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Electronic Arts (EA) sign and tower

For Electronic Arts, one of America'southward biggest and best-known game publishers, there'southward just no telling what any given seven-day period holds. 1 week you might release Mass Upshot iii to soaring sales and critical acclaim. And then, scarcely a month afterward, you might find yourself embroiled in dual controversies that would drive any multi-billion-dollar corporation to potable. (If corporations could drink. Which they can't. Y'all know what I mean.) And this week, one would think EA constantly kept ane mitt on the bottle.

On Midweek, the blog Consumerist bestowed upon EA the title of "Worst Company in America 2012." Consumerist chided EA, which beat out Bank of America to attain the dubious accolade, for ownership upward small, innovative game makers; and its trend to "nickel and dime consumers to decease," in reference to "numerous accusations that EA and its ilk deliberately hold back game content with the sole intent of charging a fee for it at a later date."

And so it came to light that EA has been slammed in contempo weeks with what GamesIndustry International calls "'several thousand' messages and emails protesting the inclusion of same sexual practice or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) content in its video games, most notably Mass Upshot iii and Star Wars: The Erstwhile Republic." The messages apparently allege that EA was "pressured by LGBT groups" to include the content, and could face up major boycotts if it'southward not removed.

In case you always forget that entertainment tin be deadly serious, think these events. Merely where to begin with addressing them? Especially since (gasp) I empathize with EA on both. Sort of.

Starting with the latter, I remember it's pretty clear that there's not much — if anything — to be done here. Groups that want to make their feelings known, near this or any other subject field at any point along the political spectrum, volition, and should be allowed to. If indeed America is however a gratuitous country, this inspires a powerful interchange of ideas that volition make usa all amend people and nonetheless all the same foster an environment in which the right things happen (if not always in the quickest or happiest means).

Mass Effect 3: Liara and Captain Shephard

Merely, equally with then many cases similar this, the, ahem, devil is in the details. I haven't played plenty of Star Wars: The Erstwhile Republic to judge it, just I've blazed through Mass Effect three a few times, and can verify that almost all the "objectionable" content is fairly well buried. Finding a partner of either gender is virtually as tricky in the game'south world as information technology is in real life, and information technology requires a similar investment of time, interest, and effort. A few characters may make passing references to same-gender spouses or attractions, but most of it is incredibly innocent, picayune more flavor text. (And it'south worth noting that your character, Commander Shepard, can easily have sex without first getting married if he or she and then chooses. I seem to have missed the brouhaha about that.)

If developers like BioWare desire to make their games more representative of the earth equally it currently exists (and, like it or not, that's what they're doing), that's certainly their right — and I'thousand as glad that they have that as I am the protestors have a correct to speak against the results. I would like to point out, still, that there is one spectacularly easy manner for parents to address the question of this content in games such as this: Don't let your children play them. Accept responsibility for your own decisions virtually what is or is not appropriate for your family unit, but please leave everyone else the freedom to do the same. The market will ultimately make up one's mind the event, and that's the way it should be. Now can nosotros please get back to talking about things that actually matter: Like how confusing Mass Upshot three's catastrophe is, and whether BioWare should be releasing DLC to correct it?

Side by side page: EA, the worst company in America?

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