Charlie Brooker's How Videogames Changed the World

[RedShell]

Saw an ad for this earlier, it's gonna be on Channel 4 this Saturday at 9pm.

 

From Pong to Grand Theft Auto, Atari to Angry Birds, the broadcaster delves into the history of the games industry and celebrates a selection of its most significant titles. He explores how interactive entertainment has evolved from a penny arcade diversion into a medium that some believe is art, and shows how it is changing the way people work, communicate and play. Joined by Jonathan Ross, Dara O Briain and leading designers including Will Wright and John Romero, Brooker looks at how video games have become one of the most progressive art forms of the past 40 years

 

I imagine it'll be similar to Gameswipe, which was pretty damn amusing:

 

so yeah, should be worth a watch.

: peace:

[Sheikah]

Cool, I'll be watching.

[bob]

Awesome. I'm going to 4OD the shit out of this.

[Helmsly]

Looking forward to this.

[Rowan]

I really love Charlie Brooker's work so I have high hopes this documentary will be great. They're also showing Indie Game: The Movie tomorrow night immediately afterwards.

[RedShell]

 

[Dcubed]

Best bit was when he couldn't skip the cutscene and complained about it

 

Looking forward to tomorrow!

[Hero-of-Time]

We'll I watched this last night and didn't think much of it. It was funny but the list was terrible. I suppose you could do the programme a thousand times and come up with a different list each time but I just didn't care for a lot of the titles shown.

 

Was it just me or did it seem very western focused?

[Serebii]

We'll I watched this last night and didn't think much of it. It was funny but the list was terrible. I suppose you could do the programme a thousand times and come up with a different list each time but I just didn't care for a lot of the titles shown.

 

Was it just me or did it seem very western focused?

Indeed. Nintendo really wasn't mentioned much, outside of Wii Sports and a bit of Miyamoto. If we're talking about how video games changed the world...Nintendo is very, very key in that.

 

How could they skip Pokémon, too. Second best selling franchise of all time, back in the 90s it was massive. It got a load of kids into gaming, it was a worldwide phenomenon.

[S.C.G]

It was an interesting show if you took it based on its title 'How Videogames Changed the World' as some of the entries were undeniable like Pong, Super Mario Bros, Tetris, GTA, Minecraft... all of those titles have changed the world significantly. But to then just conveniently skip over Zelda while following on from Mario in the section about Shigeru Miyamoto didn't seem right at all, yes it got a mention but it deserved more than that surely? I mean... I was 'playing' Zelda on and off through most of the show :p so its clearly had an impact on the world because it's still both a popular and amazing series.

 

There should have definitely been more Nintendo in there, for instance where they talked seemingly too much about other titles which personally I don't think made quite as much of an impact, they (Brooker & Co) could have talked less about those and had room for a lot more entries. Also no Sega games in that list... I don't remember seeing Sonic in there - perhaps wasn't considered that crucial in comparison to Mario - but even then what about the Phantasy Star series? The first Phantasy Star game - if I'm correct - was the first proper sci-fi themed RPG plus Phantasy Star Online... first console MMO, Shenmue etc... perhaps they weren't deemed to have had that much of an impact with the masses.

 

Still there were some good bits in there too, for instance Street Fighter II was heavily featured and rightly so, plus it was interesting looking back at Tomb Raider even if in the back of my mind I was thinking 'First female to be portrayed in a game? What about Samus Aran!!!' but again this list was probably made with mostly the masses in mind as a lot of TV programmes seem to be these days, well I suppose they have to be in order to justify making them but you get my point I'm sure.

 

Anyway, it was interesting but there was still too much 'filler' and not enough 'killer' in that list for my liking and don't get me started on classing Twitter etc as a game I get that people get addicted to those sites in a similar way to games but if that's what some people class as a videogame these days then clearly something has gone very wrong indeed.

 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play some Super Mario 3D World, now there's a REAL game! : peace:

[Jamba]

I watched and enjoyed it. It's obviously aimed at people not like us so I can see it's merits from that point of view.

 

Firstly, I think the list is fine. Most of us have been so mind bogglingly exposed to these titles over time and similar lists that Charlie's one seems quite dull by comparison.

 

He gave plenty of attention to Nintendo and their franchises, even looking at the Mario franchise as a whole and basically saying that they were all amazing (also showing footage of Mario 3D World too). Zelda got a graet mention as well. Just keep in mind that this was about games that changed culture and how they changed culture not games that were good.

 

@S\.C\.G - Zelda did not change wider culture, despite having a massive impact on gaming. For instance it helped cultivate the audience that would enjoy things like WoW (which did change things in the way that would qualify for the show). There were also mentions of SEGA in there, particularly Sonic and rightfully none of that got into the list. Phantasy Star may have been one of the first MMOs (along with Ultima Online) however it's almost insignificant in terms of cultural impact.

 

I think a lot of people have genuinely misunderstood what this show was about. I was thrilled to see Charlie address the Atlantic computer war, how games led to to the bedroom coder revolution and how that has now come full circle. In fact, the only thing I would complain about is that the early games like Space War actually invented the entire concept of computers having a graphical interface rather than something that was just CLI.

 

As for those of you that wanted more Nintendo well pffffft.... there are a whole bunch of games that got missed out of this from the entire Final Fantasy series or the birth of games like QONQR. Nintendo may mean a lot in terms of the culture of gaming but I think that they got plenty of screen time based on the impact that they have had in the wider scale of things.

