Sparking it is part of the reason we exist: sometimes it's the only way to raise an issue up in the public dialogue to a point where a discussion is had, a decision gets made, and action taken.

And that's what our work on games consoles is all about: getting something done about the problem of electronic waste.

Our recent videos here on Kotaku stirred up a variety of passionate responses.

I'd like to clear up a few misunderstandings about the toxic substances in electronics and consoles in particular. Pressuring Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft to remove toxic chemicals is just part of our campaign for greener electronics.

Greenpeace first started its Greener Electronics campaign in 2005 to address massive increases in the dumping of toxic electronic waste, or "e-waste", particularly in developing countries. We were seeing mountains of old electronics piling up. Ground water in parts of China was so polluted by toxic chemicals that it was undrinkable. Children in Ghana, Pakistan, and India were enveloped in acrid fumes every day from burning the PVC insulation off wires to recover copper. This is the ugly reality behind the huge growth in our use and disposal of more and more computers, phones, and gadgets.

In August 2006 we launched our Guide to Greener Electronics covering the policies and practice of leading mobile phone and PC makers on toxic chemicals and global recycling. Mobile phones and PC are the biggest contributors to the massive growth in e-waste but as the campaign progressed it was clear we needed to expand the focus of the Guide. In November 2007 we added TV makers and console makers to the Guide.

We added Nintendo and Microsoft (Sony were already featured) because of the explosive growth in console sales, making it one of the biggest growth areas in consumer electronics.

We focus on toxics elimination and global recycling as two vital areas to help tackle e-waste. Removing the most hazardous substances from electronics first makes them safer and cheaper to recycle responsibly. If old electronics are still dumped, less toxics equals less pollution.

Requiring global electronics firms to provide free take back and recycling for all their products has two major benefits. It makes it much easier and convenient for everyone to ensure their old electronics are recycled responsibly. Plus if companies who make products are also made responsible for them at the end of life they have a big incentive to make them more durable, reduce hazardous substances, and design for efficient recycling.

These principles apply to all electronics from mobiles to TVs, consoles to computers. Phasing out hazardous substances is not easy or quick to do. As a simple rule of thumb, the smaller and simpler the device the easier it is to remove toxic PVC plastic and Brominated Flame Retardants. Removing these substances from consoles is a challenge for companies but not an impossible task. The most progressive electronics companies committed to remove these toxics back in 2006 or 2007 with target dates of 2009 and 2010. Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Apple are definitely leading on toxics elimination. Progress from the biggest PC makers is mixed; Acer remains committed to completing a phase-out by end of this year, while Dell, Lenovo and HP have postponed their phase-outs.

If progress from other sectors has been mixed, console makers haven't even left the starting blocks. While Sony has a commitment to remove these chemicals from mobile devices by 2010, and has made progress with models like the Vaio laptop, Sony refuses to make any commitment for the PlayStation. Microsoft has a commitment but only by 2010. Nintendo has no set date to remove PVC.

Alternatives do exist

We are not asking for the impossible - alternatives to these substances do exist and are available. Apple has proved it's possible by removing BFRs and virtually completing PVC phase out while reducing the price of new models.

While many progressive companies in the electronics industry have taken up the challenge to make greener electronics that are free of the worst toxics, more recyclable and energy efficient, there's also been plenty of criticism thrown in our direction.

Here are my answers to several of the most common critiques related directly to consoles.

I often see criticism that we are not promoting solutions or alternatives, only problems. For me there are several parts to this. On eliminating toxics our expertise is on raising the issue, the solutions are best developed by the companies and the product designers, engineers and chemists backed by massive R&D budgets. Only companies can find the best solutions for their products. This is something companies need to invest in significantly. Pressure from their customers is vital to raise the issue of toxics elimination up on the ladder of corporate priorities. If enough gamers request consoles without the worst toxic chemicals, the manufacturers will move. Without that demand, nothing happens. In this sense every one of us reading this can be part of the solution.

Many comments highlight the fact that consoles are rarely thrown out and are in high demand on the second hand market. Undoubtedly this is true for many places, but with monthly combined sales of consoles in the millions and historical combined sales in the hundreds of millions there must be a significant number of consoles that have or will find their way on to the global e-waste pile eventually. It's very difficult to find any comprehensive global figures on amounts and exact consistency of e-waste, as the trade is illegal in many countries. However, old electronics containing toxic chemicals are often dumped in developing countries because that's the cheapest option.

