Newly appointed Entertainment Software Association (ESA) President Michael Gallagher was recently interviewed by Seth Schiesel of The New York Times to talk about the challenges the game industry and the ESA are facing.

One of Gallagher's main points is that there's still a generation gap between those on Capitol Hill and the everyday gamers of the world. However, it's not inconceivable that someday in the near future the President of the U.S. could be a person who grew up on games.

"The average video-game player is 33 years old and has been playing for an average of 12 years," he said. "It is not something you do as a phase in your childhood and leave it behind. Now it's a part of your entertainment culture."

He acknowledged that the game industry still doesn't have the star power of Hollywood or the music business, however. "Washington is very enamored with glitz and the appeal of stars," he said. "Whenever Bono shows up he creates this bow wave as he comes through, and it's true that stars do help drive messages. And it is true that Master Chief and Mario are not yet household words on the Hill, but wait for the years ahead."

"I think there is a bit of a generation gap, federally, given that a number of the legislators � especially since Congress operates on the seniority system � are older," he added. "Video games came very late in their content-consuming careers, and so they're not as familiar with the intense innovation, competition and excitement that come from video games."

Interestingly, the 43-year-old ESA head has been a pretty avid gamer himself. He started with Pong and in the '90s, as chief of staff for Representative Rick White he actually helped network the office computers to play the seminal first-person shooter Doom. That's bound to give him some "gamer cred."

Gallagher noted that he'd like to model his role after that of Jack Valenti, the longtime chief of the Motion Picture Association of America. That said, the game industry doesn't have the same level of political backing. "Obviously we have a lot smaller budget than the music and movie industries, so we have to do more with less," he noted.

Gallagher would like to change that, of course, and he'd love to see the game industry gain a more consistent approach to political donations. "The main challenge is connecting with decision makers and creating champions for the video-game industry in the policy-making arena," he said. "So working to set up a way for the Entertainment Software Association to participate in the federal election process is one of my top priorities. Contributing on the federal level is a very important part of our success going forward."