The People Speak Week 4: the perfect gaming TV channel

There's no question about it. G4 is a failed endeavor. Have you seen how many episodes of Cops they play in a row? And how many of you would put a bullet between the eyes of Kevin Pereira? Don't even get GR's own Blake Morse started about Olivia Munn.

How can we fix this? How can gaming survive in television? Video games on film have been resilient all these years, and not all of them have been complete stinkers, but why is it gaming can't catch a break on television?

Describe your solution to the problem: This week's The People Speak is all about your ideas for filling an 8 hour block of programming. What kind of shows do video games seem fit for? How should news, gameplay, trailers, music, development, history, and video game culture be made for television?

This TPS thread will be open for a week. I'll toss my ideas in after a few days. Thanks to everyone who participated in the GotY discussion over the past few weeks!

 

If you're looking for last week's TPS discussion, check it out in the manifesto here: http://www.gamerevolution.com/manifesto ... -year-3613

 

Well, given that the only show that's been on in New Zealand that's even relatively related to gaming was that GameTV that was on a few years back, which disappeared from the ol' picturebox without so much as a murmur, reappearing on mobiles and then disappearing again, also without a murmur, I really don't know.

However, coming straight from the depths of my mind, all I can think of is possibly DIY modding shows (both game and case), a televised tournament or so, perhaps some interviews with the head honchos of the industry, reviews, previews and, well, generally everything that the gaming websites already offer aside from the forums laden with trolls, fanboys and naked lunatics.

By the way, what the heck is G4?

 

The true solution is not to have any televised gaming shows. TV shows such as X-play have terrible reviews, they don't fully review the game. Instead you see a couple minutes of gameplay and a commentator giving the viewer hype about the game.

But, to help make the video game industry survive television, I suggest more shows like Cinematic because for an half hour all you're seeing is a bunch of trailers. No commentating whatsoever, and it's your opinion whether you think the game will be worth playing. Also Cheat! I enjoy getting tips and cheat codes to use, the only problem is if you don't have a DVR of some kind...good luck writing the information down.

If you really want a station dedicated to video game, do what Tyrannis has mentioned...except take out the video reviews.

 

He was promoted to the CEO or something and look what happened to G4......


Anyway......I think the best bet is variety in programming similar to shows off the internet would be good. Developer Diaries, Talk Shows about games that are both serious and funny, a news show, maybe when E3 rolls around we get round the clock coverage of the event. Maybe something fun like Cheat! or some programming about video games like Code Monkeys was when it first came out....there is a lot that can be done if done correctly.

For me, the best bet is variety on the subject at hand that does not cater to lowest common denominator for it's audience. Most of us get our news and videos and cheats and let's plays online, why not tap into that for starters?

 

Gaming got started on TV - so its only appropriate that it should take over TV. SOOO many people play games, and video games are such a big part of pop culture that the people at G4 shouldn't be the only ones with a gaming shows. I think the write kind of info placed on a youtube channel would take off. And competition for the gaming audience would benefit EVERYONE.

You could start by publicizing gaming leagues and clans on the channel. People would break their backs to have their clans mentioned on a nationally televised station - for example in Cod4, Starcraft (look at Koreans), and Warcraft, etc people would sell their souls.Talk about user submitted content like, LBP levels that are insane. Pick up a reality TV show about gaming - like "The Tester" on ps3. Find out what it is like a day in the life of a: a tester, a programmer, an exec, a developer, etc. You could hold live events on the show within the games - give away stuff (it wouldn't take long to build a following if it was done right). Yes, hold tournaments especially on old arcade games.

Tyrannis has the right idea - Interview industry middle-men. Interview people like the kid who pitched the perfect game in MLB 2k10. Tour Schools that give degrees on game related graphic design, and find out who's hiring the students. An in-depth look at history, and how gaming is affecting EVERY ASPECT of human life - from military training to helping stroke victims recover. Cheats are old, and people like referencing them while they are playing so putting it on the station would be useless - that's what websites are for. Reviews are great but user submitted reviews are better.

I spend HOURS watching old game openings, my favorite cutscenes, and game trailers. You could fill a 5 hour block with that ALONE!!! I spend last night watching the FF7, 8, parasite eve, and soul blade openings - i know you all do it too.

Advertise gaming events, like Video Games Live concert - which was amazing, btw. Or allow colleges to advertise their gaming events on your program.

Every aspect of video games should be covered, from console - to PC to mobile. And especially FREE games (which is what I think can save the PC). There is enough stuff out there to have 2 sister channels covering the same content on different consoles.

The formula for successful gaming television is ENDLESS! Yes, a video game TV show could work if it wasn't revolving around hot chicks and potty humor - look at what ESPN did to sports. Thats gaming alone, you could choose to get into the technology of it, or the science behind it too. G4 has gaming programs, but I wouldn't consider it a gaming station.

GR-TV: The Revolution WILL be televised! DO IT DANIEL, you are the one who will bring balance to the force.

 

Yes, the "real" gamers are watching the stuff online, and know who the best are in their games, and the strategies to improve their craft - but for the people who consider themselves gamers but only play Halo or Rockband - they DON'T know these things. And if someone was to create a central station to present this information to them they would have a very popular channel.

And I think that the industry needs a channel that promotes its interest. Someone who would rather watch cops than a game trailer - isn't who I want to be playing LBP with anyway.

All the big tournaments are free to watch online AFTER the fact. It would be EASY to fill late night TV with some Korean tournament live with American coverage of the event..


