Slashdot Mirror
On Videogaming TV Shows And Vitriol
Thanks to GameSpy for their 'Sole Food' editorial discussing the vitriol directed against videogame-themed television programs, or, more specifically, the game-themed digital cable/satellite channel G4. The writer laments: "You'd think that people that enjoy the gaming lifestyle would be all over the only channel dedicated to their passion. Sadly, that's not the case", and goes on to suggest "there's been an enormous amount of improvement" in the channel, and comment: "my favorite thing about [G4] is that it will bring new people into the [videogaming] fold." Are there any game-related TV shows, either on G4 or elsewhere, that you think are being done just right?
- Gaming is interactive; television is not. For most gamers, watching people play games is like watching people eat food. They're more interested in the participation.
- Gamers don't really need a heads-up about what's new. They largely play sequels or the latest tired iteration of the first-person shooter/RTS genres, or whatever their favorite magazine tells them to get for their consoles. Reviews all lie anyway.
- Gamers aren't going to bother sitting in front of a TV for hours when they can sit in front of a computer for hours. The biggest decision for many is whether to camp in a plane in BF1942 or bitch in the public forums.
Game channels/shows don't succeed because even if they were firing on all cylinders the hardcore gamer is on the computer and nobody else really cares to watch them. It's the poker tournament dilemma with electronics.Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
The gaming world is something that changes day by day. Through the internet, people are used to getting news and information hours after it's published, or finding info they need with google. Things move faster than most tv programming can keep up with.
What is there really to put on any kind of 'gamer's tv' that isn't easier to get at through an internet connection?
I agree... I think it's got enough content to be good, and odd enough hosts to be enjoyable. I don't see myself watching videogaming TV all day everyday... but I think that a half hour of X-Play every couple days is JUUUUUST right, I don't need to be in the thick of the video game industry, but I'd like to keep up with the basics of what's out there, and XPlay does a pretty good job of that.
CharlesP
wordtrip.com
Not sure if I will be lynched for this (I have a friend working in the industry that hates the show), but I am very partial to Electric Playground.
The skits are usually funny (yes, sometimes they are dumb, especially in the older shows, but they've gotten a lot better), but more importantly, the reviews are no-holds barred. If they hate a game, they have no qualms about giving it a 2/10 and ripping the shit out of it point by point.
Mechanik
Actually the general concensus I've read says that, compared to the original Extended Play, X-Play sucks.
Extended Play is the first and only VG show that I actually thought wasn't patronising or annoying. Then Kate Botello left, leaving Adam Sessler, which was still good. Then they went to five days a week, started getting crap.
Haven't actually seen X-Play myself as I dumped Tech TV early this year. (Since the station is now utterly retarded and has precious little for hardcore geeks anymore.)