The National Institute on Media and the Family’s annual Video Game Report Card was put together with the help of avid gamers in the Twin Cities. The Minneapolis-based organization’s founder, David Walsh, 63, admits that he doesn’t play video games. He relies on video footage and other research, as well as the reports of gamers and staff to make a lot of the institute’s determinations.

“The actual playing itself is done by people a lot younger than me,” Walsh said.

While those gamers usually come from around the country, this year, the institute hired Twin Cities gamers to play through titles for the annual report. Walsh (pictured) said he finds players by word of mouth.

“When gamers realize they can get paid for playing games, there is no shortage of applicants,” he said with a laugh.

Other game-related issues from my interview with Walsh for my story today on the Video Game Report Card, which highly praises the industry for the progress it has made with children:

Gaming and obesity: One of the issues the institute has been talking about now for several years is the reported link between video game screen time and childhood obesity. But Walsh said the popularity of Nintendo’s Wii, now the No. 1 home console, is a positive step. “The Wii is demonstrating that you can make games that include activity,” he said. “They’re seeing how those particular games catch on, so my guess is that we’re going to see a lot more of those coming down the pike.”

ESA grant money: The institute recently received a grant from the Entertainment Software Association’s charitable foundation to create an online community called eSafeZone, but Walsh said that’s not a conflict of interest and not the reason for the institute’s better working relationship with the industry. He said that the institute had made several proposals for the project to different foundations and that the one run by the ESA made the grant. To those who say that the institute lost its credibility as a watchdog by accepting, he points out that within a week of receiving the grant, he was quoted in McLean’s Canada as being very critical of the industry around the issue of addiction. Besides, he said, the institute’s current partnerships with game makers were in place well before the grant process.

History of conflict: The institute has been going at the video game industry for more than 13 years, but Walsh said he’s had conversations with a prominent video-game exec in the past where they realized that, as parents, they agreed on 95 percent of the issues. “I think we’re proud of the fact that even people within the industry have identified us as the credible critic,” he said. But of the institute’s new outlook, based on its 2008 report card, he added, “If we’re going to be helpful for parents, which is our mission, it doesn’t make sense to be critical, just to be critical.”

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