ESA counters Hill & Knowlton's 'unprofessional and unethical' release of research

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 5th 2007 at 4:40PM }

Just as various outlets are reporting about a survey by market research company Hill & Knowlton, which stated the 60% of parents would like to see government regulation of mature and violent video games, the Electronic Software Association has responded to the news with a statement to Joystiq. Actually, "statement" is a light way of putting it. The ESA, the industry lobbying group, has pimp-slapped Hill & Knowlton and called them out by saying their "decision to release these findings was both unprofessional and unethical and its timing is questionable."

In the full ESA statement (found after the break) they explain that the research was done for a proposal Hill & Knowlton made this summer to them, but only a portion of the information was released now. They say the research was done in an effort to win the ESA's business and the release today doesn't represent an accurate picture of the findings, which also included:

More than two-thirds of 18-34 year olds currently play video games.
Less than 1 in 5 Americans think playing video games is a negative way to spend time with friends and family.
More than half of families think that video games are a positive way to spend time together.
Educational video games are perceived to provide more learning than TV or DVDs.

Joystiq was also given the PowerPoint presentation created by Hill & Knowlton which shows the original full research and gives far more detail than the choice bits released today. The presentation can be found below in the gallery.

Gallery: ESA/Hill & Knowlton PowerPoint presentation

Full statement by ESA to Joystiq:

Today, Hill & Knowlton released the findings of research it conducted on the American public's views about the computer and video game industry. According to the agency's findings, a majority of respondents believe that the government should regulate the sale of mature content video games.

We understand that parents have concerns about mature content getting into the hands of children and we are working to help make sure that does not happen. To achieve this important goal, the ESA strongly supports a variety of efforts aimed at educating parents and retailers and allowing them to control mature content. We support the ESRB, which is the nation's leading rating system working to educate and empower parents with game information. We have also worked within the industry to ensure that password protected, robust parental controls are included in all new video game consoles sold. In addition, we work with retailers to encourage the enforcement of policies that prohibit the sale of mature games to minors.

The research released today was conducted by Hill & Knowlton for a proposal the agency made to the ESA this summer, but only a portion of it was released publicly now. Hill & Knowlton's decision to release these findings was both unprofessional and unethical and its timing is questionable. The research was done this summer and only performed in an effort to help Hill & Knowlton win our business. In addition, the release of only part of the findings paints an inaccurate picture of the entertainment software industry. The other research conducted by agency but not released showed:

More than two-thirds of 18-34 year olds currently play video games;
Less than 1 in 5 Americans think playing video games is a negative way to spend time with friends and family;
More than half of families think that video games are a positive way to spend time together;
Educational video games are perceived to provide more learning than TV or DVDs.

Thank you.

Tags: esa, hill, hillandknowlton, knowlton

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

agentflashx @ Dec 5th 2007 5:03PM

Pure pwnage!

Dekcar @ Dec 5th 2007 4:53PM

"APPROACHING SOUND BARRIER"!

rv @ Dec 5th 2007 5:30PM

I'm not sure that works here...

Sam @ Dec 5th 2007 4:56PM

PWNED

hvnlysoldr @ Dec 5th 2007 5:02PM

OBJECTION!

kinshadow @ Dec 5th 2007 5:32PM

So, if you have ever played video games, you are much more likely to think the governement should not regulate them. That sounds about right.

rv @ Dec 5th 2007 5:33PM

Now the question is how many people read Joystiq? The amount of people that will get this knowledge will probably be less than the number that received the other info.
I have no problem with games being restricted to minors- they should, however with gov regulation we probably will see restrictions given to adults too, like how a group of senators recently lobbied for manhunt 2 to not be able to be sold. This would fucking sucking, and yes that is the scientific term for that situation.
Also, this shows 60% of parents are lazy.

Cyxodus @ Dec 5th 2007 5:38PM

What's going on here is that this is a step towards classifying video games as destructive and harmful, so politicians and greedy lawyers can do to the video game industry what they did to the tobacco industry. You make enough money and you paint a target on your head but they don't understand how much video games have become a part of our society. They will fail.

Phinehas @ Dec 5th 2007 6:17PM

"Pure pwnage!"

This response is pretty predictable on a gaming-centric website, but the real question is whether or not the 60% who want government regulation share the sentiment. Unless we change *their* minds, we *are* going to end up with government regulation.

Instead of preaching to the gaming choir (where pwnage! == amen!), perhaps the ESA needs to start thinking about what it can do to change the perception of the voting public when it comes to games. Somehow, I don't think the typical deny, spin, and bluster approach seen above is going to get the job done.

Instead, perhaps the industry needs to take a closer look at its proclivity to push the naughty envelope in games. Perhaps it needs to better demonstrate its willingness to take a bit of responsibility for what it produces. Perhaps it needs to grow up a bit. Seriously. Is it just me, or do Kane & Lynch's f-bombs remind you of that kid in kindergarten who liked to say "booger" to get a rise out of others. Grown-ups have gotten over naughty words and such. It's only the immature that ever found them all that interesting in the first place.

I personally hate the idea of government regulation for game content. I'd rather see developers and parents and game retailers take responsibility. Instead, I see lots of finger-pointing and responses like the one above. And I see the 60% not going away.

Grant @ Dec 5th 2007 6:57PM

Isn't selective fact reporting fun!

Luzid @ Dec 5th 2007 7:10PM

Of course H&K is unethical - it's the same gang of liars responsible for the pre-Desert Storm "Iraqis throwing babies out of incubators" bullsh*t THAT NEVER HAPPENED.

Andrew Fong @ Dec 5th 2007 7:44PM

Not a fan of H&K even prior to this -- I visited their offices in Beijing where they're helping helping the government handle PR prior to the Olympics. Presentations varied between "boring as hell" and "enough corporate double speak to drown a panda."