Fire up the Tivo!

Jason Della Rocca, executive of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) advises that he will appear on MSNBC's morning news with host Amy Robach (left) this morning.

According to Jason, he'll be debating in five-minute segments with Blois Olson of the National Institute on Media & the Family at 9:30 EDT and later with Dr. Craig Anderson of Iowa State University at 10:30 EDT.

Topics will include video game violence and the recent Dawson College rampage. Della Rocca lives in Montreal, where the shootings took place.

The National Institute on Media and the Family has announced a date and location for its long-awaited National Video Game Summit.

The event, promised by NIMF president Dr. David Walsh in the organization's 2005 Annual Video Game Report Card, will be held October 21-22 at the University of Minnesota's Continuing Education and Conference Center in Falcon Heights, MN.

According to a NIMF press release, the two-day summit will focus on video game ratings and education. David Walsh will chair the gathering, assisted by Doug Gentile (left) of the Iowa State University Center for the Study of Violence.
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Sen. Joe Lieberman has joked in the past that ESA boss Doug Lowenstein owes him his job. The Connecticut Democrat is at least partially right. Lieberman's legislative efforts to stop the marketing of violent video games to children in the mid-1990's were a major part of the impetus which led the industry to form the trade group known today as the ESA.

This morning, however, Lieberman could use some job help of his own.

The three-term incumbent lost Tuesday's Connecticut primary to challenger Ned Lamont. Although he was trailing by double-digits in early returns, Lieberman closed the gap as the night went on, finishing with 48% of the vote to Lamont's 52%.

Ultimately, it was Lieberman's position on the Iraq war that cost him the support of Connecticut voters, who came to see the moderate Democrat as a puppet of the Bush Administration's failed Iraq policy.
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Grab a coffee, it's time once again for GP's Sunday review of editorials...

First we turn to Inside Bay Area, where columnist Tom Leupold takes on California Assembly Speaker Leland Yee:

"...there are better things Yee could be doing in California with his time, rather than being the European ad police."
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Even though a Federal District Court judge trashed Minnesota's video game law in a sharply-worded ruling yesterday, one of the sponsors of the legislation is ready to try again.

As reported by the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, State Sen. Sandy Pappas (D, seen at left) may propose new video game legislation in next year's session.

"The whole ruling defied common sense. I am so disappointed," she told the Pioneer-Press.

"The federal court said we don't have a right to protect our children, but we protect our children from other things. We don't let them smoke or buy liquor. You score points (in video games) for how many women you rape, how many cops you kill. How could that not affect them psychologically?"

GP: The ruling by Judge James Rosenbaum said nothing of the sort. Sen. Pappas is clearly politicking here. And by the way, we'd like to know where she gets her information about games. Is there a game that awards points for raping women? If so, GP hasn't seen it...
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Once again it's time to fire up the Tivo...

GP has learned that Dr. David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media & the Family, will appear on ABC's Good Morning America program tomorrow. GMA airs at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Time. Walsh is scheduled to be on the second segment, which we assume means sometime after 8:00 A.M.

His topic? The teen brain, so expect games to come in for more than a passing mention.

The politically-connected Walsh stood with Hillary Clinton during last summer's Hot Coffee press conference. He has also taken on, at various times, the ESRB as well as game-hatin' attorney Jack Thompson. Gamers may not often agree with Walsh, but his Good Morning America appearance should be interesting.

GP: Despite some differences on game content issues, there are two things we like about the NIMF boss: first, he invariably treats gamers with respect; also, you'll never hear him brag about being on T.V.

Need more on yesterday's contentious video game hearing before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection?

GamePolitics has more!

If you enjoy a pointed cross-examination, check out this GP-created MP3 of ESRB boss Patricia Vance's testimony, Harvard researcher Kim Thompson's testimony, and Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns' questioning of Vance (22 megs, 24 minutes).

ESRB president Patricia Vance's written testimony is available here.

FTC Commissioner Lydia Parnes' written testimony is here.

A NIMF press release on Dr. David Walsh's testimony is available here.

