Mass Effect: “Star Wars Meets Debbie Does Dallas”
You’ve undoubtedly seen some of the garbage from the recent “Mass Effect is an interactive porn game” meme invading conservative media. I saw one commentator perplexed that such a full-on sex simulator didn’t get an AO rating (having just been told that the game did not, in fact, feature graphic sex scenes).
I think the entire flap is firmly within the realm of harmless amusement. The outlets involved aren’t known for being reality-based, and they tend to flit from one phantom threat to another. This may reinforce the fears of some uninformed, anti-game parents, but let’s be clear: it’s not Mass Effect that’s the whipping boy here, it’s games. These outlets will manufacture a scandal out of any video game content fed to them, no matter how wholesome or enriching. Can you blame them? Games are a perfect fear-mongering target: the viewers have almost no knowledge of the subject, and yet tons of people (even their own kids!) are playing them.