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MTV Making Better Gaming TV Than G4TV? 59
heartless_ writes "GamerGod.com has an interesting look into how MTV has shifted to provide essential gaming television in a way that G4TV never was and never will be able to. From the article: 'As G4TV now begins to fall off the gaming-centered line up and into a dull Spike TV rip-off, it is apparent that gamers would rather play games than watch TV shows about gaming. This doesn't mean all the shows on G4TV were horrible, but none of them can be considered any sort of success." I would disagree. X-Play, and Icons are both shows worth watching, but on a channel that at one point was 'for gamers', only two decent shows is pretty pathetic.
Attack of the Show (Score:2)
I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Xplay that wasn't a rerun.
Re:Attack of the Show (Score:1)
I'm pissed that the clips shows they've had on the last two weeks are actually worth watching! grr...
xplay (Score:2)
Re:xplay (Score:2)
The only show I don't mind watching but was not on the list is Cinematech. It's really cool to watch scenes from games I'd never get to or to remind me of classic game moments
X-Play ain't bad at all... (Score:2)
Very true, however, that the ScreenSaver/Call for Help purge wiped out any chance the channel had of staying relevant. But hey
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re:And the 'M' stands for...? (Score:2)
Re:And the 'M' stands for...? (Score:2, Insightful)
Icons? Decent? (Score:1)
Re:Icons? Decent? (Score:1)
Re:Icons? Decent? (Score:1)
And to say nothing about the games. Let's put the Mario/Zelda/Metroid/Final Fantasy/Metal Gear/CS/GTA/Half Life franchises into a half hour wrap up. That will tell the real story of how these games came to be such hits!
I
Re:Icons? Decent? (Score:1)
Re:Icons? Decent? (Score:1)
their mistakes (Score:4, Insightful)
I am also tired of seeing the most popular games on that channel. I would like to actually learn about an underdog. I want to hear about some games I've never heard about before. There are hundreds of indie games released each year that are actually fun to play, but that channel only featured the top %5 of the game market. They just don't explore the entire gaming industry.
Re:their mistakes (Score:2)
I couldn't agree [slashdot.org] with you more. They took a pretty good geek channel and made it suck. Like you say, they took the people who knew what
Re:their mistakes (Score:1)
Re:their mistakes (Score:2)
I must be the only person on the planet... (Score:2)
It's apparent GamerGod doesn't get it either (Score:5, Insightful)
No, it is not apparent. G4 has never, ever, actually tried to have a gaming oriented show that treated the source material honestly. Arena was a program where two teams competed in multiple games to see who won. The format was 5v5, but instead of having pro teams or even people who knew eachother, it was simply whoever came to the studio that day. On top of that, the gameplay footage was shown in 30 second clips with simply a summary of who did what and what the score is.
G4 is the first (and hopefully the last) channel that refused to actually show raw, uncut footage of the thing that it was geared around. Imagine a football channel that never showed a whole football game, but simply highlights and nothing else. Imagine a golf channel that never showed anyone actually playing golf, just fast cuts of people swinging at the ball, and it dropping in the hole. Imagine a cooking channel that didn't show any cooking because "that's too boring", and instead showed the person talking about cooking, and a quick 30 second montage of them making a pie or cake.
The reality is, G4 never, not once, took a gamble on showing people playing a videogame. I'd like to watch some good Counter Strike players play a map (and not the idiotic highlight videos that get released either), or watch any relatively skilled competitors go at it, really. Imagine if you could leave it on the in the background while you're doing something. Or, when a popular new game comes out, they run you through the first few hours so you can see some of the gameplay tips you can use down the line. I figured at least once, they would try airing just people playing videogames at 3am or something, in lieu of one of their paid programming/informercial slots. They never did.
People will watch fishing, cooking, billiards, poker, sports, fake courtrooms, eating bugs, fake reality shows, and home redecorating. To say that gaming is somehow more boring than these things and no one would want to watch it is pure crap. Movie files that show people playing games, being distributed on the internet, are simply too large because of the high resolution and the way that they compress poorly. TV is the perfect format for this (and some might argue, HDTV to really appreciate what's going on) and yet no one even tries.
