A frustrated sounding Ian Livingstone, Eidos' creative director and head of acquisitions, has called on the UK government to show the games industry more respect - much more.
"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," he told The Guardian. No offence to red-heads though.
"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, who has repeatedly warned that the UK games industry could go the way of the dodo if current problems aren't addressed, again called for the introduction of a 20% production tax credit for UK developers, in line with those in other countries and even the UK film industry.
Another thing he'd urgently like to see addressed is the current skills shortage the UK games sector's facing, saying that universities are churning out graduates who know a bit about the history of games and games design but who lack the skills to "start work tomorrow".
Without these issues being resolved, Livingstone paints a depressing picture of the future of the UK games industry.
"In the past six years, half of the independent UK development studios have already closed or been bought by foreign publishers who see more value in our studios and intellectual property than we do ourselves. We'll end up being a work-for-hire nation."
He does have a good point. The other week Boris Johnson said games rot the brain. And while the Uk graduates are not skilled enough debate has come and gone, this guy is obivosly trying to make a difference and get Uk gaming back on its feet.
But im in two minds as to whether theres any point keeping british ones going. Its not like film & music where the British creators create British entertainment is it?
We've lost all identity so whats point in having british devs. None of our games are british at all. Criterion create the very American Burnout, Rare changed Joanna Dark into an American, Rockstar do the GTA series - its set & voiced in & by Americans etc. There are no games out there that can be identified as being British made anymore.
Obviously I dont want them to shut, but give us & our government more of a reason to support british game devs.
Are you mad. Just coz GTA is set in america doesn't mean its american at all. Most of the jokes you wouldn't get if it was made in america. Its a very british take on america.
Most of the games worth playing come from britain. we've got a lot to be proud of.
Our companies power most of the crap that comes out of the US.
LBP one of the most revolutionary games to come out ever was made here,
FAble 2 is another awesome example of a british game. The americans don't know who zoe wnnamaker is and couldn't give a toss about stephen fry but there in there. The amoount of little nods and references that are in that game are phenominal.
Sorry bud but i think you've just got a case of the wank english tendancy to not be proud to be English, or british doesn't matter we all come from this island and we should be more proud of our accomplishements than just saying we'll leave it to america.
He thinks its bad for computer games - roleplaying/miniature/card games are seen in an even worse light, and that was his background before Eidos (as a co-creator of Games Workshop and the Fighting Fantasy gamebook line).
He has a point though. It's the British way to completely ruin our industry, all the while inviting immigrants into our country to claim our benefits. God only knows what state this country will be in in a hundred years time.
Are you mad. Just coz GTA is set in america doesn't mean its american at all. Most of the jokes you wouldn't get if it was made in america. Its a very british take on america.
Most of the games worth playing come from britain. we've got a lot to be proud of.
Our companies power most of the crap that comes out of the US.
LBP one of the most revolutionary games to come out ever was made here,
FAble 2 is another awesome example of a british game. The americans don't know who zoe wnnamaker is and couldn't give a toss about stephen fry but there in there. The amoount of little nods and references that are in that game are phenominal.
Sorry bud but i think you've just got a case of the wank english tendancy to not be proud to be English, or british doesn't matter we all come from this island and we should be more proud of our accomplishements than just saying we'll leave it to america.
God only knows what state this country will be in in a hundred years time.
Well it'll be empty of the indigenous people that's for sure as by that time the ones that haven't been mowed down by foreign truck drivers or shot by foreign gangsters will have sodded off to (rural) France, Spain or Australia if they know what's good for them.
But im in two minds as to whether theres any point keeping british ones going. Its not like film & music where the British creators create British entertainment is it?
We've lost all identity so whats point in having british devs. None of our games are british at all. Criterion create the very American Burnout, Rare changed Joanna Dark into an American, Rockstar do the GTA series - its set & voiced in & by Americans etc. There are no games out there that can be identified as being British made anymore.
Obviously I dont want them to shut, but give us & our government more of a reason to support british game devs.
We don't have too many devs here, but the ones we have are often outstanding. Rare, Lionhead, Media Molecule, Rockstar are all over the place at the moment, and there are many other stalwarts like Bizarre Creations and Criteron that consistantly put out quality.
