A review penned by Dr. Linda Papadopoulos into the Sexualization of Young People, which was alluded to last week on GP, has been released and videogames play a prominent role in it.

The review (PDF) was done at the request of the UK’s Home Office and is part of a government strategy to address violence against females. In a foreword, Papadopoulos writes that the document is “not an opinion piece,” but one constructed from “empirical data from peer reviewed journals.”

In her Executive Summary, the doctor notes that “games are becoming increasingly graphic and realistic,” and that children are “more and more likely to play games without adult supervision.” She also adds that a link between violent content and aggression has been cited in “several studies,” and that it is “widely accepted that exposure to content that children are either emotionally or cognitively not mature enough for can have a negative impact.”

Under section five of the report, entitled Sexualized Content and the Mainstreaming of Pornography, Papadopoulos notes that “High street stores sell video games where the player can beat up prostitutes with bats and steal from them in order to facilitate game progression,” leading to the following “clear” message to girls that this type of media portrays, as interpreted by the doctor, “... young girls should do whatever it takes to be desired. For boys the message is just as clear: be hyper-masculine and relate to girls as objects.”

A few other videogame references from the review:

Violence against women is often trivialised. For example, in the game Rape-Lay…

Many popular video games effectively reward children for engaging in violent, illegal activity, albeit virtually…

Nevertheless, it is imperative that we acknowledge the very real possibility that, say, pornography that shows girls talking with relish about pre-teen sexual exploits, or highly realistic video games where players take on the role of stalker and rapist might start to blur the boundaries between what is acceptable and what is not. [Ed. does that sound like empirical data?]

Among her sweeping recommendations, Papadopoulos recommends that game consoles be shipped with parental controls pre-activated and that:

Games consoles are sold with a separate ‘unlocking’ code, which purchasers can choose to input if they wish to use or allow access of the console to adult and online content.

GP: Papadopoulos' bio notes that she has made appearances on the TV series Big Brother, which as our resident curmudgeon DarkSaber was quick to point out, is not known for serving up content that is exactly empowering for any form of life, including females. There is no mention of (nor blame placed on) Big Brother in her report. Indeed, videogames are more of a focus of her review than television.

In advance of the (now) ongoing London-based Global Investment Conference, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured) gave a shout out to UK game developers.

In a podcast (MP3 here, thanks Edge), Brown highlighted the UK as a “great place to invest,” and then heaped praise on the UK games industry, saying, “We’re leading the way in creative industries… by far the biggest producer of videogames in Europe.”

Brown promised that the conference would not just about “talking shop,” saying, “there will be new commitments of investment off the back of this conference.”

UK trade organization TIGA backed Brown’s comments, with TIGA CEO Richard Wilson adding, “We warmly welcome Prime Minster Gordon Brown’s comments and urge him to act quickly to introduce a Games Tax Relief as outlined by TIGA, for the UK games development industry in the coming Budget.”

Wilson continued:

TIGA has made repeated representations to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and to HM Treasury, setting out the case for Games Tax Relief. We hope that the support of the Prime Minister will ensure a commitment by the Government to the introduction of Games Tax Relief and so guarantee that the UK video games industry remains world leading.

Brown has also found himself a target of Apple Daily, a Hong Kong publication that has demonstrated a growing propensity for serving up reenacted news stories rendered in 3D computer animations. A new book by Andrew Rawnsley alleges that Brown acted the part of a bully on Downing Street, with contentions that Brown threw a slow-moving secretary out of a chair so he could finish her work himself. It was also alleged that Brown had a penchant for striking the headrest in his Jaguar when angry, which frightened aides.

Apple Daily used just these allegations for its latest immersive news piece.

A UK psychologist has blamed videogames, among other media, for the sexualization of young girls.

Dr. Linda Papadopoulos (pictured), a clinical psychologist at London Metropolitan University, who has also appeared on TV shows such as Big Brother and the Celebrity Fit Club, called out games that contain high sexual content as “hypersexualising girls, telling them that their desirability relies on being desired.”

In a story in the London Evening Standard she specifically called out the browser-based game Miss Bimbo as an offender. The game entices girls to “Become the hottest, coolest most intelligent and talented bimbo the world has ever known!”

Papadopoulos’ comments were taken from an upcoming government inquiry into the subject, which will be published shortly. In her report, Papadopoulosis is expected to call for a labeling system to be slapped on airbrushed images used in media and an age limit for the some of the more racy men's magazines.

|Via MCVUK|

The Church of England has issued a call for tighter regulation of videogames.

