Speaking to GamesIndustry International in a feature article this morning, Entertainment Software Association (ESA) senior vice president of communications and industry affairs Rich Taylor says that the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo next month is still relevant to the industry.

An online marketing campaign for the free-to-play MMO game Wartune has caught the attention of the ESRB, who claims that it has asked the game's "publisher" to stop claiming that it has an ESRB "Adults Only" (AO) rating. The game has yet to be rated by the board, according to the organization.

2K Games will not be on the show floor at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo this summer, according to an announcement on its website. The company did not give any particular reason for not attending this year's show, only promising to release information on its slate of upcoming games later this spring.

A letter signed by 33 organizations and nine individuals asks the top ranking lawmakers in the House of Representatives (Reps. Bob Goodlatte and John Conyers) and the United States Senate (Sens. Patrick Leahy and Charles Grassley) to make an exception for unlocking electronic devices to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Recently a petition signed by over 110,000 Americans asked President Barack Obama's administration to make the same exception.

The ESA Foundation, the charitable arm of the video game industry trade group the Entertainment Software Association, has announced that applications are now being accepted for its 2013-2014 scholarship program. This particular scholarship is for minorities and women that want to get a higher education in the interactive entertainment industry.

On this week's show we talk about Congressman Frank Wolf's hearing this week to slam "violent video games," changes being made to the ESRB, the ESA's plan for a PSA campaign, the latest SimCity news, and the results of the latest GamePolitics poll. Download Episode 45 now: SuperPAC Episode 45 (1 hour, 12 minutes) 66.6 MB.

It is the general consensus on the Internet that age gating videos is a way for the ESRB / video game industry to say "hey we're doing something about youngsters looking at Mature content" when in fact it is just a way for the industry to cover itself. So it is not surprising that the Entertainment Software Rating Board is relaxing the rules regarding the promotion of titles rated M for Mature.

The Hill reports that the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has hired former Capitol Hill aides Ali Amirhooshmand and Danielle Rodman. Amirhooshmand and Rodman will serve as directors of federal government affairs for the games industry lobbying organization.

Given a recent Harris national poll showing that a good majority of respondents either didn't know that much about the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's ratings classification for games or thought they were ineffective, the Entertainment Software Association makes a smart play today by announcing a new national public education campaign to educate American parents further about the tools and information available.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) in cooperation with California Attorney General Kamala Harris and education technology company EverFi have announced a new online educational program for Los Angeles public high schools. Called "The ESA Digital Living Project, the new program will be powered by EverFi's education technology. The goal is to help educate students in L.A. using technology, instructional designs, simulations, and other forms of complimentary media.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has launched a new program called the College Game Competition. Open to college students earning an education at colleges and universities with computer and video game development programs, the College Game Competition charges students and colleges to work together to submit a game that represents their school. Competing schools submit story details and content assets from their playable video game, which will then be judged by a specially selected panel of "game industry veterans and media professionals."

The Washington Times (thanks to PHX Corp for pointing this out) notes that the President is not looking for more regulations on video games and movies (through research announced today through the CDC), but wants the respective industries to provide parents with more tools so they can make more informed decisions about the content their children are consuming.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) issued a statement in response to President Barack Obama's call for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to conduct a study on whether there is a correlation between gun violence and "violent video games" and other forms of media. The trade group representing the interactive entertainment industry said that it agrees with the President's proposals and plans to cooperate / collaborate with the Administration and Congress as they examine the facts that will bring about meaningful solutions.

According to a Polygon report, the video game industry executives and other interested parties that met with Vice-President Joe Biden's Gun Violence Commission walked away feeling that they were unscathed, and that Biden was looking for general input on media and violence.

Update: Polygon is reporting that the meeting between the ESA President Michael Gallagher and Joe Biden's task for on gun violence also reportedly included executives from many major publishers, researchers, and the nation's biggest video game retailer.

Late last night the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) broke its silence on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, offering its condolences to the families of the victims, but urging lawmakers to include a mountain of research that has shown no correlation between playing video games and real-world violence. The statement was likely a response to a bill in the senate sponsored by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) that calls for the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an 18-month study of the effect of violent video games compared to other entertainment mediums.