Want to talk about it? You can discuss this story via the "comments" feature (click below), or in the new GamePolitics Forums...

He may the one thing that the ESA, ESRB and Jack Thompson all agree on: they don't like him.

Despite that - or perhaps because of it - Dr. David Walsh, 60, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF), is celebrating the organization's 10-year anniversary.

An Associated Press report terms Walsh "low-key" for a crusader. GP would tend to agree, and add that gamers may not often agree with Walsh, but he always treats them with respect.

"We're not, in any way, any kind of a censorship organization," Walsh told the AP. "We're not anti-media. We believe very strongly in the importance of the First Amendment."

"The real impact of media violence is, it starts to shape how it is that we treat one another - from 'have a nice day' to 'make my day,' Walsh quipped. "The 15-year-old brain is not the same as a 30-year-old brain, and so things are not going to affect it the same. And that's true of alcohol and it's also true of violent video games."

Walsh cites last summer's Hot Coffee scandal as NIMF's biggest moment, and it's true that Walsh's National Parental Alert moved Hot Coffee from a web-only story (broken by GamePolitics) to a mainstream sensation via his contacts with U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT).

"We were the nonprofit that exposed the fact that there was explicit pornography in the best-selling video game on the market. And the producer of that game denied for a month that it was there," recalled Walsh.

In demand as a speaker, Walsh made some 200 speeches last year. He also was a guest on a December GamePolitics podcast.

Things are certainly not in warm-and-fuzzy territory between Walsh and the video game industry just now. As reported on GamePolitics, NIMF's 2005 Annual Video Game Report Card was harshly critical of the industry, including awarding a failing grade to the ESRB. Walsh plans to call a national conference in September to address video game ratings.

The ESRB, in turn, was equally scathing in its reaction to the Video Game Report Card, saying, "NIMF's real agenda... is to destroy the commercial viability of games it deems objectionable. Unlike NIMF, ESRB's job is to be a neutral rater, not a censor... The ESRB rejects this year's MediaWise Report Card just as we did last year..."

To be honest, whatever one thinks of the NIMF-ESRB controversy, there were some other glaring problems with the 2005 report card, including its ridiculous assertion of a cannibalism trend in games and its disputed claim that the National PTA concurred with NIMF's findings.

Walsh also made big news when - in a story broken right here on GamePolitics - he publicly distanced himself and his organization from vitriolic anti-game activist Jack Thompson.

GP: You can discuss this story via the "comments" feature (click below), or in the new GamePolitics Forums...

GP regulars know him as YukimuraSanada, a knowledgeable, friendly face - and sig - around the comments area of GamePolitics.

To Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, however, he's Matthew Metzo, a gamer whose recent letter to Walsh impressed the NIMF founder with its sincerity. Walsh, of course, is not especially favored in the gaming community, thanks in large part to his efforts to limit violent content in games, his work with notables like Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman on video game issues, and his role in moving last year's Hot Coffee scandal from an Internet story to a mainstream media sensation.

As Yuki told GP, "Maybe we can use this to show that gamers can have a voice. Just something cool. To be honest, I never expected him to answer, so his response was a welcome suprise."

Here's what Walsh had to say about our pal Yuki in the latest edition of his MediaWise column, which appears in three dozen newspapers (sorry, no links yet) and is distributed in many school districts across the country. The column is titled "Gamer is Not a Dirty Word":

"One morning a few weeks ago, I opened my inbox and found an e-mail from a man named Matthew Metzo. Like a lot of people who send me messages, Mr. Metzo is an avid video game player, or, as he puts it, a gamer.

"...his letter asks me to help 'those of us who are tired of being judged because of something we choose to do as a hobby.' His concern: with all of the negative attention on video games, the term gamer 'is rapidly becoming derogatory.' Although, Mr. Metzo admits he had not always agreed with the stands I've taken in the past, I was struck, even touched by his letter..."

"I can see why Mr. Metzo is concerned... Suddenly, it seems that nearly everyone who cares about children has something to say about video games. And most of the time these people don't have many positive things to say. As I've said for years, some video games, especially ultraviolent and killographic games and certain industry practices deserve some public condemnation..."

