Editor's Choice

And the Winner Is ...

"I think it's as true to say that good games are expected to win awards as it is to say that good movies are expected to win awards," says Smith. "There's always some degree of 'unfairness' depending on who you ask. There are many different definitions of 'good,' so there will always be outrage from some quarters. But I think in general games awards aren't too far away from films when it comes to fairness."

Rahimi believes that "the next big change in goalposts will come when most of the games nominated will not only need to have great gameplay, but will also move people emotionally in the same way that great films, novels and paintings do now." Only after games are able to tell stories that are "as compelling, insightful and influential as any film, TV show, painting, album or novel," he says, will these awards have the prestige of those of other media.

Media coverage for the Video Game BAFTAs is still substantially more limited than for the Film and Television branches of the award, in spite of the fact that game industry revenue far surpasses that of the other media industries. Despite the lack of A-list celebrities and the accompanying glitz and glamour, Smith thinks the game awards "are definitely being seen as more important. The ceremonies are bigger-budget affairs with lots of celebs, which perhaps reflects the huge amount of money that's now in the games industry. Perhaps the current trend of imitating film awards will transition to a format that is less celebrity-focused and more game-focused."

But Bradshaw believes that games will borrow some of the flashiness of their glamorous Hollywood partners. "There's always been interest in games from the visionaries in Hollywood," Bradshaw points out. "George Lucas created his own games company in LucasArts. Steven Spielberg has worked with Electronic Arts. There are plenty of examples of collaboration between the games industry and film."

The lack of credible, well-known and well-respected awards was one of the last major obstacles that the games industry faced in being accepted as a major player in the media and cultural spheres. Now games seem ready to take themselves seriously and start playing in the big leagues. The fact that the awarding institutions are also willing to welcome games into the fold shows that it is only a matter of time before game awards are as assiduously coveted and proudly displayed as their film and television counterparts. And once gamers begin to take awards into consideration in their purchasing decisions, the games industry will never look back.

Alice Atkinson-Bonasio writes for games™ and 360 magazines. She was research assistant for the recently published book Playing With Videogames and is involved in the groundbreaking film project The 10 Pound Horror Film.