One of the most baffling things I find as a gamer is the lack of quality TV shows about games. Playr seems to have died a tragic death, The Ginx Files is fairly good, as is GameFace – but that’s where the trail ends. Well good news today as the UK is to get its first 24/7 videogaming TV channel – which will start at the end of November.
Our saviours are Ginx TV – the lot behind Gameface, and the channel will be shown on Virgin and Sky channels.
CEO Michiel Bakker had the following to say;
“The Ginx channel is going to be an evolution rather than an overnight revolution. Is it a good TV show to watch people play games? Does that make for good TV? If it does we’ll do it. If it doesn’t we won’t.
You have to understand that in a 24 hour channel there will be elements of repeat. We’re not doing 24 hours fresh content one hour after the other. That would be too ambitious. So there’s a healthy level of repeat in it.”
Ginx TV is hoping to launch with four shows, and may be in HD. Hopefully it will be able to tread the fine line between being informative whilst not coming across as patronising.
Source: Eurogamer
galgor
This is good news, but since I don’t watch TV I won’t ever see it. HOWEVER, if they brought back gamesmaster….
Apnomis
I hate Gameface & Ginx files tbh – I removed them from my Series Link a while back. The presenter on Gameface tries way too hard and even on those two weekly 30 minute shows there are an absolute shedful of repeated games week after week so god knows how they will fill a whole channel. The reviews are also generic marketing spiel with no kind of conclusion to them, just like long adverts really – and a lot of the time it’s for crap games.
It may have changed recently but when I stopped watching it it wasn’t a patch on Gamepad (Violet Berlin > Gameface girl), Gamer.TV or even Playr. TBH I think unless they can do it properly gaming on TV should stay as a relic of the 90’s in a pre-internet age where Patrick Moore/GameMaster was the number one source for games tips and cheats.
Nowadays gamers (that would TV shows about games) are also internet savvy and get far better served by sites like this and the numerous web/You Tube based gaming programmes, including TSATV. Gaming based content works best when its made by (real) gamers for gamers.
acridweasel
GameFace / Ginx Files were truly awful.
It seemed to have been put together by people who either knew nothing about games or the English language or both.
The guy who only appeared via voice-over kept pronouncing the word ‘premise’ as ‘preh-meez’ and the on-screen presenter nearly made me put my foot through the screen when she kept pronouncing ‘Dante’ as ‘Don-tay’.
Add in tons of repeated or old content and it was pretty much still-born as far as I am concerned.
Glad I live in a listed building now and can’t get Sky…
Apnomis
You’ve just reminded me of the main thing that annoyed me about the show – GIMMICKS! I can’t stand that word and they used it 100 times an episode, to me a gimmick is a derogatory term but Gameface used it to describe just about every feature of a game. “This game has a gimmick that allows you to shoot with the R2 button”, “A cool gimmick in this game is the ability to jump by pressing X”, “The main gimmick of this racer is being able to choose from a selection of 20 cars”
Tuffcub
They need decent presenters *goess off to get tthe job*
SpikeyMikey23
i would watch that, would be hilarious. 10 mins about video games, 20 mins about random TC stuff. Bargain
Forrest_01
How much of that 20 minutes would be GBDC?
TSBonyman
Hopefully it won’t turn out to be the equivalent of watching a FirstPlay episode over and over again.
cc_star
But does it feature Patrick Moore and his amazing cheats for games that nobody ever owned?
Seriously though, if the UK can’t support a 30min program through gaining sufficient viewing figures to attract advertising to make it pay for itself… I wouldn’t give Ginx much hope of surviving once their initial launch budget has ran out.
Hope it does work out though, I’ve just been reading about how it features programs to appeal to hardcore gamers after 10/11 at night, although that’s when I do most of my gaming
From a business point of view, I think a channel which appeals to gamers would be better than a pure gamers channel which will surely be dogged by repeats, not only from one day to the next but also during the same day… Kinda like watching a 24hr news channel for more than an hour, something like G4TV in the US would work well, which has all sorts of throwaway TV progs on that suit the demographic, but also features tech shows and gaming shows and also the fabulous Attack Of The Show (which I became addicted to on my last visit to the US)
shields_t
I actually thought I was the only person in Europe to have seen attack of the show, whenever I mention it to someone I reckon might enjoy it, the likely response is a very blank expresssion and a “Star wars, huh?”
cc_star
From a press release:
“For example, Ginx will include a show that highlights sports stars who like games, will send a tour bus to follow bands who like games, and will even look at army personnel who like games.”
So nothing like the kind of TV that actual gamers want to see then, unless it features Olivia Munn (or Patrick Moore) I’m out
shields_t
I’d make do with Jet from Gladiators/Games Mistress.
Apnomis
Games Mistress I like that idea, you could never better Patrick Moore anyway and a Games Mistress would definitely appeal to the demographic. It could be like GLaDOS in Portal!
gazzagb
Damn, Ive got Freeview. Oh well, Im sure it will be streamed somewhere…
shields_t
What on earth is with that name?
Ginx TV?? They surely could’ve come up with something less crappy than that.
Looks like TSA TV now has a competitor.
Parker
No Freeview? Damn.
Perhaps Sony could strike a deal to have it added under the TV Icon on the XMB, like BBC iPlayer, and eventually ITV Player.
SpikeyMikey23
i watched that game face and hated it. didnt mind playr too much, what was that program with that bird violet on it, i remember liking that program.
acridweasel
Amongst other things, back in the day she was on Bad Influence with Andy Crane.
Amazing programme!
SpikeyMikey23
thats the one!!!
Mikiyaru
Rush HD is quite good for a gaming show. and their sports game shows are quite good!