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Television Media Entertainment Games

TV Execs Go Gaga Over Gaming 52

Posted by simoniker from the unfortunate-truth dept.
Thanks to Wired News for their article exploring the influx of videogame-related programming on cable TV networks. The writer suggests the channels are "focusing on original programming that revolves around video games in an effort to regain the loyalty of an audience segment coveted by advertisers", and points to expansion by Spike TV, whose awards show was not well-received by gamers, but who've "licensed television programming rights to a game that ships next Christmas... [and are planning] to base a half-hour adventure show [on it]." It's also noted that "If a [still rumored] purchase is finalized, Comcast is expected to combine San Francisco-based TechTV... with its Los Angeles-based video game channel, G4", potentially giving videogame programming a larger presence. Finally, UPN has announced Game Over, a CG animated show which "takes place within a video game universe in which race car drivers and archeologists come home after a long day's work and deal with life in the suburbs and raising kids."
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TV Execs Go Gaga Over Gaming More

TV Execs Go Gaga Over Gaming

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  • TV shows based on video games? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Violet Null ( 452694 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @07:22PM (#7749309)
    Why, that's a brilliant idea! If only they'd done that for...uh, Pac-Man. And Mario. And Sonic the Hedgehog. Oh, and that old Nintendo Power show. And probably a few dozen more I'm forgetting.

    What I, as a gamer, want to see is the Roger and Ebert (or, I guess, Ebert and Roeper now) version of game reviews.

    When I first got cable, I was really excited over G4. Then I watched some. I don't care about "The Top 10 Best Dressed Videogame Characters". I would've been interested in their head-to-head games if they'd shown more of the game, tactics, strategies, etc, and less of the two hosts. As it was, I never went back to G4.

    • Re:TV shows based on video games? (Score:4, Funny)

      by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @07:37PM (#7749400) Journal

      I don't care about "The Top 10 Best Dressed Videogame Characters".

      I agree. I'd be much more interested in a show about "The Top 10 Most Undressed Videogame Characters"! I hereby nominate those volleyball girls and that Mai Shiruna chick from the "boobs don't bounce in American version anymore" story of a few days back.

      GMD

    • A few you forgot were grouped together with Pac-Man and Called the Saturday Supercade. Some of the cartoons on there were Pitfall, Frogger, Donky Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Q-Bert and Pole Position.

      Didn't Sonic also have his own show there for a while?

    • Roger Ebert (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What I, as a gamer, want to see is the Roger and Ebert (or, I guess, Ebert and Roeper now) version of game reviews.

      Roger IS Ebert you dumkoff!

      Mods: +5, Informative for me!

      • SO rare that I actually laugh out loud at a comment at /.

        Damn, if I hadn't given out my last mod point 2 hrs ago you woulda definately had it...

    • Re:TV shows based on video games? (Score:5, Informative)

      by kherr ( 602366 ) <kevin.puppethead@com> on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @08:57PM (#7749915) Homepage
      What I, as a gamer, want to see is the Roger and Ebert (or, I guess, Ebert and Roeper now) version of game reviews.

      TechTV's X-Play [techtv.com] is a pretty good version of that. The hosts actually play the games and are willing to say when games suck.
      • X-Play is hopefully better than Judgement Day on G4... they offer ridiculously biased reviews, even if their scoring at least is reasonable.

        Essentially, one of the two reviewers makes a point to endlessly ridicule every fighting game ("It's just stupid button mashing" was his summary of GGX2 and CapvsSnk2) and RPG out there ("Boring" was his summary of KotoR). He basically only likes action games and takes great pains to sarcastically yap over top of the other guy while he's trying to break down the good a
    • You said you've tried G4, but it doesn't look like you've watched Judgement Day. It's pretty much an Ebert and Roeper copy and the only show really worth watching on G4. (I get the feeling that it isn't really a "G4 show.")
    • "I would've been interested in their head-to-head games if they'd shown more of the game, tactics, strategies, etc, and less of the two hosts."

