Cooper Lawrence Speaks on “Mass Effect” and Amazon Reviews

10 Responses

1. benhall2121

   Comment posted January 30, 2008 at 5:04 pm 1

   I think she has gotten her feelings hurt and realized that she was wrong in saying all of that. She is famous now though. She will probably now sell a lot more of her book than she would have. For all the trouble she is being put through, she will at least get paid for it.

2. squaritude

   Comment posted January 30, 2008 at 5:14 pm 2

   I agree. Negative or positive, publicity is publicity.

3. Shafnitz

   Comment posted January 30, 2008 at 7:06 pm 3

   I’m not sure she’s really sorry for what she said. I’m sure she’s sorry for the consequences she’s had to face because of it. If you read that article, she thinks that video games are the cause of violent behavior in kids, so she probably still doesn’t think too much of Mass Effect. Never mind the fact that it’s a game that children shouldn’t be playing anyway.

4. squaritude

   Comment posted January 31, 2008 at 9:21 am 4

   Of course she blames violent behavior in kids on video games. That’s been the media’s scapegoat for years now. I’ve found it’s much easier to watch an R rated movie than it is to play an M rated game. If I wanted to watch an R movie I can just change the channel at almost any given time and BAM! violence galore. If I want to play an M rated game though, I have to have proof of id. Personally I think it’s on the parents to monitor their children. I have two kids and if I am playing games while they are in the room it’s Viva Pinata or something they can either get into or something that won’t desesitize them to violence or sex and give them the wrong impression on human interaction.

5. whitexdemon

   Comment posted January 31, 2008 at 8:38 pm 5

   I think FOX News is the biggest offender in this debacle. Mostly due to the fact that miss MacCallum got her sense of Mass Effect via some trailers and a few pictures on the site (none of which really depict any of the sexual content). Fox News really needs to be set straight or shut down.
   They continually bring up facts that aren’t true, facts that are very old and don’t apply any longer and facts that have been presented by radical big whigs with a very single-minded agenda.

   There’s passwords that you can apply to EVERYTHING. Your XBOX, your Internet Explorer browser, your computer and probably even a lock that you could put on the room where all the gaming material is kept…
   When one of those panelists on the Fox debate mentioned that it’s “too hard for the parents” if they have to do all these extra things just to keep their kids off the games…um…excuse me - YOU DECIDED TO BEAR CHILDREN. Maybe you should own up to what you are supposed to be doing, get involved in your child’s life and let them know they need to be fully rounded people, not mindless killing and/or sex machines (which I’m pretty sure TV will give them way before video games do).

6. Shafnitz

   Comment posted January 31, 2008 at 10:19 pm 6

   I agree completely. For some reason, people seem to think that it’s not the parents’ responsibility to raise their own children. There is plenty of offensive content found in TV and movies, and it’s been that way for years. If you don’t want your children exposed to that type of content, you need to be responsible and pay attention to what they’re doing. Video games are no different.

   Fox News only aired this piece because it’s sensationalism and would get plenty of people talking about it. Not that I ever watched them before, but I surely won’t ever watch them now.

7. LiquidID

   Comment posted February 1, 2008 at 2:11 am 7

   She stated that video games desensitize developing minds to violence, sex and whatnot. So do movies and TV. So does sensationalist media. Nevermind sensational… just look at your local 6 oclock news. It’s all death, tragedy and severe weather watch 11!
   While I didn’t read her book or have a chat with her, it doesn’t seem like she’s pegging video games as the cause of all adolescent woes in society. They just desensitize gamers, and I’m inclined to believe her.

   But I also firmly agree that there is some really lax parenting going on these days. I attribute part of that to laws protecting children against abuse. In the state of Pennsylvania, you cannot strike your child as a form of punishment. You can go to jail. Well guess what? Liberal measures like this are breeding a new generation of people who don’t know proper boundaries.

   Combine all of this together and you have quite the powderkeg just waiting to explode. Now some people have sense… but this world is not an Eden of rational, socially acceptable individuals.
   And this is not a soapbox… so I’ll step down now.

8. Aegthelion

   Comment posted February 1, 2008 at 12:57 pm 8

   One of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed is that society at large needs to come to the understanding that not all video games are meant for kids. Just like animated does not = Kids cartoon! I stop people all the time in stores when they are picking out a video game or Anime series for their kids. It’s frightening how many people will blithely pick out a game clearly rated M for their 9 year old or Anime that clearly warns that it’s for 18+ because of graphic sex and or violence, again for the same 9 year old.

   Society as a whole is stupid and lazy. They want to be told what to do, what to think, and what to buy. Other wise they might have to pull their heads out of their self absorbed worlds and actually look into what exactly it is that Jr. is doing on the family PC. Parents need to actually parent, instead of leaving that responsibility to the TV, DVD player, computer, or video game console.

   I know the content of every game my kids play and every movie they watch. They understand the games that they can play and the ones are for grown ups. I don’t play any of my Mature rated games when they are around. It’s not that difficult.

   Speaking as a Father of 4 I’m not a huge fan of spanking my kids, but I firmly believe that there are cases where a good old fashioned butt whoopin’ will do far more good for the child then all the “time out’s” in the world. They did for me when I was a kid.

9. Atomic Nirvana

   Comment posted February 4, 2008 at 1:07 pm 9

   I think she’s dumb. She said she had all these personal resources, but never actually saw the scene or played the game. She just assumed.
   Shows you what happens when you push your way into the spotlight unprepared.

10. Hellscell

    Comment posted February 4, 2008 at 5:10 pm 10

    ugghh fox news always does this sort of thing, they just run out of ideas to cover so they decide to rag on something they know nothing about! I mean what did cooper lawrence say to get featured on the show, What here her credentials?? i never played the game or have even seen it sooo air me on your show covering this game.