Which Video Game Publishers And Developers Were Invited To The White House
President Donald Trump's meeting with the video game industry's representatives is currently underway. The main topic is the inherent violence portrayed in some video games which some lawmakers believe has contributed to a recent string of school shootings perpetrated mostly by teens and young adults.
Present at the meeting were people from the Electronic Software Association (ESA) who represent the US video game industry. Also at the meeting were members of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), tasked with regulating video game content.
Strauss Zelnick, chief executive of "Grand Theft Auto" publisher Rockstar Games, was also present as well as Robert Altman, chief executive of ZeniMax Media which owns the Doom, Fallout, and Wolfenstein franchises. Judging from those titles alone, they perhaps have the most to lose should regulation against violent video games become reality.
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On the other side of the metaphoric table were staunch critics of video games, chief among them was Brent Bozell from the Media Research Center. Lt Col Dave Grossman, author of "Assassination Generation: Video Games, Aggression, and the Psychology of Killing" was there along with Melissa Henson, a mother from the Parents Television Council.
Ms. Henson's assessment of the nearly hour-long meeting was that it was "vigorous" but "respectful." She also added that the president was willing to hear from both sides.
This is despite his earlier statements condemning the violence in video games which he claims is "creating monsters." Such allegations were robustly defended by the video game representatives.
"Video games are enjoyed around the world and numerous authorities and reputable scientific studies have found no connection between games and real-life violence," the ESA said in a statement. "Video games are plainly not the issue: entertainment is distributed and consumed globally, but the US has an exponentially higher level of gun violence than any other nation."
The meeting was called following the deadly shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida in which 17 people died. It was not the first of its kind, however, as back in 2013, following the deaths of 20 pre-school children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, then Vice-President Joe Biden also met with representatives from companies such as Electronic Arts and Epic Games.
