France Offers Grants For Game Makers

vasqzr writes "According to a BBC News article, if you come up with a good idea for a video game in France, you could get a helping hand from the state." The article elaborates: "The French Government is offering four million euros [$4.5 million] to help aspiring game developers turn their ideas into reality." But not everybody can just purloin the money: "The government will pay for up to 40% of the cost... but there are strings attached... to get a slice of the cash, firms have to be French and the work developing an idea must be done in France itself" and apparently, the content of the game is important too, as "...the French Government... will not hand out grants for violent or pornographic games."

Comments

Free game: French Army

[superpulpsicle]

The game will be just like Americas Army. Except you control soldiers running away from Iraqi republic guards and pouring american beverage down the sewers for points.

Re:Free game: French Army

[LazerImp]

Not to mention sending and receiving lots of courriels.

One word...

[ChrisSontagsAnus]

Frogger.

they make a good point

[toddhunter]

after all games containing sex and violence never sell well anyways.

Nonviolent games.

[executebusiness.com]

Is there such a thing?

PacMan was violent. And Pacman has an eating disorder.

Pong. Those horrible little lines smash that poor speck of light on the screen. That poor speck!

Any sports games are violent. And they cause violence.

Even Barbie games are totally violent.

And has anyone here played Aladdin for Sega Genesis? Geez. That was the roughest G-rated game I've ever played.

Even Tetris is violent the way I play it.

I can't think of one nonviolent game. So I guess these French guys want to not only cash in on the gaming industry, but they want to become famous by creating the first nonviolent video game!

What will they call it?

Clever Paint Drying 2005!

Re:Nonviolent games.

[syrinx]

"Even Pac-Man glorifies cannibalism and aberrant spiritually by depicting the consumption of the undead."

don't remember where that quote came from, but i thought of it when you mentioned pacman being violent. :)

Re:Nonviolent games.

[Freon115]

non violent french games? the Rayman Series
i guess this law will help firms like Ubi Soft (Rayman and many other games for children), or Eden Studios (VRally).

and btw, here is another quote about pac man ;)
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-man affected us as kids we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive, electronic music." -Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989

Good Idea

[Sszeto]

I think this is a awsome idea that the French are doing. I only wish they did that here in Canada so that we could encourage the Gaming Industry here. Games are such a big revenue now that it could be very benificial for both the programmer and the government.

Re:Good Idea

[Winterblink]

The Canadian government CAN give cash injections for companies that are just starting out. In my local area they're carrying along quite well with a tech business incubator concept, where the region provides an area for tech companies to set up shop and helps them along with ideas for marketing and getting those government subsidies. So far it seems to be successful, there's at least one web designer company that "hatched" from that incubator and now has full fledged offices in a high-rise downtown. The idea of the incubator isn't new, but it seems to be really catching on around here thanks to an overall crummy economy.

Anyway, the short of it is that there IS money out there from the Canadian government. You just have to know how to get it, and the money isn't JUST for tech companies-- it's for any small business starting up.

another failed attempt at humor

[Synic]

There goes my idea of the Erotic French Kiss of Death: The Game

Re:Meanwhile

[Guppy06]

Welcome to Slashdot, where unsubstantiated hyperbole is labelled "insightful!"

Give me a Freedom Grant!

[AtariAmarok]

Due to my ongoing boycott of France (have not touched a french fry in months, and a certain style of kissing has been out too. No "Third Rock" reruns either!), I will not accept any such grants from the French government. However, call it a "freedom grant", and I will cash in.

Send me an e-mail....oops, that 18 letter french word for e-mail.... and let me know.

In violation of the law

[Basje]

I don't know who came up with this story, but it totally unlikely that the french government would go ahead with this.

This is against EU laws, which prohibits governments supporting local companies, to promote competition across the EU (Article 87 of the Treaty Establishing The European Community).

If the french would do this, they would face stiff penalties.

Re:The opposite of what French games need

[coolerthanmilk]

>> The only good game to come out of there to speak of is Syberia and it is an adventure game.

And your point with this comment is? I agree with your concerns expressed in the rest of your comment, but I like adventure games. So do a lot of others. Thinking about it, of the games I've played in the last 6 months or so, 4 of them happen to be from French companies. That would be more than any other country over that time. But hey, I mostly like adventure games, of which there have been some decent French developers.