"And with so much money to be made, some in the industry often seem to lose sight of their public responsibility to protect children. As I've said before, however, there are a lot of very good video games. The term video game shouldn't be derogatory, and the term 'gamer' shouldn't be a dirty word either."
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Friday was a very interesting day on the airwaves...

First, we happened to catch the contentious last 15 minutes or so of our old pal Jack Thompson on Minneapolis talk radio station WCCO-AM late yesterday morning. This was a random happenstance for GP. We noticed Jack's mention of his upcoming appearance in an e-mail he sent to Minnesota Department of Education and dialed over to the WCCO website just in time to pick up the juicy bits via the station's streaming audio feed.

Among other things (Minnesota-based retailer Best Buy taking pre-orders on Bully, blah-blah...), Jack got into it on the air with an associate of Dr. David Walsh of National Institute on Media and the Family fame. Walsh's colleague called in to contest Jack's claim that people associated with Best Buy are big NIMF donors.

This is a point of contention for a variety of reasons. It's important to remember, of course, that, in a story broken right here on GamePolitics, NIMF publicly disavowed Thompson last fall. The controversial barrister did not take NIMF's slap well, to say the least.
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So that didn't take long.

Last week GamePolitics broke the story of a National Parental Alert issued by Dr. David Walsh and the National Institute on Media and the Family over a graphic oral sex scene in an online advergame for the film "Running Scared."

"It is clear to everyone that this content shouldn't be accessible to children," said Walsh, who called for the sex game to be pulled from the movie's website. "New Line Cinema, should be ashamed that it thought it could get away with this tactic, without being held accountable."

Now comes word from Minnesota T.V. station WCCO-4 that New Line Cinema, distributors of Running Scared, have acceded to NIMF's demand. The website for the film remains up, but the sultry interlude has been replaced with a driving skills game.

"We are very pleased that New Line Cinema has removed the pornography from the video game," Walsh said in a prepared statement. "However, we are still extremely concerned as to why an X-rated sexually explicit video game was used to promote an R-rated movie in the first place."

GP: The Running Scared online game was developed by Heavenspot, a web design studio based in Los Angeles. It is important to note that the game was in no way connected with what we generally consider the video game industry, nor was it subject to or submitted to the industry's ESRB rating system.

Is it Hot Coffee all over again?

Not exactly, but...

The National Institute on Media and the Family held a press conference today during which NIMF president Dr. David Walsh issued a so-called Nationwide Parental Alert. NIMF took the action in order to warn parents of graphic sexual content in a free online game being used to promote the upcoming movie Running Scared.

The only other time NIMF has taken such a step was in response to last year's Hot Coffee revelations. Today's NIMF release reads in part:

"Parents need to be aware of explicit pornography in an online game easily accessible to children readily available on the Internet. 'It is clear to everyone that this content shouldn't be accessible to children,' said Dr. David Walsh. 'New Line Cinema, should be ashamed that it thought it could get away with this tactic, without being held accountable.'"

GamePolitics and other news outlets reported on the game, which features player-controlled oral sex, last week.

In large part, NIMF's July, 2005 parental alert moved Hot Coffee from a web-only item to a mainstream news story that continues to have repercussions for the video game business. The Running Scared online game, of course, has no connection to the ESA, ESRB or any major video game publisher, and a NIMF spokesman told GP the organization is aware of that.

Still, the game industry may take at least part of the bad publicity hit should Walsh's alert resonate with the media, parents and politicians the way Hot Coffee did. Not fair, of course, but the average soccer mom is only going to hear "video game sex" and probably won't grasp the distinction.

Opposition to the Grand Theft Auto series makes strange bedfellows...

...like the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) and Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media & Family (NIMF).

