Gaming might be a more mainstream medium these days, but according to Ian Livingstone, Eidos’ creative director and head of acquisitions, it is still struggling for respect.
“We’re still seen as the red-headed stepchild of the creative industries, one notch up from pornography in the eyes of most of the establishment,” Livingstone lamented to The Guardian. “They forget that half of the world and half of the UK’s population play games. Games help define who we are as human beings – they are as important, culturally and socially, as music and films.”
Livingstone is a staunch defender of the UK games industry, and has warned that it could die in the future if it’s not looked after with such incentives as tax credits and better education for would-be developers.
It would appear that videogames still have a large number of detractors within other industries, but one has to wonder sometimes if it’s through genuine disrespect, or good old fashioned jealousy. No matter how many FOX news reporters or ignorant film critics dismiss gaming, it can’t be denied that the medium has grown exponentionally, and will continue to do so. Gaming is just as valid a form of entertainment as literature and film, and one day it will get the same respect, whether certain people want it to or not.
