'Sims' creator Will Wright named BAFTA fellow

To the British, at least, video games are now officially acknowledged as an art form on par with movies and TV.

Well, maybe that's a stretch. But the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced that it has added Sims creator Will Wright as a fellow, a prestigious honor that has previously gone to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock, according to PC World (via Variety).

This is pretty cool. If you're not familiar with Wright, well, he's generally considered the reigning king of video games. In part that's because The Sims is the best-selling PC game franchise in history. And because the games he's created are so cool. And now, he's working on Spore, which, though delayed, is almost certain to be a genre-bending experience that will be talked about for years.

"Will's immense, creative body of work and his continued contribution to the industry make him a most worthy recipient of the fellowship," PC World quoted BAFTA chairwoman Hilary Bevan Jones as saying.

Now, maybe a lot of people will ask why BAFTA is bestowing Wright with this honor. After all, would we really expect the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences--which gives out the Oscars--to welcome a video game designer into its fold? I'm guessing not. At least for now.

But with games becoming more and more dramatic, with deeper and deeper story lines, dialogue and visual stimulation, I'm guessing it won't be that long. And when it happens, I know just the guy. Have you heard of him? His name is Will Wright.