The Church, which perhaps still has a bad taste in its mouth from the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man, addressed the issue of violent games in a meeting of its general synod on Thursday night.

Following an introduction, in which speakers were cautioned not to mention the names of specific games because “there is a risk of legal proceedings,” Tom Benyon (pictured), a former MP, took the microphone.

Benyon labeled the Byron Report “good in parts,” but said that it “did not go far enough.” He proceeded to read a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes which he felt “encapsulates the essence of what we are about today in the matter of violent and sexual DVDs.”

God's plan made a hopeful beginning. But man spoiled his chances by sinning. We trust that the story will end in God's glory. But, at present, the other side's winning.

He continued:

A bubbling sewer of gratuitously violent and sexual pornography in DVD games are washing all around us. Byron relied on the proposition that parents have a liability or are interested in controlling what their children do. We think, sadly, that that is optimistic and a prize hope.

Benyon went on to recount the story of a “family member” who “saw one so-called game some years ago and had nightmares. He was a teenager. He was an innocent and he was profoundly shocked. The damage that he suffered was substantial. The images remained with him for months.”

Benyon also had a compilation of violent games on CD that he was going to show, but he decided not to ruin the “evenings or supper” of attendees by showing it.

He added, “I know that the Devil is said to have all the best tunes. Without any question of doubt he has the monopoly of violent and pornographic videogames.”

The Archbishop of York offered analogies to Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, selecting a quote from the latter, that “law cannot legislate for morals, but it can actually regulate it.” He added, “On this great day of celebrating 20 years since Mandela came out of prison, can we help our young people to come out of the prison of these awful, awful videogames.”

Full audio of the hour-long meeting can be listened to here.


Via The Guardian

Jo Frost, best known stateside as the principal in the show Supernanny, has a new show airing in the UK and in its debut episode she attempted to tackle the issue of violent videogames.

The Guardian has a run down of the program (Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance), in which Frost, with the assistance of Iowa State University’s Dr. Douglas Gentile, conducted an experiment on 40 boys.

In one experiment, the boys were split in half, with 20 playing a football game for 20 minutes while the other 20 played a first-person shooter for the same amount of time. Following their game play session, all 40 boys watched violent news footage and had their heart rate monitored. Boys who played the FPS were found to have slower heart rates while watching the violent on-screen reports versus those who played the sports game, leading to a voice over that declared, “Shockingly, just twenty minutes of violent gameplay was enough to densensitise the boys.”

Author Keith Stuart took the methodology to task, writing, “I'm no neuroscientist, but with the biological stress response recently engaged, surely it's no surprise that in the few minutes after violent gameplay, test subjects react differently to violent stimuli?”

Stuart continued:

So really, what does this all say about the long-term effects of exposure to violent videogames? I would suggest very, very little.

An additional experiment, in which Gentile knocked over a can of pencils in front of each boy individually, was supposed to measure empathy. Reportedly only 40.0 percent of the boys who played the FPS helped to pick up the pencils, versus 80.0 percent of those who played the football game.

The combination of the two tests, and the resulting conclusions, were a bit too much for Stuart to take:

Cognitive neuroscience is a complex field - it is perhaps not something to be prodded and poked at during a piece of realty TV voyeurism masquerading as documentary material.

He added:

…if just 20 minutes of exposure is enough to turn normal boys into desensitized monsters, our streets should be filled with violence. They're not.

The U.K.’s Digital Economy Bill may have been dealt a setback as one of the reports main backers and authors has announced his intention to resign from Parliament.

 Labour MP Sion Simon (pictured), Junior Minister for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will leave his post during next week's February recess according to the Financial Times.

Simon plans to become a city councilor in Birmingham and hopes to eventually run for Mayor reports the Birmingham Post, if he can convince the town to adopt an elected mayor system. He stated, "It has become clear to me that the answers to Birmingham’s problems do not lie in Westminster and Whitehall. We need to take back control of our own city."

The videogame industry may also be losing a supporter within Parliament, as Simon has often demonstrated a level-headed approach to dealing with game critics like Keith Vaz. Simon had also endorsed fellow MP Tom Watson’s pro-gamer Facebook group (Gamer’s Voice),  leaving the following message for the group:

The government understands the importance of video games. we make games better and play games more in this country than anywhere else in the world. It’s an important industry and an important part of millions of people's lives. But it's a very young industry which is still finding its voice. I think this group is an important step in that process, and I’m glad to be a part of it.

The Digital Economy Bill proposed adopting the PEGI system as the sole means of classifying games in the U.K., and was also designed to strengthen the region’s digital backbone, thorough programs such as universal broadband. The bill also proposes a tough three-strikes law to deal with Internet pirates.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Times Online, Iain Duncan Smith took a little time to make disparaging remarks about videogames.

