Tendonitis be damned!

Here is my first (semi-) well thought out post regarding video games. If none of you caught the clip of the Mass Effect discussion on Fox News, look it up. In response to this horrific clip, I decided to personally send a letter to Ms. Cooper Lawrence. Here it is... we'll see how this turns out, but I doubt anything will come of it.

Dear Ms. Lawrence,

I am writing to you in regard to your comments on Fox News about the video game Mass Effect. While I would love to take this opportunity to take pot shots at you personally, I figure you’ll be assaulted with enough of those by the time you read this (if you even bother). And quite frankly, cheap shots would be merited, with all your highly uneducated and poorly thought out comments. Essentially you were personally attacking video games, backing your arguments with nothing more than ignorant statements.

First off, what I find deplorable is that you didn’t even play the game before making those outrageous statements. How can you make comments like “objects of desire” and “hot bodies” without having played the game? And then you went on to say it doesn’t show “women as being valued for anything other than their sexuality.” Excuse me, how many times am I going have to point this out? YOU HAVEN’T EVEN PLAYED THE GAME.

You certainly need to research your statistics as well. Every study I have ever read puts the 18-34 year old group of males as the predominant video game players. That’s quite far from “adolescent males.” Also, for every piece of “research” you cite about the ill effects video games can have, I can cite one that claims the opposite.

You should really go back and listen carefully to Mr. Keighley’s comments because they are well informed, valid, and most importantly, accurate (something yours were not).

On a side note, you went as far as calling him “darlin.” Really? Are you that blatantly disrespectful to everyone you have discussions with, or just those you look down upon because you are so narrow minded and refuse to accept video games as a respectable medium? It seems you were more interested in pitching your book (super cover photo by the way) and getting air time than actually having a well thought out discussion. Next time you choose to mouth off about something, please do us a favor and do a little more research. Stick to what you know and let the real experts on the issue have their say.

Finally, I just want to mention that, and I can’t emphasize this enough, the game is rated M for MATURE. That means it is not intended for children under the age of 17. Just as with movies that are rated R, they can get into the hands of children. This is where the parents are supposed to come in. You see, people seem to think that it’s not the parents’ responsibility to raise a child these days. Hmmm, that’s funny, because I thought that was the whole point of parenthood. And please spare me any comments about working parents and how difficult it is to raise a child. Both my parents worked full time jobs and still had the time to keep an eye on what I was doing. If you’re not ready to raise a child, DON’T HAVE ONE, plain and simple. Alright, I’ve gone off on a long enough tangent. But please, take the time to consider these points… I took the time to consider yours, which based on your statements, was more than you deserve.