[Daft]

I'm surprised Halo didn't get a bit of attention (unless it did and I missed it).

[S.C.G]

@Jamba I suppose you're right, the show was never going to please everyone but it was still very good and for what it's worth I did enjoy it.

 

I was also pleased to see that there was some Super Mario 3D World footage in there too which was nice.

[Jamba]

I'm surprised Halo didn't get a bit of attention (unless it did and I missed it).

 

That it did... in the FPS section which also mentioned Goldeneye

[Hero-of-Time]

As much as I love Shadow of the Collosus I fail to see how to changed the world, gaming or otherwise.

[Sheikah]

As much as I love Shadow of the Collosus I fail to see how to changed the world, gaming or otherwise.

 

I can see why it would be included (not watched it yet though). The way it was presented with little dialogue and no HUD. It felt like it was the father of 'beautiful' games. I certainly got the SotC vibe when playing Journey.

[Jamba]

I can see why it would be included (not watched it yet though). The way it was presented with little dialogue and no HUD. It felt like it was the father of 'beautiful' games. I certainly got the SotC vibe when playing Journey.

 

Charlie presents it as being a tipping point where the player can't trust that what he is doing is necessarily heroic even if originally suggested to be so. I guess they saw it as a benchmark point of storytelling maturing in games and how that particular point is very poignant as gamers are in control of those actions.

[Mr-Paul]

I enjoyed it. Was a nice retrospective of video games from a British viewpoint, although I felt there was quite a big chunk missing in the middle - no Pokémon? That was a social phenomenon. I think because the programme was made by an older generation than myself, I couldn't really relate to the Spectrum/Commodore 64, whereas this generation of gamers probably wouldn't have seen Pokémon as such a big thing. It was largely focused on that "retro" era, followed by how games are becoming more adult/sophisticated/have a story to tell in the last decade or so. It was cool that they spent quite a lot of time on indies, though.

 

Also thought that it was missing a mention of Resident Evil - the first game franchise really to transcend the genre and become successful in other media with the films.

 

I also felt that the last point, Twitter, was not presented that well. Yes, there is an element of "gameification" to life, with us creating online personas which we "play" in these virtual environments. Yes, Twitter has changed the world, but I don't really think that has anything to do with video games. It was a piece of social commentary missing the point, I think.

 

I reckon if they wanted to make a point of social media and games integrating they would have been much better off talking about both the social networking features of the new consoles - streaming on the PS4/XBO and Miiverse on Wii U, as well as Facebook games. I know they mentioned the likes of Angry Birds as time wasters, but they could have discussed the likes of Candy Crush/Farmville etc. where progress is intrinsically linked to asking your friends for help/being social (or using micro transactions if you have no friends!)

[Jimbob]

Certainly was an interesting watch, not one of his best programmes i will admit. With the games he showed off, yes i agree some were good choices (Mario, Sims, WoW, Tetris, Pong) and others i was a little iffy on why they were chosen (Shadow of the Colossus). Nice to see Brooker giving some significant attention to Nintendo and it's franchises.

 

And the Atari-Commondore-BBC wars, even though i have not played or used any of them i understand their significance in creating the modern-gaming era we are in today.

[gaggle64]

I thought it was brilliant, totally insightful and extremely well produced throughout. It did a simply fantastic job of discussing the negative aspects of gaming culture while still exploring and celebrating the medium fully. The assertion of Twitter as a "game" was pretty thought provoking and I think it definitely raises some fascinating points.

[Daft]

That it did... in the FPS section which also mentioned Goldeneye

 

Ooops, must have zoned out.

[sagat]

I watched it. There was nothing new and it started off well but become predictable, boring and stale halfway through. I just managed to see it through to the end

[Mr_Odwin]

Twitter, really?

Maybe for celebrities with several thousand followers it's a game, but not for most plebs like us. Bar that I enjoyed this and was able to predict most of them up until the mid 90s, when I clearly left the path most trodden.

[Cube]

Twitter seemed to simply be there to justify the name of the show.

[tapedeck]

It was a decent show - probably the 'best' we'll see on TV and kinda disguised as a list show, which channel 4 love.

 

I think that the TV and Videogame divide is a strange one where TV execs seem to show a huge disinterest in the gaming world. I believe this is born of an elitist thinking model where, as consoles plug into your TV, they are somehow second fiddle to TV. I like how the Wii U challenges this assumption on some level.

 

Executives working within TV and the old-boys at the top also don't want to take you away from TV whereas video games reduce the time you'll spend watching ads and such joyous shows like celebrity fodder 15 and the 'news'. I think it will be a longtime before we see anything akin to Gamesmaster on mainstream TV again as it was born of a naivety in TV world where they thought gaming was just a joke. That cult following shows otherwise...

 

That's why Nintendo Directs and the Microsoft approach to TV integration is quite interesting, forgoing the need to embrace the TV execs. Charlie Brooker did well to get gaming some air time, but things are changing.

 

If Apple don't re-build the current TV model, someone else will.

 

In regards to Twitter and the 'gamification' of social media, I don't see my life as a game and when Twitter is a digital footprint online, representing your character, it shouldn't be treat as so. I get the parallels, we post online our achievements such as got the job interview etc. but if we're taking that approach, we could call the entirety of life a mere game which is a philosophical argument.

Edited December 3, 2013 by tapedeck