Earlier today we posted a story about Hal Halpin addressing the Mass Effect/Fox News situation and his defense of video games, but the drama isn't over.
When asked to apologize for their incorrect portrayal of Mass Effect by EA, Fox simply issued a statement that they have "extended several invitations to EA for a company representative to appear on Live Desk w/ Martha MacCallum to discuss Mass Effect, and the segment which aired on Monday. We have received no response.”
That's been the official word from the network, but on yesterday's Live Desk w/ Martha MacCallum, Martha herself took some time to acknowledge the statements made by Cooper Lawrence, the guest on the original program who debated with game journalist Geoff Keighley about the supposed pornographic nature of the game.
We at X-Play reached out to Live Desk and managed to get our hands on a copy of the show transcript (and as of this posting are the only outlet to have it) of just what was said on air:
“Last week we aired a segment about a video game called Mass Effect. There has been some criticism from the gaming community about the segment – on Friday, Cooper Lawrence who was the guest who spoke-out against the game, had this to say in an interview with the New York Times:
(MacCallum reading Lawrence’s comments from Jan. 26th NYT article): “I recognize that I misspoke. I really regret saying that, and now that I have seen the game and seen the sex scenes, its kind of a joke. Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had had heard, and they had said its like pornography. But its not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”
MacCallum: That from Cooper Lawrence in the New York Times.
MacCallum: Again, we are inviting a representative from Microsoft, or BioWare or EA, the creators and distributors of this game for an interview with me, on this show to give their perspective of this story.
Thanks for being with us today – a busy day on the Live Desk – we’ll see you right back here tomorrow. I’m Martha MacCallum, coming up next, E.D. Hill and America’s Pulse."
Not exactly an admittance of guilt, but it's at least an acknowledgement of the skewed prespective of the discussion in the first place. When contacted for further comment, Fox News once again extended their January 24 invitation to EA/BioWare.
