Along with a lengthy list of everything they've accomplished over the past couple of years, the ECA used some of their press release space to announce the eventual availability of membership cards online via Walmart.com and Amazon.com,along with a partnership with MMO service provider K2 Network to help raise awareness of their various services, and indeed their very existence. Hit the jump to see what the ECA has done for you while you weren't looking.

Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) Celebrates Two Years of Video Game Consumer Advocacy

ECA Continues to Defend Consumers’ Rights Through Formation of New Strategic Partnerships and an Unprecedented Level of Consumer Visibility

WILTON, Conn.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA), the consumer rights advocacy group dedicated to providing passionate gamers a voice, is today celebrating twenty-four months of serving the evolving needs of individuals who play computer and video games. In the two years since its inception, this flagship organization has established a solid foundation focusing its advocacy efforts on a variety of consumer rights issues, anti-games legislation, and a host of other public policy concerns. The organization simultaneously provides substantial community and affinity benefits to its ever-increasing dedicated and proactive members. Through these efforts, the ECA has also forged strategic alliances with other influential non-profits, and well-established endemic and non-endemic corporations including video game publishers, developers, retailers, and trade media.

In the months and years to come, the ECA intends to not only expand upon quality programs in place for its members, but will continually spearhead new initiatives and services, beginning with three new solid partnerships to increase the ECA's visibility, outreach and accessibility to gaming consumers. The organization today announced two new partnerships with retail giants Walmart and Amazon to sell ECA membership cards online at Walmart.com, and Amazon.com. The ECA also announced a significant collaboration with K2 Network, the leading MMO service provider in the Western Hemisphere, to drive awareness of video game advocacy and the ECA's services to the 23 million K2 members representing over 160 countries. Additional merchant partners will be announced at a later date.

“In just over two years, the ECA has brought together a politically charged videogame community united to rally against efforts singling out videogames from the First Amendment protections enjoyed by other forms of entertainment,” said ECA founder and president, Hal Halpin. “We are humbled by the strength of what a unified consumer voice can accomplish, and challenge gamers everywhere to empower themselves and their communities by becoming more educated, active and involved, and leveraging the ECA’s services as a platform to rise against unjust legislation and ignorance.”

Some highlights of what the ECA has been involved in and accomplished to date, include the following:

The ECA and Advocacy:

The ECA has made great strides in legislation, building productive relationships and joining coalition partnerships with other established non-profit and public interest organizations, such as the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Rock the Vote, Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), Verizon, Connected Nation, Free Press, International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and many others, who have embraced its mission. Under the ECA, independent topical groups are established for members to stand behind their most pertinent issues and actively outreach to form partnerships with other non-profit and corporate entities in support of their topics. These groups rally around such issues as video game violence legislation, Fair use – as it relates to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), e-waste, net neutrality, video game tax, universal broadband, parental empowerment, the regulation of video games, and more.

The ECA and Affinity Benefits:

ECA membership goes beyond advocacy, and is dedicated to providing substantial community and affinity benefits to its members. With membership, entertainment consumers can connect with others, stay on top of industry issues and events, explore career and educational opportunities in gaming, and voice their feedback on issues and products. Current initiatives with a continually expanding list of partners, including recently announced support from: Activision Blizzard, Alienware/Dell, G8 Clothing, GameFly, Game Informer Magazine, iGames, K2 Network, Nos Energy Drink, Philips/Ambix, Red Lion, and dozens more – in addition to all of the major consumer and trade shows, conferences and events. The organization also actively supports students and the military with discounted annual memberships of just $14.99. These partnerships enable the ECA to provide members with substantial discounts and savings.

The ECA and Education:

The ECA has made it a priority to partner with the major enthusiast media outlets in order to address the single greatest ongoing challenge: the education of members, the industry and the general public. The association also has created and/or partnered with other properties whose mission and readership parallels their own. GamePolitics.com, is a politically-oriented news and opinions web site addressing politics, legislation and the way in which games and gamers relate to the legal system. GameJobs.com provides comprehensive gaming industry job listings, resume writing help and online database and tools for gamers interested in attaining or furthering a career in video games. GameCulture.com delivers news, commentary and features on video games, technology and the ways in which gamers and gaming has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on culture. VideogameYellowPages.com links members to companies involved in all aspects of the interactive entertainment business and acts as a catch-all directory and repository. Additionally, the fast-growing ECA Today, the nightly newsletter which is distributed to all members free of charge, keeps readers informed on the most interesting and relevant games-related news of the day.

The ECA and Community:

The ECA is rapidly broadening its reach through an expansive national network of regional chapters powered by local gaming communities and college campuses across the country. They adopt the collective goal of educating on political issues directly affecting the interactive entertainment industry, connecting consumers with like-minded gamers in their area, and offering access to a larger professional network for career and educational opportunities within the gaming industry. The ECA will continue to empower these regional chapters, helping them focus on broadening the ECA’s mission – giving gamers a voice – by providing support tools and training seminars for chapter presidents and members on how to engage with their local, state and federal officials on issues that matter to gamers.

