www.Multiplayergames.com – Multiplayer Games

In all of the hysteria surround violent video games, one voice was at least reasonable: Dr. David Walsh. He was the founder of The National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF), which due to funding problems from Fairview Health Services, will shut down at the end of 2009.

NIMF is probably most well known for the Video Game Report Card, a typically questionable document that detailed violent game sales amongst retailers (amongst other things), those stats collected during sting operations. However, the last one was quite fair, putting most of the blame on parents (where it belongs) instead of the industry. NIMF also accepted a donation from various gaming groups in 2008 to the tune of $50,o00. It seems they were truly starting to come around.

Walsh will continue with his advocacy however, releasing this statement:

The current challenging economic environment accelerated those discussions making this the right time to begin transitioning the programs to other organizations who share our mission and values. I look forward to transitioning the Institute’s programs to worthy organizations that I am confident will continue to educate parents and caregivers on our rapidly changing digital culture.

Hopefully Walsh does continue educating parents, as his surprisingly balanced view of the industry was always refreshing.

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