Regardless of how big the games market is and how many millions of copies game may sell, it’s a grim fact that for many people in the UK, games are ‘for kids’. There’s something vaguely worrying about someone who’d choose to do it as a career. A real job is driving a van, building a house, carrying heavy things, doing open-heart surgery, or making a marvellous soup.
However, this state of affairs has now changed. Videogame creation is no longer some awkward occupation, shying away from the bright light of day. We’re a proper grown-up industry now. The prime minister says so. From Edge Online:
“We’re leading the way in creative industries,” said Brown. “[We’re] by far the biggest producer of computer games in Europe.
“And we’re leading the way in digital communications: In a country with only one per cent of the world’s population, more than a third of all internet traffic is routed through UK servers.
See, Dad? I told you it was a real job.
Obviously, the next time the Prime Minister pops up to Scotland, we’d be delighted to welcome him to Denki HQ for a coffee and a quick game of Quarrel.
- Brian (@flackboy)
Hah!
But still… Where I’m from, that problem still remains. Which is kind of a pain when you have to go do anything tax/professional status related… The public servant that attends us just gets a blank look on his face when I try to explain what I do… So, I tend to end the conversation with a sigh and say “I draw pretty pictures for food”.
(Also, my dad doesn’t doubts the seriousness of what I do though… He’s somewhat of a gamer too! – many hours spent playing galaxians, arkanoid, tetris and mahjong together.)