I'm not massively proud to be British, but we do have some of the best dev studios in the world.
He thinks its bad for computer games - roleplaying/miniature/card games are seen in an even worse light, and that was his background before Eidos (as a co-creator of Games Workshop and the Fighting Fantasy gamebook line).
He has a point though. It's the British way to completely ruin our industry, all the while inviting immigrants into our country to claim our benefits. God only knows what state this country will be in in a hundred years time.
Prize for the most moronic comment made. I bet you're really interesting at parties - whatever the topic, its the bloody foreigners.
What amazes me, we are in the climate where rich f**king bankers have screwed us all, placed every ordinary working class person in potential poverty, and you are blaming immigrants.
Its not immigrants that are destroying the NHS through privatisation; its not immigrants that have led us into imperialist wars (although they are a consequence), you can't blame immigrants for the reason every single social service has been privatised, from public transport to energy, which of course has f**ked us all over. It was not immigrants that failed to regulate banks (and in fact encouraged their deregulation) causing one of biggest collapses in Capitalism ever, which will be felt for many years to come. Why don't you start targeting your hatred upwards where it is deserved rather than downwards at the most vulnerable.
I know, what about an alternative reason to the article. The games industry is f**ked, because capitalists do not think the investment risks are worth it. Lets smash capitalism and fund the games industry!
Capitalist morality (ie, the ideology peddled by super rich newspaper owners) is all about encouraging us to kick down and hate ourselves rather than unite against the real problems. In many ways, this ideology is like the sterotypical disfunctional family: The dad comes home drunk and beats up his wife, wife in turn screams and shouts at the kids and the children kill the cat.
Welcome to planet earth. By the way, I'm an immigrant so f**k you!
I always thought the games industry needed to recruit talent from other creative fields? How can it come up with new and original ideas if they only get people straight from College who are only trained to do what has already been done before?
Plus someone made a point earlier about UK based devs not making their games more UK "localized", he's right, other than COD4, when was the last time anyone played an FPS with British accents?
He thinks its bad for computer games - roleplaying/miniature/card games are seen in an even worse light, and that was his background before Eidos (as a co-creator of Games Workshop and the Fighting Fantasy gamebook line).
He has a point though. It's the British way to completely ruin our industry, all the while inviting immigrants into our country to claim our benefits. God only knows what state this country will be in in a hundred years time.
Prize for the most moronic comment made. I bet you're really interesting at parties - whatever the topic, its the bloody foreigners.
What amazes me, we are in the climate where rich f**king bankers have screwed us all, placed every ordinary working class person in potential poverty, and you are blaming immigrants.
Its not immigrants that are destroying the NHS through privatisation; its not immigrants that have led us into imperialist wars (although they are a consequence), you can't blame immigrants for the reason every single social service has been privatised, from public transport to energy, which of course has f**ked us all over. It was not immigrants that failed to regulate banks (and in fact encouraged their deregulation) causing one of biggest collapses in Capitalism ever, which will be felt for many years to come. Why don't you start targeting your hatred upwards where it is deserved rather than downwards at the most vulnerable.
I know, what about an alternative reason to the article. The games industry is f**ked, because capitalists do not think the investment risks are worth it. Lets smash capitalism and fund the games industry!
Capitalist morality (ie, the ideology peddled by super rich newspaper owners) is all about encouraging us to kick down and hate ourselves rather than unite against the real problems. In many ways, this ideology is like the sterotypical disfunctional family: The dad comes home drunk and beats up his wife, wife in turn screams and shouts at the kids and the children kill the cat.
Welcome to planet earth. By the way, I'm an immigrant so f**k you!
