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TV Execs' Attempts To Lure Gamers Not Always Best
Thanks to MSNBC for its article discussing the mixed fortunes of TV bosses trying to get videogamers to watch shows about games. The piece starts with the question: "Golf players watch golf, but will video game players watch games?", and points out the failures (UPN's previously mentioned CG sitcom Game Over, an "esoteric take on gaming culture [which] didn't last long. Amid dismal ratings, UPN yanked the show off the air earlier this month.") alongside more long-running shows such as TechTV's X-Play (the writer notes "...enough inside jokes to please the hardcore gamers, but listen closely enough and you may detect an almost mocking tone.")
.. or just own the pc version..
I was kinda pissed off for a second when I noticed the extra stuff for xbox live until I realised that it was the space station that was on pc version from day 1.
as to the tv shows.. just put 1 or 2 hot chicks in it to speak out the reviews done by competent people and you're set.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I think that if you're on a channel dedicated to catering to gamers and you haven't seen Star Wars, you might want to. It just makes me wonder about anything that comes out of either of the women on that show [since I don't remember which one hadn't seen Star Wars]. I mean, you don't wonder about wheather Bob Vila has ever installed a toilet, right?
I've got the same reservations about listening to Morgan Webb. First off, she's awkward in front of the camera. Yes, she is attractive but her ability to read cue cards naturally is rather poor. These networks should focus on hiring people who actually play video games regularly and have some training in the television industry as on-air talent. That may be a tall order but part of the reason I think G4 and TechTV don't do as well as they could is because they've got either non-techs working and thus driving people away because they don't know what they're talking about OR they've got people who don't know anything about broadcasting and drive people away with an inability to convey information. TechTV's Screensavers program was once somewhat enjoyable. Leo Laporte has a background in broadcasting and, while not the most technically proficient person, got the job done. Now they've got all these 20-something interns that are designed to put a young face on the network but they do their job like shit. They're really awkward in front of the camera and they don't know a thing about technology.
I guess that's the end of my rant in reply to your one sentence about G4. ;-)
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
Game Over marketed to kids, but was foul, unimaginative drivel. We barely made it through the first episode, and that was mostly due to the promotional ads which were clean and decently cut. The show was abysmal.
The Simpsons works because it's smart. Reboot (rest in peace) worked because it was innocent and forthright.
Game Over didn't know what it was, and figured that "computer generated" and "shocking" was enough.
It's not. Good riddance.
There are already some good writers out there. People eat up comics like VGCats and Penny Arcade. Why not tap these guys as consultants or writers instead of coming into the culture as an outsider?
The problem with video game shows is that they lack intelligent commentary that brings you in to the battle.
Take, for example, Football or Iron Chef.
There's constant running commentary and they have teams, TEAMS of people running around digging up statistical data and constantly trying to predict strategies and explain tactics. Tell me why the Chiefs needed to go for it on the 4th down. Tell me how this team was able to fake the pass, hand off the ball to a lineman, then have the lineman lateral the ball to an open man on the other side of the field BECAUSE the man was actually a quarterback for a division one college.
Do you think Iron Chef would be as interesting if it was just two guys cooking it out and then a panel of judges just say "it's tasty." No! You need Doctor Hattori telling you play by play what the chef is planning, what kinds of dishes he's making, what the difference is between Matsuba Crab and Watari crab, why they don't want to overcook the abalone, where this style of recipe originated from, etc.
The problem with these shows like G4's Arena is they're being produced by people that play less video games than the people that are watching the show. They know less and they're less capable. All they can do is Oooh and Ahh into the microphone dumbfounded then tell you "how bad Team Iron Ass Kicking schooled DemiDemon Dojo."
If (competitive) video game TV wants to take off they need an infrastructure of journalists, not unlike sports writers and commentators, to decompose the gameplay and present it to the audience so it is more than just "watching some guy play a video game."
I'd say a decent chunk of my TV time is spent watching G4. That said, I still think it's a pretty lousy network. But it has the advantage of being the only thing like it out there and catering to a group that consists of a lot of hardcore fans, like myself.
The production values are nonexistant, which I guess is acceptable since they need to get an audience to put more into the production, but the content is scarce as well. Unfunny machinima, redundant top ten lists, a show called Cheat! that features practically no cheats, just basic advice on how to play the game that could be culled from the instruction manual, and Arena where two teams play eachother in Mechwarrior and UT2004, every freakin' time. Get some new games. And celebrities play games too? Wow, I never knew.
Most of the hosts are just awful. Matt Gallant is perhaps Satan himself. Tommy Tallarico is like a little pipsqueak with Tourette's, running around yelling opinions that don't make sense. Arena is hosted by a fratboy and a meathead. They have maybe a couple decent hosts, but most of them don't seem to know jack about games.
So yeah, it makes sense that gamers aren't watching these programs. It's because they suck! Hell, I mostly watch it because I'm stoned and I like to mock the hosts and talk to my roommate about whatever topic is on the show, ignoring the actual show. I would hate to see it disappear (or merge with TechTV), but until the quality of the programming is improved, gamers are going to stay away. The only way to really know if the market can withstand a gaming network is to actually have some good shows. I wish G4 would dump one of their pointless shows and give me a show.