Gamers have sat back and received salvo after salvo of anti gaming flack ever since Sub Zero ripped Liu Kang’s spine out when Mortal Kombat hit arcades in 1992. Yet games have prevailed. We have withstood these so called crusaders such as Tipper Gore to Jack Thompson, err Chuckles. You may ask what is the thin line between sanity and chaos? Enter stage right: The ECA.

Anyone who considers themselves a gamer needs to read through this interview. It will open your eyes. Drunk pandas and myself both joined at the Digital Life. 20 dollars a year for a cause that we all care about its an investment in a way. An investment that there will be games in the future. Read on.

What is the ECA?

The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit advocacy organization established to serve the evolving needs of individuals who play computer and video games. The ECA represents interactive entertainment consumers who constitute nearly fifty percent of the US population and spend $10 billion annually on gaming, yet are continually overlooked by politicians and the mainstream press.

Where is the ECA based?

The ECA is based in Wilton, Connecticut – about an hour outside of Manhattan.

How big is the ECA team?

Full-time staff is less than ten presently, which is a fairly typical size for our type and scope non-profit. We also have on retainer several firms which aid us with specific expertise in areas such as public relations, web design and development, marketing and advertising, government relations and the like.

What is the ECA’s mission?

The primary mission of the ECA is to give gaming consumers a voice and ensure that politicians hear their concerns and appreciate our demographic power. We fight on behalf of gamers at the State and Federal level, along with coalition partners, to make sure that we continue to overturn anti-games and anti-gamer laws that seek to limit our rights. The ECA also provides a host of additional community, services and affinity benefits to its members.

Why did you start the ECA?

I always felt that the industry was extraordinarily well represented, with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA, developers), Entertainment Software Association (ESA, publishers) and Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA, retailers), but the most important group was being neglected, consumers. We formerly ran the retail trade association and I knew that our team could effectively apply a lot of the lessons learned and experience gained over our nine years and organically grow a membership organization. So we set out to partner with every game-centric company out there in order to get our message out. And the response from the trade and gamers alike was overwhelming. It was clear that the time was now.

How does your history within the gaming industry lend itself to the ECA?

I’ve been in the industry, in varying capacities, for about 15 years. I started out as a consumer, obviously, playing since the introduction of the Atari 2600. After college and a brief stint as a maritime insurance underwriter, I worked for a small chain of video game retail stores which gave me an appreciation for both sides of the sales counter. I then moved to a regional video game distribution company, which taught me a lot about the business side of gaming – merchandising, sales, purchasing and channel-specific knowledge. I leveraged that experience to start a trade magazine, which most in the business remember as GameWeek – essentially like Variety or the Hollywood Reporter, but for games. I concurrently started the IEMA, the retail trade association which represented substantially all of the major merchants in the business (Wal-Mart, Target, GameStop, Best Buy, etc.).

In the nine years in which I ran the IEMA, we encountered many obstacles and challenges simply in the formation and growth of the organization. Coalition building and bringing together parties with disparate opinions and interests can be a daunting task. But our team learned from the experience and built the association into a force that truly affected change in the business. And that’s exactly what’s needed here. Politicians and the mainstream media aren’t getting the message because there hasn’t been an effective messenger. Consumers are the lifeblood of the industry, but they’re also voters who have rights. It’s our intention to unify gamers and empower them to make their opinions heard. We’ve let the nay-sayers do the talking for us for too long.

What does it mean to be an ECA member?

By joining the ECA, you can make your voice heard while taking advantage of exclusive ECA membership benefits. If you want to help take on the major issues confronting gaming consumers today – anti-gaming legislation, consumer rights, and the like – lending your support to the ECA can make a real difference.

But ECA membership goes beyond our advocacy efforts. The ECA is dedicated to providing a wealth of community and affinity benefits to our members. With membership, you can connect with like-minded gaming fans, explore career and educational opportunities in gaming, and more. ECA membership can also provide discounts on magazines and subscriptions and save you money on purchases at affiliated retailers.

Supporting ECA means not only doing the right thing for gamers everywhere, it lets you save money on gaming purchases while joining a network of passionate interactive entertainment fans.

How do you sign up to become a member?

The ECA is entirely web-based, meaning that substantially all of our business is online. People interested in joining can do so at our website www.theECA.com by filling out the registration form. Once you become a member, you’ll have access to all our services and benefits, plus receive a free t-shirt and our nightly newsletter, ECA Today.

Is there a membership fee?

Yes. Our annual membership fee is $19.99 per year. Students with a valid dot edu email receive a 25% discount equaling $14.99 per year. The revenue from dues funds the organization. We don’t accept funds from the industry directly, as we’re not an “Astroturf” organization, we’re a grass roots org…meaning that we’re funded by our membership. And while we may, in the future, accept advertising or underwriting from third parties, our revenue presently comes from dues income alone. It allows us a measure of independence that’s critical to our DNA.

What are some of the benefits members receive?