Daniel, i didn't want to like you, well because I considered you an enemy puppet of the state. But this is a good topic, so...:

 

I'd like to thank you for raising such an interesting topic to discuss about Daniel.

A television channel that is about gaming is certainly doable though a bit difficult as you must face problems that can potentially destroy the whole channel in a matter of months. The channel must be so that it will garner the interest of those who are new to gaming and those who are already veterans because the first group must get interested into gaming in the first place while the latter group must be shown that the channel can be interesting despite the myriad of gaming sites, streams and what not is available on the internet. These problems may be big and bulky at first but with the right people, the right mind preset they are but stepping stones to glory unmatched.

I've been thinking about a channel that would be all about video games for quite a while now. To be honest ... since I was a child. I'd love to see a quality program about my favorite hobby and I think that many would too. The material is certainly here, heck there is so much material for such a channel that I fear it could become too convoluted for it's own good.

You could have for instance, as some have already said, interviews with the biggest leaders of the gaming industry or those that have left a significant mark on it. Interviews with the best players of games that house international tournaments (CS, SC, WC, WoW? etc.) and cover the most known tournaments. Though you'd have a lot of competition I think that if you'd come with original commentators, good coverage you could win against them. Competition is good in it's own way because it would force the channel to become better than them and thus raising its quality in the process. You could cover the best matches of a certain tournament showing the key points of the match and how x player has won over y player with the z move made in t time point. You know what I mean ... with a bit of imagination you could easily make an interesting program that lasts over 8 hours with a tournament a lone.

Than you could have talk shows where you invite the CEO's or game designers of certain companies and fans to it and let them talk over certain games where the fans voice their likes and dislikes over certain things and games and the CEO's and designers explain why they made such choices, how will the peoples voice affect their next game etc. It could spark interesting conversations that could lead to raising a bar in the next games quality department. The talk shows could host those 'pro and contra' stuff where people discuss if it is well for games to have sex, drug references in them, religious symbolism and etc. in them or why not. If games really make people more violent, more probable to taking drugs etc. ... you know what I mean and are probably sick because of it too. It could help games to finally make those idiots that shout that games are the next thing to Satan shut the fuck up for once in a while once they realize that all is not that bad as they make it out to be.

A program about gaming jobs could also be added where we would see how a designer works, a CEO, artists, musicians ... much like the stuff on Discovery. And I'd love a history channel that would document the glory and dark days of gaming. Like why video games have become so popular these days or what caused the incident with all those destroyed ET games Atari made in the past. What was the consequence of that, what could have been, what is, what do 'historians' have to say about this ... you know like how these history channels do.

I also saw a nice documentary on the life of Mr. Lewis, the man who wrote Narnia, the other day and I must say that I was impressed. It was beautifully done and really showed nicely the life of the man who wrote, in my opinion, an awesome series of books. The same could be done about the life of Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson etc.

Of course you could also have programs that could show you the games awesome music and the people who remix it and sometimes make it even more awesome (I'm looking at you OC Remix) and show people the most beautiful gaming scores. Like the classical Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Donkey Kong tunes or the sad ballads like Old Snake, Hopelessness from Golden Sun, Reminisce songs from the Attorney series and many, many others (I just said these because they were from the top of my head) because there are of course many, many others that are awesome. And have those who make them comment on their works like Motoi Sakuraba, Nobou Uematsu etc.

Then programs about video games in real life. You could show ordinary people and have them comment on their favorite games and why they are such, the hard core crowd and show their 12 foot tall statue of either Master Chief, Kratos, Mario, CoD blah, blah, blah and even the oldies who started playing games before we were even born (Tetris, Pong people) and try to find old people that still play newer games. A grandpa playing CoD BO, kicking ass whilst commenting? Yes please.

Than programs that the channel could make itself. Like making the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and other console spring to life and a little television show about it calling it 'Console wars' and each console could have its distinct personality. Other consoles would then have cameos or be even in the said show. All what I'm saying is more or less brainstorming. It could sprout a nice little comedy show that would not have the quantitative budget but it would still be a quality show. Heck you could even show babes or 'stars' playing games if you wish but add a twist to check if their real gamers by asking them questions (normal ones mind you and not those, how many swords does Cloud have that are bigger than a telephone pole (answer: all)) made by the viewers and let the viewers see if they are really genuinely into gaming or a just ... camwhores looking for attention. A bit blunt and if I offended someone, sorry in advance.

The channel could organize tournaments where old school games would be played, those that were once on the arcades, they could organize concerts where video game music in live could be played and so much more.

I could write about this for hours because it just my point ... the material for such a channel is certainly here but you need the right people for it. The people that love gaming and would like to share it to others. The second a big ass corporation would take over and do it just for money it would more or less mean doom for the channel or a certain site *cough cough*. I know that money is important, don't tell me this but I still believe that you can maintain a soul whilst making money. Don't have to sell it FOR money.

To sum it up ... for those for whom I made a too long post. A channel is certainly doable, is certain to survive even in these days if it will base on one simple principle:

BY GAMERS FOR GAMERS.

My humble two cents. Hope you like.

 

GR has got to have enough money to buy some time on a channel in silicon valley. Where a majority of gamers would actually care about the content.

 

DirecTV dropped G4 a few months ago and I don't miss it at all.

I think a videogame-oriented TV channel would be really successful if they hosted/organized their own events for games over Xbox LIVE or PSN, something that the average viewer could take part in.