So. Alastair Darling's hilariously ill-received Pre-Budget Report tells us that British developers aren't going to get the modest tax-breaks they need to remain competitive with the rest of the world. Isn't that a surprise? New Labour had a chance to include just one proposal in the PBR which would cost little, bring one of the few industries in this country which punches above its weight closer into line with a host of other countries that throw money at that industry (and into line with the financial minnow known as the UK film industry) and which would actually earn it a modicum of praise, but it blew it. Who'd have thought it?
The UK industry could do with a litle light relief
OK, we're being disingenuous: we're as aware as you are that we currently suffer under a rabble which, perhaps more than any other British government since the time of Henry VIII, is conspicuously unable collectively to find its arse with both hands. Gordon Brown clearly couldn't organise a chimps' tea-party, and is so unacquainted with anything approaching real life that he manages to make an Old Etonian appear human and down wiv da kidz.
And at least next year, they'll be able to concentrate on flipping their second-home allowances, but will the Tories finally safeguard the British development industry from its inexorable slide towards being a British iPhone game development industry (apart from those developers which are owned by foreign publishers)? It would be nice to think so: at least MPs like Ed Vaizey and Tom Watson know what a videogame is.
The whole debacle illustrates the problem with our current crop of politicians: they come across as though they were beamed down from another planet. Politicians are like policemen: the only people who want to join the profession are exactly the ones who shouldn't be allowed to. If only they'd developed serious PlayStation addictions, they might not have become such freaks.
Apparently Tiga's proposal was rejected by the Treasury because it didn't believe the accompanying evidence and didn't think the figures added up - just a tiny bit rich coming from a department headed by Alastair Darling. Eidos' Ian Livingstone once asserted that the issue was a classic case of: "Putting on a new roof while the sun is still shining". But it's clear that New Labour would never contemplate putting a new roof on anything until we're all forced to live in Fallout 3-style underground bunkers. Let's give them an appropriate send-off in 2010, eh?
Yeah. While I'm not quite as mean as r0zm4n about it, I reckon this is only just clinging to the edge of being an article about video games. 90% of it is slagging off the current government in favour of the new one. Which the people do every election and every election they're somehow shocked that nothing changes.
One thing the article said I can agree with (since my interest in politics is practically zero) is that generally politicians are a waste of space. I'm paraphrasing, of course.
Hell, Obama said it best himself. After he got to the White House, a reporter asked him where the dog was that he promised the kids during his lead up. He replied with a grin, "but that was a campaign promise".
So right now Cameron's team might appear to be amazing and life-changing, but when they win the next election (and I'm sure they will) we'll discover exactly how much good they'll do the country.
It is about video games becasue its something that the industry desparately needs if Britain wants to maintain its position as a lead nqation for development. But it looks like history is going to repeat itself. the government essentially hamstringed the BRitish film industry at its height in the exact same way and if the government doesn't act in some way we will lose another to america. Just like the film industry.
It's important because we're are stuck with some of the best minds in the world coming from our island but none of them work here becasue we are stuck with representation from a group of people that have no clue about the country they are supposed to be running and seem to be on a mission to make us completely reliant on every other country turning our populace into apathetic consumers,
There was a reason this island was called Great Britain. It's this when its various tribes pull together we're bloody unstoppable. people should remember that.
I pretty much agree with you, Monkey. There's not enough bespoke thinking going on. Not every industry works in the same way so they need to have different rules for each one.
It is about video games There was a reason this island was called Great Britain. It's this when its various tribes pull together we're bloody unstoppable. people should remember that.
o yes, unstoppable at invading forigen lands, killing most of the opposing army, imposing draconian laws that prevented the natives practicing their own religion, voting, owning a horse that could actually walk, owning a house, then f**king off and leaving a dictator in charge. rule britannia!!
Hmmm while I agree with the broad points of this article about the need to support the industry here, for me the author loses a lot of credibility by turning the piece into a huge anti-govt rant.
Don't get me wrong I didn't vote for 'em, but that doesn't change the fact that nothing much will change when the tories inevitably get elected. And very little indeed will change in terms of how the powers that be view the videogames industry as a whole (ie. the perception that of it as a bunch of less-than-popular acne ridden 14 yr old boys playing 'lara croft' at 3am on their 'gameboys').
I know that opinions are opinions, but with this and the similarly muddled 'DEMOS ARE EVIL' article, I don't have tooo much interest left in any of Steve Boxer's...
while other countries give taxes breaks now maybe 3-5 years later Britain will give game developers ones but then it wont make a difference!
and why do people think the Tories will win? do you know how much of a big swing they would need in public opinion to win that amount of votes? most people probably wont even bother to vote!
Anyone else in favour of a revolution? This is why in my thread 'What makes YOU lose faith in humanity?', I put 'The British Government'. Although to be fair I don't think the Tories would be any better.
This is the most expensive company to develop games in in the world, huge amounts of out talent are moving to Canada and America and a lot of work is being outsourced to other countries. The only reason we manage to stay a major player is because we have the talent in the first place. The government refuses to take one of their major exports seriously, that much is true, but I don't think the tories will be any better. People are going to vote for them because they simply don't want labour, and see tories as the only alternative.
It's bloody stupid because the Tories are just pandering. All of their policies are there because they'll get them more votes, not because it'll make the country better, which is the same for most parties. That's why I'm voting green. At least they stand for something for chrissakes.
Well, I suppose the BNP stand for something too, but their massive racists so they don't count.
Typical government short-sightedness, without 'new' industry's like the game and film, and also with cuts in the science, the country will have nothing.
We don't grow/make anything, we don't have the land or resources for it. We can't continue to rely on finance as they need to be large multinationals, and they will all move to where-ever gives decent tax breaks (which we never do)
What we do have is a well-educated population with a rich cultural history. Perfect for the game, software and science industries...but the government continues to ignore them and screw them over.
In response to the post about the Torries needing a massive swing in opinion, it already happened. Opinion has changed, the political mess of bailing out banks, destroying the economy and then telling us we will have to pay for all their mistakes while still paying rich people enough to get their high priced bonuses has swung opinion. Look at the polls.
There is a rule in politics, you don't vote someone IN, you vote the ones you don't want OUT. Whether what comes next is any better is yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain we need a Government that actually does something and at the moment these guys do nothing and that is worse. They are content to ride along filling their own expenses pockets and until the public found out how much these people were abusing it and allowing it happen, they were happy to let it happen.
The truth is that everyone at the top of the scale has had a good ride from this country over the last decade and now we the people who didnt really see that much benefit besides increased debt to keep up with rising prices on EVERYTHING you need to live, houses, gas, electric, petrol, taxes etc are being told that we will have to pay to keep the rich talented people who destroyed the economy here. Keep them? Why? They caused this mess, they aren't talented they are damn useless. Let them go. We are already paying for their mistakes every day because of those massively inflated prices that happened over the last decade.
When you actually think about it, how has the average person benefitted over the last ten years. We haven't. More and more work has gone abroad, more and more work will go abroad and the reason at the end of it all comes down to one thing. It is far too expensive to run a business in this country because we don't offer tax breaks. We get the education right mostly, but then we allow that educated talent to leave and find new lives and benefit other countries. The truth is that is the only way most of us will progress by looking towards America or Canada where more opporunities exist.
Although this article degrades itself by becoming a bashing exercise, the truth is that our current leaders have no real merits, they need a good bashing and in all likelihood come the general election that is exactly what they will get. Whether what we get next is any better, who knows, but I won't be holding my breath. At the end of day we are so controlled by decisions in Europe that our Government is nothing more than a local council in the grand scheme of things.
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