Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB, has been named to Next Generation's list of the Top 100 Women in Games.

The influential video game news site created the list in anticipation of Saturday's Women in Games International Conference in Seattle.

Other honorees include game designer Brenda Brathwaite, author the recently-published Sex in Video Games, Erin Hoffman, who gained fame and shook up the industry under the pseudonym ea spouse, and conference co-founder Sheri Graner Ray, author of Gender Inclusive Game Design.

"Joe will still be Joe."

Thus says Hal Halpin, former president of the IEMA, speaking about Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT). The incumbent, a longtime critic of the video game industry, lost a recent, bitter primary fight to political upstart Ned Lamont.

Halpin, a favorite of GamePolitics readers for his straight talk and willingness to answer questions from gamers, spoke to the IGDA's Brenda Brathwaite recently for her Sex & Games blog.

As both a constituent of Lieberman's and a long-time video game industry insider, Hal brings a unique perspective to the Lieberman situation.

"Being a Connecticut resident... has put me in a unique position in dealing directly with the Senator over the years. Despite our obvious disagreements when it comes to restricting consumer and retailer rights regarding content, I have always found him to be very forthright and exceptionally bright. I can't say as much for many of the legislators with whom I've dealt over the years."
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Brenda Brathwaite, chair of the IGDA's Sex in Games SIG and author of the soon-to-be-released book Sex in Video Games recently directed GP's attention to GameCensorship.com, the web presence of attorney Lawrence G. Walters.

Walters, who specializes in First Amendment issues, spoke recently at the Sex in Games Conference. While he's an ardent defender of free speech, he also displays an admirable pragmatism:

"I do not advocate government censorship in any of its devious forms. I do believe that it is important to take the issue of voluntary regulation seriously, and look closely at whether the industry is doing enough to educate parents as to the content of video games..."
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If the recent disappointing Attack of the Show debate between Jack Thompson, G4's Adam Sessler and GameDaily's Mark Friedler left you yearning for some real give-and-take, I've got some suggestions.

Would you like to hear a lively debate that lasts more than eight minutes, involves in-depth discussion of game-related issues, and features speakers who are eloquent and well-mannered? Well, thanks to Gamasutra, now you can.

Available as part of a series of weekly podcasts alternating between original Gamasutra content and Game Developers Conference recordings, readers can download last March's Murder, Sex and Censorship: Debating the Morals of Creative Freedom panel. As reported by GamePolitics, the lively discussion, moderated by the IGDA's Sex SIG chair Brenda Brathwaite, featured IGDA Executive Director Jason Della Rocca, California Assemblyman Leland Yee, architect of his state's controversial video game law, and author James Gee (What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy).
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While the retail video game industry does some serious navel-gazing over the FTC's recent ruling on Hot Coffee, another group is planning on stuffing as much adult content as possible into their video game products. And they don't plan to disclose any of it to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).

No, it's not Rockstar's secret scheme for Grand Theft Auto 4. It's the adult entertainment industry (you may know them as "the dirty movie people"), some of which was represented at this week's quite respectable Sex in Video Games Conference in San Francisco.

Mainstream speakers at the conference included game development pros like Sheri Graner Ray and Savannah College professor Brenda Brathwaite as well as media types such as Wired News "Sex Drive" columnist Regina Lynn.

In examining the adult entertainment industry's interest in the video game space, Reuters reports would-be erotic game makers are taking lessons from the recent political and cultural war between game producers, ratings groups, and governments. Hence, they're likely to avoid retail channels - and ESRB ratings - altogether.

"I'm not interested in playing the political game of getting a game out in a box and getting it rated. Games have been sickeningly violent over the last decade. Now that they start to show breasts, the government is up in arms," said Utherverse CEO Brian Shuster. "[Online distribution] is a more practical way, ultimately, to deliver adult content."
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Hey, do you like that humongous ESRB label adorning the GTA San Andreas box at left?

Didn't think so.

But, as Brenda Brathwaite, leader of the IGDA's Sex in Games SIG, points out, that's exactly what M-rated games will look like if a bill currently before the Virginia legislature passes.

Senate Bill 368 requires that M-rated games bear a rating label which is "a square with sides not less than three inches long, and with type stating that the video game may be suitable only for persons age 17 or older that is not smaller than twelve-point type."

The bill's sponsor is Sen. Henry Marsh III (D).

Political debate highlighted yesterday's events at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose.

The fireworks took place during a conference session titled Murder, Sex and Censorship: Debating the Morals of Creative Freedom. Panel members included California Assembly Speaker pro tem Leland Yee (D), author James Gee (What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy), Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, and Brenda Brathwaite, leader of the IGDA's Sex in Games SIG and author of an upcoming book on sex in games. Yee, of course, is the architect of California's contested video game law, which is expected to be reviewed by a federal judge in May.

Next-Gen has some coverage on the session, including Yee's comment that, "The bill I was able to pass limits the sale of ultra-violent games to children. It does not prevent the sale of violent games... We believe that this law stands the test of First Amendment exceptions."

Yee also said, "Those involved in government aren't interested in getting deeply in involved in how kids are raised. However, we see the consequences of inappropriate child rearing and we have a responsibility to protect children. It was government that stopped kids from working in factories... Some of these games are about cutting off heads and urinating on people..."

Gee, a University of Wisconsin professor, offered counterpoint. "I argue that playing videogames in the right context can be good for you. We spend a lot of time asking about how games can be bad for you, but not how they can be good for you. We rarely hear about how games could revolutionize the school system. I wonder how many people have been hurt by games, and how many have been helped by games? I suspect if we split those two groups up and put them in two rooms, one would be full, and the other would contain a relatively small group of people."
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