The embattled Entertainment Software Association has apparently decided it's taken enough crap from news site GamePolitics, launching an unprovoked attack questioning the site's credibility and accusing it of anti-ESA bias.
In a statement sent to Joystiq, ESA Senior Director of Communications Dan Hewitt wrote, "If the ESA posted a blog and called it a news site, journalists would rightfully balk and it wouldn't pass a smell test. Remarkably, GamePolitics doesn't face the same scrutiny even though it's funded by the ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association, owner of GamePolitics) and tainted with anti-ESA vitriol. At the end of the day, calling GamePolitics a news site is as laughable as saying there's a Cuban free press." Hewitt went on to call GamePolitics "a membership recruitment tool" for the ECA.
In response, GamePolitics editor Dennis McCauley claimed ECA President Hal Halpin had insisted on maintaining the site's editorial independence since acquiring it in October 2006. "I suspect that, given its current difficulties retaining member companies, the ESA is uncomfortable with the level of scrutiny directed at it by some news outlets," McCauley said. "Ultimately, an organization like the ESA is judged by its performance, and, right now, it's fair to call that performance into question. When a politician is keynoting E3, that's worth questioning. When the politician has made divisive comments, like those attributed to Gov. Perry, that's really worth questioning."
The ECA responded independently, saying it was "shocked" by the ESA's comments, which it described as "unprofessional to say the least... especially given the broad support that the ECA and our consumer members have shown for the ESA. We stand behind our publications and their editors and appreciate their talent and dedication."
The ESA has come under heavy fire in recent weeks, beginning with the departure of Activision and Vivendi, which announced in early May that they would not be renewing their membership in the organization. LucasArts and id Software soon followed suit, announcing their own departures later in the month, leading to questions about the association's viability and the "leadership" of current President Michael Gallagher. Since then, concerns about the ESA have been raised in other areas, including a glacially slow start to the group's political action committee and bungling of the E3 trade show, with investigations often led by GamePolitics. The site was also vocal with questions about the selection of Texas Governor Rick Perry as the keynote speaker at the 2008 E3, a matter that was brought to the fore again yesterday following comments made by Perry in support of controversial evangelical minister John Hagee.
Saying Gamepolitics is anti ESA is probably fair. Then again I haven't read a game related publication in months that was pro ESA. This certainly won't help.
What I'd really like to know is why these mammoths are leaving the ESA.
fix-the-spade: The phrase 'cornered rat' springs to mind.
Saying Gamepolitics is anti ESA is probably fair. Then again I haven't read a game related publication in months that was pro ESA. This certainly won't helhp.
fix-the-spade: Saying Gamepolitics is anti ESA is probably fair.
How so? I could agree with GamePolitics being "anti-what-the-ESA-has-been-doing-over-the-past-several-months" but I think the motivations behind that are fairly easy to track down. Beyond that, I've seen no particular bias against the ESA whatsoever.
I think the leadership at the ESA is at fault for all of this. If all the major car companies can get together under one roof for a trade show in Detroit, then surely the more minuscule game industry can do the same.
The ESA has kept far to low a public profile and in doing so they've become irrelevant. Their main claim to fame is that they lost E3 proper, are losing publisher recognition, and started a useless industry lobby.
Malygris: The site was also vocal with questions about the selection of Texas Governor Rick Perry as the keynote speaker at the 2008 E3, a matter that was brought to the fore again yesterday following comments made by Perry in support of controversial evangelical minister John Hagee.
Just to be clear on the timeline here, because I feel statements like the one above are misleading for people that haven't taken the trouble to dig through the source articles: November 6th, 2006: Controversial Evangelical Rev. Hagee makes remarks during a sermon that people outside the church call "divisive". When asked for comment, Perry states that he did not disagree with what Hagee said. ... Time passes... May 20, 2008: Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is questionably chosen by the ESA as the keynote for E3 2008. Why? Hard to say. He did sign a bill providing videogame development subsidies, but it does not appear he was a driving force behind the bill. The best you could say given his record is that he did not veto the bill. ESA desperate for a speaker? Likely. June 2, 2008: Wired and The Escapist both pick up the story about Hagee and Perry one after the other (causality unknown, if any, though the Wired post predates the Escapist article by 1h12m) June 3, 2008: - Early-morning (7:47 Eastern or earlier): GamePolitics picks up the story from Wired and The Escapist, posting their own little summary. - 1 PM Easternish: The ESA sends Joystiq a letter complaining about GamePolitics, and accusing them of Anti-ESA bias. - 5:02 PM: Which brings us to here, with The Escapist reporting on the strife between GamePolitics and the ESA as played out through GamePolitics' and Joystiq's posting updates (For example, GP was kind enough to remove the semi-blatant misquote from their headline)
Here's the big question, as I see it: Will Perry's speech be any good? Does his place as a Christian, and a Republican, and a politician, prevent that even being a possibility?