Some claim we take money to attack other companies. Actually, no — we don't. Part of what makes Greenpeace different from many other environmental groups is that we simply don't accept corporate or government funding as a matter of principle. Our independence means we're free to bite any corporate hand we need to, without fear of upsetting a funder. We actually screen donations, and send back checks that don't come from individual donors.

Often stories like to portray our campaign as Greenpeace attacking a specific company. Yes, we do single out companies, either because they're a perfect example of a problem, or because they're the worst performer, or because they have the potential to lead the industry in a new direction if they change. The name of the game is to get an issue onto people's radar, and to build public pressure for change. You can call it Machiavellian, but that formula is what has given us a four decade track record of success. Nations no longer dump radioactive waste in the ocean, because we made it an issue. Antarctica is off limits to oil and gas exploration, because we made it an issue. Commercial whaling has been banned, because we made it an issue. We have no permanent allies, no permanent enemies. Our sole allegiance is to solving environmental problems.

Use your power

The people eeking out a living by scavenging smoldering mountains of our castaway technology can't comment here on Kotaku. But their voice matters greatly in this debate. There's no reason our gaming needs to be poisoning them. You — the gaming community — hold the power to change the way consoles are made. How can we hold that power, and not use it, when it's a matter of life and death?

Tom Dowdall coordinates Greenpeace's campaign for Greener Electronics.

When the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) sent a report through Facebook's built in reporting system and then urged its Facebook and Twitter followers to do the same, the user was suspended, and the group abandoned and commandeered by pro-gay users in the matter of hours.

It seems that real people in those virtual communities, as well as the massive companies that run the platforms, don't like when people form groups that advocate killing people or targeting groups.

Now what happens when you take that model and you turn it to online gaming virtual communities?

To illustrate my point, take a look at this video previously highlighted on Kotaku and GayGamer to get a sense of the problem just in online gaming communities.

Halo 3: Homophobia Evolved (NSFW)

This isn't to say that all gamers feel and think this way. As we know, there's a great diversity in who plays computer and video games and how they think. But similar to other forms of mass medium entertainment-like music, books, and movies-the new frontier created by advances in technology, especially Internet technology, has increased ability to transmit our voices, images, and ideas. But it has also come with a greater capacity to harass, bully, and spread prejudices - often times with little-to-no repercussions.  

The problem is widespread in these communities, with kids and adults alike throwing around virtual threats and threatening real world violence and death.

In 2006, a survey under supervision by the University of Illinois provided the first glimpse of "the social and behavioral demographics of gay video game players" as well as "the role of sexual orientation on gaming habits." Here are some highlights:

52.7% of those surveyed said the gaming community is "Somewhat Hostile" to gay and lesbian gamers, 14% said "Very Hostile."
When asked what forms of homophobia people have seen in the gaming community, here are some of what the surveyed said:

87.7% - Players use the phrase, "That's so gay."
83.4% - Players use the words "gay" or "queer" as derogatory names.
52.3% - Stereotypical representations of gay characters in games.
42.5% - Refusal of game designers to include well-developed gay characters.
49.4% - Invisibility of gaymers and/or the gaymer community.
When asked how frequently players experience homophobia, those surveyed who responded "Always" or "Frequently" equaled 42%. Add in "Sometimes" and it brings up that total to 74.5%.
When asked how often those players respond to the homophobia they witness – 50.9% total responded "Never" or "Rarely."

Keep in mind, that's a survey from 3 years ago. According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2009 Essential Facts, last year 68% of American households played video or computer games.  It's an industry that continues to grow - from 2.6 billion dollars in sales in 1996 to 11.7 billion last year.  And don't think it's child's play – the average player age is 35.

The problem is only getting worse and needs to be addressed with comprehensive and sustainable solutions. That's why GLAAD has announced an initiative to do just that – The Project on Homophobia & Virtual Communities – which kicks off with a groundbreaking panel discussion to be held on the Electronic Arts campus on July 18, 2009.