Smith has long been obsessed with fixing what he terms today’s “broken society.”  His solutions included promoting the importance of marriage and implementing more taxation on alcohol and reversing 24-hour liquor licensing laws.

As a contributor to today’s societal ills, Smith said about games:

We are driving children to lose their childhood, and some video games are incredibly violent, like Grand Theft Auto. They are meant to be 18 but nobody cares what it says on the label.

An article on Computer and Videogames took Smith to task for his comments, responding that the MPs voting for adopting the PEGI system obviously “care” what’s on a game’s label. Also singled out for “caring” were ELSPA, retailer GAME and a group of videogame publishers that attempt to keep inappropriate games out of the hands of younger gamers.

The CVG article also puts the onus on parents to police what their kids are playing:

But unless our politicians make sure parents 'care' enough to say "no" - by backing Parliament's own legislation - we're fighting a losing battle.

Frankly we had purposely avoided “gaming causes rickets” stories up until now because any link to videogames in the research was tenuous at best, but when pro-gaming MP Tom Watson calls foul over the link and assists in ridiculing the tabloid-type headlines screaming about the latest threat to humanity at the hand of games, it’s worth a look.

Events began with a press release issued to call attention to a new study from a pair of doctors which reported on a growing Vitamin D deficiency among the UK population.  A lack of Vitamin D can lead to rickets, a condition that can cause growth problems and bowed-legs in children.

In the press release it was noted that “A traditional UK diet often lacks Vitamin D and this could be a big reason for the increasing problem, as well as changes in lifestyle, such as children staying indoors playing computer games.”

A free paper in the UK (the Metro) picked up the story, splashing a “Video Gaming Leads to Surge in Rickets” headline across its pages, leading GamesBrief columnist Nicholas Lovell to pick apart the Metro story bit-by-bit.

Lovell wrote:

This survey makes no causal link between games and rickets, or even Vitamin D deficiency. It has identified a significant public health issue of rising numbers of cases of rickets, an entirely preventable disease that was almost eradicated fifty years ago. The potential causes are many, ranging from a changing population ethnicity, the lack of playing fields for schoolchildren, a culture of fear that prevents children playing outside unsupervised or even feckless parents who no longer feed their offspring a teaspoonful of foul-tasting cod liver oil every day.

Both Lovell and Watson emailed the study’s authors, Professor Simon Pearce and Dr. Timothy Cheetham.  Amusingly, Pearce emailed Lovell, “The average age of a child with rickets is around 20 months old: too young to use a keyboard and mouse!”

Pearce also replied to MP Watson, writing, “No we really didn’t do a study to show that, or say that Gaming causes rickets. It was a classic piece of dodgy lazy journalism, taking 3 words out of PA’s hyped-up version of our press release.”

As Watson summed up:

So, once again video games get a kicking in the press based on an untruth. And the poor health academics who are trying to get their important research across to policy makers have their work undermined by nonsensical headlines.

Watson, for his part, was determined to help the researchers get their message across, promising to request that the government take a look at the case for adding vitamin D supplements to food and for better ways to encourage parents to make sure their children get more exercise.

Watson also indicated that he would ask Department Health Ministers what type of work, if any, they are doing currently to address this issue.

Thanks to everyone who sent this one in.

A House of Lords Communications Committee report on The British Film and Television Industries contains a section on videogames in which the committee endorses the idea of tax incentives for UK game development companies.

TIGA’s constant lobbying on behalf of the tax breaks appears to have made a dent, as it was noted by the committee that “videogames industry representatives told us that that they were under challenge from subsidised production overseas, and that this was evident in relative growth rates.”

The Committee stated in their report:

We recognise the claims of the videogames industry for support in the face of foreign government-subsidised competition, and recommend that the Government consider providing tax incentives for videogames production.

TIGA CEO Richard Wilson responded, “It is very encouraging that the cross-party, highly respected House of Lords Communications Committee has recommended that the Government should consider providing tax incentives for videogames production.”

Rebellion Studios CEO and Creative director Jason Kingsley, and also TIGA Chairman, added:

Today’s report by the House of Lords Communications Committee demonstrates that TIGA’s relentless campaign on behalf of the UK games industry is making an impact. Senior politicians from the key political parties now aspire to introduce TIGA’s Games Tax Relief.

While Keith Vaz being mocked in absentia at this week’s eForum roundtable on the state of the UK games industry was a humorous aspect of the proceedings, there were also some deep insights to emerge from the meeting as well.

