Shocking! Politician Stands Up for Video Games
Rest of parliament hates games apparently.
Don Foster estimates government valuation of the video game industry.
MP for Bath and Liberal Democrat spokesman on culture and media, Don Foster, has been speaking to SPOnG regular Steve Boxer regarding how the run-of-the-mill parliamentarian sees video games.
Steve was exploring the 'Games Up?' initiative currently in progress being driven by UK developer body, Tiga, and and publishers' association, ELSPA.
Foster has this admission to make, "I hardly play any games – I'm not from that generation – but because of my job, I had to research the industry.
"The vast majority of my parliamentary colleagues are always wanting to ban the latest game, but they don't know the details of the industry. Few people in this country realise how important it is to the UK economy."
So, on the one side, props to Foster. On the other, his comment that the "The vast majority of my parliamentary colleagues" simply want to ban games bodes ill for the campaign to get tax breaks.
In fact it supports a quote from Eidos' Ian Livingstone, who tells Steve in The Guardian, "We're still seen as the red-headed stepchild of the creative industries, one notch up from pornography in the eyes of most of the establishment."
Steve was exploring the 'Games Up?' initiative currently in progress being driven by UK developer body, Tiga, and and publishers' association, ELSPA.
Foster has this admission to make, "I hardly play any games – I'm not from that generation – but because of my job, I had to research the industry.
"The vast majority of my parliamentary colleagues are always wanting to ban the latest game, but they don't know the details of the industry. Few people in this country realise how important it is to the UK economy."
So, on the one side, props to Foster. On the other, his comment that the "The vast majority of my parliamentary colleagues" simply want to ban games bodes ill for the campaign to get tax breaks.
In fact it supports a quote from Eidos' Ian Livingstone, who tells Steve in The Guardian, "We're still seen as the red-headed stepchild of the creative industries, one notch up from pornography in the eyes of most of the establishment."
People:
Ian Livingstone
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