Douglas Lowenstein Entertainment Quotations

The 2004 sales figures are impressive, especially as we enter the twilight of this hardware cycle, and more significantly, looking ahead, the video game industry shows no signs of slowing down. No other entertainment industry has posted the sustained growth over the last decade generated by the video game sector, and given the technological and creative advances ahead, all signs point to surging growth and more record sales for many years to come.

Today?s disclosure is a logical extension of the commitment of console makers to empowering parents. I am proud that each console maker has taken the initiative to give power to the parents, offering technology not available for DVD players or even portable music players that will allow parents to control the entertainment their children access.

This research suggests that proposals to regulate video games may backfire with American voters who, unlike some elected officials, appear to fully understand that they should control the entertainment that comes into their homes.

E3 exhibitors tell us that almost 80 percent of the products that will be displayed at this year's show are expected to be on store shelves in time for the 2001 holiday season. So, if you want to know what the more than 60 percent of Americans who play computer and video games will be asking for this holiday season, you need to be at E3, the world's most important forum for the launch of interactive entertainment products and technologies.

AB1179 is punitive against retailers, will waste limited taxpayer dollars, and when it is struck down by the courts, as has been the fate of similar statutes, parents will be no better off for this effort to damage one of the state's fastest-growing and most exciting industries that is providing some of the most compelling entertainment in the world today,

Interactive entertainment is going through a dynamic period, ... Video and PC games are becoming ubiquitous worldwide as the industry ... (creates) new technology and a range of content to keep up with growing demand from consumers.

In 2004, the average game buyer was 37 years old and the average game player was 30. Knowing this, our industry creates a wide range of content for a diverse consumer audience, just as other entertainment industries do. And, it's illogical that video games would be treated more harshly than R-rated movies or music CDs with parental warning labels, both of which can be legally viewed and sold to minors. How can you treat a video game based on James Bond any different than a book or movie based on the same subject matter?

The ESA is extremely pleased that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony Computer Entertainment America have voluntarily stepped up to take concrete steps to put the power to regulate the games kids play where it belongs ? in the hands of parents, not government, retailers, or anyone else. The combination of these new controls, the existing ESRB rating system, and voluntary commitments by retailers not to sell Mature and Adult Only games to minors strikes the right balance between strong self-regulation and the ultimate responsibility of parents to take charge of the media their kids consume.