The panel discussion will include an assessment of the problem in these communities, policy solutions that have been developed to address homophobia – some that are working and those that are not - as well as looking to the future at the challenges and opportunities to combating homophobia in various sectors of the industry.

Confirmed panelists include representatives from XBox LIVE, Electronic Arts, Inc., Linden Lab, the Entertainment Software Association, and GayGamer.net.

There is no doubt that this is a complicated endeavor. While most companies do have some sort of policy in place that prohibits threats, advocating violence or death, and hate speech, there are major concerns with the effectiveness of those policies. Those concerns including the policies themselves, which in some cases ban self-identifying your orientation or using words like "gay" or "lesbian" altogether. They also include the mechanisms in place to report violations of the policies, many which don't allow you to submit evidence (i.e. recordings of in game audio/video). Then there is the lack of transparency once a user has been reported, leaving the harassed often feeling as if nothing has been done.

GLAAD's project has an established set of goals to address these concerns. To get companies to provide safe spaces for LGBT people in these virtual communities (which includes virtual worlds, online games, social networks, message boards, etc). To work with each of the companies to ensure they have solid policies in place that prevent anti-LGBT defamation where possible and mechanisms to report the defamation when it does occur. And what will be the most challenging in my eyes - to educate the user base about the real impact of their virtual homophobia.

However, what this comes down to is that this really is a company-by-company and a case-by-case project. For example, when a potentially anti-gay situation with the Old Republic message board arose, I reached out to Bioware about the situation and ended up getting a call back from a VP at Electronic Arts (EA), Bioware's parent company. After making sure the situation was corrected, he issued a statement through GLAAD, which we shared on our blog, and put me in touch with EA staff to continue conversations about the overall issue of homophobia in virtual communities.

Through ongoing conversations with EA, they have offered to host our upcoming panel on their private campus in Redwood City, CA, and have provided a panelist - a senior producer from the Maxis Studio. While I'm out in California I'll also be meeting with EA staff to discuss the issue of homophobia, their policies and begin working on a comprehensive plan to address it.

Microsoft has also had recent and ongoing dust-ups regarding their XBox LIVE policies being "anti-gay." After opening up a dialogue with them about the problems, they invited GLAAD out to their campus in Washington State for two days of meetings with XBox LIVE managers to review their systems, protocols and policies and provide recommendation on way to address the problem. We now have quarterly conference calls to continue working towards solutions.

These companies aren't monoliths and are very much committed to providing a safe and fun environment for all their players - they're just not all there yet.

We all know it's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to be easy. We have an uphill battle of policy issues, system improvements and campaigns to educate users on the real dangers of homophobia. In my job as GLAAD Director of Digital Media, I've also seen the real impact unchecked homophobia has on people's lives and how it leads to a climate of intolerance, to bullying and harassment, and can ultimately lead to violence and death, especially among children.

While the average player age may be 35, 25% of all game players are under 18. These are impressionable kids who are witnessing and then participating in anti-gay slurs, normalizing homophobia for them. They then take that behavior from their virtual worlds into their real world.

According to a 2007 report by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, "86.2% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 44.1% reported being physically harassed and 22.1% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation."

In February of 2008, a 14-year-old took out a gun during class and killed a 15-year-old classmate because of the student's sexual orientation and gender identity. This past April, an 11-year-old boy in Massachusetts who didn't identify as gay hanged himself because of anti-gay bullying, as did another 11-year-old boy in Georgia. These are but a few examples.

Some may argue that these examples don't directly support the argument that unchecked homophobia in virtual communities leads to real world violence amongst kids. However, we can all agree that children learn what's appropriate and acceptable and how to treat others from their friends, families and from their communities. And that includes their virtual communities.

This is a problem we cannot leave unchecked.

For those who say this is bigger than just being about homophobia – that there are also issues like racism and sexism to be addressed - you are right. But keep in mind; while the work being done here is focused around fighting homophobia its implications will affect many other groups. If we work to help implement better reporting mechanisms, it helps everyone. If we work to provide better policies and safe spaces for LGBT people, those policies and spaces can be replicated for other groups as well.

If we are moving in a direction where so much of our communications and interactions occur in virtual communities, then maybe its about time we start considering how we can make the spaces civilized and safe, inviting millions more into the communities, and paving the way for the expansion of this technology into other areas of our real world.

