There’s been a lot going on at the intersection of gaming and politics recently. SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and now CISPA, our recent Supreme Court win, and the like have given us all a lot of reason to hope and to remain on our guard.
The first line of defense for many in the gaming community is the Entertainment Consumers Association. If you haven’t heard of the ECA, you should probably educate yourself. Regardless of how you ultimately feel about them, the organization wields a fair amount of political power, and they focus almost exclusively on issues that are relevant to pretty much anyone reading this.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with the president of the ECA, Hal Halpin, about a few things that have been getting a lot of attention in the press recently. Astute readers will notice that we already published the interview in the form of afeature. We received enough requests for the full-text Q and A that we decided to go ahead and push that out as well.
We interviewed you a little overfour years ago. At the time, the main threat to gamers was a sensationalistic public. TheMass Effectsex scandal was the big thing. Since then we’ve seen some major victories for interactive media in the courts, and some really great progress in winning over the American people. Within the past few months, however, it seems gaming has been slammed on all sides by publishers and politicians. With the rise of SOPA/PIPA, the introduction of warning labels on games and rumors about anti-used games measures for the next generation of consoles, where do you think the greatest threat to our medium lies in the coming future?
The easy answer is with our digital rights, generally. As witnessed with SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and now CISPA, the movement by trade associations which represents the rights of companies in the movie, music and games sectors is persistent and well-funded. We’re very proud of our success with SOPA and PIPA, being one of just a few nonprofits in the coalition, but it’s clear from a recent visit to meet with Congressional legislators and their senior staffers that ourdigital rights, as consumers, will be our focus, politically.
Conversely, the rise and proliferation of DRM-free digital distribution, indie games and the recent Kickstarter craze have given a lot of gamers and developers some hope for the coming years. What do you think is the most promising development in gaming? Is there anything on the horizon that you can’t wait for?
We’re very excited about the direction the gaming community is heading. It’s a decentralization of power; a shift from the publisher and platform-centric, to the developers and consumers. I don’t believe that that’s a threat to the third or first parties, so much as additional content and channels. Regarding indie games, we just recently created aChapterdedicated to supporting those interested in becoming a developer and folks who are presently. Josh Hughes ofKaizen Gamesis heading up that effort and James Portnow of Rainmaker Games andExtra Creditslending his support as both a member of the new chapter, as well as an Advisor – who can act as the elder statesman. Kickstarter is really interesting, conceptually. I love how it empowers consumers to enable developers to create. And the fact that gaming seems to lead the charge for all of the different categories speaks volumes. My concern about Kickstarter generally is that folks understand that donating isn’t the same as investing. Developers have been clear about what you get when you give, but there’s also a possibility that some people will feel that the relationship entitles them to more. Let’s say that X Game is funded, developed and becomes the next Angry Birds, making gobs of money… Will those who’ve felt a part of that process now feel owed a piece of that success? Will lawyers make that case in a class action suit? I’d hope not, but it’s a concern…
Given the drama between the gaming press and fans over the Mass Effect 3 ending, do you think there is a widening schism between fans and critics?