Unfortunately I have to disagree with you there. Being an immigrant you would have the opinion you just expressed. Well to be honest the NHS is f**ked because the government reduces spending on it and what little money is there is used up by the immigrants. You ever been to an a + E department lately? Well I got a mate whos a nurse and apparently its 75% immigrants all there waiting to be seen. Its the same in the wards too and yes these are facts not speculation. Lets look at crime shall we. Most of the violent crimes, I.E robbery, muggings, stabbings, shootings etc are committed by immigrants. Just a couple of months ago there was huge fight down the road from me, Eastern european immigrant gangs fighting with knives and bats and when an ambulance was called they set upon that too, nice. The economys state is down to the bankers, no doubt about it, but maybe we should be blaming the government for ignoring British companies that cry for help and have no other option but to let foreign owners buy them out who then hold the government to ransom by insisting on help or we make huge redundancies (only to replace the workers with immigarnst all on mnimum wage). But a lot of other problems stem from the governemnt splashing s**tloads out on immigrants who refuse to accept British society. Well if you wanna live here, learn the language and integrate. Look how much money is spent on translating governemt leaflets etc, too much.
I'm not an immigrants so f**k you.
If you don't like British people expressing their opinion (wrong or right) then f**k off elsewhere, lets see how well you do in Germany, Spain or Italy for example.
I think the whole immigrants verses nationals thing is a little off topic here, so those expressing such strong views could possily aim their comments at something more relevant. We are talking about the state of teh games industry in Britain, and if it weren't for foreign developers, many better experienced and educated in games tehn some of our own devs, coming to work here, then the talent pool would be far smaller and the industry here in a far more delicate state then it currently is.
In the same light look at Canada, devs from here are flocking there in their hundreds to get a slice of the pie, because of a collapse here. Without us emmigrating there, their booming economy and industry would faulter.
I am shocked and horrified that people cannot come up with more then 3 or 4 british developers!!!
We weren't the number one place for game development 3 years ago for nothing!
http://www.gamedevmap.com/
Quick run down of some devs based in Britain:
Rockstar Leeds and North (All GTAs, Manhunt, and Rockster handhelds) Travellers Tales (Lego games, etc) Eidos various studios (batman, tomb raider, conflict etc) though pivotal has now gone and tombraider is made by crystal dynamics in US) Kuju (Singstar, eyetoy, etc) Rebellion (star wars psp, shellshock, the simpsons, various handheld ports etc) Bizarre Creations (Project gotham, the club, geometry wars) Codemasters various studios (Grid, Dragon Rising, Dirt, etc) Team 17 (All Worms games) Rare (Golden Eye, Banjo, Kameo, Viva Pinata, etc) Lionhead (Fable, Black and White, etc) Media Molecule (Little Big Planet, ragdoll kungfu) Bigbig studios (Pursuit forces, others) Realtime worlds (Crackdown, MMORPG) Jagex (Biggest webbased MMORPG Runescape!) Ninja theory (Heavenly Sword) Sony Cambridge (24, Primal, new projects coming) Splash damage (quake wars enemy territory) Reflections (Driver) Creative Assembly (Total war series)
There are many others catering for other bigger developers be it outsourcing or porting games to other consoles! Not to mention those doing mobile and portable games. The biggest problem is that it is impossible for Indy devs, or new studios to form, unlike canada which gets 40% funding! People are under the illusion it is too expensive to develop in the uk, in reality america is! Ian is right, however there is also alot of talent and creativity buzzing in the UK.
If we do not get the funding we need in the industry, we will continue to slip down teh top game hotspots, we have already dropped to 4th in 3 years, and we will continue to unless we recieve the help we need!
This is what drives me, and I dare say a hundred other graduates out there trying to break into this industry, absolutely bloody crazy... what the bloody hell do you mean "skills to start work tomorrow"?!!! If I have a degree in computer science you tell me that I couldn't cook an egg to save my life let alone print a Word document. Maybe we're thick, maybe theres a big secret they don't tell us but where exactly does one 'get experience' for this line of work? Black Mesa?!!! Jesus.
