Charlie Brooker making sense

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Charlie Brooker interview: Why are there no computer game TV shows?

Published Friday, Nov 29 2013, 18:07 GMT | By Alex Fletcher | 15 comments

Charlie Brooker has spoken to Digital Spy about the lack of computer game shows on mainstream TV, arguing that they are neglected because of the false stereotype that the medium is aimed primarily at children.

 

The most famous computer game TV show, Channel 4's GamesMaster, ended in 1998 and Brooker said that the BBC is reluctant to ever expand on his one-off review show Gameswipe.

 

© Channel 4

Charlie Brooker's How Gaming Changed the World

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Brooker is hosting a documentary for Channel 4 on the history of gaming this weekend, and the writer and comedian said that the lack of gaming on TV "boils down to a lack of imagination".

 

"Games are an evolving media and there are lots of topics of discussion around them. A video game can be anything from The Last of Us, which is an HBO boxset in video game form, to Fruit Ninja, which apparently even David Cameron was addicted to - there's a large variety of games and there's more to talk about now than there were a few years ago," said Brooker.

 

"The focus of games is changing. The focus of games in the '90s was how long can you survive, how many points can you get, that sort of thing. That lent itself to shows like GamesMaster. Now, games are more like movies and they have a narrative and an overall experience.

 

Watch a classic clip from GamesMaster:

 

 

"A lot of it boils down to a slight lack of imagination from TV companies. I mean cars, cars are a thing. Everyone uses them, but caring about them and loving them is a niche hobby. But Top Gear is an accessible mainstream show that lots of people watch and there's no reason you couldn't do something like that with video games, people just haven't really tried."

 

Commenting on Gameswipe, the Black Mirror writer said: "When we did Gameswipe, at the time it did better than the other episodes of Screenwipe. I remember the day after it went out, a computer games magazine contacted the BBC and asked if they'd planned to do any more and they just said, 'No'.

 

"We hadn't asked for a series or anything like that, I just think it's the sort of thing that most TV commissioners don't understand. They can't really get a handle on it. It's a thing that TV doesn't know how to do, because the only attempts they had had are things like GamesMaster. Consequently, they think the show has to be aimed at kids."

 

He added: "[Gaming] was on TV more in the '80s and '90s, even though it's a bigger business now, which is strange.

 

"All the channels are more fragmented now, so what are seen as specialist topics are on specialist channels. But really, video games are way more popular than prog rock, but BBC Four seem to air nothing but prog rock documentaries. It's really quite weird. It's weird that the BBC don't cover them at all."

 

Charlie Brooker in 'Weekly Wipe'

 

Brooker argued that the presumption that computer games are designed for children is "ridiculous", claiming that it would be as absurd as saying all movies are for children because there are Pixar films.

 

"When you look at the history of video games, in the early years with Pong and Space Invaders, they were aimed at adults," said Brooker. "They were adult recreation. Morecambe and Wise used to advertise the Atari for Christ's sake. And machines used to be found in pubs. The idea that they are for children has just stuck though and it's basically because they have games in the title.

 

"It makes them sound inherently frivolous and a child-like thing. That's why people seem to get angry when they see a game with violence or swearing in it. There is a wrong assumption from people that these things are aimed at children."

 

Charlie Brooker's How Video Games Changed the World airs on Saturday (November 30) at 9pm.

 

 

I like the final para

[hostile_statue 0]

Charlie Brooker, is that the one who wrote for PC Zone? Used to love that magazine