Well, it has been quite some time since I last made a post here, but dealing with your final school quarter and being perpetually lazy will do that. In any case, this is but a continuation of the saga of the once mighty Entertainment Software Association and those that have abandoned it.

For anyone who hasn't been following these relatively recent matters, the ESA's grip on our lovely industry has been faltering, and while the uninformed tend to laud this turn of events, thanks to HarassmentPanda's Three reasons why gamers should care about the ESA post, the importance of the ESA to the image of the industry as a whole has been made far more readily apparent, casting a pall on the decisions made by the developers who have pulled out from the ESA's membership. The aforementioned developers being the heavy-hitters Activision, Vivendi, and to a lesser extent LucasArts.


Hi, I'm from EA and about to make a reasonable statement. Surprise?

So, following these prominent departures, it only makes sense that EA would follow suit, right? Apparently not, as EA's Vice President, Jeff Brown, has recently come out to criticize Activision and Vivendi for leaving the ESA and also on their withdrawal from E3. Brown feels that their decisions "Reflect an unfortunate lack of leadership," continuing to say how irresponsible it is given their status in the industry:

They're a big company and we feel that when you're a big company you've got a responsibility to consumers to work on policy issues which are very, very important to consumers. And the best way to do that is with an industry consensus. That's the way it's been done with the ESA in the US, and with the ELSPA in the UK.

He then stated the obvious by mentioning that the ESA's system is not perfect and that many developers that are still a part of it voice their disagreements with it. However, unlike the infantile responses made by Activision and co. Brown feels that it is far better than the alternative:

There's always tensions inside these organizations, but for the most part it works. So it was sad to see them step away from that responsibility. We hope that others don't do that, but I think that the onus is on the ESA to prove that membership in it is good for the company and good for consumers. And I think we're going to see the ESA redouble its efforts to prove that.

Wait a moment, did the VP of EA actually express his disagreements with his largest competitor in a reasonable, measured fashion, even conceding some ground to their decision through the use of logic? Where is the bile? The deep-seated revulsion of his enemy? The evil? What has happened to EA?



And it's not just his attitude towards the competition, but he makes a good point in that these events may even prove beneficial to the industry in the long run. With such big name developer/publishers withdrawing their support from the ESA it does seem likely that the ESA would do anything in its power to get them back, and the most effective way to accomplish that would be to increase its power and therefore its relevance to not just the industry but to the economic and political stage. We have all made the point of how much better things were with Lowenstein at the helm, such a champion for our cause; well, perhaps this tale will end with the birth of a new Lowenstein and a new ESA to spread our gospel.

It would certainly make me feel more at ease as someone who is hoping to start working in the industry in the next few months. In any case, Brown and Electronic Arts is committed to the ESA and still feels that this year's E3 will be a successful one:

EA is 100% committed. There's Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, THQ, Disney, a bunch of others - and I assume all the others are still locked into it.

For that matter, Activision Vivendi is going to be doing an event of some description in Los Angeles at the same time, so there's still critical mass. Everyone's going to be in Los Angeles this summer and it's hard to imagine it isn't going to be a successful event.

How strange to hear from someone at EA being optimistic not only for themselves, but for the industry at large, and to be campaigning for responsibility. And with games like Dead Space on the horizon, this most certainly isn't the EA that I used to know, and I'm just fine with that.



All quotes taken from QJ.net