G4 was a terrible channel that tried to be MTV without first establishing credibility. MTV started as a music video channel (that no longer shows music videos) but at least it had a 5-10 year period where that was how it made its money. G4 never actually tried making programming that showed, in context, people actually playing a videogame and that might engage the viewer. The cost of such content would have been very cheap, and if instead of focusing on trying to be like MTV, G4 could have easily been MTV - but the MTV of old, the one that was a favorite of bands and fans alike, not 14 year old girls.
G4 never tried to treat gamers, or its audience, with respect and simply show people playing games. And for that, it failed, and it deserved to.
Re:It's apparent GamerGod doesn't get it either (Score:1)
Thank god someone finally said it!
I disagree with one thing you said, however. I don't think they should show the first 3 hours of a new game, because many people prefer to play those things and discover stuff on their own. Also, networks would have a hell of
Portal (Score:1)
Flawed demographic (Score:1)
That's alright (Score:5, Funny)
It's apparent Gamergod doesn't get it either (Score:5, Insightful)
Gamergod Writes: "it is apparent that gamers would rather play games than watch TV shows about gaming"
No, it is not apparent. G4 has never, ever, actually tried to have a gaming oriented show that treated the source material honestly. Arena was a program where two teams competed in multiple games to see who won. The format was 5v5, but instead of having pro teams or even people who knew eachother, it was simply whoever came to the studio that day. On top of that, the gameplay footage was shown in 30 second clips with simply a summary of who did what and what the score is.
G4 is the first (and hopefully the last) channel that refused to actually show raw, uncut footage of the thing that it was geared around. Imagine a football channel that never showed a whole football game, but simply highlights and nothing else. Imagine a golf channel that never showed anyone actually playing golf, just fast cuts of people swinging at the ball, and it dropping in the hole. Imagine a cooking channel that didn't show any cooking because "that's too boring", and instead showed the person talking about cooking, and a quick 30 second montage of them making a pie or cake.
The reality is, G4 never, not once, took a gamble on showing people playing a videogame. I'd like to watch some good Counter Strike players play a map (and not the idiotic highlight videos that get released either), or watch any relatively skilled competitors go at it, really. Imagine if you could leave it on the in the background while you're doing something. Or, when a popular new game comes out, they run you through the first few hours so you can see some of the gameplay tips you can use down the line. I figured at least once, they would try airing just people playing videogames at 3am or something, in lieu of one of their paid programming/informercial slots. They never did.
People will watch fishing, cooking, billiards, poker, sports, fake courtrooms, eating bugs, fake reality shows, and home redecorating. To say that gaming is somehow more boring than these things and no one would want to watch it is pure crap. Movie files that show people playing games, being distributed on the internet, are simply too large because of the high resolution and the way that they compress poorly. TV is the perfect format for this (and some might argue, HDTV to really appreciate what's going on) and yet no one even tries.
G4 was a terrible channel that tried to be MTV without first establishing credibility. MTV started as a music video channel (that no longer shows music videos) but at least it had a 5-10 year period where that was how it made its money. G4 never actually tried making programming that showed, in context, people actually playing a videogame and that might engage the viewer. The cost of such content would have been very cheap, and if instead of focusing on trying to be like MTV, G4 could have easily been MTV - but the MTV of old, the one that was a favorite of bands and fans alike, not 14 year old girls.
G4 never tried to treat gamers, or its audience, with respect and simply show people playing games. And for that, it failed, and it deserved to.
Re:It's apparent Gamergod doesn't get it either (Score:2)
Re:It's apparent Gamergod doesn't get it either (Score:2)
Actually, what they did was try to buy their way into credibility by purchasing the suffering but somewhat respected TechTV channel (and studio), which was already picked up by many cable and satellite providers. But then they gutted everything but Xplay, so they lost everything they had bought into. Including the (much larger) TechTV audience.
Re:It's apparent Gamergod doesn't get it either (Score:1)
Re:It's apparent Gamergod doesn't get it either (Score:1)
Re:It's apparent Gamergod doesn't get it either (Score:1)
That hurts, man... (Score:1)
Ouch. Kick 'em when they're down, I guess.