It is hard to break into the industry for students who are constantly belittled by those who have been there for years. It's not easy trying to learn many many years worth of coding techniques and practices in such a small time, while all the while those techniques and practices are being updated. Those in the industry are fine they can adapt, however those learning the trade can find their newly learnt skills all but redundant by the time they graduate. I'm a 3rd year computer games programmer and I know from attending a few lectures and expos given by those in the industry that what they want has changed over the last few years has changed. Years before knowing Java was good, now it's C++ (although arguably it has been for a while), C# is creeping in too. Knowing Object Orientated Methods very well is also very desireable. A major problem is that companies in the UK don't let universities know exactly what they want or there are mixed messages or there are conflicting messages. I suppose this is why there is a massive call for more funding into education so that a curriculum can be put in place to bring a holt to this problem. There are companies out there doing their part trying to help students. Rare have visited my university, been at every expo I've been to, and generally have been the most useful and helpful company I've talked to. Team 17 also have been to my uni. All I can suggest from what I've assertained from at my time is uni is don't be fooling yourself about getting a job in the industry. You have to work hard, produce the best damn portfolio you can and then you should do alright. That and attend expos like GamesGrads and speak to the people who work in the industry, even do it while you're still early in your course. Edge has stuff about getting a job in the industry on their site atm. And the "skills to start work tomorrow" comment is stupid. You wouldn't expect a plumber from college to be able to start work on his own immediately. He'd know the basics and the general concepts of the trade but he'd need an apprenticeship from an experienced plumber on the job. A similar thing should be done with graduates or our industry will suffer a problem not too unlike the labour and construction shortages. Sorry for the rant. I get a little heated when these types of articles come out.
This is what drives me, and I dare say a hundred other graduates out there trying to break into this industry, absolutely bloody crazy... what the bloody hell do you mean "skills to start work tomorrow"?!!! If I have a degree in computer science you tell me that I couldn't cook an egg to save my life let alone print a Word document. Maybe we're thick, maybe theres a big secret they don't tell us but where exactly does one 'get experience' for this line of work? Black Mesa?!!! Jesus.
MODS using commercially available engines such as Source, unreal 3, doom 3, Quake 4, etc.... source and unreal are the big 2 if you go by current trends. Alternatively write your own one off plug-ins due to MOD's taking up too much time. Devs wanna see that you know what is expected of you in a real project, and you get that from MOD's. Hope that helps.
What Ian is saying, is that there are a lack of courses teaching the correct thing for this line of work, I agree with that as my course was rubbish, but i persevered and got into the industry on my own merits. Right now due to teh collapsing British games industry, and companies closing, there are not enough positions open to Juniors coming into the industry, as it is oversaturated with vets losing their jobs left right and center. Experience means more then anything in teh industry, so you need to get some yourself, unpaid (!?), via a live project and keep banging out your CV to as many places as possible.
Check out places like www.makesomethingunreal.com, and valves source mods. (artist prefer unreal, coders source in my experience)
<snip HUGE rant> Welcome to planet earth. By the way, I'm an immigrant so f**k you!
You misunderstand me entirely. I have ZERO against immigrants - people from other countries that come over here to work are, in my eyes, more than welcome.
It's the likes of the ones you read about in the tabloids, that are over here a few weeks, have brought their seven children, and live in some mansion supplied by the state, and get better benefits than most peoples salary. It's THAT what I begrudge, and it's THAT the government should not allow, and it's THAT this country seems to pander to more and more.
wow. its nice to see the sun and the express are still selling well.
What most of you ignorant bastards fail to understand is that if everybody went back to thier own country. The population of britain would triple.
More so calleed nationals leave britain than stay.
I actually don't read any newspapers, but such articles are usually so well publisised it's hard to ignore them.
And where did I ever say 'go back to your own country'? I would never, and have never said that. I'm not so stupid to think that this would, in any way, be positive for Britain.
You wouldn't be able to get a decent curry anywhere, for a start.
This is what drives me, and I dare say a hundred other graduates out there trying to break into this industry, absolutely bloody crazy... what the bloody hell do you mean "skills to start work tomorrow"?!!! If I have a degree in computer science you tell me that I couldn't cook an egg to save my life let alone print a Word document. Maybe we're thick, maybe theres a big secret they don't tell us but where exactly does one 'get experience' for this line of work? Black Mesa?!!! Jesus.
This drove me up the wall 8-10 years ago, and when I got a job I found that a decent degree in Computer Science was *not* skills to start work.
The only thing the degree means, is that you can learn. The learning starts properly when you get that job and, dare I say it, you won't have the skills to start properly working in the industry for a few years after that.
Just working as part of a team takes an age to get used to.
I am shocked and horrified that people cannot come up with more then 3 or 4 british developers!!!
