7:02 PM
The Game Peddler
, to up the controversy by claiming that Bullestorm's marketing is "clearly aimed at children and young adolescents". I have been following this game since it was first announced, and I have never seen a single sign that EA or its developers have been marketing this game to anything other than a very adult audience. Many adults will even find this too much for them, but claiming the game is marketed towards kids is amping the controversial aspects of the game too much. If Fox News really wanted to highlight questionable marketing, the ads for another EA game Dead Space 2 would be a far easier target because of its 'your mom hates this' campaign.
Part of EA's official response to this issue is worth quoting: "Bulletstorm is a work of entertainment fiction that takes place in the 26th century on the abandoned fictitious paradise planet Stygia, where our heroes fight mutants, monsters, flesh-eating plants and gigantic dinosaurs." In other words, it has very little applicability to reality, unlike other games which have generated controversy in the past (like the Grand Theft Auto series). EA also stresses its support for the ESRB and reiterates that "never is the game marketed to children."
Another aspect of Fox's article that is unsustainable is a quote given by a Carol Lieberman, who states that "The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games." I have never seen a study that suggests this, and the quote is given without any supporting evidence. In other words, Fox wishes to paint a game as controversial by using a number of very controversial statements of its own.
Written purely as a sort of PSA for parents who ignore ESRB warnings or refuse to educate themselves about games, the article is defensible. Where it goes awry is when it makes blatantly false claims about the game being marketed at children and claims that video games have led to a supposed increase in rape without so much as a shred of evidence.
HULIQ in no way wants to defend the content of the game, as it goes entirely against our editorial policy concerning violent media, but the way Fox News has painted it deserves criticism. As EA themselves noted, it can be equated to other forms of entertainment aimed at adults such as "[Quentin] Tarantino's Kill Bill or [Robert] Rodriguez's Sin City."
Part of EA's official response to this issue is worth quoting: "Bulletstorm is a work of entertainment fiction that takes place in the 26th century on the abandoned fictitious paradise planet Stygia, where our heroes fight mutants, monsters, flesh-eating plants and gigantic dinosaurs." In other words, it has very little applicability to reality, unlike other games which have generated controversy in the past (like the Grand Theft Auto series). EA also stresses its support for the ESRB and reiterates that "never is the game marketed to children."
Another aspect of Fox's article that is unsustainable is a quote given by a Carol Lieberman, who states that "The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games." I have never seen a study that suggests this, and the quote is given without any supporting evidence. In other words, Fox wishes to paint a game as controversial by using a number of very controversial statements of its own.
Written purely as a sort of PSA for parents who ignore ESRB warnings or refuse to educate themselves about games, the article is defensible. Where it goes awry is when it makes blatantly false claims about the game being marketed at children and claims that video games have led to a supposed increase in rape without so much as a shred of evidence.
HULIQ in no way wants to defend the content of the game, as it goes entirely against our editorial policy concerning violent media, but the way Fox News has painted it deserves criticism. As EA themselves noted, it can be equated to other forms of entertainment aimed at adults such as "[Quentin] Tarantino's Kill Bill or [Robert] Rodriguez's Sin City."
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