UK Tax Breaks For "Culturally British" Games

An anonymous reader writes with news of a proposal in the recent Digital Britain report to set up tax breaks for developing video games that are "culturally British." Quoting the report (PDF): "In film a system of cultural tax credits has long helped to sustain a wide range of films that speak to a British narrative, rather than the cultural perspectives of Hollywood or multinational collaborations. Other countries such as Canada, for similar reasons, extend the model of cultural tax relief beyond the film industry to the interactive and online worlds. CGI, electronic games and simulation also have a significant role in Britain's digital content ecology and in our international competitiveness. Each of these has the same capability as the more traditional sectors, such as film, to engage us and reflect our cultural particularism. They may in future have a cultural relevance to rival that of film." Conservative Shadow Arts and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said the government has ignored the games industry, and he seeks to set up a government council to promote it. The report also outlined a number of changes to how games are rated.

Comments

More Culturally British Game Ideas

[DynaSoar]

Will any culturally British games get support, or just the ones they're proud of? Here's some more ideas following "Some Ideas" by 4D6963 (933028) above:

Jallianwala Bagh: 1st person/team shoot-em-up. Can you improve on the score reported in history books? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre

Thanksgiving: Fighting For Your Holiday. An edutainment/historic recreation. Carry out the plan of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, extra points for recovering and eating roasted corn from the site. "In 1637, the Pequot tribe of Connecticut gathered for the annual Green Corn Dance ceremony. Mercenaries of the English and Dutch attacked and surrounded the village; burning down everything and shooting whomever try to escape. The next day, Newell notes, the Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony declared: "A day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 men, women and children." It was signed into law that, "This day forth shall be a day of celebration and thanksgiving for subduing the Pequots."

How about a multi-game framework called Global Domination, with specific scenario files such as "East India Company" and "Hudson's Bay Company"? Invade, subdue and colonize. Impose a colonial government in the form of a commercial enterprise. Try to come up with improvements on some of the quintessentially British techniques and tactics from history, such as slavery, sanctioned if not imposed drug addiction, and requiring proof of indigenous people killed in the form of strips of scalp with hair ripped from their skulls. See how long you can maintain control before the inevitable collapse of the Empire eventually leads to nostalgic recreations in the form of "culturally British" computer games.

Flamebait? This? No, this is response. The original is flamebait. One person's "cultural" is another's "racist". The "British" aspect just happens to make it very easy to flip that conceptual card.