TIGA: Canada a "Major Threat" to UK Games Industry

[ShakerSilver]

Also, this may in fact be the first time that Canada has ever been credibly called a "major threat" to anything.

HEY! D:<

Just kidding, Canadians. I love you guys as long as you still have Tim Horton's.

Oh well thanks... I guess :-/

That's pretty low for UK to blame Canada for being a threat. I mean if you want to stay ahead in the gaming market, MAKE BETTER GAMES! Instead of starting petty arguments, just try and stay ahead of the competition.

I see what you did thar.

 

[Scde2]

So Canada has better a better business climate for game developers then the UK...And TIGA is mad at Canada? Hmm, makes PERFECT SENSE.

 

[Sevre]

The solution? Make better games. You can't expect to maintain an industry on complaints.

The UK made Arkham Asylum. It won Yahtzee's Game of the Year. What more do you want? You want more? We made Timesplitters? Still not satisfied? LittleBIGplanet! Need for Speed: Shift! Motorstorm 1, 2 and soon 3 and let's not forget Fable!

Calumon: Can we really brag about that last one?

Jack: As a British lad, I would like to say Canada, I still wish to remain friends. *offers Hug*

I never said that British games were bad. I'm saying that in a competition the general aim is to be better than your opponents. Clearly the British games industry needs to up the ante if they want to win back territory.

 

[Kagim]

Hurra!

We are finally considered a threat to something! Bad ass!

As well I am kinda shocked. I expected more people to bash Canada rather then rip on UK over this.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

I don't even know if any of the games I have are even British. Do we make any good ones?

 

[Lost In The Void]

Alright I was thinking the same thing as you Funk, when have we ever been considered a threat since our "storm troopers" in WWI. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Oh wait that is my Tim Hortons *sips delicious coffee*

On topic though, seriously? Blame Canada for this? Ya that makes complete sense

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

I don't even know if any of the games I have are even British. Do we make any good ones?

We made Timesplitters. Timesplitters automatically wins any fight.

On another Timesplitters related note, since Crytek UK (formerly Free Radical Design) are UK based, then surely the lack of tax breaks is not in any way helping persuade them to continue development on Timesplitters 4. I say we storm Downing Street with Ninja Monkeys and various other Timesplitters related doo-dads. Even if it solves nothing, we should still do it.

 

[Jared]

Blaming Canada because our government wont do what needs to be done...well, I cant blame developers. They poffer what is needed at least!

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

I don't even know if any of the games I have are even British. Do we make any good ones?

We made Timesplitters. Timesplitters automatically wins any fight.

On another Timesplitters related note, since Crytek UK (formerly Free Radical Design) are UK based, then surely the lack of tax breaks is not in any way helping persuade them to continue development on Timesplitters 4. I say we storm Downing Street with Ninja Monkeys and various other Timesplitters related doo-dads. Even if it solves nothing, we should still do it.

Well, so long as I don't lose my seat in the House of Lords, I'm all for it. It's been many years since the last ruckus, and I'm spoiling for a bit of action.

I'm sure Queen Elizabeth II shall help out - she never did like that plastic man who seems to have taken up residence in Downing Street.

 

[Sephiwind]

I have to side with Canada on this one. Seriously U.K. Devs. If you are going to ***** to anyone, ***** to your government about cutting your taxes. Don't blame Canada because their government is giving games devs tax breaks so they will get more companies to come over to Canada. That's just good business sense.

 

[Swarley]

Reminds me of a young child who doesn't have all the same toys as the neighbor kids. They don't do their chores so they don't get the good toys, but its everyone else's fault.

"Hey Canada! We don't like that you're doing things better than we are!"
"Hey UK. Maybe if you stopped doing things poorly, you wouldn't have anything to complain about"
"HOW DARE YOU"

I got a great laugh out of this, well said.

Is there like a secret subliminal message in this about piracy or something?

Not that I'm stating all piracy in canada's fault, but don't they have some weak internet rules on digital rights...... or something like that.

I'm not hitting Canada, I really love the place. All that amazing, but freezing scenery...

It is illegal in Canada, despite what most people believe, but the RCMP has issued a statement that it isn't a priority for them.

 

[findler]

From a Canadian to all of our friends in the UK.

We're sorry.
We're sorry you have a government that doesn't see the importance of interactive media.
We're sorry you're all crammed into a space most of us would consider a back yard.
We're sorry we have better food than you, in our defense though.. who doesn't?
We're sorry your gaming association thinks our government will listen to you, hell, we have enough trouble trying to get our government to listen to us.
We're sorry you don't seem capable of distinguishing between a single investment company and all of Canada.
But most of all, we're sorry how we keep apologizing in this passive-aggressive manner which is really just a veiled way to insult you.. again.