Additionally, the ECA went international this year with the inclusion of representation of Canadian gamers. Since the announcement this past summer, ECA has increased both its membership and chapter count and undertaken efforts to include Canadian-specific affinity benefits, services and discounts.

For more information on the ECA and to sign up for membership, please visit: www.theeca.com.

“With a thriving gaming community already present and growing in Canada, we are proud to extend the opportunities and benefits that our U.S. ECA members have been enjoying over the years,” said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA. “Canada is an important area of growth for us and we are excited to welcome Canadian gamers who are interested in community and any issues that affect gamers.”

Interested Canadians can head over to the official ECA website to sign up for membership. Good luck and god speed, brave neighbors to the north.

The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) Crosses the Border and Expands Into Canada
Non Profit Organization Opens up Membership Opportunities to Benefit Canadian Gamers

WILTON, Conn.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA), the non-profit organization that represents video game enthusiasts, today announced they have begun offering membership opportunities to gamers and consumers who reside in Canada. Canadians who sign up to become ECA members can now take advantage of a host of discounts and benefits and will be immediately plugged into an extremely active social network of gamers that want to give their passion a voice.

“With a thriving gaming community already present and growing in Canada, we are proud to extend the opportunities and benefits that our U.S. ECA members have been enjoying over the years,” said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA. “Canada is an important area of growth for us and we are excited to welcome Canadian gamers who are interested in community and any issues that affect gamers.”

The ECA will soon be unveiling a host of unique benefits and programs that will be specifically targeted towards Canadian consumers. Canadian chapter organizations are already underway in local gaming communities and these newly-formed networks will continue to grow and offer a great way for videogame players to stay informed and connect with like-minded ECA members in their area.

For more information on the ECA or to take action and sign up for membership, please visit: www.theeca.com.

Fewer Players in the Gaming Group [Washington Post]

Technology columnist Mike Musgrove got Entertainment Software Association CEO Michael Gallagher on the horn (we got him first!) to talk about, what else, ESA's membership losses. Everyone here should be familiar with the story and the pressures that realigning E3 have brought to bear on membership dues, believed to be the motivation for so many big name publishers flying the coop. ESA refers us to the companies to get the reasons for leaving, and so far none have, really.

Well Musgrove got Id CEO Todd Hollenshead to say that Id's departure was "probably temporary and was not political. It was just a question of other priorities this year that we wanted to focus on." OK, pretty vague line but, hey, at least it's something. And it makes some kind of commitment to Id returning. One wonders if others have the same point of view as Id, and what must happen in the meantime to bring about their return.

Also, ECA chief Hal Halpin told Musgrove he knew of two other game companies planning to leave, and more who are unhappy but sticking around.

Fewer Players in the Gaming Group [The Washington Post via GamePolitics]

You better sit down, this gets really confusing really quickly.

Yesterday The Escapist broke the news that E3 keynoter Texas Governor Rick Perry stirred up some controversy by attending a Texas' Cornerstone Church sermon given by the Rev. John Hagee. During the service Hagee told the gathering that non-christians are going straight to hell. Perry later said he agreed with the sentiment. The story failed to mention that the sermon took place in 2006, something the Wired follow-up did explain.

Then Game Politics, a ECA site which follows the convergence of politics and gaming, picked up the story and added some commentary, calling Perry a bizarre keynote choice and asking the ESA to rescind their offer. It also said that E3 2008 was being politicized by ESA president Michael Gallagher.

In exchanges with Joystiq, Dan Hewitt, the ESA director of communication, called into question Game Politics' objectivity, pointing out that it was owned by ECA.

"If the ESA posted a blog and called it a news site, journalists would rightfully balk and it wouldn't pass a smell test. Remarkably, GamePolitics doesn't face the same scrutiny even though it's funded by the ECA and tainted with anti-ESA vitriol. At the end of the day, calling GamePolitics a news site is as laughable as saying there's a Cuban free press."

Game Politics' editor Dennis McCauley defended the site, saying he "stands by what he wrote regarding the appropriateness - or lack thereof - of having Gov. Perry deliver the E3 keynote."

Reached for comment this afternoon, Rich Taylor, senior vice president for communications and research at the ESA, had this to say:

“The ESA welcomes open, honest and frank exchanges with the media. Dan’s comments to Joystiq, which were directed specifically at GamePolitics, were an expression of frustration based on the consistently biased approach of reporting on that site. “

So two issues for the price of one: Is a religiously outspoken governor the appropriate choice for E3 keynoter? Does the fact that ESA rival, the ECA own GamePolitics call into question their objectivity.

