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A French push to give Mario some culture By Thomas Crampton IHT Updated: Nov. "Call me the minister of video games if you want - I am proud of this," the minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, said during an interview. "People have looked down on video games for far too long, overlooking their great creativity and cultural value." In March, Donnedieu de Vabres pinned a medal from the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres - a prize awarded to acknowledge cultural accomplishments - on three prominent video game designers, including Shigeru Miyamoto, the Japanese creator of "Donkey Kong," the game popularized in the 1980s that stars an Italian plumber called Mario. Now Donnedieu de Vabres is pressing for video games to be recognized as a cultural industry eligible for tax breaks, similar to French cinema, which received support equivalent to EUR523 million, or $668 million, in 2004, according to a study released in May by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Video game creators should receive a tax break of 20 percent, up to a ceiling of EUR500,000, Donnedieu de Vabres said. "Video games are not a mere commercial product," Donnedieu de Vabres insisted. "They are a form of artistic expression involving creation from script writers, designers and directors." The need for recognition of video games as a part of broader culture is underscored by the widening demographic of game players and game sales relative to other cultural goods, Donnedieu de Vabres said. For instance, the best-selling video game for 2005 in France, "Pro Evolution Soccer 5," earned more in sales than the best-selling of the Harry Potter books, the compact disk "Ma Vrit" by the singer Johnny Halliday or the DVD "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," according to the market research firm GfK France. But economic interests may also play a role in pushing the tax break. France is home to Vivendi Games, Ubisoft and Infogrames Entertainment, which owns Atari. All three companies were among the top 10 video game companies in the world by revenue in 2005. With a total of roughly 100 or so video game companies, France, along with Britain, has long produced more video games than the rest of the countries in Europe combined, according to the market research firm Idate of Montpellier, France. Of late, however, the French companies have been facing tough times. Atari, in fact, said Friday that it would seek shareholder approval for a reverse stock split in a move designed to keep its listing on the Nasdaq stock market. "It is true that the French video game sector is fragile," Michaud said. "But this is true for companies in all markets due to the quick- changing nature of industry." The minister's push to have video games characterized as cultural goods faces challenges from the European Union and the video game industry itself. Since a tax break could constitute state aid to an industry, Donnedieu de Vabres went to Brussels in mid-October to argue his case with the EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, that the tax break would protect cultural goods and does not go against the European Union's subsidy reduction policies. The Interactive Software Federation of Europe, a grouping of international video game companies, however, is opposed to enshrining video games as a part of cultural heritage for fear of government interference and has taken a stand against the tax breaks. "The French concept of culture is that the government knows better than consumers," said Patrice Chazerand, secretary general of the group, based in Brussels. "It is unhealthy to have the French government using discriminatory subsidies to influence video games." Those producing video games outside of France warn that financial assistance would make French game producers lose touch with their audience. "Similar to what happened with the French film industry, these plans will prove bad for the industry and for consumers," said Gerhard Florin, the executive vice president for international publishing at Electronic Arts, which would not directly benefit from French government support. "French cinema's financial assistance supports only a few well-connected producers who no longer need to pay attention to consumers." But to Yves Guillemot, the chief executive of the French video game giant Ubisoft, tax breaks are necessary to keep French salaries internationally competitive. Partly because of high French salaries, only 600 of the 3,500 employees at Ubisoft are in France, Guillemot said. There are about 1,500 employees in Canada, where the majority of production occurs, with the rest spread among China, the United States, Romania and Spain. "Without production in France, we lose the creativity and diversity that this country offers," Guillemot said. "When we create games in a country - if it is China or France - we put our way of life into that game." Arguments for ensuring cultural diversity echo strongly with Donnedieu de Vabres, who wants to ensure a continued role for France in the video game industry. "We need a public policy to help stop this sector from outsourcing," Donnedieu de Vabres said. "Just like music and the cinema, video games should be supported by the state." Funds would go only to those that have creative input from France and are deemed to have artistic merit. "Video game characters will not be required to wear a beret and carry a liter of wine under their arm," Donnedieu de Vabres said. "But we do need to protect what is different in video games produced by each nation." Criteria would be laid out in guidelines similar to those regarding support for the French cinema, which are implemented by a commission independent of the Ministry of Culture. "We will identify which games have more or less artistic merit," Donnedieu de Vabres said. "A game inspired by a film almost by definition has an artistic dimension and would be eligible." Support probably would not be offered for games that are highly technical, like a flight simulator, he said. "We are trying to highlight games that use graphic artists to illustrate, architects to design buildings, composers to write music and authors for the script," he said. "The video game industry really resembles the movie industry more and more." As for parental complaints about violence or pornography in some video games, Donnedieu de Vabres said that he would not engage in censorship. "We will rely on the spirit of responsibility among French video game producers," he said. "For the most part, we are pleased with the restraint shown by French video game producers." Drawing a historic parallel, Donnedieu de Vabres said that video games currently faced the same barriers to public acceptance as were seen in the early days of cinema. "Cinema was initially dismissed as a toy for technicians or a low form of mass entertainment," Donnedieu de Vabres said. "Few people in the early days imagined cinema could occupy a place so central to our culture."
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