How Video Games Changed The World (C4 - now)

[Alex79]

Seems ok so far. Charlie Brooker seems the obvious choice to present it. Anyone else watching it?

[DomsBeard]

No, it's on sky + as I'm being subjected to crap factor

[Scrustle]

Had no idea this was on. I guess I'll have to watch the first half on 4OD at some point, if it gets on there.

I always like seeing stuff from Charlie Brooker though. He hasn't seemed to have been around much lately. Pretty sure there haven't been any "[Something]-wipe" shows in years. It's cool to see they got some big names in the industry to talk too. Tim Schafer and John Romero I've spotted so far.

[Flabyo]

If you go into it expecting a 'list of the 25 best games ever' you'll hate it. Cause that's not what it is.

The list has bad games on it. The games picked are all there to emphasise a particular moment in the evolution of the medium.

You won't agree with all the points. You definitely won't agree with all the games chosen, because 25 games to cover everything means MOST of the ones you'd pick are not going to be there. (And I'm sure some will outright hate the final 'game' in the list, especially if you're not a fan of that particular theory)

But I really liked it, because it was fair and balanced. It defended gaming from the most ludicrous things that are thrown against it by the mainstream, but at the same time was quite clear just how messed up a lot of what the games industry gets away with is.

If you're in the UK you should be able to watch it on YouTube now:

[ratsoalbion]

I've Tivoed it myself.

There was a brief News Wipe series early this year or late last I think with another one coming early 2014 after a one-off 2013 Wipe next month.

Brooker did deliberately take a time out from the media for reasons explained in his Guardian column last summer.

[Woodfella]

It was good. Was nice to see half my twitter feed on tv. Seemed like it was saying, hey look everyone these are what games are, they are acyually great, heres why, and trying to appeal to a wide audience. Whereas gameswipe seemed to just confirm all stereotypes.

A lot of the mentions of significant games were fleeting but I really quite enjoyed it.

It will be nice in the future to have something that is more in depth, that doesn't feel the need to explain games. Hopefully this is successful so that can happen.

I wanted more stuff on how minecraft is used too, because I find that stuff really interesting, obviously time is an issue. The bit where Keith Stewart spoke about his son was really touching and the perfect representation of why games are *****ing mint

Also I didn't think it needed to be numbered

I liked the ending, because we were talking about it in my media seminar not 2 days ago... (I'll spoiler this for those who care)

Spoiler: show

how you develop this twitter persona which is not necessarily what you are like in real life and when you get RTs its like "YESSS"

[Bakers_12]

I really enjoys the show. I really have to remember the DVD box set argument of Dara O Brian.
Not sure I agree with twitter as a game or am I doing it wrong!!?!

[Scrustle]

Well it's certainly a gamified system, much like other social media. I think the point was that it's an example of how we're now seeing game design in things outside of games. Things that many people outside of the game audience interact with, which we don't tend to associate with games at all. But it's still very much about that positive feedback loop of quantified statistics that is more or less at the core of every game ever made.

And the box set argument is definitely a good one. I thought Brooker's joke about it was hilarious too. The same point can be made about many different types of media too. Not just TV shows, but movies, music, and books as well.

[AndyKurosaki]

No I don't class Twitter as a game at all. Other than that, it was an enjoyable show really. A fun trip down pixellated memory lane.

[dezm0nd]

It's typical Brooker though, always mocking himself or his ideas. Twitter isn't a game but it does have gamey elements to them but having it at no.1 is just Brooker going "but who really cares about my list?" and then buggers off.

Thought it was genuinely one of the best TV shows about games out there, up there with Indie Game The Movie!