The 15th annual Nite to Unite - For Kids gala raised $822,000 for the ESA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Entertainment Software Association, the event's organizers announced today. The black-tie event took place last week in San Francisco, where various game industry luminaries and the media got together for a good cause. Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell was also honored at Nite to Unite as the 2012 ESA Champion Honoree. Previous honorees include Blizzard president and CEO Mike Morhaime and Star Wars franchise creator George Lucas.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced what they are calling a "streamlined, no-cost service for assigning ratings to all digitally delivered games." The ESRB's new "Digital Rating Service" gives developers and publishers access to a "brief but detailed online questionnaire" to define a product's content, age-appropriateness, interactive elements, and platforms.

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada announced that Jayson Hilchie is the new president and CEO of the lobbying group for the Canadian video game industry. Before taking on this new leadership role, Hilchie previously served in a similar role at Nova Scotia Business Inc., where he helped foster growth in that region's video game industry by aiding such studios as Longtail, Frontier Developments, and Radian6 establish offices in Halifax.

The Entertainment Software Association Foundation (the charitable arm of the video game trade group the ESA) announced that it has awarded 30 would-be game developers scholarships for the 2012-2013 period. The ESA scholarships provide each recipient $3,000 that goes towards their education in fields such as 3D modeling, computer science, game art, animation, digital media, game design and visual effects.

The Entertainment Software Association Foundation (a charitable arm of the Entertainment Software Association) has partnered with the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMH Hospitals) to support this year's Extra Life nationwide fundraising initiative. Extra Life is a funding drive that uses thousands of gamers to get sponsorships for playing games for 24-hours. Those sponsorships go to the CMH Hospital of their choice.

Valve Software co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell will be honored at Entertainment Software Association Foundation's 'Nite to Unite – For Kids' event on October 18. Newell is being honored for creating software used to develop problem solving skills in young students. The award ties to a 2011 partnership between Valve and the United States Department of Education to use a modified version of Portal in classrooms across the United States.

While other App stores such as Google Play and Apple App Store have eschewed the ESRB ratings system here in the United States in favor of their own internal systems, Verizon is taking a different tact. Verizon has been slowly adding the ESRB ratings system for all of the gaming apps in the Verizon App Store for its supported Android devices.

After the Entertainment Software Association hinted that it might take the Electronic Entertainment Expo to somewhere else next year besides Los Angeles (due to concerns about construction projects), it seems like the city and the ESA have worked things out. It was announced this morning that the ESA and the city have signed a new three-year contract for the annual media and trade show event. As of this announcement the E3 Expo will remain in L.A. until 2015.

President Barack Obama yesterday urged members of the U.S. Senate to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 and encouraged representatives of Congress to draft and pass a similar bill quickly, saying:

Former Entertainment Software Association (ESA) senior vice present and general counsel Kenneth Doroshow has joined the law firm of Jenner & Block as a partner. Jenner & Block is a law firm that specializes in media and entertainment and is located in Washington D.C.

Doroshow and Jenner & Block partner Paul Smith led the legal team that won the Supreme Court Case Brown v. EMA. The court ultimately struck down the California law authored by California State Senator Leland Yee (D- San Francisco).

In the old days, Supreme Court Justices had very little information to turn to outside of legal briefs presented by combatants and case law when making a ruling, but a new study by William & Mary law professor Allison Orr Larsen finds that justice are increasingly turning to information on the Internet to shore up their opinions. According to research from Larsen, there were more than 100 instances where justices used information on the Internet in their opinions.

A partnership between non-profits and the video game industry will bring gamification and education together through a new Games, Learning and Assessment (GLASS) Lab. This video game design lab will be housed in EA's Redwood, California headquarters, and will conduct research on how to better measure learning and to find new ways to get students more engaged in their education.

Cisco Systems, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Activision Blizzard, Intel, and IBM, are the latest entities to send letters to the International Trade Commission asking them not to institute a ban on the Xbox 360 or various Apple products. Florian Mueller of Foss Patents has the breakdown of why Cisco and the ESA have sided with Microsoft in this particular dispute between the company behind Xbox 360 and Windows and Google-owned Motorola Mobility.

As it traditionally does after the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles is over, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) released attendance figures for the annual event. Curiously the organization responsible for E3 did not announce what city it will take place in next year.