Jas Purewal attended the forum and wrote up a couple of the more interesting notes on his website. Among them, a comment from Shadow Culture Minister Ed Vaizey (pictured) that if the Conservative party comes into power this year, there would most likely be no movement on creating tax incentives for game developers for two to three years. Vaizey reasoned that a focus on correcting the current recession would take top priority and push any talk on incentives to the back burner.

Vaizey also disclosed his hope that TIGA and ELSPA could work together more closely in the future, or even merge.

More coverage from the forum on the topics of tax breaks, digital distribution and education can be found on this page of Purewal’s site.

Outspoken anti-game MP Keith Vaz pulled out of a scheduled debate with game industry luminaries and politicians at the last minute, much to the chagrin of everyone involved.

Vaz was scheduled to appear at the Westiminster eForum debate, reports MCVUK, alongside Electronic Arts’ Keith Ramsdale, TIGA CEO Richard Wilson, Eidos’ Ian Livingstone and fellow politicians Tom Watson and Ed Vaizey, but did not show, leaving organizers to explain to the assembled crowd that Vaz could not make it.

Vaz then became a subject of ridicule, with just about everyone in the room taking pot shots at the AWOL MP.

Livingstone attempted to fill in for Vaz, mouthing phrases like “Games are evil, games are terrible, games are turning children into killers,” while Vaizey added that perhaps Vaz should now be known as “Keith Chavez” in deference to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Vaizey added that he thought Vaz’s stance on games was “totally wrong,” noting that a game currently appears on the Parliament website and “no one has been killed yet.”

Ramsdale lamented Vaz's absence, saying, "You want to understand where his head is now after being so negative about the videogame industry."

Following the introduction of a motion before Parliament asking the Scottish government to address the negative effects of violent games on children, a Dundee MSP has gone on the attack on behalf of the game industry, calling the motion “unnecessary hostile.”

Labour MSP Elaine Smith’s motion requested that the government notify parents of the “possible risk to children’s emotional and psychological development as a result of prolonged use” of games, reports the Press and Journal.

Dundee West MSP Joe Fitzpatrick took umbrage with Smith’s proposal, saying, “I am very keen to promote Dundee’s world-leading video game development sector and am concerned at this unwarranted attack on an important industry and the effect it might have on its development.”

He added, “The UK Government is due to introduce legislation protecting children by making age ratings compulsory for all boxed games designed for those aged 12 or above, using the Pan-European Games Information (Pegi) classification system.”

Fitzpatrick has also previously championed tax breaks for the UK videogame industry.

As the UK moves to adopt the PEGI system as a sole means for rating videogames, the Video Standards Council (VSC), which will enforce and assign actual ratings, has added additional personnel to its ranks.

One new addition to the VSC is an Expert Advisory Panel reports GamesIndustry.biz, which will feature media violence expert Guy Cumberbatch, author Geoffrey Robertson and Dr. Tanya Byron (pictured), author of the Byron Report.

VSC Chair Baroness Shephard commented:

The newly established VSC Expert Advisory Panel will play a key role. The VSC will have the ability to effectively 'ban' a videogame from supply in the UK if it infringes the limits set out in the law.  Any such decision will not be taken lightly and will involve a number of legal, clinical and psychological issues.

A trio of board members was also added to the VSC, ex-Chief Constable Tony Lake, retired Director of the Family and Parenting Institute Mary MacLeod and Chris Atkinson of the National Socitey for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

A new system from a company called Games for Life attempts to combat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in kids by training them to pay attention.

Play Attention is designed for the PC and centers on an object that looks like your standard issue bicycle helmet. The helmet is actually outfitted with brain wave sensors—that read EEG waves associated with attention—that will shut off the on-screen game if a child’s attention wanders. Users control the game using their mind and as long as they continue to focus on the game, they will be able to keep playing it.

A test of the system on ten UK students with ADHD showed their impulse behavior was reduced after 12 weeks with the product. Research Professor Pine said about the system, “The Play Attention method may prevent long-term problems by helping the children to be less impulsive and more self-controlled.”

Units are expected to be available to the public beginning this month.  A 2-user license system for home use costs £1,795 (approximately $2,930.00 U.S.), while a professional version, with unlimited licenses, will sell for £2,495 (approximately $4,070.00 U.S.).

British scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield has been unceremoniously dumped from her post as head of the British Royal Institution.

The outspoken Greenfield has provided a lot of fodder for UK tabloids over the years, taking shots at videogames (claiming they slow maturity), computers and social websites (they harm children’s brains).