[Flabyo]

While we're arguing about what is and isn't a game, I think this weeks Extra Credits is relevant

[Scrustle]

I saw that episode a few days ago, and I didn't think much of it to be honest. It wasn't bad, but I don't feel like it really added much to the conversation. It's still sitting on the same side of this argument those guys always have, both sides of which I don't much care for. It seems most arguments you hear either say something isn't a game and therefore isn't worth attention or doesn't have value, or something vague and noncommittal, giving "games" a really loose and not very meaningful definition. As if they're afraid to definitively say something isn't a game because if they admit that, then something bad will happen. But of course it won't. But I think it would be useful to free things that aren't games from the stigma of being judged by the standards of games. I feel like not recognising that is stopping us from exploring entire new mediums and experiences. But this conversation has been had so many times now. No need to go deep in to it again right now.

But I don't think Twitter is a game, but it was relevant to the show and the spot it was given. Although I missed the first half, it seemed like the list was counting through significant turning points in the medium. Not a list of the best or more important games ever, listed by their level of significance, but a string of games that had a big impact at the time, in chronological order. I suppose they shouldn't have put in the numbers on each of them in that case, but I think gamification spreading out in to other mediums is probably the most recent and significant evolution for games.

[DomsBeard]

Wait twitter was no1 ?. Eh?

[Flabyo]

Ignore the 'numbering', they were simply done in chronological order.

The point being made there was that 'gamification' means everything is like a video game in some way these days, and so games really have changed the world.

The full 25, and the reasons for inclusion (as I saw it)

Spoiler: show

25) Pong - First successful video game.
24) Space Invaders - First game to cross over into pop culture.
23) Pac Man - First game to introduce a recognisable and marketable character.
22) Manic Miner - Representative of the birth of the UK industry as distinct in character from everywhere else.
21) Elite - Representative of the open world genre, the first games without a fixed linear progression.
20) Tetris - Gaming begins to appeal to a wider audience.
19) Super Mario Brothers - Japan reignites the console industry.
18) The Secret of Monkey Island - Games as story, involvement of Hollywood.
17) Street Fighter 2 - Control complexity, games become true exercises in tactics as well as reflexes.
16) Night Trap - Violence in games in the spotlight, birth of the US rating system.
15) Doom - Multiplayer co-op and death match truly arrive.
14) Tomb Raider - A game with a female protagonist is successful.
13) Parappa the Rapper - Breaking out of genre conventions, gaming diversifies.
12) Starcraft - eSports and tournament gaming.
11) The Sims - selling out, gaming and corporate endorsement.
10) GTA3 - Games as scapegoat for societies ills.
9) Shadow of the Colossus - Gaming with consequences.
8) World of Warcraft - The MMO, gaming addiction.
7) Wii Sports - The casual revolution, gaming is for everyone.
6) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - The darker side of online gaming.
5) Braid - Rise of the indie game scene.
4) Angry Birds - The ubiquity of mobile gaming.
3) Minecraft - Gaming as an educational tool.
2) The Last of Us - Gaming as HBO drama, the middle ground between indie and Michael Bay style blockbuster.
1) Twitter - Gamification, life as a game.

[DomsBeard]

Night Trap! Ha ha I remember a mate getting a mega cd and this for £100 or something daft. Totally shit game

[ratsoalbion]

To be fair to The Sims Flabyo (though I haven't watched the show yet) I think it was probably also there as a sales phenomenon which significantly helped broaden the gaming demographic.

[Flabyo]

To be fair to The Sims Flabyo (though I haven't watched the show yet) I think it was probably also there as a sales phenomenon which significantly helped broaden the gaming demographic.

True, but they spend a while having Wil Wright claiming it was meant to be a satire of American consumerism, and then show clips from the Diesel and Katy Perry add-ons and have a bit of a chuckle.

My favourite bit of Night Trap trivia is just how old it really is. The thing was filmed to go on an old tape based console that never made it into production and only resurfaced when CD-Rom became a thing, which is why it looks so cheesy and eighties...

[ratsoalbion]

Ah fair enough, it does sound as though that was the editorial angle they were going for. Serves me right for posting from a position of ignorance!

The Sims would never have been in a position to flog those sorts of licensed add-ons but for the fact that it was so successful within those different demographics though I suppose.

[General Aquila]

Really liked the show, also how it didn't take itself too seriously but tried to keep itself balanced.