The man who replaced Doug Lowenstein as president of the US Entertainment Software Association has called on the wider industry to raise the profile of video games amongst politicians and mainstream opinion formers.

Michael D Gallagher told The Washington Post that: “Video games are not getting the type of recognition they deserve as an entertainment medium.”

In a profile interview, Gallagher drew comparison between the treatment of the games industry and the mobile phone industry.

He said that, like games, the mobile industry has been “accepted by society but [is] still under attack politically”.

Gallagher worked as VP of state public policy for mobile operator Verizon before joining the ESA, where he faced media pressure over scares relating mobile use to brain cancer.

According to the Post, Gallagher added that his mission as ESA leader was to ‘raise the profile of video games among policymakers and thought leaders’.

The story reports that Gallagher often carries a Nintendo DS in his pocket in order to ‘dispel stereotypes that he still encounters about video games’.