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[IgeL]

Since I've been working for a local TV games show for a few years now, I'm quite familiar with the negative feedback that's pouring in. However, lately it occurred to me that it seems to apply to every programme, regardless of country. Now I would like to hear your thoughts on the games shows you watch/watched, and why they were bad (or good).

Three most often heard comments to get you going:

- the hosts suck (or don't know anything about games, or are ugly or...)
- the reviews/etc suck
- gameplay footage sucks or does not correlate with what is being said

What would be your ideal TV games show, and what would it consist of? Would you prefer a pretty blonde hosting it, or maybe some true gamers? A conversational review style or more strict?

Also, if you guys know any web feeds or downloads, let me know. GameSpot is the only one I know and their video reviews seem pretty ok to me.

 

[Laurent]

I don't watch those shows for exactly the same reasons listed above. I rather read or watch reviews on video from GameSpot than tolerate a game show.

 

[Wario64]

Bring back the Gamepro tv show with JD Roth

 

[Laurent]

What's wrong with Electric Playground? ^_^

 

[dorikyasu]

- the hosts suck (or don't know anything about games, or are ugly or...)
- the reviews/etc suck
- gameplay footage sucks or does not correlate with what is being said

Those are the exact reasons why I think Cinematech (no annoying hosts, not a review show, just nothing but game footages) is one of the few shows actually worth watching on G4TechTV.

 

[Flynn]

In my mind televison bears great hope for useful video game reviews and I think that X-Play (and formerly and less annoyingly Extended Play) makes great use of the medium for reviewing purposes.

Actually being able to illustrate in video form a mechanical (such as bad camera) or graphical (such as butt-ass-ugly design) criticism is a great tool for the evaluation of games.

Sadly, shows like X-Play have gotten the wrongheaded idea that gamers want their game hosts to act like a kid with ADD after a Mello Yello bender.

Given only the sparse resources that TV currently offers here's the show I'd make:

Graphical Design and Editing of G4's Filter
Show Set Up of Judgement Day
Hosted by the skinny Victor Lucas and Adam Sessler on Xanax.
And okay, Tommy Tallarico can come into to do one rant an episode, kinda like Lewis Black.

I'd save the hot babes for another show called Titties and Joysticks.

 

[impirius]

This is probably outside the scope of what you're talking about, but I'd love a weekly show that focuses on one good game. Have a couple of hosts talking about what makes it fun to play, how the different elements mesh together, that type of thing... then interview a couple of the folks that worked on the game and ask how they did effect X, or what inspired level Y.

As far as game shows in general go... YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL. IF I AM HAVING TROUBLE HEARING YOU, I CAN TURN UP THE VOLUME ON MY TELEVISION.

 

[fennec fox]

The key component of any video game show is, of course, Johnny Arcade

Otherwise, I think GameWave over in Japan had it right -- previews, rankings, rumors, studio visits, funny skits, and screw reviews.

 

[hobbitx]

Like many have said, I just can't stand the cheesy, phony casual-ness of all these gaming host. G4 thinks they can pull in casuals with casual crap, yet why is that all the shows aimed at the more hardcore crowd like Icons, JD, X-play, G4tv.com etc. the most popular shows on the channel and the casual stuff is what's getting canned? Nothing makes me more sick than seeing some geled up spazz or phony bimbo pushing games they can barely pronounce. It seems like they are kinda getting the message now because ever since the merger, alot of those cheesy shows are gone. As soon as Players and Sweat get the boot, G4 will be well on the road respectability....well the key will be in the ignition at least anyways.

Shows I want to see:


A show that pokes fun at bad games with pseudo reviews, screams for Seanbaby to host!

A sitcom or sketch comedy show about gaming and gamers in general, hell it could just be improv and I'd be happy.

Vintage gaming review show, G4 totally ignores the classics, the only time you see classics are when they are getting mentioned for a second on Filter or on Icons. I really want to see a show dedicated to the oldies.

A roleplaying show, there's a show all the basic genre's on tv, but nothing for the rpg, the Filter forum has hundreds of rpg fans so it's obvious there's a market for a show.

Machinima comedy show, I think this show would be kickass and would appeal to lots of gamers. They wouldn't even always need access to the engine, I've seen hilarious gaming movies made solely from a bit of video editing, a show like Portal devoted to all types of games would be a dream come true for me.

Finally, a documentary show! By now, there should be all kinds of good doc shows on, like history of 3d, history of directx, etc. We should have good gaming docs like gameheadz on all the time.

 

[GigaDrive]

best game show ever was TOTAL PANIC on Nick. it was actually a variety show. 3 hours on Sunday mornings. quizs, toons, games, music videos, live pop star performances, live action VR games, video game previews & reviews. Greg Lee and Molly Scott. 1989 (or '88) to 1990. will never forget

 

[shoplifter]

Something like Steve and Dave's Videogame Explosion would be acceptable. Their review of FFX is forever to be echoed in the hallowed halls of gaming.