Her denouncement of videogames was especially confusing, in light of her personally endorsing a series of brain-training games.

The Times Online on Greenfield:

Her unconventional approach to courting publicity, however, has annoyed as many scientists as it attracts, some of whom claim that her talent for self-promotion outweighs her scientific credentials.

The Royal Institution says Greenfield was sacked due to the fact that it could no longer afford a full-time director in light of recent funding problems.

Ben Goldacre’s blog has more on the Baroness and how exactly she confounded critics over the years.

Tired of UK politicians? Think you could do a better job? An online game from the UK government allows players to take on the role of a backbench MP for a week.

The game, which is very well produced, begins by allowing players to choose a level of play, a party affiliation, an area of the UK to represent and a focus (local issues, world issues or money & finance). No focus on the games industry though sorry.

The game is aimed at 11-14 year olds and features eight types of activities—votes, questions, debates, speech editing, press conferences, messages and meetings. Players are charged with surviving the week without party or voter support dropping too low.

The game drew the support of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). ELSPA Director General Mike Rawlinson said about the game, “We are pleased to see Parliament embracing videogames in this way and finally appreciating the relevance of videogames in many areas of work and play.“

As the UK government gets closer to General Elections, game industry group TIGA said it would continue to fight for tax relief for videogame developers up to and after such elections take place.

TIGA’s reaffirmation came in response to a comment from MP Stephen Timms that, “We [the Government] will continue to look at the industry's case for a change to tax treatment.”

Citing M2 Research, TIGA claims that the game industry lost 11,488 jobs globally between late 2008 and 2009. Of these figures, 71.0 percent of the losses were in the U.S., while European losses were 13.0 percent of the total. However, 81.0 percent of the Europe-based jobs lost were in the UK. TIGA compares this to Canada’s 2.0 percent contribution to global game job losses, noting that a videogame-friendly tax environment “undoubtedly helped the Canadian games industry to weather last year’s economic storm.”

TIGA CEO Richard Wilson added:

The forthcoming General Election will give TIGA a great opportunity to raise the industry’s profile amongst parliamentary candidates of all major political parties. Results are achieved by perseverance. TIGA will therefore continue to fly the flag of our creative, innovative and successful industry amongst policy makers in order to achieve measures that make a tangible difference to our sector.

A survey conducted by discount website MyVoucherCodes shows that a good chunk of UK parents allow their kids to play videogames inappropriate for their age.
 
39.0% of those surveyed allowed younger kids to play games outside of their designated age range, with 25.0% admitting they had played such games alongside their children.

Still, when compared to other types of media, videogames had the lowest numbers in the survey: 53.0% allowed their kids to watch movies outside of the recommended age range; while 66.0% let their offspring listen to music with explicit lyrics.

MyVoucherCodes Managing Director Mark Pearson stated:

I was surprised by how many parents have actually allowed their child to watch a film, play a game or listen to music knowing that they weren't old to do so. I think that every child is different and what is right for one might not be for another, but I do think that ratings are there for a reason, so parents should execute some caution on deciding what they should expose their children to.

|Via Network World|

As time winds down to the general elections, the UK government is attempting to push-through the Digital Economy Bill.

MCVUK reports that, while some aspects of the bill are still hotly contested, politicians are hoping to fast track at least some elements of the bill, including making the Pan-European Game Information PEGI ratings system enforceable by law.

Don Foster, Bath MP, stated:

Swiftness is the essence of why we are here today. It is vital that we get back on to the statute book, as quickly as possible, legislation that provides protection against the sale of inappropriate material to children and counters the ability of people to sell pirate DVDs and so on.

Shadow Culture Minister Ed Vaizey added:

The Digital Economy Bill will amend the 1984 Act and bring video games into a system of statutory classification using the European rating system known as PEGI—pan European game information. Broadly speaking, hon. Members of all parties support that. Everybody recognises that video games should be classified under a statutory system.

The Digital Economy bill recommends that PEGI become the sole method of classifying games, replacing the current structure that uses PEGI and British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) ratings. Another controversial aspect contains a three-strikes law aimed at Internet pirates.

Anti-game crusading MP Keith Vaz once again took to the House of Commons floor to harangue videogames.

NegativeGamer reports on the debate, which took place in the House yesterday as part of a discussion over the invalid 1984 Video Recordings Act. Vaz once again called for cigarette style health warnings to be affixed to the front of videogames, justifying the need for special warnings because the interactive nature of games sets them apart from movies:

A film with inappropriate content is not interactive. The point about video games, which is backed up by research from America, is that the player is part of the process. Players shoot and stab people in a videogame, and that is different. I accept that inappropriate content is wrong, wherever it is found, but videogames are different.

