From the creation of Spacewar! at MIT in 1961 to today's release of The Beatles: Rock Band from Cambridge-based Harmonix, Massachusetts celebrates video game innovation today with an official holiday.
Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick has proclaimed today, September 9th 2009, to be Video Game Innovation Day, celebrating the state's long history of gaming innovation. The official proclamation cites both Spacewar! and Harmonix, as well as companies and universities currently working on technology that will support the growth of the industry.
Now, Therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim September 9th, 2009 to be, Video Game Innovation Day And urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance.
How does one fittingly observe Video Game Innovation Day? Perhaps the answer to that explains why the governor didn't proclaim this yesterday.
Governor Declares 09.09.09 Video Game Innovation Day in Massachusetts [Mass.gov]