3/13/2006
BAFTA gets serious about video games
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said Wednesday it has boosted its recognition of the video game sector and plans to champion artistic and creative innovation within video games.
By Stuart KempLONDON -- The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said Wednesday it has boosted its recognition of the video game sector here and plans to champion artistic and creative innovation within video games.The organization said it plans to give video games "equal status with film and television" and will revamp the existing British Academy Video Games Awards ceremony, making it the organization's third major awards event.A newly formed BAFTA games committee made up of representatives from the sector's publishers, developers, middleware companies and trade associations -- including ELSPA, TIGA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe -- has powered the move.Committee head and Electronic Arts vp and managing director northern region Paul Jackson said in a statement: "BAFTA is perfectly positioned to cross-fertilize opportunities, set benchmarks for measurement and champion creative standards to encourage new and compelling interactive experiences."Sony Computer Entertainment senior vp Ray Maguire also welcomed BAFTA's involvement. "It is great to be associated with a body that has been rewarding creative excellence for decades," he said. "For the creativity and artistry that is so prevalent in our business to be recognized in parity with other more accepted visual arts, says to me that interactivity has finally come of age."BAFTA chairman Duncan Kenworthy described video games as "a hugely significant new moving image art form that sits alongside film and television in its power to entertain and educate," adding that the British Academy wanted to encourage the sector.Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
By Stuart KempLONDON -- The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said Wednesday it has boosted its recognition of the video game sector here and plans to champion artistic and creative innovation within video games.The organization said it plans to give video games "equal status with film and television" and will revamp the existing British Academy Video Games Awards ceremony, making it the organization's third major awards event.A newly formed BAFTA games committee made up of representatives from the sector's publishers, developers, middleware companies and trade associations -- including ELSPA, TIGA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe -- has powered the move.Committee head and Electronic Arts vp and managing director northern region Paul Jackson said in a statement: "BAFTA is perfectly positioned to cross-fertilize opportunities, set benchmarks for measurement and champion creative standards to encourage new and compelling interactive experiences."Sony Computer Entertainment senior vp Ray Maguire also welcomed BAFTA's involvement. "It is great to be associated with a body that has been rewarding creative excellence for decades," he said. "For the creativity and artistry that is so prevalent in our business to be recognized in parity with other more accepted visual arts, says to me that interactivity has finally come of age."BAFTA chairman Duncan Kenworthy described video games as "a hugely significant new moving image art form that sits alongside film and television in its power to entertain and educate," adding that the British Academy wanted to encourage the sector.Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