ESA calls out GamePolitics for unfair coverage [update] [Joystiq]

The ECA has also stepped up to advocate a social network for politically-minded gamers, taking over the National Association forthe Protection of Video Games group on Facebook and hosting a new "action center" on Nonprofit advocacy group The Entertainment Consumers' Association is hailing the results of a recent Federal Trade Commission study that showed 80 percent retailer compliance with the ESRB's ratings system, a continual year-over-year increase that puts games ahead of other media in self-regulating mature content.

ECA President Hal Halpin called the results, which improved significantly over 2007, "an extraordinary accomplishment," praising retailers' commitment to keep M-rated games out of kids' hands. "Perhaps most impressive is the incredible reversal in their failure rate over such a short period of time and with a comparatively new rating system," Halpin said.

"This is truly a vindication for video game merchants who have been falsely damned by anti-game advocates and special interest groups, who now don't have a leg to stand on. Our congratulations and thanks are extended to these retailers, who, above music and movie merchants, have proven their word, empowered parents and shown a commitment to corporate social responsibility."

The FTC survey, and Halpin's comments, come just on the heels of a bill in the U.S. House that would levy $5,000 fines for retailers who sell adult games to kids. The proposed legislation is similar to bills in states such as Oklahoma, Illinois and California, that were all ultimately ruled unconstitutional in 2007.

We'd like to extend our condolences to the families, friends and classmates of those who were affected in the school shooting at Northern Illinois University. Separately, we are disgusted, but no longer shocked, to find that anti-game activists are again rushing to conclusions about what drove Stephen Kazmierczak, the clearly disturbed 27 year old who police say was responsible for this tragedy, to commit such an act.

Blaming video games for the behavior of the mentally-challenged is vile on many levels. And, as Generations X and Y mature, it is extremely likely that just about all of us have played at least one video game at some point in our lives. Drawing a parallel between games and violence without any substantive proof is sensationalism for its own sake. This is a sad event, made worse by the irresponsible actions of attention-seekers and the media that has given them a platform for their reckless venom.

"We're excited to extend our 25 percent Student Discount for annual membership dues to all active service men and women with a valid dot mil domain extension," said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA.

THE ENTERTAINMENT CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION (ECA) ANNOUNCES MILITARY DISCOUNT

The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) today announced a new membership program - and they want you! The ECA is now offering a 25 percent Military Discount, giving all members of the military a reduced rate of just $14.99 per year. Those qualifying for this discount will have access to a number of key gaming resources, programs and services geared toward connecting the gaming community together including exclusive subscription discounts, savings on game purchases and rentals, access to industry events, and more.

"We're excited to extend our 25 percent Student Discount for annual membership dues to all active service men and women with a valid dot mil domain extension," said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA. "It came as a result of conversations between GamePolitics.com regular and ECA member Robert "lexfor" Kalal, who was promoting the association to his fellow gamers in the Air Force while stationed in Turkey. While we're aligned with several charities that support the troops, it seemed apparent that extending this discount was yet another way of honoring their service and dedication."

For more on the Military Discount and for a complete list of ECA membership benefits, please visit www.theeca.com

That's not a typo, but the title of the upcoming film (at one point expected to see release in 2005) on video game violence from Spencer Halpin, brother of the Entertainment Consumers Association's Hal Halpin. Despite featuring some very alarmist soundbites—as well as giving The Silver Fox another outlet to deliver his anti-Rockstar speech promising a "Columbine on the factor of 10"—the documentary appears to have very high production values and looks to be a must-watch for those interested in the topic of violence in games. Michael McWhertor

Moral Kombat: Spencer Halpin's Documentary On Game Violence [Mercury News]

"There's been an amazingly positive reception for the ECA from the industry ... which has helped to support and strengthen our cause," said Halpin, its president. "The games industry companies for years has been saying they are committed to gamers, and with the help of the ECA, I believe that goal can be achieved as we strive to enable and empower the consumers and their voices."

New group gives voice to gamers [Stamford Advocate, via ECA partner Game Politics]

There's one less independent voice in hard-nosed game coverage today.

GamePolitics.com has been acquired by the newly formed Entertainment Consumers Association, a consumer interest group launched by former Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association president Hal Halpin.

The news is bitter-sweet. On the one hand I love that the fledgling consumer group is getting some teeth in the form of Dennis McCauley, longtime video game columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and owner of GP, but on the other hand I mourn the loss of an educated voice covering the industry free of conflict of interest.

Make no mistakes, McCauley now works for the industry.

To be fair, McCauley said there would be no changes at the site.

As far as content, readers shouldn't expect to see any difference in GP's daily features. I'll be staying on as GamePolitics editor, and we'll have the same in-depth coverage of legislative, political and cultural issues that you've come to expect from GamePolitics. Of course, we've also got great resources like the Legislation Tracker, forums and much more. Look for some new features upcoming as well!

While I understand the group is supposed to be a sort of triple A of gaming, I think that, like many of those groups, they have a built in conflict of interest. They want to protect consumers but not at the expense of the industry. Brian Crecente

Game Politics Joins the ECA [Game Politics]