P.S. I think your "vocal with opinions" link isn't going where you want it to. At least, it didn't go to where I thought it would.
fix-the-spade: Saying Gamepolitics is anti ESA is probably fair.
How so? I could agree with GamePolitics being "anti-what-the-ESA-has-been-doing-over-the-past-several-months" but I think the motivations behind that are fairly easy to track down. Beyond that, I've seen no particular bias against the ESA whatsoever.
Did you read the next sentence? My point was that Gamepolitics may be anti ESA, but so is everyone else at the moment. I can even go back as far as Edge 179 (Sept 07) where their articles on E3 had a common vein. Specifically that that years show was a massive let down compared to what they were used to and that if this was the future of E3 the ESA was going to need a shit storm proof coat.
But there's a difference between being critical of the ESA's behaviour and being anti-ESA. To my way of thinking, being "anti-ESA" implies a desire to see the entire association disbanded and forgotten, as opposed to just getting their shit together, which is what I think most people would actually prefer.
But I do see what you're getting at now. I think the ESA's concern is that while many (or most) gaming sites may be piling on, it's GamePolitics that's usually leading the charge.
Going from the past few months of news items, getting their shit together seems to be quite a bit of work.
On topic though, i understand the ESA lashing out. A lot of bad shit happening and a lot of bad press covering all of it. Then you get an either out of context quote, or a misquote/whatever basically resulting in slandering your name even further. Any person would combat this bad press at some point. Being a serious company however, thinking before mudslinging should be a wise precaution. Then again, this whole 'let's be assholes to eachother in the press' seems to be more and more common: Intel/Nvidia, Asus/Gigabyte and now GP/ESA.
Oh i get it, but even though the saying is: "there is no such thing as bad press" there actually is. Sure you'll get noticed more and remembered first, but in a bad way, so in the end you gain nothing.
ESA Trades Heated Words With GamePolitics
The embattled Entertainment Software Association has apparently decided it's taken enough crap from news site GamePolitics, launching an unprovoked attack questioning the site's credibility and accusing it of anti-ESA bias.
In a statement sent to Joystiq, ESA Senior Director of Communications Dan Hewitt wrote, "If the ESA posted a blog and called it a news site, journalists would rightfully balk and it wouldn't pass a smell test. Remarkably, GamePolitics doesn't face the same scrutiny even though it's funded by the ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association, owner of GamePolitics) and tainted with anti-ESA vitriol. At the end of the day, calling GamePolitics a news site is as laughable as saying there's a Cuban free press." Hewitt went on to call GamePolitics "a membership recruitment tool" for the ECA.
In response, GamePolitics editor Dennis McCauley claimed ECA President Hal Halpin had insisted on maintaining the site's editorial independence since acquiring it in October 2006. "I suspect that, given its current difficulties retaining member companies, the ESA is uncomfortable with the level of scrutiny directed at it by some news outlets," McCauley said. "Ultimately, an organization like the ESA is judged by its performance, and, right now, it's fair to call that performance into question. When a politician is keynoting E3, that's worth questioning. When the politician has made divisive comments, like those attributed to Gov. Perry, that's really worth questioning."
The ECA responded independently, saying it was "shocked" by the ESA's comments, which it described as "unprofessional to say the least... especially given the broad support that the ECA and our consumer members have shown for the ESA. We stand behind our publications and their editors and appreciate their talent and dedication."
The ESA has come under heavy fire in recent weeks, beginning with the departure of Activision and Vivendi, which announced in early May that they would not be renewing their membership in the organization. LucasArts and id Software soon followed suit, announcing their own departures later in the month, leading to questions about the association's viability and the "leadership" of current President Michael Gallagher. Since then, concerns about the ESA have been raised in other areas, including a glacially slow start to the group's political action committee and bungling of the E3 trade show, with investigations often led by GamePolitics. The site was also vocal with questions about the selection of Texas Governor Rick Perry as the keynote speaker at the 2008 E3, a matter that was brought to the fore again yesterday following comments made by Perry in support of controversial evangelical minister John Hagee.
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