 

[Flynn]

As far as game shows in general go... YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL. IF I AM HAVING TROUBLE HEARING YOU, I CAN TURN UP THE VOLUME ON MY TELEVISION.

Very funny.

I've always said that another way to go for a video game show would be to ape the style of skateboarding videos e.g. cutting together game footage with good (this means no library techno) music.

I've heard arguments that Cinematech is the same thing, but it isn't. Cinematech is 15 short video game commercials in a row. My show would be half hour of awesome music and fast and cleverly edited game footage with some Mega 64 style pranks thrown in.

 

[Vormund]

Most of those points you brought up initially seem valid.

We want to see lots of gameplay footage...hell we don't even need to see the hosts except for the start.

 

[Defensor]

I miss Video Power now. Hearing "You just won Jackie Chan's ACTION KUNGFU for the NES"
was the highlight at the end of every episode. The theme song was hilarious:
"Feel the powwwerr.... VIDEO POWER!" LOL

 

[Fifty]

Video and Arcade Top 10!!!!

 

[Diggle]

Ever seen Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn? I think something similar to that would make for a fun show if it was done right. Gather around a few industry professionals, find a charismatic and intelligent host (which may be asking too much given the majority of G4's hosts), and have a roundtable type discussion about the gamings news of the day, whether it be news, reviews, gaming controversies/topics, or previews. I think it would at least produce some intelligent discussion on gaming, which would be a nice turnaround from the casual-gamer-geared programming they show throughout the day.

I think that it wouldn't really work out the way I think it would, though, because I doubt watching four people from the gaming industry would be as entertaining as watching four professional comedians. Before e3, Victor Lucas (the other guy who hosts Judgement Day) hosted a special that was a roundtable type discussion thing with three professional journalists, and goddamn was that dull, so I think it all might be a bust.

 

[Trevelyon]

Bring back Control Freaks or Hyper TV.

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[Gregory]

Show gameplay of the games instead of tons of cutscenes and intros.

Don`t have the hosts talking endlessly about a game`s story, it`s fantastically uninteresting.

Basically, just show gameplay.

 

[fo shizzle]

-No skits -- none. If I want a funny skit, I'll watch Saturday Night Live. It's particularly bad when the people doing the skit only think they're funny. Besides, it's a waste of time.

-Do it live. I don't need it to be prerecorded by two months and basically be out-of-date. In the news section, tell news that happened THAT very day. You don't have to get everything in, just like a general-news show doesn't.

-No stupid voice overs. X-Play has them, and I hate them.

-No unnecessary humor. Just like in real life, if you always joke around, I'm going to get sick of you.

-When reviewing a game or previewing a game, try to act halfway professional. There's no need to act out the theme or whatever...for example, if you're reviewing a Nazi game, don't talk in a German accent. If you're reviewing a Halloween-type game, don't talk like you're a vampire.

-Don't do these "grudge" things where people get overly serious about what their favorite game is. There are enough no-life fanboys on the Internet without them populating my television, too. You can do a head-to-head segment about which game is better but not for some ulterior motive.

-Don't have the hosts all look like a bunch of overly pierced, dye-haired, make-upped, leather-wearing freaks. I really do not need that.

-Don't use Internet buzzwords or the latest language that 13-year-olds are using. Pretend that you have a high-school degree and passed your English classes.

-Don't always talk about sex. It was funny when I was 12; it's not, anymore. On G4, for example, they were once talking about playing two games at once and called it "double fisting." Ha. Ha. Ha.

-You don't have to act like a C-SPAN or PBS host robot, but don't get too gooshie, either. It's sickening.

-Don't pretend I know everything, but also don't pretend I'm mildly retarded.

-Most importantly, make it where if my mom, dad, and non-gaming friends saw the show, they wouldn't ask, "You watch this stuff?"

 

[Trevelyon]

"-No stupid voice overs. X-Play has them, and I hate them."

Heh, I find the X-Play announcer guy pretty funny.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

there was a show on TBS a couple of years ago i forgot the name of it the show it self was pretty bad but had a few absolutely brilliant bits.


I just remember in their medal of hobour review one guy said " This game is so much fun it will make you wonder what those WW2 vets were bitching about"

 

[B'z-chan]

Simple Informative News with a simple CNN layout with actual real news and real numbers. I hate that everything is so Eb biased and crap like that. It shouldnt be like that. It needs to a non biased opinion. Something that i'm sure is hard to find. Yet for some reason Cspan's book club can find those type of people. And Seriously Those are Freaking politicians.

I would also like to see speed run throughs. And maybe a real show dedicated to the geek isum of gaming in other countries. I dont want it to be all about games in the US. I want the broader perspective that is gaming in general around the world.

Yes now that i think about it. Show a show about the difference between gaming in other counties. That would be cool. And how they develope games in comparison to some of the US developers.

Another good show idea would be to take the super console and pc geeks from TechTV. Yoshi, that young kid that hosts Screensavers, and a few others like that one dude that was on Screensavers that has his own show now. Get those guys and talk about modding, and all the tech and fun stuff that were not suppost to do with out consoles. Talk about home brew games and program mods. All the ends and outs. Have special guests from the modding community.