We have an opportunity to learn from the lessons of our real-life society, to not repeat the same mistakes in our virtual ones.

We at GLAAD hope you'll join us in this effort.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Justin J. Cole is GLAAD's Director of Digital Media

Here, in it's entirety, is Vance's open letter to Utah's Parents and Leaders:

Legislation expanding Utah's existing Truth in Advertising law (H.B. 353) would require that if a video game retailer promotes its adherence to a policy restricting the sale of video games rated M for Mature – which, like the R rating for movies, indicates it is recommended for those ages 17 and older – and then sells an M-rated game to anyone under the recommended age, they could be subject to a lawsuit, fines and/or the payment of additional costs and legal fees. In fact, all major retailers of video games currently have such policies, which they have put in place voluntarily and with which they are in compliance the vast majority of the time. According to a recent audit, Utah video game retailers enforce their store policies regarding the sale of M-rated games an impressive 94% of the time – without any laws or requirements that they do so. That level of compliance took many years to achieve, and speaks to the strong commitment of video game retailers to do the right thing.

So why is this bill likely to put an end to those very efforts it seeks to support? On its face such an amendment makes good sense; after all, if a retailer says they're going to do something, they should do it, right? While the intent of this legislation would be to hold retailers accountable for compliance with their stated policies – presumably in that negligible 6% of instances where they fail to comply – the unfortunate reality is that it would introduce a liability that will likely force many retailers to seriously consider abandoning their voluntary policies and ratings education programs, undoing years of progress made on behalf of parents and their children.

It's worth noting that when the Federal Trade Commission first began measuring retailer compliance with video game sales policies nationwide in 2000, a scant 15% of underage customers were turned away. However, the most recent such study reported in May 2008 found that national retailers refused to sell M-rated games to customers under 17 a remarkable 80% of the time, far surpassing the comparable rates of compliance for movies, DVDs, or music CDs rated for a mature audience. The unraveling of this substantial progress would be a tragic consequence, depriving parents of the assurance and control they currently have with respect to deciding which games their children can purchase and play.

Utah State Representative Michael Morley, the chief sponsor of this new amendment, was recently quoted in the Deseret News stating that, "if they're one of those places that thinks, ‘Well, as long as they have a heartbeat and some money we'll sell to them,' then this won't have any impact on them." That statement reveals exactly why this law would
be so destructive. It would effectively penalize responsible retailers that have policies, and provide safe harbor for retailers that refuse to adopt a responsible policy in the first place. That is downright senseless. If the goal is to make sure our children are playing age-appropriate games, there is a better way.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), of which I am president, is a non-profit organization created in 1994 to help parents determine which computer and video games are appropriate for their children. Most retailers only carry games that have been rated by the ESRB, and game consoles and handheld devices include settings that parents can activate to block games by ESRB rating. Elected officials across the country, including Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and groups like PTA have joined ESRB in helping educate the public about the rating system to great effect. The FTC recently reported that 73% of parents regularly use ESRB ratings when buying games for their children; 59% "never" allow their child to play an M-rated game, and 34% only do so "sometimes."

The bottom line is that parents are more than capable of utilizing tools like the ratings to make the right choices for their families. And there is broad support of ESRB ratings from major retailers and the game industry alike. The proposed legislation is looking to fix a system that is not broken. Instead, we should all be focused on figuring out ways to encourage parents to use the excellent tools already available to them to make informed choices about the media their children consume. Punishing retailers for promoting responsible sales policies is irrational and counter-productive. I write in the sincere hope that Utah chooses to empower its parents with information rather than undo the substantial progress made by retailers to date to serve the best interests of Utah's children.

With warm regards,
Patricia E. Vance
President

I wanted an executive from each company to write an open letter welcoming new gamers to their specific platform. The idea, I thought, was to serve two purposes.

First it seemed like it would be interesting to hear what someone so high up in the company would tell a person who had just purchased their console. What games would they recommend? What about their platform do they think stands out?

While interesting, it certainly doesn't apply to the typical Kotaku reader. So the other thing that I thought would be interesting was to look at the way these executives wrote their letters, the language they used.

To be clear, don't fault any of the companies for the slant toward new gamers they took when writing the letters, I asked them to do that. But maybe look beyond the face of the letter and try to read something into what you find their beyond what to buy for a console.

