EA’s Same-Sex Sex Shenanigans Judged Not Sexy At All

The ending of Mass Effect 3 was relentlessly bitched about by many fans. This week, the game became objectionable for a whole new reason. One that’s even more preposterous.

It seems that the inclusion of same-sex relationships in both the aforementioned title and Star Wars: The Old Republic has caused a further broadside to be levelled at the company. At the head of the assault are Christian groups The Family Research Council and Focus on the Family. Electronic Arts stands accused of ‘bowing to gay and lesbian activists to include them in their games.’ Further, ‘the groups also accuse EA of "indoctrinating" children to homosexuality by forcing them to be exposed to a homosexual lifestyle.’

Even at a glance, there are several gaping holes in this reasoning. This ‘reasoning’, in fact, resembles the face of the freaking moon. Considering the dearth of homosexual and lesbian characters in gaming, the gay and lesbian activists in question can’t have had too much of an influence on the video game landscape. Perhaps the suggestion is that they sent threatening letters to Electronic Arts’s bosses, or something of that nature? You WILL include a few guys cavorting in speedos, touching each other with gleeful abandon in your games! I know where you live! Surely gay and lesbian activists have better things to do? As far as indoctrinating children goes, the age restriction on the games concerned are intended to prohibit children from playing.

The company’s response to the allegations is admirable, in my view. Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications, parried with this statement: "EA has not been pressured by any groups to include LGBT characters in our games. However, we have met with LGBT groups and sponsored industry forums to discuss content and harassment of players in online forums. In short, we do put options for same-sex relationships in our games; we don't tolerate hate speech on our forums."

I’m curious as to how gamers have reacted to this. They’re often portrayed as a notoriously hateful bunch. The very fact that the term hatemail exists (‘you suck noob lol’ when they win, accusations of cheating/profanity and excuses when they don’t) indicates a certain problematic attitude. There have allegedly been thousands of protesting letters sent EA’s way, and I’m sure more than a few of these are pure bigotted tripe, as Brown can be seen to infer. I’m certainly in no position to question anybody’s religious beliefs, and I’d never presume to do so. It’s evident that such battles need to be picked carefully, though. In other cases, meanwhile, perhaps children that should have no exposure to Mass Effect 3 shouldn’t be used as an excuse.

Source: strategyinformer.com

Take a look at this clip and judge for yourself if the outrage and calls for blood are warranted (Although beware potential spoilers):

Article by Chris Littlechild