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As a new medium, video games are still struggling to be recognized as a legitimate form of art. At next year’s Grammy Awards, games will get one step closer to making its critical acceptance a reality.

Kinda.

The Recording Academy has announced that games will be getting equal billing alongside television and film for four categories: Music for Visual Media, Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, and Best Song Written for Visual Media. Previously, video games were inferred in the descriptors of the awards, which used to read like “Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, or Other Visual Media).” Now, they’ll be listed right alongside their counterparts in the parentheses.

It may not be a giant step, but it’s a step forward nonetheless. Still, it leaves the Grammy Awards far behind other similar events, such as Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards, which last year gave their inaugural Best Original Video Game Score to Joris de Man for his work on Killzone 2.

[Source: Industry Gamers]

After three literary adaptations, the Mass Effect universe will see another later this year with Mass Effect: Deception. Scheduled for a September 27 release, the plot is summarized as follows:

Gillian was once the subject of horrifying scientific experiments, but now, after her rescue, she is beginning to master her amazing powers. When she falls under the sway of a radical group who believe their powers make them superior to ordinary humans, she finds herself faced with a choice between her destiny…and her humanity.

The book will roughly coincide with the release of Mass Effect 3 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 this holiday season.

If you’ve ever wanted to pretend their was something strange in the New York Public Library, then PAX East 2011 keynote speaker Jane McGonigal has an alternate reality game for you.

The author and ARG designer will be spearheading “Find The Future” at the NYPL on May 20th. The event will honor the 100th birthday of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (yes, the one flanked by the big lions) by having gamers descend on the stacks in a scavenger hunt of great importance. If you want to participate in the event, you have to register at the NYPL’s website and be one of the 500 lucky players chosen by McGonigal and her team.

If you’re selected, you’ll be able to explore the collections of the Schwarzman Building on the night of May 20th and complete quests sent to you via mobile device. A completed quest will not include a treasure chest of immense wealth, but a QR Code that must be scanned to prove you solved the puzzle. According to Gamasutra, “the quests will also ask the players to consider literature and write pieces that will eventually be collected into a book that will go on display at the library.” If you’re not picked, fret not, for an online version of the “Find the Future” game will be available as well.

“Like every game I make, it has one goal: to turn players into super-empowered, hopeful individuals with real skills and ideas to help them change the world,” McGonigal said.