Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 10:40 AM
Tue Nov 10
60 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us: tips@kotaku.com
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
Email | AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
Email | AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
Email | AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
09/30/09
God Dammit I love Charlie Brooker!
09/30/09
09/30/09
[www.youtube.com]
Pretty much everything he has ever done for the BBC.
09/30/09
swing and a miss BBC4.
that said, I found it very very funny, as one man's very tounge in cheek take on gaming in general.
09/30/09
09/30/09
He spends most of the show mocking news reporters and the uninformed for judging games as hyperviolent, but never really makes a meaningful effort to prove them wrong. He glosses over examples like Braid or Portal and instead focuses on games like Manhunt, GTA, and Wolfenstein.
I mean, I get it, it's just supposed to be entertaining, and it is! Just a little disappointing is all. He clearly knows enough about games to make some meaningful arguments, but he opts for the cheap laughs instead...
09/30/09
I believe what he was trying to do wasn't to deny that when people play violent games, they do enjoy the game(else why would you buy it), but to send a message to the uninformed that, even a normal person such as himself can enjoy being a psychopath in a game, while being absolute sane, enjoyable and fun in the real world.
Whether that message is conveyed properly to everyone is another question, but I sure do hope some uninformed are now informed.
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
In other words its a MS funded commercial disguised as a news program.
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
That Watchdog show, hosted by a known pro-360 reporter that tried to present a 5% PS3 fault rate as something monstrously unacceptable,flares my bias nerve.
09/30/09
Secondly, if it seems that he is favouring the 360 mostly it'll be because he himself has a 360, and plays it quite regularly I think. As far as I know the 360 is his favourite of the current gen consoles.
09/30/09
I didn't actually see that much favouritism - in fact, he leveled pretty much as much criticism towards MS as towards anyone else.
09/30/09
09/30/09
Don't try and read something into it that doesn't exist!
09/30/09
Of all the fucking places to advertise, BBC4 is not exactly a great one (and the BBC doesn't advertise products). And Charlie Brooker is not exactly your ideal candidate. That's like asking Yahtzee to give you a quote to go on the box for your game.
Not only is there an extended segment on Manhunt (PS2 primarily) and a bunch of PC and 'retro' games but they also talk about Driver, GTA: VC and there's a song about Mad World (which was mostly rubbish).
Happy now?
09/30/09
The OBrien guy brought up one of my biggest GTA gripes...
To paraphrase: "Here I am, with a day off work, and I'm stuck in a car in a commute. Then there is a toll booth, and I have to pay the toll, or else the police come running after me."
About sums it up ;)
09/30/09
Also, for future reference, it's O' Briain.
09/30/09
Aside from being entertaining to vets it's a good educated crash course for those new to or ignorant of, the medium.
Well done BBC.
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
I must admit to not having seen his zombie/reality TV show "Dead Set" yet(Mostly because the ads made it look like Hollyoaks with zombies), but I'll be visiting that soon.
09/30/09
It was probably the best thing I saw on TV in the whole of last year.
09/30/09
Anywho, back to Gameswipe, I originally thought it was to be a series, so its good to know the prospect is still on the table if the show is successful - reports so far seem good.
I was also a bit struck by the focus on violence in games, while it wasn't trying to defend games - much like Screenwipe doesn't try to defend TV - it did seem a little excessive.
Will be interesting to see where it will go as a series... thumbs up from me!
09/30/09
There is nothing on the BBC or indeed Freeview (no matter how ironically named) that is worth £142 a year.
09/30/09
10/01/09
And you don't even have to watch adverts.
09/30/09
"and whats through there? another fucking door!"
09/30/09
09/30/09
BubbleBuddy also has a video below to give a taster on what this is like in what I guess would be the 'pilot' of Gameswipe
09/30/09
I loved the guest pieces by Dara O'Brien (all he wanted was to play as The Who) and Graham Linehams comments about storylines in games.
I do find the quick glance over the niche titles a bit jarring I guess for us more core gamers, but 50 Cent and GTA are well known, so maybe helps give something for the none gaming audience to grasp onto. Was weird for some of his examples to use older version of the games (e.g use of part of FFVII in RPG section, and old Monkey Island in point n click) as examples instead of more modern affairs.
Still overall it was informative, and funny. And he has tweeted that while Gameswipe is more a one off, he may sneak more game reviews into Screenwipe, though he did suggest contacting the BBC to request more gaming related shows.
For those new to Brooker, this is the man who inspired Yahtzees review style, so if you like ZP, you should like this guy.
09/30/09
Have to say, I was thinking "EPIC!" when Portal and Braid were mentioned, but just a little more depth into the true mindfuckery they offer would have been nice. Although the snippets they did show spoke volumes.
But yeah, it was a good show, and I'm hoping it eventually develops into a series.
09/30/09
09/30/09
"Caring about ratings is a terrible illness BUT Gameswipe easily outdid both Screen & News Wipe in terms of 'numbers' last night."
09/30/09
Brooker says that the ratings for Gameswipe were well beyond that of the other two series, and that they are planning on getting Yahtzee on at some point, being how they're fans of each other.
P.S. It's only the first episode, McWhertor.
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
The fact that it's rating trumped that of Screenwipe and Newswipe means that it almost certainly will be getting a series.
09/30/09
He said it was a one off, but MAYBE since the viewing figures were good there MIGHT be more.
Still only a one off.
Plus, he said he couldn't get Yahtzee, but he wanted to. Even if it became a series, he may never appear... :(
09/30/09
Maybe was quite lacklustre compared to Screenwipe, but I'm hungry for more of it.
Alas though, I think Ice-nine is right - from what I've seen, it was just a one-off show. Quite a shame if so, but I think Newswipe is on its way back in anyway.
Also, if you like Screenwipe and Newswipe, take a look around for "You Have Been Watching" - panel show hosted by Charlie for Channel 4 recently, very very funny.
09/30/09
From his twitter feed (that lit up as soon as Gameswipe finished);
Q: One-off or series? A: A one-off. Dunno bout a series, wd maybe another one-off if asked. May now cover games in Screenwipe tho.
(yeah, it is mostly a one-off)
also;
Q Why didn't you have Zero Punctuation on the show? A: We tried, but there were contractual / practical hurdles. I like Yahtzee.
Q: How can I tell the BBC I want to see more games programmes? A: I guess [bit.ly] is a reasonable place to start.
Q: Why talk about Wolfenstein / 50 Cent if they're shit? A: They're entertaining. On reflection, wd rather have swapped 1 for sthg else.
09/30/09
You Have Been Watching I kind of found grating :S
As much as I love Mr Brooker, it just didn't suit his style. He had to go from talking happily to his guests, to bad mouthing a show or someone on another show... It just kind of didn't really work...
Plus, a lot of the jokes he used were from his Twitter :(
09/30/09
I can't help but feel that many people's hopes are getting up for no real reason.
09/30/09
In fact I said nothing, just quoted Brooker.