Vaz attempted to bolster his claims by mentioning the “No Russian” Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 level and the 2004 Manhunt murder case that dominated British tabloids in 2004.

Head over to NegativeGamer for more on Vaz’s remarks.

Based on Gfk Chart-Track sales data, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishing Association (ELSPA) has proclaimed 2009 as the second best year ever for UK videogame sales.

Total 2009 sales, lumping in software, accessories and hardware together, totaled 114.2 million units or £3.311 billion (approximately $5.3 billion U.S.). Broken out, software sales were £1.621 billion (approximately $2.6 million U.S.), while console hardware totaled £1.06 billion (approximately $1.7 billion U.S.). The latter figure decreased in year-over-year results due to lower average prices.

Wii games sold the most units in the UK last year, with a figure of 18.0 million, with PlayStation 3 software sales totaling 11.9 million units. The Xbox 360 was number one for 2009 in terms of revenue, gaining four percent over 2008 to total £459 million (approximately $734.0 million U.S.). No unit figure for 360 software titles sold was provided.

6.7 million hardware units were bought in the UK last year, with the Wii selling the most.

The accessory market contributed 2009 sales of £630 million (approximately $1.0 billion U.S.).

ELSPA Director General Mike Rawlinson commented, “The UK videogames market is maturing – we are not seeing such explosive growth as in 2008, a sure sign that the market is coming of age. Consumers are shopping smarter and gaming is becoming more widespread across all demographics.”

Opening with the salvo “It is well established that the Daily Mail does not understand videogames,” blogger and game marketer Bruce Everiss lays into the UK tabloid’s constant attack on games.

The latest article to draw Everiss’ ire was a piece written by Andrew Alexander on politicians Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. At the end of the story, Alexander takes a shot at Shadow Minister Ed Vaizey’s plan to boost the UK games industry:

'Culture' also has a minister of its own operating under the grand panjandrum of the Secretary of State. The Shadow Minister, Ed Vaizey, provides a foretaste of nonsense to come with his declaration that the video games industry - there's culture for you - has been let down by the Government. It has not grown fast enough.

He proposes a Video Games Council.

Why there should be a government role in this field may well defeat you. It is at least as silly as the role of Hereditary Butler to the Crown etc and no doubt more expensive.

Everiss answers:

I have some news for Mr Alexander, by any and all definitions video games are culture. They entertain, have creativity, genre, subtlety, a history, engender emotion and have everything else that ballet or the opera have. Except that video games are massively more popular.

In fact Mr Alexander actually provides compelling evidence for the need for a Video Games Council, because if we had one we would not have to suffer so much ignorance from journalists (and politicians).

Everiss details other accounts of the Mail’s anti-game stance and also laments the lack of tax incentives for game developers, which he blames partly for the UK’s slip to a world rank of sixth place when it comes to producing videogames.

The Scottish Digital Media Advisory Group (SDIAG) has released a document which outlines suggested strategies that it thinks are needed to build the country’s digital media infrastructure.

SDIAG acknowledges that its Digital Inspiration document (PDF) is ambitious, but notes that “achievements of the past will not protect Scotland from change in the digital economy.” The overarching goal is to increase the number of digital companies in Scotland. For companies already in business, the goal is to have them become “more innovative, more international and more acquisitive,” eventually leading to their growth.

Among the key recommendations offered in the report:

• A more sophisticated understanding of the value to be derived from digital media as a growing and evolving business sector.
• A greater commitment to improving the performance of companies in the creative “value-chain”.
• Much more profitable leverage of intellectual property rights.
• Launch a pilot programme of tax and fiscal benefits to support the Dundee Games sector in 2010 to increase its global competitiveness.
• Generate greater investor awareness of digital media as a growth sector and greater investor readiness on the part of emergent companies.
• Cultivate a more ambitious national culture of acquisition, allowing Scottish companies to buy and not always be bought.

In the report’s foreword, SDIAG Chair Stuart Cosgrove added:

To react to the speed of change, the Scottish Government has encouraged the industry to propose achievable actions. This document does that. But it goes beyond its initial brief and advocates a step change in performance. It is longer in length than we originally anticipated because it has much to say, and it is not afraid to point to weaknesses where they exist.

SDIAG believes that if its suggestions are implemented, it can double current revenues achieved from the Scottish digital sector to £6.3 billion (approximately $10.2 billion U.S.) in 2012.

Hope turned to despair for the UK videogame industry as accounts circulate today that the long-awaited pre-budget report will not offer any kind of tax breaks or incentives for those creating interactive entertainment.