These are, all three companies tell me, letters actually penned by these executives. So lets skip the normal fanboism and dig into something that could actually be quite insightful.

Welcome To the Family: A Letter From Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway

Welcome To the Family: A Letter From Playstation's Peter Dille

Welcome To the Family: A Letter From Xbox 360's John Schappert

We asked each of the companies to write up a welcome letter to new owners of their consoles. They did the rest. We are running them in the order they were received. Check out Microsoft's and Sony's letters.

And now a word from Cammie Dunaway, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Nintendo.

To: New Wii owners
From: Cammie Dunaway,
Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Wii! I know it’s a little late and unnecessary to address this letter to the many Kotaku readers who bought their Wii when it first hit the videogame scene back in 2006. But to the more than four million consumers who only just discovered this new way of gaming during the November and December holiday period, congratulations on your purchase. In total, ten million other Americans bought a Wii in 2008, and you owners range from the most dedicated, passionate of players, all the way to first time gamers. If you’re in that latter group, you shouldn’t feel alone. Millions of Americans had no other video game system in their homes when they unpacked their Wiis. In fact, one of those new Wii families is probably about to set up their system in their new home, The White House!

Let me talk directly to those of you who are new gamers…or haven’t played in a very long time. Chances are the first Wii you saw belonged to a friend or relative. You probably smiled while watching them play, thought it looked like fun, and agreed to give it a try. It may not have taken long to decide you wanted one for your own. But the total experience is a lot more than just swinging around the Wii Remote (with that wrist strap always attached, of course!)

On the startup screen, I’m guessing you’ve already clicked onto the Mii channel and created an in-game version of yourself. Maybe you’ve even tried viewing your digital photos by plugging your SD memory card and flipping through the pictures with the Photo Channel. Just like the Wii itself, all the functions are set up to be simple to use.

But you won’t really understand the full range of Wii until you’re connected to the Internet. Just click on the lower left of the home screen and it will walk you through the setup. If you have any problems, the quickest help is available at support.nintendo.com.

Once you’re online, there’s a lot more to enjoy. Let me mention just two of your new channel options. The Wii Shop channel on one hand allows you to step back in time. Maybe you fondly remember a game you used to play 20 years ago (could it be that you actually played the original Donkey Kong?) Maybe you wish games could still be like that today. Well, they are—exactly the same. The Virtual Console feature on the channel lets you choose from more than 250 classics, originally released on Nintendo, Sega, and other vintage consoles. What’s old really can be new again.

Or, maybe you’re looking for innovative alternatives to the big name new game releases that grab all the headlines. Then the place for you is WiiWare, where we’ve invited small, independent development teams to show their work directly to players. A prime example is World of Goo, whose developers created a place where various forms of goo balls combine to build bridges, towers, and interact with the World of Goo Corporation. It’s so inventive and so engrossing that it was just named the Best Independent Game of the Year. But that’s just one game—there are already over 60 other WiiWare games available.

In both cases, you purchase these games by downloading them right to your system, and each game becomes a new channel button on your startup menu. They’re easy to find, and easy to buy. To make purchases, use the currency we call Wii Points, available either online using a credit card, or in physical card form at thousands of retail locations.

The second channel is the Nintendo Channel. It’s an interactive guide to all things Nintendo. You can find information on new and upcoming games, watch video trailers, rate the games you’re playing and share your thoughts with other users, and if you someday buy a portable Nintendo DS, you can even use the Nintendo Channel to download demos of DS games. (On the channel, I really recommend the video featuring Reverend Run from Run DMC playing Wii Music). But of course, the great thing about your Internet connection is that you can find dozens of independent game sites with more info and videos, each targeting particular groups of gamers according to their skill level and game taste.

So, I could talk a lot more about the channels, but I think it’ll be more fun to do some of the exploring yourself.

Instead, I’d like to close by discussing some of the key thinking that went into the invention of the Wii. Our global president, Mr. Iwata, has said that the video game industry over the years had inadvertently created a huge wall, distinctly separating gamers from non-gamers. I’m sure many of you have seen someone playing in a store or at a friend’s and said, ‘whoa—that’s way too hard for me!’ That kind of reaction really isn’t in the best interest of anyone.