This. (So Canadian).

But seriously, boo-fucking-hoo UK devs. If your own government is going to shaft you, damn straight we're going to try and capitalize on that missed opportunity. What smart industry wouldn't?

Oh and Canada not really a threat to anyone? Find a German SS commander and ask them what country would scare the shit out of them the most. And all you Americans keep forgetting about 1812...

 

[Treblaine]

UK is going to the dogs anyway, we gave up (maybe we never really started) on being technological and artistic innovators and exporters (like Japan or Germany) LONG ago. The only way we as a nation stay out of the red (both metaphors) is our UTTER DEPENDENCE on London's financial markets and wheeling & dealing with the world's money. That and North Sea oil.

Really, everywhere else in the UK other than London takes more tax-money than it contributes. We don't make cars here, we import all the parts and do the final assembly here.

It seems we have a fundamentally crippled job market, as far back as my Dad's generation he had to get a job with an overseas company and only got it due to frankly elitism, it wasn't his qualifications, but just that he qualified from Cambridge.

Frankly I want to move to Canada. This country is fucked and no one wants to fix it. I don't want to live in a country that lives off bankers.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Oh what's that? The UK is moaning about something again? Shocking!

UK is going to the dogs anyway, we gave up (maybe we never really started) on being technological and artistic innovators and exporters (like Japan or Germany) LONG ago. The only way we as a nation stay out of the red (both metaphors) is our UTTER DEPENDENCE on London's financial markets and wheeling & dealing with the world's money. That and North Sea oil.

Really, everywhere else in the UK other than London takes more tax-money than it contributes. We don't make cars here, we import all the parts and do the final assembly here.

It seems we have a fundamentally crippled job market, as far back as my Dad's generation he had to get a job with an overseas company and only got it due to frankly elitism, it wasn't his qualifications, but just that he qualified from Cambridge.

Frankly I want to move to Canada. This country is fucked and no one wants to fix it. I don't want to live in a country that lives off bankers.

Oh I quite agree. The UK, certainly England anyway, is not quite the Great Britain that it used to be. We can barely stand on our own two (mataphorical) feet. We have lost all of our industries and we can't make anything for ourselves any more, having to depend so much on other countries to make things for us. We expect so much for so little, as if we're entitled to it. As for joining Europe? Don't even get me started.

It's no surprise that our fine country would take the "Blame someone else" route, it's quite typical. We've never been any good at anything, certainly not for a long time, why should we be any good at making games? We've grown complacent. It all kinda reminds me of the story of the squirrel who is busy all summer gathering nuts for winter, while the lazy one does nothing and sits on his fat arse. Come winter the lazy squirrel has nothing to eat. Yeah the lazy squirrel is the UK, watching the hard workers actually reap the benefits.

Thank god that we still have people like Molyneux. He may not quite reach the goals he aims for but damn it, at least he has a vision and tries to create something unique.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I blame our inept government for removing game industry benefits...
We've got just as much talent as any other country and our government decides to pull the support for the industry which could help us not sink, economically.

I think we need some politicians under 30, I really do.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Not that I'm stating all piracy in canada's fault, but don't they have some weak internet rules on digital rights...... or something like that.

If you listen to the RIAA and MPAA, then yes. But that's like listening to a pyromaniac who's saying you don't keep enough gasoline lying around your garage in open cans.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Apparently, people in the UK gaming industry are big fans of Weird Al:


Anyway, while the stunt with fake passports was of ill taste, they can't really blame Canada for the UK goverment refusing to approve a tax cut. Infact, considering the current state of the UK economy, they can't blame the goverment either. For the time being, they are just going to have to accept the fact that things will be rough in the UK gaming industry for a while. Hopefully, the UK studios will manage.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

EDIT: Accidental double post

 

[ReverseEngineered]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

No, seriously. The UK depends on its games industry, yet games [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/3934277.stm].

Nevermind the fact that Canada is hardly a powerhouse for game development. Except for a few famous examples (BioWare and Blizzard North), the US (EA, Activision, Microsoft) and Japan (Nintendo, Sony, Square Enix) are far and away the leaders.

If Canada wants to subsidize game development, it has all the right to. The UK could do the same. It's not like those Canadian subsidies are free money: the same developers getting subsidies are paying them back through taxes (and so is everybody else in the country). Canada subsidizes many industries as a way to encourage growth, as does the US, Japan, and every other G20 country.

The UK developers are trying to make the point that the UK refusing to give subsidies is going to hurt their development, and they might be right, but that doesn't make Canada (or anyone else) giving subsidies wrong. Let's give blame where blame is due.