We weren't the number one place for game development 3 years ago for nothing!
http://www.gamedevmap.com/
Quick run down of some devs based in Britain:
Rockstar Leeds and North (All GTAs, Manhunt, and Rockster handhelds) Travellers Tales (Lego games, etc) Eidos various studios (batman, tomb raider, conflict etc) though pivotal has now gone and tombraider is made by crystal dynamics in US) Kuju (Singstar, eyetoy, etc) Rebellion (star wars psp, shellshock, the simpsons, various handheld ports etc) Bizarre Creations (Project gotham, the club, geometry wars) Codemasters various studios (Grid, Dragon Rising, Dirt, etc) Team 17 (All Worms games) Rare (Golden Eye, Banjo, Kameo, Viva Pinata, etc) Lionhead (Fable, Black and White, etc) Media Molecule (Little Big Planet, ragdoll kungfu) Bigbig studios (Pursuit forces, others) Realtime worlds (Crackdown, MMORPG) Jagex (Biggest webbased MMORPG Runescape!) Ninja theory (Heavenly Sword) Sony Cambridge (24, Primal, new projects coming) Splash damage (quake wars enemy territory) Reflections (Driver) Creative Assembly (Total war series)
There are many others catering for other bigger developers be it outsourcing or porting games to other consoles! Not to mention those doing mobile and portable games. The biggest problem is that it is impossible for Indy devs, or new studios to form, unlike canada which gets 40% funding! People are under the illusion it is too expensive to develop in the uk, in reality america is! Ian is right, however there is also alot of talent and creativity buzzing in the UK.
If we do not get the funding we need in the industry, we will continue to slip down teh top game hotspots, we have already dropped to 4th in 3 years, and we will continue to unless we recieve the help we need!
May I add to that list, Planet Moon Studios? They created the rather brilliant Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Armed and Dangerous. Both games were hilarious and pack with British humour that I remember back in the days of the Speccy.
I wonder if they are still about and if they will ever work on something again.
Scratch that, I think Planet Moon are based in San Francisco. Odd how the 2 games I've mentioned have such a british feel to them. I'd like it they made more like it.
wow. its nice to see the sun and the express are still selling well.
What most of you ignorant bastards fail to understand is that if everybody went back to thier own country. The population of britain would triple.
More so calleed nationals leave britain than stay.
I actually don't read any newspapers, but such articles are usually so well publisised it's hard to ignore them.
And where did I ever say 'go back to your own country'? I would never, and have never said that. I'm not so stupid to think that this would, in any way, be positive for Britain.
You wouldn't be able to get a decent curry anywhere, for a start.
No but retarded and easily lead enough to think that its immigrants that are bringing down the county. Not the fat lazy scum that spend there lives breeding and collecting as many handouts form the government as possible. Good lazy fat British folk mind you. Not the poor bastards that came to this country to work and our generally just as skilled as any British guy but most of the time end up working in crap jobs still happy that at the end of the day they can go home to a house with running water and no ones going to come and break thier legs.
Its w****rs like you that are a blight on our society we are and always will be a country of immigrants.
I don't think there's much wrong with British development studio's to be honest. If some of them are being bought out by big players such as Sony and MS then obviously we are doing something right. Someone's already made a list of the developers we have and for a country of our size I'd have to say that's pretty damn impressive.
The whole opinion on video games isn't just a British mindset but worldwide. They started off as a hobby for geeks, then progressed as a method to keep the kids busy while mummy cooked the dinner but now they are as big as the film and music industry. The problem is that the older generation don't realize this or simply won't accept it which is why we see some rather ignorant comments every now and then... Hopefully more games will set records like Halo 3 and GTA4 and maybe then the industry will start to gain the respect and recognition it deserves.
actually in the public's eye gaming is seen as one level below - porn. In the uneducated person's opinion at least porn is aimed at the adult market, everyone thinks games are pushing 'adult' material at children.
Maybe they themselves should take steps to rectify this by, I don't know, actually investing some of their cash in some creative titles for a change? Yes it's financially risky, but artistry tends to be. Instead they'll inevitably invest in badly thought out AAA sequels to IPs they had no direct hand in creating in the first place, they'll get them all wrong (see Deus Ex 3) and then they'll buy review scores with exclusivity/advertising deals (see Kane & Lynch).
