Vancouver's skyline. (Flickr photo, RickC)

Over the weekend we were alerted to a blog post last week on the BCBusiness Magazine website that previewed a "memorandum of understanding" in the works between DigiBC, the Digital Media and Wireless Association of BC, and EnterpriseSeattle's Washington Interactive Network.

We've put out messages to the groups to find out more about their agreement, which doesn't appear to have been officially announced yet. On the surface, at least, it seems like an interesting idea, although these types of regional economic alliances tend to come and go, with varying degrees of effectiveness.

The idea, as explained by BCBusiness blogger Tony Wanless, is to "explore how they can leverage the region into a kind of supercluster of games and interactive entertainment companies," in part to better rival Silicon Valley as a hub for the industry.

What struck me as unusual was the way Wanless characterized the video-game and interactive industry in the Seattle region, as part of his explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of the two regions.

Seattle, he wrote, "is trying to expand from its traditional software industries, i.e. Microsoft, into newer, next-generation businesses such as gaming and interactive entertainment. But it hasn't been able to match the strength of its northern neighbour in that area. it's also trying to establish an identity different from the California tech powerhouses."

Of course, British Columbia has a strong video-game and interactive industry, and Wanless points to the presence there of such companies as Electronic Arts, Disney and Pixar as examples. But just off the top of my head, the Seattle region is the headquarters for Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo of America, Big Fish Games, PopCap Games, WildTangent, Valve Software, RealGames, and NCSoft West. Those are just the big names that come to mind, but of course there are many, many others involved in games and interactive entertainment in the region. Penny Arcade, and its signature Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, have also helped to strengthen the region's reputation in video games.

Whatever the alliance involves, it doesn't seem like the Seattle region would be approaching it from a position of weakness.

At any rate, that's an incidental observation. We're waiting to hear back from WIN and DigiBC, hoping to find out more about their plans, and we'll update this post depending on the response.

Update, 9:44 a.m.: Kristina Hudson, director of the Washington Interactive Network, confirmed the memorandum of understanding, which calls for the groups to work together in a variety of ways, including promoting regional events, helping each other identify business development opportunities, and working to encourage investment by Seattle companies in the Vancouver area, and vice versa. They're now working on an "action plan" with more specific details.

Asked why Portland, Ore., wasn't included in the regional alliance, Hudson said that could happen down the road, but she's focused on building the connection to Vancouver, B.C., for the time being.

Thanks to @isaacada1 for letting us know about this.