This sounds like someone I've heard before.... (Score:2)
TV shows that would have gotten me to watch G4 24h (Score:4, Insightful)
2. League play from top game leagues. The ESPN of gaming.
3. Interviews with Game Developers. Um HELLO. This was a slam dunk.
4. Highlight films from invitational LAN PARTY tournaments.
5. Um... get cuter girls talking about games.
Re:TV shows that would have gotten me to watch G4 (Score:1)
2. League play from top game leagues. The ESPN of gaming.
Um...am I the only one who thinks that is an awesome idea?
Why do people who get PAID to program Network TV never think of these things?
It wouldn't be that hard... (Score:3, Interesting)
It wouldn't be that hard considering G4 is showing reruns of The Manshow, whatever the hell that street racing show is, and showing Star Trek:TNG (Don't get me wrong... I like Star Trek as much as the next guy, but the last guys who played it were Spike TV and I don't find reruns of James Bond 24/7 all that entertaining).
I will give them the benefit of the doubt because Xplay, Attack of the Show, and that Anime thing (Barbwired Biscuit) are fairly entertaining... But I miss the days of TechTV.
On the other side, MTV's quality programing leaves nothing to be desired except for the strong desire to turn the damn TV off and throw it out the window.
I was really bothered when I found out over the holidays couch potatoing that MTV2 isn't showing that many videos anymore but reruns of Jack Ass and Bam. WTF?
Do people not watch music videos anymore?
Re:It wouldn't be that hard... (Score:2)
I would if any channels showed them. (If you're lucky, you can get a music channel called Fuse which isn't terrible.)
Re:It wouldn't be that hard... (Score:1)
Re:It wouldn't be that hard... (Score:2)
Re:It wouldn't be that hard... (Score:2)
You can get those 'Director's Label' DVDs, but there's a really marked decline in quality from the first batch (Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry and another guy) to the second batch (some guys you've never heard of, with a couple of outstanding videos and lots of not so interesting ones). I think they need to cast a wider net and just compile good videos from any director, just have a common theme or time period to give them cohesion.
It's kind of sad that a really awes
Shows gamers are interested in (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Shows gamers are interested in (Score:1)
Since the dawn of time.. (Score:1)
You would have thought they would realize their failure when they needed to buy another station just to deliever the content they were created to have.
Who needs gaming TV anyway? (Score:2, Informative)
Again, who needs gaming TV anyway?
Gamespot has free streaming video. You'll see reviews for games you're actually considering.
Gamespot is constantly updated and overflowing with content. The internet is the only medium that can possibly cover the games industry. Watch a rerun review for, say, KOTOR II over half a year after the game has come out (and after half the sites worth trusting have reviewed it) and you'll be reminded what a complete farce G4tv is.
The third rate L.A. actors posing as gamers??
Re:Who needs gaming TV anyway? (Score:2)
What about the games you're not considering?
One of the problems with internet usage is that, because it gets so intricate and tailor-made, the average person is likely to stick with only the content they already know. When was the last time you clicked the streaming video for something you knew nothing about? Getting to see a little of a wide variety of games is a benefit to the overview mags and tv shows out there... because you can't easily igno
and the BBC makes better Gamer TV than both... (Score:2, Informative)
Heres the real problem: (Score:1)
I think that what Tech TV is what it should be. That was the best version ever. You had your shows for gaming, techies, and even shows for non techies who wanted help. It was great! I absolutely love watching about Gates, Dell, Jobs, & company. But the one thing I l
I hate X Play (Score:2)
The reviews are amazingly useless. For example, the Nintendogs review went on for about 10 minutes and featured nothing but the same "Chinese people eat dogs, lol!" joke over and over again. They concluded it with, "In the end, this game basically works. 4/5." In the time it took me to watch that I could have read useful reviews for 5 or 6 different games, from competing sources.
It's pretty hard to get "deep" about vid
Re:I hate X Play (Score:2)
No, that's 50%. Their scale has no zero, so the lowest a game can be rated is 1/5. Any worse than that and it stays unrated and lampooned as a "Game You Should Never Buy" such as:
"Games so bad we couldn't review them because our rating scale doesn't have a zero. Don't say