Frankly companies like Eidos make Hugh Hefner et al look like a bastion of creativity.
No but retarded and easily lead enough to think that its immigrants that are bringing down the county. Not the fat lazy scum that spend there lives breeding and collecting as many handouts form the government as possible. Good lazy fat British folk mind you. Not the poor bastards that came to this country to work and our generally just as skilled as any British guy but most of the time end up working in crap jobs still happy that at the end of the day they can go home to a house with running water and no ones going to come and break thier legs.
I agree - sponging bastard Brits are as much of a blight too. They are, however, our indiginous problem. It would be nice to not be such a push over as to not have to deal with others coming to the country and sponging too. And as I said before, I have nothing against immigrants which want to come to this country to work - why would I? It's those that come here to abuse our benefits, NHS etc. That's what ticks me off.
Its w****rs like you that are a blight on our society we are and always will be a country of immigrants.
Excuse me? Exactly how am I a blight on our society? What do you know about me? How have you come to that conclusion? Unless you are an aformentioned sponger (native or immigrant), why are you taking this as some sort of personal attack? ANd if you are a sponger - get a f**king job. If I have to work, so should everyone.
What annoyes me is that I'm a proud Scotsman. I live in Edinburgh and I know exactly where Rockstar Norths offices are but there is VERY little there to show that this is Rockstar North.
There is nothing in Edinburgh to celebrate or reward the fact the Scotland have made what is arguably THE most popular games series EVER created.
Like-wise, nothing gets done for Englands game creaters who have made iconic gaming characters such as Lara Croft!
I think the government is f**ked up. Here they are in control of a countries who make some of the worlds GREATEST games but all they do is slag gaming off?!
No but retarded and easily lead enough to think that its immigrants that are bringing down the county. Not the fat lazy scum that spend there lives breeding and collecting as many handouts form the government as possible. Good lazy fat British folk mind you. Not the poor bastards that came to this country to work and our generally just as skilled as any British guy but most of the time end up working in crap jobs still happy that at the end of the day they can go home to a house with running water and no ones going to come and break thier legs.
I agree - sponging bastard Brits are as much of a blight too. They are, however, our indiginous problem. It would be nice to not be such a push over as to not have to deal with others coming to the country and sponging too. And as I said before, I have nothing against immigrants which want to come to this country to work - why would I? It's those that come here to abuse our benefits, NHS etc. That's what ticks me off.
Its w****rs like you that are a blight on our society we are and always will be a country of immigrants.
Excuse me? Exactly how am I a blight on our society? What do you know about me? How have you come to that conclusion? Unless you are an aformentioned sponger (native or immigrant), why are you taking this as some sort of personal attack? ANd if you are a sponger - get a f**king job. If I have to work, so should everyone.
All this tells me is that divide and rule tactics have won. It seems to me you care more about the poor guy down the road out of work than you do about those at the top of society that have been bleeding us dry for centuries.
If you read the Sun, you'll read about jonny foreigner or single mother living in apparant luxury, or as you describe, which I have to say made me split my sides in laughter - in Mansions
(personally I have never seen anyone on benefits living in a mansion, unless you are talking about the numerous welfare benefits that the rich get - I have known people that haven't used electricity for two years in order to try and afford the rent in a desparate attempt to avoid being made homeless).
Yet what about the owner of the Sun or the Rothschilds at the Mail. Murdoch moved the incorporation of News International from the UK to avoid paying taxes. He is one of the big leechers around, and he is not alone. Did you know that Britain has lowest Corporation Tax in Europe and one of the longest working week.
The funny thing is - they screw us - and then rely on cheer leaders like youself to blame the poorest in society. You have to admire the tenacity of the ruling class.
Do you not see the irony is all this?
And what about a history lesson. You forget that the working classes fought for welfare benefits to protect them from ravages and unpredictability of Capitalism which continuously throws us on the scrap heap. If people out of work on benefits are scroungers and lazy, its funny how it certain periods society suddenly becomes lethargic. I seem to recall we all got lazy following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the Oil Crisis of 1973 and I've got felling we are all going to feel a bit more lazy over the next few months and years.