The Guardian reported ahead of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s (pictured) speech that the government was expected to reject the idea of tax breaks, which several other sources following the pre-budget report live are verifying now.

Trade group TIGA, long a champion of such tax breaks expressed dismay over the unfolding events, calling the lack of Games Tax Relief a “serious mistake and a failure of imagination.”

As part of a long statement, TIGA CEO Richard Wilson stated:

The Government has shown itself willing to support the UK Film Industry through tax relief, the oil industry with tax breaks, declining manufacturing businesses with loans and grants, and has spent billions bailing out the banking industry.

 

The UK video games industry has the potential to be world beating. Yet we cannot will the end without providing the means: the Government must invest in the industry if it wants it to remain world leading.

He continued:

We have consistently warned the Government that without the introduction of a Games Tax Relief the video games development sector will likely decline by 5% each year over each of the next five years. Conversely, if a Games Tax Relief is introduced, then the industry will eventually enjoy annual growth of 4%.

Wilson vowed that TIGA would “redouble” its efforts to convince policymakers of “the need to invest in our sector.”

Britain boasted the third-largest game development community in the world for the better part of three decades, trailing only the U.S. and Japan. By some estimates the UK now ranks fourth or fifth, behind Canada and South Korea, as tax incentives continue to lure developers to more favorable pastures.

Tom Watson, the videogame backing Labour MP from West Bromwich East, linked up with GamesIndustry.biz for a wide-ranging interview that discusses what’s going on behind the scenes of the UK government and what we might expect from his pro-gaming Facebook group.

Membership in Watson’s Gamers’ Voice group is now approaching almost 16,000 members. A first meeting of the loose-knit organization is scheduled for December 9 at the House of Commons.

Watson was asked what the group could hope to achieve:

Well, in political terms it's already had a big impact. There're a lot of MPs who've already talked to me about how they can go about talking to gamers, what the issues are, because of course they only read the papers as well, and if the only things you read in the papers is that games are bad and they're turning our children into monsters then it's going to cloud their view.

Next, the MP was asked about the adoption of the PEGI system in the UK as the sole means to rate games:

It's not the PEGI system that people remember from a few years ago. They've really upped their game on this and I think the labelling and classification is better, simpler, easier to understand and I think the industry is pretty committed as well that once this ratings system goes through they're going to invest in a public education campaign so that people actually know what the ratings mean and they're aware when they can make choices in retail outlets.

What about tax breaks for UK-based videogame developers?

Tax breaks are part of that but there's a much wider piece of work to do that perhaps the industry should start thinking a little bit more about. What kind of a games industry do we want in 10 years' time? Where are platform games going? What are we doing with social gaming? Where are we at with games-based learning? How do we tie all these strands of work together so that we can have a really deep, strategic approach to the industry rather than these piecemeal issues that flare up like sunspots and die down again. There needs to be an institution that deals with that.

The U.K. videogame trade organization TIGA has petitioned the British government to get off its collective bums and do more to support videogame developers in the country.

The petition for tax relief was delivered to the British prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street by TIGA CEO Richard Wilson and several prominent developers in the United Kingdom. They were joined by Bill Olner, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Computer and Video Games Industry, according to a release on TIGA's site. The petition carried the signatures of 54 game industry executives.

In the release, Wilson said:

“If it is right to provide tax relief for the UK film industry then it is also right to provide tax relief for the UK video games sector. The introduction of a Games Tax Relief would increase employment, investment and enable British video game developers to better compete against those countries which have sought to attract this growing sector using tax incentives.

“If the UK intends to capitalise on this modern industry and echo the success of the UK film industry then I urge the Government to introduce a Games Tax Relief as a matter of urgency.”

A pre-budget report is expected to come out on Wednesday, where Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is expected to determine if tax breaks for the videogame industry will be forthcoming. 

The UK government will inject £3.5 million (approximately $5.7 million U.S.) from its Strategic Investment Fund into new facilities to designed to grow the videogame development sector.

The funding, which could grow to upwards of £10.0 million in total with additional funding from European Regional Development Fund Initiatives and the North West Development Agency, will be used to create special prototype centers at the University of Abertay in Dundee, Scotland and in Manchester’s MediaCity UK.

It is hoped that the investment will assist in the creation of 30 new companies with some 400 new career opportunities over the next three years.

Dundee West MP Jim McGovern (pictured left) was widely praised for his role in capturing Scotland’s share of the funding. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy told The Courier, “While this announcement is down to the brilliance of the University of Abertay, it is also down to the doggedness of Jim McGovern. He met Peter Mandelson several times and pestered him about Dundee, it’s a job well done by him.”

