I've been an avid gamer since I first picked up an Atari 2600 stick to have a bash on Pitfall. I've played games on countless systems since, and, if I could choose a night in with my favourite film, game or album, I'd take the game. But the number of game directors I can name amounts to about five; compare that to the number of recognisable singers and film directors around and you can see the point. There are a myriad of reasons for this, with media exposure perhaps the largest contributing factor. So why are movies, music and art so revered by mainstream press, while gaming, an industry generating more money than either, is so disdained?

Ian Livingstone, Creative Director at Eidos, summed the matter up perfectly:

"[The games industry is seen] as the red-headed stepchild of the creative industries, one notch up from pornography in the eyes of most of the establishment."

It's interesting that Don Foster, Liberal Democrat spokesman on culture and media has spoken out recently in favour of gaming but will it make any impact? Maybe it's time for the people's preconceptions of the industry to change; and the mainstream press can help by publishing some mature articles on the subject.