTS HER POCKETS!!!

Penguin Warlord @ Jan 22nd 2008 4:56PM

All of this whining and bitching for a little side boob when Fox is the network that produces a show that featured the "Sideboob Hour".

Ted @ Jan 22nd 2008 6:52PM

@ Platinum_Skeet

Amen! Just went to the amazon page and wrote a 1 star review. What a conceited obnoxious ridiculous person!

Just to make it easier for everyone else to write 1 star reviews... Here's the page:

http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Perfection-Making-Peace-Overachiever/dp/1599211793/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201045854&sr=8-1

If you take the angle that the author has no credibility then you can justify not recommending the book.

Zeus.:God @ Jan 21st 2008 10:30PM

Wow... This is pretty sad...

Zeus.:God @ Jan 21st 2008 10:36PM

Wow, it cut off the last bit of my post...

Wow... This is pretty sad...

These people are sitting here criticizing the game, and talking about how bad it is on a child's mind and how many bad things it pretty much "implants" into their brain... They haven't even played it! They make completely false claims, and then they sit there and try to claim that they learned as much about it as they could... Fuck that... Seriously, this type of thing always ends up screwing the consumer over.

Dragod @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:00AM

Well, when you're 2 months behind everyone about the subject and learn about it by visiting its website, chances are you won't know what you're talking about. And yeah, it does hurt the consumer.

"Why didn't it get an AO rating?" maybe she should look up that controversy... They don't actually understand what they're saying. It's just "They should do this and it'll be fixed", when in reality it would prevent us from ever seeing a wonderful game.

If people are so worried about their kids seeing these titles, they should maybe pay attention to the "KNOW THE RATINGS" signs that are plastered all over the display cases. Then, for more protection, change the parental settings. It's a simple matter of reading through the manuals after you open the console's packaging.

James @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:03AM

Wow this clip almost made me throw up.
They've never played the game! the guy on the right is completely correct. You can only get to that scene if you actually spend time with the character every time you're in the ship and you have to actually say nice things and build the relationship, You don't even SEE ANYTHING!. At the end the black girl says, "What is the kid gonna do when dad is at work? play dads video games" Then the "paranoid" parent should just enable parent controls and make it not playable from x time to y time. or just set a password on his "Full access" account and then the "Restricted account" will never be able to play the M rated game or whatever the account is set to be able to play.

This argument is completely bias and therefore irrelevant. All opinions on the subject have no substantial stance unless you play the game and fully understand it.

Brian @ Jan 21st 2008 10:30PM

Prudes...
Game is rated "M"; be a parent and keep it away from your 16 and under kids, quit beating this dead horse.
End of discussion.

severian00 @ Jan 21st 2008 11:10PM

Not only that, but use the GOD DAMN parental controls to block the M rated games. I love how after they let the chick spout off with complete lies about the game, then they get together in their round table and talk about how hard it is to be a parent. No kidding, really? Then the Bimbo says, "And then you have to look at the back to find out why it's rated that way. you really have to be involved in the purchasing of these things." If you are so put out by having to pay attention to what your kid is buying with your money, then you shouldn't be a parent.

Ignatius @ Jan 21st 2008 11:16PM

You _REALLY_ have to work by taking that three calories of energy to flip the box around. Hell yeah, man. You're spending $60 on a brand new game. Why the hell should you waste the same amount of energy it took to pick it up off the shelf to bother being parent?

Oh wait.

Lone Starr @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:35AM

@ Brian

Unfortunately, it's not the end of discussion. Uninformed people will watch in horror and phone their legislators as uninformed news outlets throw out hit pieces condemning gaming. In other words, the news can only report. But the law can prevent these types of games from being made.

matthew_neitzer @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:31AM

Is the rating on the back? I have some PS3 games (I know ME is on the Xbox360) and they all have the ratings on the front and back. Just curious.

FraGNeM @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:11AM

IIRC, The rating is actually required to be listed on the front, but the type of content which give it that rating are listed on the back.

E.J. @ Jan 22nd 2008 4:38AM

I love how the host says at the end of the show how much harder it will be for a parent to monitor their child's content intake.

Hi, stop being lazy. Just because you like to be a talking head doesn't mean you can't make time for your kids. Do some freakin parenting. ACTUAL parenting.

Qwirk @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:29AM

You don't even have to flip the game over. The front of the box shows the rating and the recommended age of the buyer. The back of the box shows the same information with the content descriptors.

This video was painful to watch.

