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In the video-game industry no one has loftier goals than Jim Ward.

Since as president of LucasArts of his 2004 appointment , the game division of George Lucas' film and video empire, Jim Ward has been focused on reinvigorating the company's ideas and technology.

Part of the effort is devoted to creating new game concepts that will bring an unprecedented level of emotion and character depth to an action-dominated medium.

Jim Ward say "George is always on us about this," 47. "It's like, `Guys, you're showing me great technology, and then you go and try to wrap a story around it. And the story's really thin, and then it's not fun. Forget the tech for a second. I assume you'll be able to figure out the tech. Come in with a great story.'"

Jim Ward is also one of the key board members for the industry's trade group ESA (Entertainment Software Association), which frequently is under fire for the violence or other controversial content in popular games.

We (San Jose Mercury News) sat down with Jim Ward in Santa Monica, Calif, for an interview at the recent E3 Media and Business Summit. The topics ranged from the changing nature of the video-game market, in part because of easy-play influence of Nintendo's new Wii console, to legislative efforts to control the sale of games based on age ratings.

Here are excerpts of San Jose Mercury News:

Q: It seems the video-game industry has really reached some kind of branching point, that there are two companies (Microsoft and Sony) that make hardware and are really very much alike, and one (Nintendo) that's off in a different universe and is really changing the demographics of game consumers.

A: I don't see it as black and white as that. ... Look, Microsoft is all about broadening the audience. One can argue whether they're doing that effectively or not, but through efforts like (the family game) "Viva Pinata," I think their head's definitely in the right place. And certainly their head is absolutely in the right place in terms of XBox Live and Xbox Live Arcade and all of those types of persistent online opportunities, because that in essence is going to give us the back-end revenue stream that we so sorely need.

Q: When I write about Microsoft, I hear from the people who are interested in the hard-core games "BioShock" and "Mass Effect" and "Gears of War" and "Halo 3." When I write about the Nintendo Wii, I hear from an extraordinarily different contingent. The e-mail comes in signed by moms.

A: Fair enough. But if you sit down with (Microsoft executives) Robbie Bach or Peter Moore, you're going to hear from them that understanding of the need to broaden the market. Does that mean they're walking away from a franchise like "Halo" or "Gears of War" or working with (game developer) BioWare on "Mass Effect"? No. And you know what, I wouldn't either, because there's a hell of a market right here and now. . . . Is Sony grasping the need to broaden the audience to the same degree? Probably not. They've got great technology (in the PlayStation 3), but obviously they've had a hard time getting it out. They've priced it at a certain level which argues against an accessibility (and) the kinds of games they're doing themselves in their own studios are still more in that traditional mode.

Q: Has the Wii changed the thinking in any way at LucasArts?

A: No, it hasn't changed thinking. I'm excited by it. The Wii came out of nowhere. And by the way, with all due respect to Nintendo, they're not the greatest at third-party relationships because they're kind of focused on their own games. So we didn't really know a whole lot about this thing, and they weren't out there trumpeting, "We're going to broaden the industry." They just kind of let it happen. But that direction and that effort -- I'm on a mountaintop cheering that on. And so . . . for us, there was a bit of a wait-and-see in terms of "Well, what in the hell is this thing even?" and "Is it going to take off?" But the minute we understood what it was, we began development.

Q: You're chairman of the Entertainment Software Association board. The ESA has a new president, Mike Gallagher. Among the most difficult things he's the point man for is the industry's legal battles. He said that he thought the tide was turning, that as the demographic for gaming is broadening and as various legal battles have been won, he thinks the legislative opposition to games is slowing down. What do you think?

A: What we wanted to do was focus the ESA on that No. 1 issue, which is governmental, state and local legislation against games. In a macro sense, maybe he's right. But my concern, quite honestly, is that as we enter this political cycle, we become a hot potato. . . . And, by the way, at any moment, if some kid in West Virginia goes and blows away 32 people, and they find out that he played a video game, guess what, we've got a problem again. Just as if he had watched a movie and then done that. Or just as if he had read "Catcher in the Rye" and blamed it on J.D. Salinger. . . . Most importantly -- and this is a belief system that you either buy into or not -- you have to believe in the sanctity of First Amendment rights. We believe you have to protect that, no matter what.

Q: What struck you about what you heard and observed throughout E3?

A: On the positive side -- with Nintendo, Microsoft and to a degree with Sony, and even from third parties with John Riccitiello at Electronic Arts -- that people are having the dialogue, finally, around broadening the audience and making games accessible. That's immensely encouraging. . . . On the other side of the equation, I look across the spectrum of games that are happening right now, and I'm not necessarily seeing the full execution of the vision that people are talking about. That's going to lag, that will be in a couple of years. So there's a lot of redundancy in the kinds of games, and the bit of downside is that I'm a little underwhelmed. Usually, there's a level of excitement that, "Wow, this is something new that's coming." Other than the vision, I'm not sure I'm seeing that.