As for nationalism, no way, this is the biggest slight of hand. Nationalism, is as documented by leading historians is very modern concpet. Arguably France was the first nation in 1789 (alotugh there is a reasonable case for England in 1653 - that's the end of the English Civil War btw just in case any of you hardened nationalist don't know the history*), but since its inception it has been used to create mythical cohesion among people. While the Enlightenment (particularly the French and latter German) effectively exposed religion as the pervious glue holding society together, nationalism was incorporated effectively to hold together societies going through unprecedented changes with the inception of industrialisation. Key to this glue is to encourage people to accept the social relations as they exist as being somehow eternal. "Its always been like this, and always will". Of course this also relies on an imposition of institutionally promtoed historical ignorance.
All I know is that I have far more in common with ordinary working class people across the world, with the downtrodden, and people fighting for social justice, than I do with the industrialist and aristocracy of my own country.
But then again this is far away from topic, that I could possibly take it. Perhaps I deserve a prize for most off topic, although I wouldn't want any tokenistic hand outs of course.
*apologies to all, that was a little rude and arrogant.
*apologies to all, that was a little rude and arrogant.
Perhaps - but well written with it...
While I could address several points in your diatribe, I'm not sure I have the will to do so.
All I'll say is: There's no WAY I'm a cheerleader for anyone, nor am I lambasting the poor.
And I agree with what you are saying, those in positions of power screw us, the 'little people' regularly. Of that I have no doubt. However, the 'little people' also get screwed by lazy toerags who refuse to work (often on the grounds of 'ill health' - believe me, I have a friend who falls smack into this category) and claim mountains of benefit with it. And as I've said time and again, it erks even more when said lazy toerag has only been in the country a matter of months, and already has a steady income (from benefits), and a roof over their head - which is significantly more than a great many British citizens have...
Well I do not know any of these people coming and getting a great life on benefits. It is certainly nobody I've ever met. I mean this sincerely, I have friends on benefits, and I really admire how they are able to cope, because I don't think I could.
Also, unemployment is an economic realtiy and not a category of indolence.
For example the often un-reported fact, which surpisingly very few economists mention - but is nevertheless self evident - Capitalism relies on unemployment. It always has and always will.
The need of an industrial reserve army, helps to keep wages down, and coherce the work force. In preiods when full employment exists (the relative example of the years following the second world war), there is a shift in power from capitalists to workers, and the gap between rich and poor decreases in favour of the poor.
It is the same logic which means people starve because we produce too much food. Or to be topical, yesterday's OPEC decision to cut oil production because prices were coming down.
I suppose my central point to all this, is we look upon people struggling through life (for example on benefits, or immigrants) as the cause of the problems in society rather than a consequence of the structual and systemic nature of how the economy works. Until we see this as the central point, we will always divide and fight among ourselves, rather than direct our attentions to addressing the real problems.
anyway back on topic shall we & save your political outbursts for points of view or some such. Another Brit Dev. Studio Liverpool for wipeouts Especially the excellent wipeoutHD.
I think the picture of Lara going with the strapline "one step up from porn" is entirely appropriate. The big companies churn out mainstream titles, but it's the arty, interesting things that garner support in the public consciousness in the end. Would the film industry be so highly regarded if its only works were action films and chick flicks?
I wanted to do computer science in sixth form, but they dropped the course (left it in the f**king prospectus though, the c**ts) because the pass rate was too low and it made them look bad in the league tables.
I could be filling this skills shortage right now if it weren't for those greedy bastards.
As for Marty ... you really need to take that "neo-anarchist" bit off your sig if you truly hold the views that you are propagating here. Just saying.
Dammit, wish I'd seen this before. The Neo-Anrchist tag in my sig is PURELY a nod to an old pen and paper RPG, Shadowrun. They seemed to love Neo-Anarchists in that, and had no end of 'Neo-Anarchist Guides' in the product history. And I'm a huge fan of the game. HUGE. I would certainly never claim to be a Neo-Anarchist, I just like the ring to it. I would also never (seriously) claim to be the best bang since the big one, either.
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