Gameswipe...dont read this go and watch it....

[snugglesgold]

What are you doing reading this? Go and boot up iplayer and watch it now. If you haven't got access to or dont know what iplayer is you'll have to watch a low quality version stuck up on youtube by someone called wizzmonkey or something you poor colonial

 

[EvmansRiggers]

I love pretty much everything Charlie Brooker does, and rather enjoyed Gameswipe

Also, lol at how GTA just kept being mentioned

 

[necromanzer52]

What's an iplayer?

 

[Captain Pancake]

wait, could you at least explain what gameswipe is?

and provide a link so I don't have to exit the escapist whilst doing so?

Ok I'm watching it now, it's pretty good.

 

[snugglesgold]

Ok a brief word of explanation..charlie brooker is a british satarist who comments on aspects of the media. If you enjoy yahtzee you'll probably like him.. To be honest they both probably owe a debt of gratitude to Victor Lewis Smith...Who,come to think of it, probably owes a debt to someone else i've never heard of...Oh and Rebecca Mayes has a spot on it..

 

[matnatz]

Twas good, very good indeed.

 

[El Poncho]

If your American and are wondering you can only get it in Britain.

 

[Torque669]

I made a thread about this straight after the programme finished xD.

All in all I thought it was brilliant, just as funny as the first and second series of Screenwipe

 

[I Love The U.S.A]

Yeah, found it yesterday, great find.

Fantastic show, looks like it was just a one off and not a series.

Loved that he didn't like the WII and that GTA took up a lot of attention.

Dara was ace as well.

 

[Chipperz]

Yup, for the next six weeks it's required viewing for our class. It was good. Very, very good.

 

[Katana314]

Arrrgh BBC exclusive.
Original post could've had a little more info. I'll try to remember to keep an eye out for it.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

http://bbc.co.uk/i/n1j8q/

just as no-one had provided the link.

In case Brooker fans don't know, he used to work for Crash magazine back in the days, a ZX Spectrum mag, and also used to draw the cartoons for the CEX ads.

(just about to watch it, so my bad if it comes up during the show, love the new opening credits with the wink to Jet Set Willy, that's retro for ya!)

 

[manicfoot]

I didn't like it that much. I thought it would be an in depth sociological analysis of games and what they mean to people. Instead it was pointing out what different genre's are and what games describe them best. Almost like it was a game show for people who don't know a lot about games except the only people who'll watch the show are people who know about them already.

Also, he didn't do a good job of defending gaming from how the media portrays them. He says games aren't all about violence and then shows loads of shots of chopping limbs off Nazi's.

Another thing that annoyed me was that little bit about stories in video games. There are more to game stories than Gears of War. They didn't even mention games that tell stories in amazing ways like Bioshock... or how games are a unique medium because you have some form of control of how the story plays out. Instead the guy that wrote Father Ted just said "games are like movies, not like books." Insightful.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm hoping it's a pilot, and has to cover all the basic bases, and a series would go deeper into specific gaming topics.

Was nice to see our very on Rebecca Mayes get some screen time however, with her piece on Madworld.

EDIT: I'd also say in it's defence, as a pilot, or first episode, it has to be a little broader in its appeal than say, a later episode in a first season. I admit it did feel like a blagger's guide to gamers and an introduction to gaming, rather than a genuine Screenwipe for Games tho.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Also, he didn't do a good job of defending gaming from how the media portrays them. He says games aren't all about violence and then shows loads of shots of chopping limbs off Nazi's.

Yes.
That was the joke.

 

[manicfoot]

Also, he didn't do a good job of defending gaming from how the media portrays them. He says games aren't all about violence and then shows loads of shots of chopping limbs off Nazi's.

Yes.
That was the joke.

I know it was. Thing is I thought he would do something to defend gaming and show it in a positive light. Brooker is almost always funny... I just thought there'd be more depth in this episode.

 

[Flushfacker]

Instead the guy that wrote Father Ted just said "games are like movies, not like books." Insightful.

That's not very fair to 'the irish guy', he was making a point that games are developing at a rapid pace in every aspect except in the story telling department. If you look at gaming in general you have to agree, take out the odd gem Bioshock as you mentioned or HL perhaps and we are left with so many games that do take their sole influence from movies. As a consequence we are left with man takes on the world generic plot lines with poor character development and more cliches thrown in than you know what to do with. A fair point I think, the games industry could do with some better writers.

 

[Kermi]

Watched it on YouTube. Pretty interesting, and while encapsulating all of the points I like to use in defence of my gaming hobby, also features many of the points anti-gamers like to use against it. I suppose in that way it's actually a balanced discourse on the nature of gaming.
Quite entertaining.

 

[manicfoot]

Instead the guy that wrote Father Ted just said "games are like movies, not like books." Insightful.

That's not very fair to 'the irish guy', he was making a point that games are developing at a rapid pace in every aspect except in the story telling department. If you look at gaming in general you have to agree, take out the odd gem Bioshock as you mentioned or HL perhaps and we are left with so many games that do take their sole influence from movies. As a consequence we are left with man takes on the world generic plot lines with poor character development and more cliches thrown in than you know what to do with. A fair point I think, the games industry could do with some better writers.

Well yes, if you look at gaming as a whole then the ones with good stories will be in the minority... But that's the case with any medium. Gears of War is the video game equivalent of a summer blockbuster. The emphasis is on the action - not the story. It's like saying Transformers is a poorly written film and then concluding that NO films are well written. I think he should have at least mentioned some games that have told a good story in a unique way.

 

[Mr Fatherland]

Did he get the Escapist link wrong?