INTERVIEW WITH GAMEPOLITICS.COM
Interview with Dennis McCauley of GamePolitics.com and ECA!

Q: Okay, great. Let's start with a little about the ECA. Would you describe it as an organization funded by gamers to represent them in a lobbyist capacity in terms of Government intrusion into the rights of gamers? This is our " Independence" issue, after all, so feel free to clarify my description.

A: Hal Halpin, the ECA's founder and president would be a better person to answer this, but I'll give it a stab. The ECA is a non-profit, membership organization along the lines of the AARP or AAA. It is funded by the members, for the members. The ECA is dedicated to the needs of the game consumer and takes active positions on legislative and consumer issues. There is also a value proposition for the members, thanks to a pretty impressive list of member benefits. The way Hal has set things up, the gamer gets a lot for his or her twenty bucks. Of course, I'm biased!

Plus, Hal is always seeking to add more goodies. He's a gamer, he was in the game business for a long time. He understands gamers, game culture and knows the politics as well.

Q: For years, comic books also suffered under the heavy hand of "self-regulation" in the form of the Comics Code Authority (which meant that certain members of the industry were able to put other members out of business by establishing "standards" that would obviate the existence of the competition). Yet it was seen as okay because comics were perceived as the domain of children. Eventually, however, when Marvel was powerful enough, it published an issue of Spiderman without the Code "Seal of Approval" -- and sales never dropped and the distributors shrugged. Could, say, EA accomplish something similar by simply releasing a "must have" AO game?

A: A gutsy, edgy publisher - that leaves EA out, they're very corporate—Running With Scissors, maybe?—could certainly release an AO game. The real sticking point is that you'll never get it onto consoles due to the licensing requirements. The Big 3 just won't permit an AO game to run on their boxes, so why bother? Until that fact changes, any AO titles will be relegated to PC-only. As a PC gamer myself, that's not a bad thing, but the economic potential, obviously, is far greater if consoles are in the mix.

Q: Do videogames suffer from the same societal impression that comics once did, that these games are developed exclusively for non-adults?

A: There's no question that, for many adults, the term video game equals "toy." They just don't understand that a lot of grown-ups play games. Myself and others—I think Phil Harrison from Sony was one —have advocated from time to time that we drop the term "games" in favor of something less evocative of toys, but the idea just hasn't gained any traction.

Q: Let's move on to the inevitable question that has afflicted the entire industry with a case of agita: What the hell happened with the Manhunt debacle?

A: Given the current climate, Manhunt 2 just pushed the envelope too much. A lot of people, gamers included, thought the first game went too far. The sequel was even more extreme, based on reports I've seen. Also, it's fair to ask whether Rockstar gets extra scrutiny in the wake of Hot Coffee, which put the ESRB through the wringer and put the entire industry under the gun, politically.

Q: The ESRB appears to take the position that it is empowered by the game industry and is merely enforcing the standards and practices it was composed to enforce. Do you agree?

A: Well, it is certainly empowered by the game publishers, since it's basically a subsidiary of the ESA. I think the retailers have a lot of juice with the ESRB as well. But the game industry wouldn't exist without the creative types, the designers and developers. I'm not so sure the ESRB represents their interests.

That being said, the industry does need the ESRB or something like it. If you think back to when the ESRB was created in the mid-90's, the industry was really under the gun, politically. At the time Senator Lieberman basically said, "Regulate yourself, or Congress will do it for you." And, on balance, the ESRB has been a plus for the game biz.

Q: What will it take to sell the idea that electronic games have reached a level of technical sophistication where they can produce product designed for all ages and tastes? I mean, even movies have this same AO problem in that there's this rating, but if you get it, your movie or videogame will not receive distribution.

A: It will take time, for one thing, as the gamer generation ages. But I think there will always be those who are uncomfortable with some types of game content. Different phases of life tend to prompt different perspectives and the 18-year-old college freshman who is accepting of Manhunt 2 today may not be so accepting as a 35-year-old parent.

And I'm not sure everyone wants that kind of content, anyway. Where does it say that adult gamers crave an AO experience? I just want a good game. Give me Guitar Hero, WoW, Battlefield 2, Madden, Medieval Total War. I don't need—or want —to smother some dude with a plastic bag as in the original Manhunt.

The bigger issue, from a technical standpoint, is that games are not especially plot-driven, so they miss a large chunk of the potential audience that wants to be entertained and engaged, but not necessarily interactively. How do games capture the soccer moms who watch Grey's Anatomy, for example? As things are now, they don't.

Q: Microsoft has just taken a giant step forward with the release of FASA's Shadowrun, the first game to bring video and computer game convergence into play. Do you see the demarcation lines between PC and console games eventually fading away as they morph into a single interface format, or is Microsoft really in such a unique position that they're apt to run away with the convergence flag?

A: It would be great if we didn't have these ridiculous console wars every five years or so. Although the PC has somehow become the red-headed stepchild of gaming, every major gaming innovation began there: online play, MMO's, downloadable content, digital distribution, etc. The open architecture makes that possible. Eventually, the costs of console development will necessitate the morphing of which you speak. Look how much money Sony is losing on every PS3 they sell. How long can they keep that up?

Maybe in the next round the Big 3 become the Big 2; who knows? If the console makers focused their energies on making great games that ran on a universal system we'd all be better off. We have different manufacturers making Tivo boxes, for example. What if Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft agreed on a certain feature set and differentiated themselves to consumers with styling or add-ons?

But Microsoft is certainly in a unique position to push PC-console convergence. That being said, I'm not sure the average gamer cares. If, say, World of Warcraft suddenly got released on the 360 and another million people joined, how does that improve my gaming experience on the PC? Do I even notice?

Q: Is there any politician out there on the national or even local scene that you believe HONESTLY cares about gamer rights?

A: I don't know that gamers as a group even register on the political radar. At least, not yet. There are a number of reasons for this. First, the most passionate gamers are generally younger, perhaps not even of voting age. And, even if they are legal voters, statistics show that younger people tend to exercise that right far less than older folks.

Second, there's no recognized gamer voting bloc. The ESA made a nice try with the Video Game Voters Network, but let's take a reality check. As currently set up the VGVN is basically a platform for sending e-mail form letters to politicians. The whole thing seems automated. Who is the VGVN, anyway? Can the average gamer name a single person directly associated with it? A movement needs a leader, needs a rallying point.

When gamers start attending—and speaking—at public hearings on game bills, when gamers start lobbying efforts, when gamers start getting on the six o'clock news—that's when the politicians will take notice. And those are some of the things the ECA plans to do, especially the grass roots advocacy stuff.

Q: What do you think Gamers should do? Other than join the ECA, of course. :)

A: Number one, get registered to vote. Number two, express your concerns to your elected officials. Number three, always act in a civil manner, even when dealing with opponents. Even when dealing with Jack Thompson.

Q: Can you comment on POSTAL and why/whether its been the recognized scapegoat for the industry?

A: I only played the first POSTAL, and that was a few years back, but I remember that it was pretty over-the-top. I know Vince designed it to be that way, but not everyone gets it, obviously. I actually think that the GTA series is the current poster child, although a new POSTAL release could change that, LOL.

Thanks, Dennis.

--Interview by Bill “The Game Doctor” Kunkel