3pointD.com

For those who missed it a couple of days ago, it’s worth reading this essay on Serious Games Source, a new sister site of Gamasutra, in which David Rejeski of the Wilson Center think tank calls for the formation of a Corporation for Public Gaming, after the model of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which brings you your local public television channel wherever you are.

A Corporation for Public Gaming (CPG) could be established that would operate on a model similar to its broadcasting equivalent, providing grants to develop a diversity of games for the public good. Like CPB, the goal of the CPG would be to provide high-quality games, which “inform, enlighten and enrich the public.”

Great idea. One of my pet memes (certainly not unique to me) is that gaming is now becoming part of the mass media, no different from television or the movies, at least in terms of cultural impact. So why not treat it the same as we treat other media, and support some of its more “enlightening” aspects (of which there are many). Rejeski contemplates an initial investment of $45 million for a three-year trial period, which isn’t all that much. (The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s budget is about $400 million a year.) I’m not sure what the next steps forward for an initiative like this would be, but I look forward to hearing about them.