Dave Jones from Scottish developer Realtime Worlds said in the Daily Record, “Using a prototype fund to provide computing and arts students with the opportunity to get hands on experience of real projects will help equip them better for working in our high growth industry and help feed the demand we have for talent."

Game industry groups were equally happy about the investment.

Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) Director General Mike Rawlinson, said, “The UK videogames industry is one of the country’s most dynamic and creative industries and a leading player in the videogames industry globally. I am sure that this investment will stimulate further innovation and skills training in the UK and help the industry maintain its current momentum.”

TIGA CEO Dr. Richard Wilson stated, “This is good news for the UK games industry. We particularly welcome the intention to use the funding to invest in prototypes to support new Intellectual Property (IP) development. Finding sources for finance for new IP is difficult at the best of times.”

Noting that the UK game industry continues to shrink, even as the worldwide videogame market continues to grow, TIGA has prepared a Pre-Budget Report outlining the steps it would like to see implemented in order to grow the UK game developer population.

TIGA CEO Richard Wilson called Games Tax Relief “absolutely essential,” claiming that unless such a program is implemented, employment in the game sector will fall by 5% in each of the next five years. If tax breaks were introduced, TIGA says the industry could grow 2% in 2011 and 4% in each of the three following years. They estimate that the tax measure would cost “cost £192 million but would deliver £415 million in tax receipts” over five years.

TIGA is also calling for a freezing of corporation tax rates and National Insurance Contributions for the coming year (and a one percent cut in the future for both), extending research and development tax credits, stimulating investment into firms that generate intellectual property and bumping up the value of corporation tax losses.

Wilson added, “The UK Government has a clear choice: invest in an inherently successful industry to perpetuate our leading position in the world, or preside over the decline of a key knowledge industry.”

As part of Games Tax Relief, TIGA suggest three tiers of breaks: 20 per cent of core expenditure for budgets above £6,000,000, 25 per cent for budgets over £3,000,000 but less than £6,000,000 and 30 per cent for budgets of over £100,000 but under £3,000,000.

The game industry group made its report in advance of the government’s December 9 Pre-Budget Report, noting that, “This is the last serious chance to demonstrate a commitment to the sector in the life of this Parliament.”

The full report can be downloaded here (PDF).

A vacant storefront in a Glasgow, Scotland shopping mall has been transformed into an art bar, complete with a life-sized, interactive Pong installation.

The TimesOnline details the efforts of the National Theatre of Scotland—in conjunction with local artists—to open the bar, entitled Allotment. The first of two December events, taking place this Saturday, will feature the giant Pong  system as part of an installation examining the theme "gaming and morality."

So, what was the motivation behind the theme? Artist John Houston explained, “There’s a lobbyist in America called Jack Thompson who is basically the Mary Whitehouse of video games. He’s bitterly against violence in video games, even though they are rated for a mature audience and are not meant to be seen by seven-year-olds.”

Houston, also responsible for creating the popular viral video that remixed Radiohead’s Nude with dot matrix printer and hard drive sounds (kind of a modern day version of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music), continued:

With Pong, we wanted to challenge that idea by taking it a stage beyond killing soldiers or stealing cars, like in Grand Theft Auto, and create stripped down games that remove the computer and allow real people to influence the games. In essence, as people walk into the middle of the game, they can control the movement of the graphics in this primitive tennis match.

Fellow artist Kieran Hurley added:

There is a moral implication of how much you want to mess up somebody’s game, how much you want to make yourself an obstacle to somebody else. But at the end of the day, it’s just a really cool thing to have in a bar.

There you go. Jack Thompson, muse.


|Image Via Acrosstheboard|

A 23-year old UK man was arrested on November 24 for utilizing phishing websites to steal accounts from a popular browser-based game.

Jagex Games Studio, developer of RuneScape, announced the news in a press release, stating that the arrest reflects the company’s “zero tolerance stance against cyber crime.” Once Jagex learned of the theft of the accounts, the company contacted and collaborated with the Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) to catch the perpetrator.

Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard commented:

Our internal investigations revealed that just a handful of individuals are responsible for over 95% of all account hijacking in RuneScape and we have a zero tolerance approach to anyone who attempts to undermine the integrity of our vibrant community. I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation to the professional and hard-working individuals at the PCeU and the FBI, who are assisting us with similar actions in the USA.

PCeU is a division of the Metropolitan Police. A PCeU spokesperson added, “People who seek to destroy others online gaming experience could be committing criminal offences, leaving themselves liable to prosecution.”