SWOP has a statement concerning GTA on its website, which reads, in part:

"...in the interest of furthering sex workers' human and civil rights to life and personal safety, we object to any media which represents sex workers as legitimate targets of violence, rape and murder. Censorship is a blight on the freedoms we hold dear but we wholeheartedly encourage citizens to vote with their dollars by refusing to purchase products which encourage the denigration and destruction of prostitutes. Since the video game Grand Theft Auto accrues points to players for the depiction of the rape and murder of prostitutes, SWOP-USA calls on all parents and all gamers to boycott Grand Theft Auto."

The SWOP statement cites a 2001 NIMF research report which, among other conclusions, says, "...(there is) a strong correlation between exposure to violent video games and various forms of antisocial behavior."

GP: If anyone has a right to be heard on this issue, it is the hookers themselves. Real-life prostitutes are often regarded as non-persons and have been frequently targeted by freaks and even serial killers.

Big thanks to GP reader Nature Leseul for alerting us to this story.

Failing grades for the ESRB? Gamer cannibalism? A mix-up with the National PTA?

This year's Annual Video Game Report Card was the most controversial ever issued by the National Institute on Media and the Family.

In the latest edition of the GamePolitics.com podcast we explore these and other issues with Dr. David Walsh, president of NIMF. Dr. Walsh was quite candid in the 40-minute interview which included questions on:

- how did Best Buy manage to get a 100% rating in secret shopper tests?

- why was NIMF working with the PSV rating service, a commercial entity that is competing with the ESRB?

- what is the relationship between NIMF and powerful political figures like U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Joseph Lieberman?

...and much, much more.

You can grab the David Walsh interview right here, or via iTunes or RSS feed.

Despite M-rated titles like Call of Duty 2, Quake 4 and Condemned: Criminal Origins, all of the Xbox 360-related violence isn't generated by the console itself. WBAL-11 reports that Baltimore County (MD) police made one arrest following a pre-dawn scuffle outside a Best Buy in White Marsh.

More than 500 people were waiting in line for a chance to purchase a 360. Unfortunately the store had only 48 to sell. One man was charged with disorderly conduct after cutting in line. More than two dozen police officers were called to the scene, where they deployed K-9's and threatened the use of pepper spray.

GP: Smart move by Microsoft - not - in diverting 360 supplies to Japan where the system is not selling well at all.

After blog sites worked the story over last week, the NY Times has picked up on the music-pirating antics of one K.K. Slider, an RIAA-tweaking inhabitant of Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS. In the popular game, K.K. performs and gives players a copy of a song.

"Those industry fat cats try to put a price on my music, but it wants to be free," he says in text bubble.

The NYT notes that in Japan, "K.K." is comparable to "Inc." here in the U.S., adding a bit of irony - perhaps intentional - to the situation. GP's favorite Nintendo VP, Perrin Kaplan, told the Times that "no real social commentary was intended. People can read a lot into a little, but musician K.K. Slider - a guitar-playing cartoon dog - is saying only that he's a free spirit who cannot be bought and sold for any amount of money... as a dog, it's understandable that he would not want to deal with any 'fat cats.'"

GP: Pssst... K.K. - want to trade for some bootleg Dead concert tapes?


That crazy cannibalism non-issue raised by the Annual Video Game Report Card from the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) keeps surfacing. We were tracking it a while back and found it repeated over three-dozen times in mainstream media outlets. Following a bit of a lull, GP stumbled across the cannibal angle in an ABC News report on Friday. An Illinois local TV news program, WHBF-4 also has the oft-repeated silliness.

GP: I did an extensive interview with Dr. Dave Walsh on NIMF last Friday which will air as a podcast later this week. Rest assured, the cannibalism issue was raised.
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Don't try to maneuver ESRB president Pat Vance and National Institute on Media and the Family chief David Walsh under the mistletoe at the office Christmas party. Ain't happening... These two are engaged in a nasty dust-up that seems beyond repair.

GamePolitics readers may recall that NIMF pretty much burned its bridges with the ESRB back on November 29th with its release of a blistering 2005 edition of its Annual Video Game Report Card. The report claimed "serious issues" with the ratings board and awarded the ESRB a big, red "F" for ratings accuracy.