We’re dedicated to providing a wealth of benefits to our members that truly span the gamut. Web-based modules will aid us in offering: Education (access to financial aid, tuition assistance, scholarships and game-related degree information), Career Center (with job boards, internship opportunities and resume writing help) and Community (which provides forums, newsletters, polls and other social networking opportunities). In addition, members receive discounts on game rentals and purchases, access to trade shows and live events. We’re currently working on our next round of benefits which will be much more robust. We can’t go into detail yet, but I can hint at two of the bigger ones that I’m really, personally, very excited about: we’re talking with a portal provider that may be able to give ECA members exclusive access to several different types of insurance. We’re also in discussions with a leading bank about the possibility of providing our members with an affinity credit card.

It’s truly an all-encompassing organization that’s here to serve them. And frankly, we’re making the value proposition so compelling that it’s difficult to say “no.”

What kind of services does the ECA provide?

The ECA offers a comprehensive package of services to its members. From employment resources in the gaming industry, gaming and political news and forums via our partnership with GamePolitics.com, an online gaming directory, the ECA calendar of events and access to the gaming research and polls. We believe we’re building a hub to connect the gaming community together.

Why might the interests of the ECA appeal to college-aged gamers?

We started a student discount program which gives full or part-time students with a valid dot edu email account 25% off the annual membership fee. This means students can now join the ECA for $14.99 annually! Additionally, we’re rolling out web-based modules, several of which should be very compelling for students: the Education module will pull together information from all of the colleges and universities around the country that have degree or coursework related to the gaming industry. Additionally, we’ll have scholarship information accessible as well as a Career module, in which you’ll be able to view job boards, get resume writing help, read articles on gaming careers and apply through the board for positions.

What are the ECA’s primary goals for the first year?

Education, education and education. We’re in the formative years of a new non-profit organization that represents consumers who have previously gone without representation. We need to educate consumers about our existence, the benefits of joining, the rights that we fight for and the rights that are threatened. A surprising number of gamers just aren’t aware of how dire the situation is, and it’s time to do something about it.

What is the issue between politicians and the game industry?

Ultimately it’s a matter of respect – for the consumer and for the medium – and to that end our challenge is to educate the politicians and mass media about the two. Our goal in this regard is to effectively communicate the realities of the situation, and where that logic falls short with those who remain committed against us, we will employ our members. Moving an otherwise disparate group of like-minded people to a common purpose has been the impetus for change throughout history, and beating back this onslaught of anti-games and anti-gamer legislation is a great place to start.

What would you consider the biggest misconception about gamers as a population that politicians or the media may have?

There’s a misunderstanding about who plays games, and it’s something we intend to rectify quickly: gamers as a group are educated, vocal, passionate, mature and, by the way, they also vote. Those descriptions need to be reinforced and drummed home until understood. Politicians over a certain age simply didn’t grow up with games as a part of their broader entertainment diet. They saw them as toys, rather than as a legitimate form of media. And as a result, they assume that all gamers are children and that all games should be child appropriate. The reality is that the average gamer is roughly 30 years old and enjoys playing games in much the same way they listen to music or watch movies – it’s just media to them, and as such they want to enjoy different types and styles. Now that gamers have representation, and we’re out there beating the drums, we intend to dispel that false image and shed some much-needed light on the truth.

How does the ECA help combat all the negativity directed towards the video game industry?

The games business, like each other form of entertainment, has taken a bashing from the mass media and been widely misunderstood and certainly misrepresented. We’re at a cross roads in our medium’s evolution; one in which it is incumbent upon us to act and right the wrongs. The industry itself has been trying unsuccessfully for a decade now, and I believe that its salvation rests in gaining the vocal support of its customers, gamers. This is a long-term fight, but one that we’re committed to. Simply by being engaged for the first time, we believe that we will change the paradigm.

Does the ECA intend to launch regional chapters?

We do actually. It has been my hope that the organization will grow to the size where we can successfully support and maintain chapters. In fact, I’d love to see them work with our government and public relations folks to start becoming the public face of gaming and of gamers. For too long we’ve allowed our detractors to label and pigeon hole us as a certain type of person. We need to re-brand and change those misconceptions. Gamers are well-spoken, articulate and intelligent individuals and we will work to accurately represent them to the mass media, politicians and the general public.

Where do you see the ECA going to in the future?

As a membership organization, the sky’s the limit, really. If you look at the impact that other similar associations have had on society, such as AAA or AARP, you can begin to imagine just how impactful the ECA could truly become. I don’t dare to dream too large, but just for the foreseeable future there are a lot of things that we can do the larger the ECA becomes.

What are your favorite games of all time?

I’ve re-discovered my passion for Mario Kart 64 with the Wii Virtual Console – that game has to be one of the single greatest multiplayer racing games, and certainly the most fun in my opinion. Otherwise, my tastes really run the gamut; I’ve had substantial addictions to some of the obvious first-person shooter (FPS), real-time strategy (RTS) and platformer games. My interest in sports games pretty much ended with Tecmo Bowl back in college, but I enjoy watching other – more talented people – play them. I’m also fairly platform agnostic, although I probably spend more time with handhelds and PC games than any one of the consoles. Some of the most addictive, to me, tend to also be the more obvious answers: such as the Halo, Age of Empires, Mario, Sonic, and Command & Conquer franchises. I was even a Sims Online devotee for a while. In the end, I guess my gaming taste is as eclectic as my preferences in any other media (TV, music, movies, etc.).