UK government plans tax breaks for 'culturally British' games

Jem Alexander — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:45:00 EST

The long battle for UK tax breaks for games industry pros may finally be over, with the government stating in its recent Digital Britain report that it "has committed to work with the industry to collect and review the evidence for a tax relief." Here's the kicker, though. In order to be worthy of these potential tax breaks, the games must be "culturally British."

What this means is unclear, but games would need to be put through a test to determine whether they can be deemed "culturally British," in a way similar to the UK film industry. Certain British games, such as LittleBigPlanet -- whose narrator is a British national treasure -- and Fable 2 -- with its cockney characters and very English humor -- would be shoo-ins. Other games, such as Burnout Paradise, might need to make a few changes. Perhaps we'll see London landmarks like Big Ben or the London Eye introduced in a future DLC pack.

UK government plans tax breaks for 'culturally British' games originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Try and play Nobunaga's Ambition, win green tea [Update 1]

Chris Greenhough — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Imports

In one of the oddest gaming tie-ins we've heard of since the glorious days of Yo! Noid, Koei and Coca-Cola have announced a cross-promotion between Kunitori Zunou Battle Nobunaga no Yabou (Domination Battle of the Brains: Nobunaga's Ambition) and ... some kind of Coca-Cola-branded green tea.

We've not the foggiest how the two products are related (we find it difficult to imagine Sengoku period warlords indulging in some green tea-sipping action), but the deal did give us a chance to sample the game through the promotional site that's been set up (scroll down and click on the white box to get things rolling). It looks and plays very nicely, so give it a go!

Famitsu also mentions that 100 Japan-based players who try the demo will randomly be chosen to win a six-pack of Coca-Cola's green tea. Alas, it's not the most import-friendly of games, so even if we did reside in Japan, it looks like we'd be purchasing our green tea supplies like everyone else who doesn't have the knack for turn-based strategy.

[Update: Corrected minor details regarding brand of green tea and prize.]

[Via Famitsu]

Try and play Nobunaga's Ambition, win green tea [Update 1] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments