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Electronic Arts (EA) sign and tower

For Electronic Arts, one of America's biggest and all-time-known game publishers, there's just no telling what any given vii-twenty-four hours flow holds. One week you lot might release Mass Effect 3 to soaring sales and critical acclaim. Then, scarcely a calendar month afterwards, you lot might find yourself embroiled in dual controversies that would drive any multi-billion-dollar corporation to drink. (If corporations could drink. Which they tin't. You lot know what I hateful.) And this week, one would think EA constantly kept 1 hand on the canteen.

On Midweek, the blog Consumerist bestowed upon EA the championship of "Worst Visitor in America 2012." Consumerist chided EA, which beat out Depository financial institution of America to achieve the dubious laurels, for ownership upward minor, innovative game makers; and its tendency to "nickel and dime consumers to death," in reference to "numerous accusations that EA and its ilk deliberately concur back game content with the sole intent of charging a fee for it at a later date."

And then information technology came to low-cal that EA has been slammed in recent weeks with what GamesIndustry International calls "'several thousand' letters and emails protesting the inclusion of same sex activity or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) content in its video games, nearly notably Mass Effect iii and Star Wars: The Old Republic." The letters obviously allege that EA was "pressured by LGBT groups" to include the content, and could face up major boycotts if information technology'due south non removed.

In case y'all ever forget that entertainment can be deadly serious, call up these events. But where to begin with addressing them? Particularly since (gasp) I sympathise with EA on both. Sort of.

Starting with the latter, I think it's pretty clear that there's not much — if annihilation — to be done here. Groups that want to make their feelings known, about this or any other subject at any signal forth the political spectrum, will, and should be allowed to. If indeed America is yet a complimentary country, this inspires a powerful interchange of ideas that will make us all better people and nonetheless nonetheless foster an surroundings in which the correct things happen (if not e'er in the quickest or happiest ways).

Mass Effect 3: Liara and Captain Shephard

Just, as with so many cases like this, the, ahem, devil is in the details. I haven't played enough of Star Wars: The Onetime Commonwealth to judge information technology, but I've blazed through Mass Effect 3 a few times, and tin can verify that nearly all the "objectionable" content is fairly well cached. Finding a partner of either gender is about as tricky in the game's world as it is in real life, and it requires a like investment of time, interest, and attempt. A few characters may make passing references to same-gender spouses or attractions, but well-nigh of it is incredibly innocent, piffling more than flavour text. (And it's worth noting that your character, Commander Shepard, can hands accept sex without first getting married if he or she so chooses. I seem to have missed the brouhaha well-nigh that.)

If developers like BioWare desire to make their games more than representative of the world as information technology currently exists (and, like it or not, that's what they're doing), that'south certainly their correct — and I'grand as glad that they take that as I am the protestors have a correct to speak against the results. I would similar to point out, nonetheless, that there is one spectacularly like shooting fish in a barrel way for parents to address the question of this content in games such as this: Don't let your children play them. Take responsibility for your own decisions about what is or is not appropriate for your family, but please go out everyone else the freedom to do the same. The marketplace will ultimately decide the outcome, and that's the fashion information technology should exist. Now can we please get dorsum to talking about things that really thing: Like how confusing Mass Effect 3'due south ending is, and whether BioWare should be releasing DLC to right it?

Next folio: EA, the worst company in America?

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