Qwirk @ Jan 22nd 2008 11:29AM

Cal @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:36PM

It's only a 12 over here, ohnoes all our teens are being infected with sex indistinguishable from the real world

Eno @ Jan 21st 2008 10:33PM

well yet again to social ignorance. i hate that damn stereotype of only teenage boys play video games. I know plenty of girls who play video games and i think that could be determined as sexist to assume that girls dont play games like mass effect just like saying girls dont play football.

Corey @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:15AM

Another thing about sexism: did anyone else notice that the black woman basically implied that this situation would be much better if women were homemakers and were at the house all the time.

Leave it to Fox News to not only falsely accuse this game of being porn, but also to take a stand against women's rights. It's those little, seemingly insignificant comments that I think are the worst things Fox News does.

Intentless @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:47AM

I'm all for letting a woman work but due to that allowance its not a requirment. Unless the spouse makes a siginificant salary mothers can not stay home with their children...

Van Faulk @ Jan 21st 2008 10:34PM

I know this is anti feminist but did anyone else wanna slap that 'expert' right in the mouth, sean connery style?

Ben @ Jan 21st 2008 11:11PM

Nah, that's not anti-feminist or anything, it's ok to want to slap ignorant people when they deserve it... However, there is a difference between people like her who are willingly ignorant, and people who just don't know better. They all definitely deserve a beating of some sort. I'd say even Geoff Keighley deserves some sort of demerit for not totally tearing those right-wing fools apart. I'm sick of people going on shows like that and holding back like that, I want to reach through the screen and fuckin' yell some sense into them.

grandpotato @ Jan 21st 2008 11:28PM

It's not anti-feminist to want to hit a woman.

It's anti-feminist to avoid hitting a woman for the same misdeed that would lead you to hit a man.

And she deserves it. All of them do that decided that their unsupported opinion is important because they have a camera on them.

Bellerophon @ Jan 21st 2008 11:38PM

Er, yeah I think we all did.

In fact when the leftmost guy on the panel said he wanted a game with Lauren (lady on his right) vs Chuck Norris, I would've preferred one where we can slap all of these fools around a few. And then some.

Cooper - "Let me at him Martha." I'm glad she didn't, Geoff would've owned her just as loud and just as proud.

maxamillion92 @ Jan 22nd 2008 2:01AM

And did it bother anyone else when SHE called HIM "darlin'"? She's preaching to everyone on how to treat people, yet she shows she has no respect for his point of view at all by calling him "darlin'"

Imagine if he called her "sweetheart" during the interview hat she would have thought. Just another angle to what everyone else has already pointed out is all I'm saying...

k04sm02 @ Jan 21st 2008 10:35PM

why is everyone so misinformed? I don't get it. Getting all up in arms without even playing the game? This is why mass media needs a complete overhaul because they have no idea what they discuss.

Not that anyone believes Fox News anyways, but this seems to be a trend where they attack games without any knowledge regarding it.

It's just frustrating.

Thursdae @ Jan 21st 2008 10:51PM

QFFT!

arrrgh @ Jan 22nd 2008 3:37PM

you have to ACTUALLY quote the person for QFT to work dude

wootman @ Jan 21st 2008 10:35PM

sigh, "its a man deciding who he wants to have sex with"

Blue_Falcon @ Jan 21st 2008 10:37PM

Geoff "Darling" Keighley barely got a chance to get any words in.

samfish @ Jan 21st 2008 11:48PM

That's how Fox News works. They allow the other "side" on for balance, but don't really let them have their say.

Ever torture yourself and watch Hannity and Colmbes?

eipxen @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:33AM

He did a great job with what we had, and I, for one, am gratified by his response

mmxzero @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:30AM

^ cant stand that show, a couple of tools. Love all the knee jerk Fox reactions though. Did Keighley not completely shut the ignorant bitch down? (though she'd never admit it). Ended on a decent note too with that guy and the host, blah blah parents job as to what their kids play blah blah. I was expecting some vile reporting from some of the comments here.

GreyFox @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:46AM

THAT'S IT! CUT OFF HIS MIC! YOU'RE WRONG! TURN OFF HIS MIC RIGHT NOW YOURE OFF THE SHOW!

xGeneral DEATHx @ Jan 22nd 2008 12:02PM

I can't watch talking heads for the sole reason that almost none of them allow their guests to S-P-E-A-K.

Hannity and Colmes, Glen Beck, etc...pretty much all they do is invite someone on their show, slander whatever it is that the guest supports, and then cut to commercial.

"I'm sorry, we're out of time..."

Knight Marquise @ Jan 22nd 2008 1:06PM

@ Samfish

"That's how Fox News works. They allow the other "side" on for balance, but don't really let them have their say."

Well, at least it's a better format then CNN where they don't even bother with the formalities of feigning "balance" by allowing "the other side".