ESA Names New President

Former Assistant Secretary of Commerce Mike Gallagher, it has been announced, will be filling the shoes left empty by Doug Lowenstein when he left the Entertainment Software Association late last year. GameDaily had a talk with Gallagher and ESA Chair (and Microsoft front man) Robbie Bach. "Although Gallagher does not have a video game industry background, during a conference call he talked about how he's been a lifelong gamer, still plays games by himself and with his kids, and he's enjoyed watching the game industry grow over the years. Gallagher also has a strong background in technology in general. During his over four-year tenure at the Department of Commerce, he led successful efforts to pave the way for a number of new technologies and services, such as ultrawideband, broadband over powerlines, advanced wireless services, and millimeter wavelength networks."

ESA?

[JordanL]

Am I the only one that read that as Europeon Space Agency upon first glance?

Re:

[Lithdren]

First thing that came to my mind was the National Security Agency.

And whats really sad about it, I wouldn't be surprised!

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[myrrdyn]

No, at least we are two! :)

Details of the Selection Process

[Shadow Wrought]

Duck...
Duck...
Duck...
Duck...
Duck...
Duck...
GOOSE!

A new target?

[AbsoluteXyro]

A new target for Jack 'The Goddamn Batman' Thompson? Or will they be all buddy-buddy? My prediction: something wacky.

Slashdot really does care!

[spocksbrain]

7 comments in 2.5 hours... A Games section record!

Former Secretary...

[Anonymous Coward]

Does anyone else find it a little bit eerie that they've chosen a government administrator to run this independent organization? Remember, this is the same government that reported the ESRB ratings system was enforced almost twice as often as the MPAA rating system, but still claimed the ESRB had "room for improvement." I'm putting on my Suspicious Eyes for this guy.

So, about those ESA protected games...

[jZnat]

If the ESA really has a hip techie leading them now, does that mean that they might actually modernise their business model and sell (or offer for free) ROMs of old games that are nearly impossible to find anyhow nowadays? The amount of "ESA-protected ROMs" out there is astounding...

And don't tell me that the Wii Virtual Console is doing just that; it's limited to five consoles (out of a possible several dozen), only games that were released in your region (so no Fire Emblem in the US for instance), and ar

Re:

[Rob T Firefly]

To be pedantic, you can buy the real cartridges secondhand, get some ROM-dumping gear, and make the ROM files yourself. That's perfectly legal under the same format-shifting rules which let you rip a CD to MP3 for personal use.

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[jZnat]

So there's no DMCA-like bullshit regarding copy protection or anything? If so, that's great news. Now all I gotta do is find one of those ROM dumpers and I'm golden. :)

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[tepples]

get some ROM-dumping gear

GBA dumping gear is still easy to find, but for any other cartridge platform, what brand of dumper do you recommend?