Doug Lowenstein today gave his final public address as president of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). He'll be leaving for the Private Equity Council trade body before too long. But Lowenstein, GameDaily BIZ's 2006 Person of the Year did not go quietly into the night. His platform sometimes became a pulpit and sometimes became a soapbox during a passionate speech where he laid all the vexing elements of the industry low with the sort of frankness reserved for a final farewell.

He started off, however, on softer note, mentioning that today is his 26th wedding anniversary. He then looked back over his nearly 13 years with the ESA, recalling the one "catalyzing event" that led to the creation of the ESA. He was speaking of the Senate hearings on videogame violence in 1992, where Howard Lincoln of Nintendo talked about "social responsibility" and how his company removed the blood from Mortal Kombat and that they were taking the high road. Meanwhile, Bill White of Sega holds up a gun peripheral for a Nintendo system and it lit a firestorm in the room.

Lowenstein commented how it was a landmark moment for the ESA to break away from CES. They went from having just a small booth to running this large profile show in E3, which he believes was vital in getting the gaming industry more mainstream media attention. Speaking of which, he credited the introductions of Microsoft and Sony to the games industry for helping visibility over the years.

He then shifted his focus to the ESRB, and how its good work has won over critics and acted as the "shield" for the industry. He said we all owe the unsung workers at ESRB a big debut of gratitude. He mentioned how proud he was in defending first amendment rights, a "fight [he's] been proud to fight" and how important it was for the future, all to thundering applause. He also mentioned ESA's information gathering and the anti-piracy work in protecting IP rights as being vital.

His speech, however, took a turn for the critical focusing on his "pet peeves" in the industry. First on his agenda was "cut and run" developers. Lowenstein was fine with whatever games developers wanted to make, but admonished those that would "duck and cover when the shit hits the fan." He mentioned a "boss level chattering class" who are critical of the ESA but "always sit on their hands."

Lowenstein then focused his gaze on the audience, asking how many were members of the Video Game Voters Network. When few raised their hands, he responded, "That's pathetic!" He laid out in plain terms, "We can't win the war without an army and you're the army." He also had a few choice words for the media, calling them out for lack of maturity, sloppy reporting, and giving too much exposure to a certain Miami attorney. Lowenstein mentioned how other mediums have deep, thoughtful reservoirs of criticism and how the "closeness" between press and the industry makes him "uncomfortable."

He ended his speech talking about what was important for the future. Lowenstein would like to see more games dealing with education, and media coverage of said games. He would like to see games that dealt with serious social issues. He applauded Nintendo for the Wii and Will Wright's Spore for their innovation and warned that the industry should not be satisfied with what it has done in the past.

He concluded with remarks of how he and the ESA have often been seen as one in the same. "The ESA isn't about me... it's about legitimizing the industry. [The ESA] is a great organization with great people, and they deserve a lot of credit."