VP Biden Meets with Game Execs

Biden meets with video game executives.

Yesterday, Vice President of the United States Joe Biden met with video game industry executives to talk about gun violence in the U.S. Executives from Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Epic Games and ZeniMax Media were present. Also in attendance were Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder, and researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Wisconsin. The meeting was part of a larger presidential initiative to determine the causes of and solutions to gun violence after the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT.

Christopher Ferguson, one of the researchers who attended the meeting, told The Wall Street Journal that he was "cautiously optimistic" about the meeting's outcome. Said Ferguson:

“I couldn’t say that the vice president had his arms around the industry and was saying how wonderful it was on the one hand. But on the other hand, I didn’t detect that instantaneous rush to judgment and say the most negative thing either. I think he’s in a sort of neutral or agnostic position, which is probably quite reasonable with where they’re at right now.” 

So far, the Obama administration has focused on gun laws, but it's also scrutinizing a media culture of violence, and mental health laws.

Although many outraged Americans have been quick to blame violent video games, the scientific record is undecided. Some research claims that violent video games trigger increased aggression, but other research finds no linkage between violent games and delinquency. In any event, video game executives are making a defiant stand in Washington, D.C., calling on Congressional allies, and amassing research and legal opinions to support their industry. Executives have been quick to cite research carried out by the Federal Trade Commission in 2009 that credited game makers for going further than any other media group to keep inappropriate material from children. Also benefiting the games industry is the 2011 Supreme Court ruling that found restrictions on the sale of video games to be unconstitutional.