Soundbite: Former Sega CEO Tom Kalinske on telling the US Senate games aren't "just for kids"

The Life & Times of Video Games

When the United States Senate held congressional hearings on video game violence in 1993 and '94, Sega CEO Tom Kalinske went to bat in defence of the industry — and the medium. But he faced major obstacles just getting the senators to understand that the audience for video games was much broader than teenage and pre-teen boys. In this excerpt from an interview I conducted with Tom earlier this year, he describes the experience and lays out his frustrations with the senators.

For more on the 93/94 congressional hearings and their impact on the industry, be sure to listen to episode 10. It tells the story of how the designer of Night Trap — one of the games lambasted in the hearings for its supposed glorification of extreme violence (it was actually about preventing violence against women) — responded to the witch hunt by making a game so friendly and inoffensive that it couldn't possibly be construed as encouraging violence: Dogz, a game about raising and caring for a virtual puppy.

Previous Soundbites: Henk Rogers on randomness and dilemmas in TetrisScott Kim shares a few secrets of puzzle designSpotting "the magic" (Jon Kimmich, ex-Microsoft Games)Mark Ferrari on gatekeepers and a cancelled X-Men gameSteve Capps on online social gaming and Bill Gates playing BridgeYou can make a donation to help cover running costs and allow me to rely less on freelance income via:Patreon: lifeandtimes.games/patreonor PayPal: paypal.me/mossrc

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