More unhappy predictions for ESA, the organization behind the annual E3 convention. Hal Halpin, head and founder of the ECA (a non-profit organization dedicated to the interests of gamers), believes that more companies are likely to leave the ESA. Sounds like E3 is headed for some tough times. More in the full article.

For those who have been keeping up, Jack Thompson has declined to show up for a debate in the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). You know why? Because he wasn't allowed to send out a press release or say anything about it. Kotaku got hold of this info and released some pretty interesting facts about it.

Still, you have to wonder why the guys at PAX were keeping Thompson's appearance a secret. PAX said that they did this for both Mr. Thompson's security and to avoid what would've been hordes of people rushing over to see the debate.

Penny Arcade was hoping to get a knowledgeable opponent for JT to debate with, such as Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin or Jason Della Rocca who many know to be the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Mr. Thompson's response to the entire issue seems to be typical of his usual responses. Be sure to read the full letter before you make any judgments on the situation.

... I would be delighted to do the [debate], but Penny-Arcade's position that this must be kept "under wraps" and that I cannot tell the media and others about the event is both absurd and troubling.

For Penny-Arcade to take the position that there must be a news blackout on this strikes me and others as hypocritical to the max. You guys are the ones who think that even adult entertainment materials should be marketed and sold to children because of "freedom of expression," and yet I am not allowed to tell media and others of this debate?  Come on, how transparently double-standard-bound in your machinations can you all be?

If you want me to come to Seattle and address 6000 hostile people as to why the United States is the only backward nation in the world when it comes to the distribution of adult video games to children, then I will be happy to do it.  But your position that only Penny-Arcade gets to tell the world about this event and in the way that only you all get to decide is patently ridiculous. 

Man up and realize what the First Amendment is really all about, Robert and I'll be happy to celebrate it with all my "admirers" in Seattle, including Gabe.

I've been in far more hostile environs than what you offer. You all need to grow a pair of what a kid can cut off in Manhunt 2.

Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin has given his own two cents on the matter concerning Paul Hwang, the Chinese student from Clements High School in Fort Bend who was expelled for playing on a Counter-Strike map that resembled his high school.

In a statement to GamePolitics, Halpin said that "Paul Hwang's only crime was bad timing. He had the misfortune of uploading his mod during a period of time in which the nation was, perhaps unduly, made sensitive about the supposed link between violence and video games."

Here's the rest of the statement:

It seemed to me that the law enforcement authorities acted with prudence and that the school board should do similarly. This will likely be the first of many such instances where older generations who don't understand a medium, fear it, and as a result there will be reactionary decisions made. It's incumbent upon gamers to persevere and to prove the rule and not the exception. Only together, and over time, can we accomplish such a lofty goal.

A lot of people have pointed to the recent Virginia Tech shooting incident as one of the reasons for the seemingly hasty expulsion. However, some reports also say that Hwang's Counter-Strike map had already been uploaded prior to the Virginia Tech shooting. So, is it timing or something else? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

The worldwide, seven-million gamer community of Xfire and their Debate Club will be hosting a live debate session in their fourth Xfire Debate Club: The Two-Handed Sword on April 26. This time around, the heated discussion will be bringing a varied panel of guests ranging politicians to game industry journalists and critics to contest the matter of "Censorship in Video Games."

The session, to be moderated by Stanford University's Henry Lowood, will bring together Matteo Bittanti, a researcher at Stanford University; Hal Halpin, CEO of Entertainment Consumers Association; Dennis McCauley, CEO of GamePolitics.org; Russ Pitts, Editor of The Escapist; to discuss matters regarding:

• Governments' involvement and their regulation of video games
• Game exposure to children and their consequential influence on them
• The power of "the creative license"

Frederic Descamps, senior director of marketing at Xfire, commented, "As video games become a more mainstream form of entertainment, questions regarding censorship and legislation continue to gain significance." The debate will take place at April 26, 4 p.m. EDT or 1 p.m. PDT at Xfire's debate section. You can head there through the "Read" link below. And don't forget to bookmark it!