      I couldn't agree more. I'd like to see them give shows to active people in the gaming community like GotFrag.com.
      Maybe even cover some big name CS competitions? When all the coverage a $100k competition gets is a 45second mention, your priorities are wrong.

      Right now CPL is going on, I'd like to see them cutting in on whatever filler show they're playing now to gi

  • Gamers are not passive (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Picass0 ( 147474 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @07:29PM (#7749344) Homepage Journal
    Gamers don't like watching cut scenes, much less two hour bullshit that panders down to the "dude..." mentality.

    You want to reach gamers? Use games.

    If Spike does a TV show it's going to take a lot more T&A to get anyone to care.
    • Actually, I really enjoy Cinematech on G4 -- the 'all cut scene' show.

      First of all, over half the games they show are edited highlights set to music, not just spooled cut scene footage. Second, it's a great way to get visual previews of a game without having to download hundreds of megs of trailers online from sites like IGN and Gamespot which lock down their downloads as much as possible. Very handy if you want to know what a game looks like, and sometimes even what it plays like when they don't edit a lo

  • Video Game TV Is A Mistake (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Babbster ( 107076 ) <aaronbabb&gmail,com> on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @07:29PM (#7749353) Homepage
    The only thing TV video game programming manages to accomplish is to make the viewer (who presumably likes video games) want to turn off the show and start playing the game itself. Beyond video game reviews, which are more convenient when televised because you get to see the games in action without waiting for a download, video game television is doomed to failure.
  • this just reminds me of how many days of my life i spent watching the the mario bro's show... I always remember being excited for friday when instead of the mario cartoon... it was link! woo! As far as game review shows go, Electric Playground [elecplay.com] is probably the only good one out there. We spent a lot of time when i was in school watching it... and while not a great show... its definately the best ive seen by far.

  • Doesn't sound like a bad premise... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hiei ( 104179 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @07:39PM (#7749413) Homepage
    Finally, UPN has announced Game Over, a CG animated show which "takes place within a video game universe in which race car drivers and archeologists come home after a long day's work and deal with life in the suburbs and raising kids."

    Doesn't sound like a bad premise, but probably won't be too funny. I'd rather see it shown up on CN's Adult Swim done by the guys that work on Space Ghost: C2C, Sealab, Aqua Teen, or Home Movies.
    • It sounds like a rip-off of ReBoot. That show was cool. This show will suck.

    • Yeah, but considering the source....? (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This goes into my "Why executives should be euthenised" pile."

      I tried to have a "Why executives shouldn't be euthenised" pile, but after months of having a post-it that said "put reasons here" sitting all alone I eventually scribbled a phone number, an illegible message, and url on it.
    • Well, I'm not really impressed with it. I mean, don't actual race car drivers and archeologists have to deal with real life anyway?

      I think they could make a much more interesting show by portraying a gamer dealing with life and raising kids. Understandably, this would be a fantasy show.
      • Close to a fantasy show, but not quite.

        It's pretty frickin tough really, need to look at your priorities.

        No scrims before kids bedtimes. Matches maybe, but it's pretty tough if your wife is working evenings.. forget about strat sessions, practices etc.

        (csab.xlycer - leader of cal-i BF1942 finalist team - father of 2)

  • ...especially that part about combining G4 with TechTV. WOOHOO! Half as many options as I have right now?! Please make it a premium subscription channel!
    • It's really especially stupid when you consider that Comcast owning TechTV (or even the majority of it) would result in at least two things (neither do I see as beneficial):

      1) G4 sucks. Thus, TechTV would begin to suck. Worse than currently, if you can fathom that. More Robot Wars, anyone?

      2) Comcast would more than likely pull the "new" combined channel from DishNetwork and DirectTV. Now *that* would piss me off. Much of my reason for switching to Dish was based on the lineup, of which TechTV was a p

      • 1) G4 sucks. Thus, TechTV would begin to suck. Worse than currently, if you can fathom that. More Robot Wars, anyone?

