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[Synnah]

This was shown on BBC4 a couple of days ago; not a series like Screenwipe, sadly, but a one-off look at the history of gaming.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n1j8q/Charlie_Brookers_Gameswipe/

For anyone outside of the UK, and thus unable to access iPlayer, here's a YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIb8JdoWF00 (The first of 6 parts)

I've seen him mention games before in Screenwipe, but I didn't realise Brooker was quite so knowledgeable on the subject. As usual, he's kind of a miserable sod, and this makes him funny.

[Renton]

I watched this last night and it really is a great show. Thumbs up from me.
 

[Titch]

I watched it. It was good. Not as good as some of Charlie Brookers more vitriol infused shows and his guardian column, but still much better than any games segments you get on the BBC, or in fact any other Digital UK channel. I'm honestly surprised he went back to games journalism. Definitely one of the better 'canned history' of video games things I've seen for a while.

Supposedly if there is enough of a positive response it will get turned into a full series. According to Charlie it got higher viewing figures than Screenwipe/Newswipe which is a good sign. I might even tune in to watch it if it contains more of him talking about how insipid some games are and perhaps a little more focus on all the games he spent most of the time saying where ignored by the press by never mentioned any of them.

[Pacian]

Yay Charlie Brooker!

I like the fact it was a TV show about games that kept going back to the subject of how rubbish TV coverage of games usually is.

[Poor Lazlo]

I've seen him mention games before in Screenwipe, but I didn't realise Brooker was quite so knowledgeable on the subject.

I think he was a games journo at some point. I think.

Is Dara O'Briain ever not really annoying?

[Synnah]

I think he was a games journo at some point. I think.

Yeah, he was. He wrote for a PC mag, I think, though I don't know which one. He also worked for CEX in London, long before they became shit!

There was a bit in the programme where the Consolevania guys were talking about the early days of the UK games industry that kind of struck a chord with me. Back at the beginning of the 80's, games development in Japan and the US was even then a largely corporate thing, whereas in the UK it was done mostly by hobbyists who would make whatever they felt like making, and who somehow managed to make money out of it. I think it's an interesting parallel to the modern indie scene, and some really surreal stuff came out of it.

[Corpus]

I really like Dara O'Briain, as a rule.

Yeah, the programme was mint.

[Sean A.]

I found that this was a very good show and exposes (what gamers know, but other people are oblivious to) the fact that only times games are on T.V. is if there is another shooting that they can "link" to videogames. I hope that there is another one of these focused on a different topic about games, like a whole episode on indie games (that would be dream come true!).

[Iamthejuggler]

Charlie brooker is very entertaining. He recently did a column on the whole mac vs microsoft and the recent windows 7 party stuff. That was fantastic.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/28/charlie-brooker-microsoft-mac-windows

[Anthony Flack]

I wonder why the front page comments were disabled? They didn't seem particularly contentious, and there was more discussion going on there than here. Although that's possibly because people commenting here seem more familiar with Brooker's work and his style.

[Shade Jackrabbit]

I have no clue who the man is but I liked the video. Some interesting opinions there.

[Jimbob]

He used to write for PC Zone, at least back when I had a subscription... must be bloody years ago...

[falsion]

I still can't figure out if the title of this thing is supposed to be "games wipe" or "game swipe."

[Synnah]

Games Wipe! He's done a couple of other series called Screenwipe and Newswipe respectively, so it ties in with those.

Also, yeah, I found it a little odd that the comments were disabled for the frontpage entry. Some of the discussion was getting a little heated, but it wasn't as bad as some other recent entries have been; specifically the article about Edmund, which quickly degenerated into a major Twatfest. It was kind of disgusting.

[falsion]

Yeah, it hardly even looked that "heated" to me. Just some people having some minor disagreements about what they enjoy in a game (challenge, etc.). Probably one of the more tamer TIGSource front page comment threads compared to what you usually see (e.g. Edmund, Lose/Lose, etc).

[Pacian]

I'm pretty sure the comments disable on every post after a set amount of time.

[Tycho Brahe]

hmm, I've found some of his previous games journalism online, in the guardian archive.

here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/05/games.playstation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/12/games.playstation

[GregWS]

This thing was bloody brilliant!  Such a sod, but that's what made it so entertaining.  :D

And that mac article on The Guardian was great too. 

[Anthony Flack]

His whole Guardian archive is well worth reading; it's frequently brilliant. Screenwipe is frequently brilliant too. I haven't seen any Newswipe, but I think it's fairly safe to assume...

[Anthony Flack]

Here he is being interviewed about the creative process of designing the show, essentially.