So Wii Sports was born as a fundamental response to that kind of reaction—it not only had to be fun, but it had to be fun for anyone. With Wii Sports now the most-played video game in history, I think we reached that goal. But at the same time, it also raises the question, ‘OK—what’s next?’

For us, the stepping stone is what we call a ‘bridge’ game, something that will easily move you new players closer to the full world of gaming. I’ll give you one example, Mario Kart Wii. It comes bundled with a Wii Steering Wheel, because even though that wheel isn’t required to play the game, we thought it would be the most comfortable way for new players to start racing. Next, instead of just classic Nintendo characters, we let you put your own Mii into the game. Again, the idea is to make it feel friendly. And on the far end of exploration, we even wanted the experience to be so simple and involving that you’d eventually try to jump into online competition, racing against people around the world. So this bridge really leads in two directions: not just from simple-to-more-involving, but also acting like a link between new gamers and veteran ones. If you’re interested in more of the thinking behind this, you can find Mr. Iwata and the key developers talking about it at Nintendo.com.

Finally, I know many of you may have had a hard time finding your Wii and I thank you for your patience and diligence. Once you have experienced the joy of Wii we know you’ll agree that it was worth the wait.

We asked each of the companies to write up a welcome letter to new owners of their consoles. They did the rest. We are running them in the order they were received. Stay tuned for Nintendo's welcome letter and check out Microsoft's letter.

And now a word from , Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA.

Welcome to the Family…

If you’re one of the many who just opened your PS3 this holiday, welcome to the PlayStation family! We’re thrilled to have you join the millions of people who know that the PS3 will help define their entertainment experiences and deliver the most compelling content for the next decade. Your new PS3 is truly one of the most advanced, reliable and multifaceted gaming systems you’ll ever own. And I’d like to take you under the hood to ensure you’re enjoying the full breadth and depth of what this machine has to offer.

Sophisticated Hardware
Unlike other electronic devices that provide mostly the same feature-set throughout their lifecycle, the PS3 stays up to date with the latest technologies and features as your entertainment needs evolve. We continue to add new features such as BD-Live, an innovative new Trophy system, and remote access to your PS3 with PSP (PlayStation Portable).

PS3 obviously has a built-in Blu-ray player, the defacto next generation high-definition disc medium. Once you’ve experienced the difference in picture and sound quality, you’ll never want to go back to DVD. Blu-ray isn’t just about movies though – it brings an unmatched benefit to gaming that enables the development community to create content and experiences that were only previously imagined, but are now becoming a reality with titles like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Beyond gaming and watching movies, you can share your photos, videos, and music with friends and family on the big screen TV right from your PS3. Store and easily access them from your PS3’s hard drive or use the media server feature to stream music, videos and photos from your personal computer to the PS3. Now there’s no longer a need for crowding around a small monitor in the den; the PS3 even offers a fully functional Web browser with Flash Player 9 support – so you can enjoy the full use of the Internet on your TV, again something you can only get on PS3.

Games, Games, Games
We know you’re looking for exclusive content, and PS3 has the best lineup of any platform, full of award-winning games like LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2 and, coming soon, Killzone 2. Games like these truly demonstrate the raw power of the PS3 with their detailed graphics, immense scale, unique online capabilities, and epic gameplay. You can also build your game collection with classics like Assassin's Creed, MotorStorm, Warhawk and Resistance: Fall of Man, which we now offer at “Greatest Hits” pricing for a great value. Layer on top of this our PlayStation Store, which has a vast array of content from hardcore games and add-ons to casual games for everyone, and you immediately realize PS3 is the clear choice for content.

A True Entertainment Network
One of the hidden costs of some other systems on the market is the need to pay a fee for enjoying online gaming. With PlayStation, access to PlayStation Network and online gaming is free. One of the first things you should do when you take your PS3 out of the box is to register for the PlayStation Network - this will be your connection to other PS3 gamers from around the world as well as to access all the downloadable games, add-ons, demos, videos, and content on the PlayStation Network.

