As GamePolitics has previously reported, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is a tireless promoter of his state's growing video game industry.

Yesterday, the Guv made his support official. In a proclamation designating September 9th as Video Game Innovation Day, Patrick looked ahead to the launch of The Beatles Rock Band and harkened back to the creation of the original video game, Spacewar!, at MIT: 

Whereas In 1961, MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell and Wayne Wiitanen invented the game Spacewar!, one of the first video games ever created; and

Whereas Throughout the Bay State, innovative companies are developing new gaming technologies from diagnostics to social media.  Our universities feature programs and curriculum that support the growth of the videogame industry; and

Whereas On this day, Harmonix Music Systems, the Cambridge-based inventors of Rock Band and developer of the original Guitar Hero games, is releasing The Beatles: Rock Band™, a game that will not only bring the creativity and joy of The Beatles music to countless people, but will introduce the Fab Four to new generations of fans,

Now, Therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim September 9th, 2009 to be,  Video Game Innovation Day...

Mass Technology Leadership Blog points out that the official fun will continue next week when 300 tech executives, members of the Mass Technology Leadership Cluster, will gather to celebrate the proclamation and release research findings on the state's video game industry. If you're local to Cambridge, the event is free.