ESRB fired back last Tuesday (and, yes, I know GP is a little behind the curve with this. Such a week I had...), awarding five "F's" in its first-ever NIMF Annual Report Card. Why, GP has even heard that Pat Vance had to refill the ink well for her red pen in order to complete the task.

The ESRB, clearly still smarting from the NIMF spanking, gave Walsh's organization F's for:

-Full Disclosure of Pertinent Facts
-Research & Analysis
-Documentation & Presentation of Evidence
-Working Well with Others
-Overall Grade

Pat Vance's comments in the report include, "...In addition to the overall failing grade, NIMF was given a demerit for elevating its political and media agenda over their stated concerns for consumer welfare, particularly those of kids and teens... In recent years, the report card concept has become increasingly arbitrary, simple-minded, and silly, more of a headline-grabbing tool than a parent-helping tool, and NIMF's 2005 report card continues that disappointing tradition
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Despite what you may have heard, it isn't only Democrats who are getting hands-on with video games these days...

GamePolitics has learned that an influential Senate Republican sent letters to several major retailers urging them to prominently display the video game ratings system.

Sam Brownback (R-KS), a conservative rumored to have 2008 presidential aspirations, circulated the letter to Best Buy, Blockbuster, Borders, Circuit City, Electronics Boutique/GameStop, Kmart, Sears, Target, Toys R Us, and Wal-Mart. The letter reads, in part:

"In order to provide parents with necessary information, I respectfully urge you to do two things. First, install or improve signage highlighting the importance of considering video game ratings. Parents must be made aware of the ratings system, and encouraged to choose games appropriate for their child's age. With greater education, parents who currently avoid buying games for their children may begin to see that many games are safe and even educational."

"The second thing I ask is that you please make parents aware of alternative independent ratings services. Groups such as Commonsense Media, Family Media Guide, and others who are part of the Coalition for Independent Ratings Services, provide detailed, objective information about the content of games currently on the market. I urge you to provide the small amount of space necessary for their brochures, which will further educate parents."

"I would like to applaud two retailers whose efforts to protect children and educate parents are worthy of recognition. Wal-Mart has done an excellent job... highlighting the ESRB ratings system, and keeping M-rated games out of children's hands. Additionally, Best Buy, Inc. had a one hundred percent success rate in a recent secret shopper investigation..."

Ed: Brownback is referring to Best Buy's performance in the recent NIMF Video Game Report Card...
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A contentious week continues...

The National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) has released a statement critical of the Annual Video Game Report Card issued on Tuesday by the National Institute on Media and the Family.

According to the PTA, "The 10th Annual MediaWise Video and Computer Game Report Card, released yesterday by the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF), contained erroneous statements about National PTA's position on the Entertainment Software Rating Board's (ESRB) rating system. In fact, National PTA does not endorse NIMF's report. Further, it does not agree with the reports characterization of ESRB and its rating system."

"National PTA works with groups like the ESRB to provide information about the rating system to assist parents and children so they can make an informed decision in purchase and game play. National PTA continues to ensure parents are informed and retailers enforce the rules. "

With nearly 6 million members, the National PTA is the largest volunteer parent organization in the United States. So what is the PTA concerned about? The Annual Video Game Report Card was highly critical of the ESRB, awarding the ratings board a grade of "F". The report card mentions the PTA in this paragraph:

"In response to the ESRB's recent failure, the National Institute on Media and the Family will convene a summit next year on video game ratings with the leading national organizations dedicated to children's health and welfare, including Children Now, the National PTA, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. We plan to issue and endorse a set of ratings recommendations."
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Seen any crazed gamers gone cannibal today?

Didn't think so.

How about media outlets hyping the cannibal angle? You'll see plenty of those.

When you find them, we'd like to know about it. GamePolitics is tracking what we anticipate will be the viral spread of the outlandish cannibal accusation among mainstream print and broadcast media.

We've already found THIRTY-SIX since NIMF released its Annual Video Game Report Card on Tuesday, but expect many more. And this number includes ONLY mainstream media outlets. We're not counting blogs or the gaming press for now.

If you happen to sight a cannibal story, please post it as a comment and include a link.