ECA Acquires GamePolitics

Earlier this month, Hal Halpin, founder of the Entertainment Merchants Association, a game retail advocacy group, announced the formation of the Entertainment Consumer Association. Designed as the consumer counterpart to the retail association, the ECA seeks to advocate for games consumers, publish news, and provide educational and community services.



To that end, the ECA today announced it has acquired popular news site GamePolitics, a chief source of news related to politics and gaming. Halpin hopes to combine his advocacy experience with the expertise of GamePolitics founder Dennis McCauley, who will continue as the site's political editor.

"We're excited to have Dennis and GamePolitics on board as both compliment the ECAs objectives and provide great value to our members," said Halpin. "Like most gamers who care deeply about their rights and the government's intervention in games I have been a fan of both Dennis and GamePolitics for some time."

"As far as content, readers shouldn't expect to see any difference in GP's daily features," McCauley wrote on GamePolitics today. "I'll be staying on as GamePolitics editor, and we'll have the same in-depth coverage of legislative, political and cultural issues that you've come to expect from GamePolitics."

In addition, the ECA is partnering with NCsoft to support the publisher's PlaySmart program, which provides safety and security advice for online gamers. The two companies will create a PlaySmart web page, and PlaySmart tip cards will be distributed at ECA-sponsored conferences and events.