Within the PlayStation Network, you can browse the PlayStation Store (either through PS3 or remotely via your PSP) to download exclusive full retail-versions of games like SOCOM: Confrontation and Burnout Paradise as well as unique experiences like echochrome, PAIN and PixelJunk Eden. In addition to the games, the PlayStation Store also offers rental and purchase of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster movies and popular TV shows in SD and stunning HD resolution, from The Dark Knight to Family Guy.

You’ll also want to create your avatar and take a tour of PlayStation Home. This revolutionary 3D social gaming community is your gateway to meeting and building your network of fellow gamers. It brings to life the more than 17 million people who make up the PlayStation Network community and offers a new way for gamers to connect, add meaning to their friends list, share, and launch into games together – all in high definition. We continue to add new experiences and partners to Home from spaces dedicated to the industry’s top games to uniquely branded spaces like the EA Sports Complex.

From the Living Room to the Plane to the Hotel and Back
You’re probably like many of our users, always on the go to school, to work, or on a trip. Now more than ever, being able to take your entertainment content with you is not a nice to have, it’s a must have. We’ve made it extremely easy to do just that with the connectivity between the PS3 and PSP. With PSP’s built-in Wi-Fi capabilities and the remote play functionality enables you to remotely access your entertainment and media stored on the PS3 – from playing games to queuing up and starting movies for download, it’s really that easy.

I know I’ve given you a lot of information to absorb, but the best part is that this is just the beginning of what your new PS3 can do. We’re just getting warmed up, and we have a lot of great content on the way in 2009. We’re dedicated to providing you a truly comprehensive and interactive entertainment solution, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the PS3 is a powerful machine that offers the best content available. To stay connected and updated with everything PlayStation, remember to read our official blog.

We want to welcome you again to the PlayStation family, and I’m looking forward to your feedback.

-Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA

We asked each of the companies to write up a welcome letter to new owners of their consoles. They did the rest. We are running them in the order they were received. Stay tuned for Sony and Nintendo welcome letters.

And now a word from John Schappert, Microsoft's corporate Vice President of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Services Business

Welcome to the Xbox 360 community!

I’ve been a gamer for over 20 years, logging countless hours playing thousands of games. But from the first moment I turned on my new Xbox 360, I knew we were entering a new era of home entertainment. I signed up for Xbox LIVE, and before I knew it I was connecting with friends, playing Geometry Wars in high definition, and trying to earn the Pacifism achievement (which still eludes me). I was amazed at how much fun I was having before I even put a disc in the tray. I hope your first experience in this new era of games and entertainment is as magical to you as it was to me!

The Xbox 360 is an amazing game machine. We have approximately 1,000 games, including blockbusters you can’t play anywhere else, like Gears of War 2, Halo 3, and Fable 2. We also have great party and family games, like Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, Scene It: Box Office Smash, Lips, and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. No matter what games you like to play – sports, music, racing, action, shooters, role playing games – you’ll always find the best, most quality experiences on Xbox 360.

But Xbox 360 is more than a gaming machine. Xbox LIVE opens up a whole new world of digital entertainment that’s always evolving and adding new content every day. It’s also a vibrant social network, where you can stay connected with your friends and interact with over 17 million Xbox LIVE members in 26 countries. Xbox LIVE lets you get even more from your gaming experience – with thousands of downloadable game add-ons, song tracks, new levels, and many other ways to extend your favorite games. And with over 30,000 movies, TV episodes, and music videos, from more than 45 global network and studio partners, there’s something for everyone on Xbox LIVE. You can join Xbox LIVE for free or become a Gold member to gain access to everything LIVE has to offer.

Here are some Xbox LIVE highlights:

• Make Some Friends. Break out your favorite game and play online; you’ll always be able to connect with new people and make new friends. You can even jump in to any number of regularly scheduled theme nights to meet even more LIVE members.
• Get the Party Started. You can create an Xbox LIVE Party with up to seven of your friends, where you can stay connected and chat with each other, no matter what you’re doing on Xbox 360. One friend can be watching a movie, another playing Uno, another playing Gears of War 2 – or you could all be playing together. You’ll always stay together and be connected as a party.
• Xbox LIVE Arcade. Xbox LIVE Arcade brings bite-sized games to the living room – from arcade classics like Pac-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to new award-winning, exclusive titles like Braid and Castle Crashers.
• Video Marketplace. The Video Marketplace offers downloadable TV episodes and movie rentals in both standard and high-definition, all delivered digitally without having to leave your living room. Check out some of the latest offerings, such as hit TV shows like Heroes, Lost, South Park and Family Guy, and blockbuster movies like The Dark Knight, Wall-E and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
• Netflix (U.S.) With a Netflix membership you gain access to unlimited viewing of over 12,000 streaming movies and TV shows at DVD quality, with many in high definition. And, if you’re not a Netflix member, click on the Netflix logo to sign up for your free trial!
• Xbox LIVE Community Games. Community Games is dedicated to bringing user-created games to the market. Here you’ll find innovative new experiences brought to life by amateur developers around the world – gamers who are now creators.
• Inside Xbox Channel. This is your place for free original content delivered daily, including game previews, coverage of gaming industry events, and tips and tricks for new releases.

Xbox 360 delivers more entertainment than any other device connected to your television. This is just the beginning of what you’ll find on Xbox 360 – home to more games and on-demand movies and TV shows than any other device connected to your TV. With new gaming and entertainment content delivered daily, you’ll always be able to find fresh, new experiences at the touch of a button.

On behalf of the Xbox team, I want to thank you for joining the Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE community!
See you online,

John

When news of Thompson's upcoming disbarment hit Kotaku, Lowenstein (who now works outside the industry) took the time to write me an email asking that I and other game journalists take this moment not to celebrate but to reflect on how culpable we were in helping create Thompson.

That letter for your consideration after the jump. Personally, I think that many (including Kotaku) over covered Thompson at times. But I also think it would be a disservice to completely ignore Thompson's legal proceedings which, at times, did find a home in the mainstream media. We even tried, at times, to apply an investigative slant to his coverage.

Ignoring a problem, I think, does not usually make it go away.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I read with more than passing interest the reports of Jack Thompson's disbarment. Amid all the celebrating among the game industry, one thing I hope emerges is some degree of self examination by the game press of its own complicity in making Thompson what he became.

The game press had a schizoid relationship with Thompson. He was the person they loved to vilify and the person they could not get enough of. Time and again, the game press — and mainstream press — would ask ESA to engage with, or respond to Thompson's latest excess. The media knew well that he was a charlatan who wholly lacked credibility. But hey, they said, he was news and could not be ignored. That was a cop out. It gave Thompson a platform he might not have had for as long as he did.

Mainstream outlets (The Today Show, CNN, Fox) were worse but the game press knew better. But he was the game press' crack. And even as they said privately he was a kook, they treated him as if he was a credible, fair minded critic. That represented an abdication of the critical filtering role the media should play.

There were and are legitimate grounds to criticize the game industry, and there were responsible and fair minded critics like Dave Walsh. But for the game press it was all Jack all the time. So as it takes delight in his apparent demise, it is a good time to contemplate whether the game media itself has matured . You help set the tone for mainstream media coverage and if you validate extremists you give license to the less informed to follow your lead.

It is 35 years since Pong. Your readers and the industry deserve a game media worthy of the best that journalism has to offer.

Doug Lowenstein

Today ESRB president Patricia Vance, disagreed:

To the Editor:

The ESRB takes issue with Brian Crecente
s editorial
Why Game Ratings Need Fixing
. While Mr. Crecente is free to disagree with the ratings assigned to various Tom Clancy games, the fact is that parents overwhelmingly agree with ESRB ratings. According to a recent study conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, parents agree with the ESRB ratings 83% of the time or thought they were too strict 5% of the time. Each game carries a rating symbol standing for age appropriateness and content descriptors that indicate what may be of interest or concern to a parent. Content descriptors are assigned taking into account context and the age appropriateness of the individual game. The rating system enables parents to quickly decide on a case-by-case basis if a game is appropriate for their family.

Each game submitted to the ESRB is rated upon obtaining consensus from a minimum of three independent raters who have no ties to the industry. This rating process has proven to be effective since the inception of the ESRB over 10 years ago and we
re confident that our rating information will continue to provide parents with insightful and useful information about game content.

Perhaps if Mr. Crecente invested more time in understanding how the ESRB rating system works and reviewed all of the pertinent content our raters are exposed to, he would come to the same conclusions as the raters.

Patricia Vance
President
Entertainment Software Rating Board