        I can't quite figure out why, but that show irritates me to no end. It only makes it worse that it's on at some of the worst hours of television, when there's absolutely nothing on. Then again, that gives me an excuse to turn on one of the consoles.

        2) Comcast would more than likely pull the "new" combined channel from DishNetwork and DirectTV.

        Cox would more than likely pull TechTV, as w

  • x-play (TechTV)? (Score:4, Funny)

    by BTWR ( 540147 ) <americangibor3@ya[ ].com ['hoo' in gap]> on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @08:48PM (#7749852) Homepage Journal
    Wait, I forgot. This week... is it lame or cool to say that you like x-play?

    • Re:x-play (TechTV)? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by borg1238 ( 692335 )
      I would say every week is a good week to dislike X-play.

      All I want out of a video game show is to see is reviews and clips of games. Extend... ahem... X-play *used* to be that.

      TechTV took a decent, straight to the point show like "Extended Play," added a shaking/bouncing camera, added a bouncy hostess (who is more "flash" than substance), removed at least one review per episode to make room for more "funny" banter between the hosts, and changed the name to X-Play. Ya know, it's XTREME!!! Sorry guys,

      • Re:x-play (TechTV)? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by BTWR ( 540147 )
        I think Morgan is unfairly criticized. I don't see what's wrong with her, personally, and I kind of like her. I never saw "extended play," though (didn't have digital cable back then...)

      • Re:x-play (TechTV)? (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I could do without the jokes, but I don't see what is wrong with Morgan's reviews. As an RPG fan I am glad to have someone who appreciates RPGs on the show.
      • Yeah, remember the pre-extreme days when Adam Sessler would actually talk about good games instead of the embarrassing shtick he's forced into now? I bet he cries himself to sleep every night when he considers how far he's falling.

        I remember him gushing about Ico and Shenmue and other non-traditional games... now he just gets to stand around gibbering about Whatever Game Popular Opinion Has Chosen for the week, usually with insulting fake drooling and other behavior that management has decreed appeals to

        • Yeah, remember the pre-extreme days when Adam Sessler would actually talk about good games instead of the embarrassing shtick he's forced into now?

          Good point. He seemed so much more competent on Extended Play. They basically turned him a walking cliche.

          You know, the standard man/woman team, where the guy is a moron, and the woman always has some "witty" remark at the ready.
        • I remember him gushing about Ico and Shenmue and other non-traditional games... now he just gets to stand around gibbering about Whatever Game Popular Opinion Has Chosen for the week, usually with insulting fake drooling and other behavior that management has decreed appeals to gamers.

          He was gushing about Ico on X-Play with Morgan right there next to him. The game isn't that old, and I remember watching it, and thinking to myself, "wow, that game looks like it absolutely sucks".

          • Re:x-play (TechTV)? (Score:2, Insightful)

            by StocDred ( 691816 )
            IIRC, Ico was released September 01. Gamespot TV/Extended Play became X-Play and added Morgan Webb in May 03.

            If Sessler got to talk about Ico recently, then he must be trying to fight against the marketing machine keeping him in moron mode. KEEP FIGHTING, ADAM!

            • Hmm, I didn't realize that game was that old (and I looked it up just now, looks like July 01). I've only had digital cable for about 6 months, so it's been X-Play almost the entire time I've been watching it regularly (then again, I used to watch it on satellite as Extended Play, but that was almost 3 years ago and not regularly).

              The episode in which he talked about Ico was more than likely an episode maybe 2 months ago about under-appreciated games. He still managed to act like a moron while talking abou

  • good idea, but there's only one way to succeed: (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pezpunk ( 205653 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @09:00PM (#7749940) Homepage
    put it in the hands of some people who actually take the subject matter seriously. Spike's Video Game Awards was like a 2-hour insult to anyone who watched it. gamers don't WANT cheerleaders and stupidity. well i mean, sure we do, as much as anyone, but if we're told you're about to show us video game content, don't just show us boobs and bad jokes instead.

