Making (Video) Game Shows

I didn't like The 1UP Show. It was chintzy, with the faux-conversations of people in offices and corridors. I'm not going to say it deserved to die, but I am going to say I certainly didn't like it.

I did, however, very much enjoy Broken Pixels. Mega64 is wonderful. But why?

Let's take a look at the TV show, Top Gear. It's phenomenally popular in the UK, but it's essentially a geek show. All three are motoring journalists, modding cars, reviewing cars, using cinematography to create car porn. All you need to do is put a beard and scrappy overalls on each one and you've got the bloke down the pub who's been working on his classic car for 35 years (and will never be finished). How can a show so intensely rooted in nerdery be so enjoyable?

The answer is the show is about fun, not cars. The enthusiasm of the presenters and the friendship bond that surrounds them, shines through. Often their "stunts" (such as biking across Vietnam, racing cars through Continental Europe) take the form of buddy movies, joking along with one another, bringing the viewer in tow. The car is but the setting and the cornerstone of the conversations that arise.

Video game shows like Broken Pixels and Mega64 understand this, explicitly or not. Watching SeanBaby drunkenly comment on an awful video game is very much like Top Gear. Mega64 is team of people having fun sending up the silly things about games. They're not presenting the games themselves. 1UP Yours is essentially the same thing in audio form.

Video game shows should not be a retelling of what we find in magazines (in deadtree format or on the web). Yes, there is room for video reviews and such, but this is not the core of a cohesive show. The core are the people and the enthusiasm.

A one true video game show will not a visual critic or reporter, but rather a celebration of a subject, idiosyncrasies and all.