Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

July 28, 2009

Bruce Everiss has posted a revealing interview with Conservative MP Ed Vaizey (left) over at Bruce on Games.

Vaizey, who was vocal in his support of the UK video game industry before it was fashionable to do so, offers some worthwhile insights:

I would see video games as art, they are creative, and they have by now their own heritage and cultural significance, which is one element of art.

[UK Conservatives] think video games have not been taken seriously by [PM Gordon Brown's Labour] Government. They are a huge industry for us, we are world-beaters, and we should be looking at imaginative policies to support the industry as much as possible...

Vaizey also comments sensibly on another pair of hot-button issues, sensationalized media coverage and video game piracy:

You can’t [get the media to stop writing negative stories about games] – the media love bad news stories. But I do think the industry has made real strides in the last couple of years. You see many more Wii type stories, emphasising the industry’s contribution to health and education, than you used to...

We will work with the ISPs [on piracy] to ensure that people who are ripping off games are held to account, we have to take tough measures to ensure this becomes much less of a problem. But the industry has to adapt as well, and change its business models to account for the new era.

Posted in Interviews U.K. UK Conservative Party

Comments

Re: Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

Submitted by Conster on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 14:14.

So conservatives are pro-games if the other party isn't? Good to know, good to know.

Re: Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

Submitted by Magic on Thu, 07/30/2009 - 06:48.

Excellent reading comprehension - one Tory MP equals the entire party.

That said, the opposition party are nearly always opposed to all government policy regardless. It's their role to criticise the current government, but this can have the side effect of them doing so about everything in an effort to make themselves look good and the government look inept (Moreso).

See devolution of Wales and Scotland, which the Tories were completely wrong about.

Re: Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

Submitted by Canary Wundaboy on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 13:57.

Vaizey's the reason I vote Tory. Awesome guy.

Check out my blog - http://serveratcapacity.blogspot.com

Re: Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

Submitted by Magic on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 05:08.

Really? He's the only Tory I've ever particularly agreed with on a certain subject, but that's not enough to make me vote for Cameron.

Re: Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

Submitted by Nocturne on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 09:44.

I'm not even convinced David Cameron is a real person, just some bizarre public relations creation that's escaped into the wild. He seems to have realised that his greatest asset at the moment is that he isn't Labour, hence the current trend of "I'll tell you what we're not doing..." when asked about policies

Re: Conservative MP Sees Pro-Game Future for UK

Submitted by Vake Xeacons on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 11:06.

Great for the U.K., but how come we don't get these vocal advocates (outside the ESA & ECA) in the U.S.?

Shout box

Cheater87: R18+ heading for Australian parliament http://www.gamespot.com/news/6350339.html02/14/2012 - 1:14am

Uncharted NES: David Jaffe Rails Against Storytelling Games- http://slashdot.org/palm/10/12/02/13/1943236_1.shtml02/13/2012 - 5:04pm

DorthLous: Australian government holding anti-piracy talk behind closed door: http://delimiter.com.au/2012/02/13/govt-holds-second-secret-anti-piracy-meeting/02/13/2012 - 12:31pm

DorthLous: SONY new CEO says Hardware is important, but the future lies in content and service: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/414925/incoming_sony_ceo_hot_gadgets_aren_t_enough_anymore02/13/2012 - 12:27pm

Andrew Eisen: That article is over five years old, Uncharted. A fun blast from the past though.02/12/2012 - 10:47pm

Uncharted NES: Critics: 'Left Behind' game glorifies violence- http://tinyurl.com/wu64s02/12/2012 - 4:34pm

Zen: I felt Brutal Legends was a funny & beautiful look at the world of rock from Double Fines point of view. The only parts I wasn't hot for were the RTS bits as it felt forced. Otherwise fantastic.02/12/2012 - 1:34pm

DorthLous: Passed 1.5M$. And I'd also say that Brutal Legend is far from being a bad game. I just think it was a few levels under what people expected from the people working on the project.02/11/2012 - 8:25am

Technogeek: Brutal Legend wasn't bad so much as "marketing had no idea how the game actually played", causing it to suffer accordingly.02/10/2012 - 10:38pm

RedMage: It looks the CIA's website has been DDOS'ed. Anon?02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

RedMage: Brutal Legend.02/10/2012 - 7:52pm

ddrfr33k: Has anything Tim Schafer ever made been of crap caliber? I'm struggling to think of one...02/10/2012 - 7:37pm

Guamish: I think it is in good hands. Tim did a game for the GDC award show and that was fun for how short it was.02/10/2012 - 12:22pm

Andrew Eisen: It'll be tragic if the game ultimately sucks.02/10/2012 - 12:17pm

james_fudge: $1.3 million02/10/2012 - 11:32am

Uncharted NES: Germany Says It Won't Sign ACTA [Update: ... Yet]- http://tinyurl.com/7r2twrg02/10/2012 - 11:21am

Andrew Eisen: Damn. Double Fine's Kickstarter fund has already passed a million dollars.02/09/2012 - 8:16pm

Andrew Eisen: Audrey didn't quote the sassy parts. Here's IGN's article: http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1218359p1.html And here's my original post: http://tinyurl.com/7y68a3902/09/2012 - 7:50pm

james_fudge: I hope you some said something sassy! Where's the link?02/09/2012 - 7:46pm

Andrew Eisen: Hey, neat. IGN quoted a blog I had writen only two hours earlier. I certainly timed that one pretty well.02/09/2012 - 7:38pm

All shouts

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