  • Learning from Japan (Score:4, Interesting)

    by fluor2 ( 242824 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2003 @09:04PM (#7749974)
    Well. I've seen various game-related programs, and they all have the samme issue; they only test _new_ games, and are not focused on how many gamers tend to stick to pretty old games, and try improving in those. This is of course not that easy for game-tv, since they won't get any commercials for old games...

    I think the numbers speak for themselves:
    TOP NETWORK GAMES:
    Half-Life (probably 99,9% Counter-Strike) Battlefield 1942 Jedi Knight 2 Unreal Tournament 2003 Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Diablo II etc.. I guess StarCraft is pretty high too..

    In Korea they've learned that they have to focus on this.

    "How big is Starcraft in Korea? Many people have said how big it is in Korea, but could you give us a more in depth description?

    -Being a professional gamer is nowadays one of the most popular and respected carrer in high-school (among boys... of course:).
    -The finals of the Ongamenet tournaments are broadcasted on Cable TV and they break viewership records, almost reaching the records of national TV stations.
    -A few professional gamers are recognized in the streets by normal people. "

    (from this article [216.239.59.104].)

    • That's all fascinating, but what does it have to do with a US-based television network?

      In the US, being a professional gamer isn't even recognized as a career at all, let alone being popular and respected (even amongst high-school boys). In the US, there are no big gaming tournaments known outside of a very small minority of people who already play a lot of video games. In the US, not only would a professional gamer not be recognized, but such a person would likely invoke snickers, if not outright laugh

    • I think the numbers speak for themselves:
      TOP NETWORK GAMES:
      Half-Life (probably 99,9% Counter-Strike) Battlefield 1942 Jedi Knight 2 Unreal Tournament 2003 Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Diablo II etc.. I guess StarCraft is pretty high too..

      I think the numbers speak for themselves, too, but you didn't show any numbers (well, 99,9%, which isn't a number in the US, but instead 2 numbers, and 1942, 2, and 2003, and II I guess). Half-Life sold over 7 million copies in the US. The number of people that play it

  • Machinima TV Show (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    At the Machinima awards in NY this year I heard about a Machinima [machinima.org] TV show called Game that's previewed at www.gameisnotagame.com [gameisnotagame.com]. Looks pretty interesting.
  • TV execs have been "gaga" for a long time.

    Some of there are even stupid, evil and deluded...
  • It ran on the eccentric (read: awful) "Burly Bear" college network; I cannot remember the title, nor am I certain it was titled. Its times of appearance could be used to seed a very good random number generator. One of the hosts was rather obese, the other rather scrawny. They certainly had a serious dedication to games, as it seemed they spent all their budget on gaming equipment rather than producing a TV show.

    The one thing I recall quite clearly is that they were sponsored by SoBe [sobebev.com], who makes all those

  • That 'Game Over' show looks like it has potential. Who knows? It could turn out to be reasonably entertaining.
    The things that will destroy that potential, however, are the same things which often befall TV shows that are supposedly game-related - bad writing, crappy acting, cheesy dialogue, and extreme lack of knowledge of video gaming/gamer culture on the part of the writers.

  • NO (Score:2, Insightful)

    by chris_furniss ( 733894 )
    NO NO NO NO NO! The problem with this is that people ARE going to watch it. People who really shouldn't be gamers. People who have never HEARD of Slashdot or SLashdot games. The people who keep buying all those damned Madden games. Like the guy who walked into my store one day, picked up Madden 2003 AND the college football version of said football video game. I asked him: "Why? Why would you buy TWO football games?" He replied: "Cause they're different" NO THEY'RE NOT! GIVE ME BACK MY HOBBY, DAMMIT!
  • I really hope if gaming is on tv more that there are people who can play games. If you watch an hour of G4 you will experience shock on the level of gaming they display when they bust out the so called "reviews" for games. There is one show where the hosts were playing soul caliber 2 and all they did was button mash and when some1 got close enough to throw they thought they were doing something special. What should happen is they should make an update to starcade or video power so we can see people who can

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