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G4: The Pong Channel?

Posted by chrisd on from the tired-of-the-fireplace-channel dept.

CoffeeNowDammit writes "Care to watch other people play Pong? You may be able to do so with the debut of G4, a new US cable channel (via participating Comcast cable providers) devoted entirely to video-gaming. G4 will air a marathon of Pong.. 24 hours a day.. see ball, see ball bounce.. for an entire week. Story is here . What a country." This has got to be a joke, right? A fake press release? Please, tell me it's a joke.

3 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Ohhh the station by zephc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I thought they were talking about Pong on the G4 (computers), as in Open Firmware Pong from the 98 MacHack Contest

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
  2. Televising video games by Paul+Johnson · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I can imagine televised video games, but it would have to be done right. (And "Pong" isn't doing it right).

    Most attempts to do it give you the players POV, which for most games sucks just as much as, say, head mounted cameras in conventional sports. The player dashes here and there, looks left, looks right, and from the players point of view its very straightforward, but from the viewer's point of view its a confusing jerky mess.

    What is needed is multi-player games with customised clients that act like camera positions. Put a "cameraman" in charge of the client with pan and zoom controls, and maybe smooth 3d traverse as well, and you would have a pleasant viewing experience.

    You also need games that can do well given such a gods-eye view. Quake capture the flag games in fairly open terrain could work very well indeed.

    Paul.

    --
    You are lost in a twisty maze of little standards, all different.
  3. Annoying launch marathon not unusual by kikta · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There was a radio station in Louisville, KY (102.3 FM) that was re-launching back around '96 as a alternative rock station. About a week before they went on the air, they started playing the Beatles song "I Am The Walrus" over and over and over again. The rumor was that they were out to set a record. Either way, people would check in every once in a while to see if the station was up yet or maybe just out of morbid curiosity. When they did finally premier, everyone had heard of them and their ratings were sky-high.

    I'm assuming that the folks at G4 are just trying to create some buzz and do something fun at the same time. So, good luck to them... of course that alternative rock station is now a "smooth-rock" station. :-)