New York - The video game industry, through its Entertainment Software Association (ESA) trade group, intends to create a political action committee (PAC) and begin making donations to politicians and candidates that support their views, The New York Times reports. "We will be writing checks to campaigns by the end of this quarter," ESA CEO Michael D. Gallagher told The Times. "This is an important step in the political maturation process of the industry that we are ready to take now. This is about identifying and supporting champions for the game industry on Capitol Hill so that they support us."

The PAC is expected to contribute between $50,000 and $100,000 this year to national candidates.

The move by the industry comes after several years of controversy over violent games -- such as Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto" and "Manhunt 2" -- and efforts by a number of states and local governments to pass laws banning the sale of games that contain violent and sexually explicit content to minors.

So far, every such law has been struck down by the courts, and often found to be unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.

The ESA also plans to mobilize the 100,000 gamers who have joined its Video Game Voters Network during this year's elections.

"If I can walk into the office of a member of Congress and tell them we have 20,000 voters in their state who are already signed up to write letters and act based on game-related issues that concern them, that's powerful," Gallagher told The Times.

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/technology/15game.html

http://www.theesa.com