And then get a show about Adam (techtv xplay) and Tommy (G4tv) to do a head to head gripe about two different games in a 30 minute show where by the end of the show you find out which one is right for you. Give 5 minutes of actual gameplay with light naration of key features or scrolling text about what we as gamers really need to know. I think the MTV aproach works best here.

And then one last show about nothing more than freaking Footage of people playing games and getting high scores. Mix this with a show all about games like cinimatech and you have yourself a hour of geek heaven.

 

[Subitai]

Don't really have time to watch one. I'll defer to other opinions on this one.

 

[FightyF]

Before I rant, keep in mind that I don't have G4, so these ideas could have been implemented without my knowledge. But I was thinking earlier that we on GA should come up with a solid foundation for a show, and submit the idea to Spike TV.

I agree with a lot of the points made here:

-GAMEPLAY footage
-Less sketches, less "comedy" and more news/footage
-more developer interviews/roundtables

We often complain about videogames not getting the same level of treatment as Hollywood movies. The game industry is a childish joke to many people, and it's funny how videogames shows treat it that way. Imagine the hosts of Entertainment Tonight pulling off crappilicious "comedy" sketches in between their movies previews and interviews...obviously, the videogame shows aren't taking themselves too seriously. Perhaps people want to see a serious gaming show that doesn't treat itself and the industry as a joke.

Though we can't just duplicate what shows like ET do. They delve into gossip concerning celebrity life, and we can't do that with Carmack or Naka-san. But one important aspect of those shows is that it's used by the movie studios as a marketing tool. In many ways, these videogame shows should be used as a marketing tool. The first time the world sees a particular level on Halo 2 could be on the show. The same effort put into making demos of new games for E3 could be put into making preview demos specifically for that show. It almost seems like a lot of videogame shows are lacking in material to present to viewers, so they are forced to resort to their crappy sketches to fill time. By allowing your show to become a marketing tool (with limits of course), you'll get a lot more footage to show people. Plus, people WANT to see Gran Turismo 4, ESPN NHL 2005, KOTOR 2, etc. on their TVs before it's released. They want to see these games played and comparisons to the previous versions to know what they are getting with this new one.

This is just one show idea. I have other ideas, but you can't have one show doing everything.

Another idea is to have a show that delves into game production, graphics, animation techniques and sound. Explain what normal mapping is, what bump mapping is, how to attain 3D sound with the doppler effect, etc. I was on Xbox Live last night and some guy was claiming that "Sony has too many programmers who can't use the bits right and that's why PS2 doesn't look as good as the Xbox". Educate these kinds of people
This would be more appropriate for a channel like G4, rather than Spike.

 

[impirius]

I was on Xbox Live last night and some guy was claiming that "Sony has too many programmers who can't use the bits right and that's why PS2 doesn't look as good as the Xbox". Educate these kinds of people
This would be more appropriate for a channel like G4, rather than Spike.

Yeah, back in the day, there were only like 8 or 16 bits or something, and it was easy to keep track of all of them, but now they have like something like 128 bits and its hard to remember what all of them do and sometimes they get mixed up

I agree with what you're saying about game shows as marketing tools. There are plenty of "The Making of Movie X" specials before a big film hits theaters; perhaps game companies could help produce similar shows. I'd watch.

 

[MrPing1000]

Dominik Diamond

+

Patrick Moore

=

Gamesmaster

= bestest tv games show evah

 

[IgeL]

Thanks guys, a lot of good stuff here.

 

[sprsk]

Since I've been working for a local TV games show for a few years now, I'm quite familiar with the negative feedback that's pouring in. However, lately it occurred to me that it seems to apply to every programme, regardless of country. Now I would like to hear your thoughts on the games shows you watch/watched, and why they were bad (or good).

Three most often heard comments to get you going:

- the hosts suck (or don't know anything about games, or are ugly or...)
- the reviews/etc suck
- gameplay footage sucks or does not correlate with what is being said

What would be your ideal TV games show, and what would it consist of? Would you prefer a pretty blonde hosting it, or maybe some true gamers? A conversational review style or more strict?

Also, if you guys know any web feeds or downloads, let me know. GameSpot is the only one I know and their video reviews seem pretty ok to me.

My ideal show would be like around the horn with GAFFERS instead of sports writers.

i would be the host of course.

 

[bjork]

I would never EVER have a guest star strategy segment. I've always hated those when X-Play has had them.

Like when they have some basketball player tell you how to play NBA2K or whatever. It is like, Kobe might rape people in real life, but I'm sure anyone here would rape Kobe at NBA Inside Court or whatever... we don't need to hear him go, "push the left analog stick to move your player... and that's a protip straight from the pros" or whatever.

 

[Rlan]

Bring back Control Freaks or Hyper TV.

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Pfft. THE ZONE was where it was at. Muttley, Adam Warning, and the Guile Doll.

"Ha ha! I tricked you! I'm not gonna be a westie, I'm just gonna be a freak for my whole life!"