Top 10 Celebrity Games Journalist Dave Perry wrote an article in industry arse-rag MCV recently about the lack of proper gaming celebrities on TV. We agree with quite a lot of it, especially the bits that agree with what we’ve said, not to mention the list of celebrities we’ve championed in our Top 10 and also-ran list. We don’t agree with the second half of the article though.
Perry talks about the wealth of talent in the games industry who could step into the role of a TV celebrity. We’ve met and/or know plenty of games journalists. The ones who can string together great articles that are informative and funny (as the OGJ code demands) would never make it when away from their desks. The ones who aren’t informative and funny should fuck off and work in PR.
The ones who have tried – step forward Triforce guy Ste Curran and his brave attempt at games radio One Life Left – are undoubtedly talented writers, but do struggle outside of the comfort zone of the written page or webspace. The World of Stuart forum recently criticised Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe for being like watching someone reading out their weekly column into an autocue.
Dave mentions Dominik Diamond as someone who’s transcended the games arena. It’s true that at the time, Diamond did a reasonable job of presenting GamesMaster. The thing to remember is that he wasn’t a games journalist before landing the job, and he’s never been able to cut it as a games journalist since. The proof of that is in his embarrassingly unfunny column for kids’ comic PC Zone that’s now been axed, but Diamond at least bowed out with his dignity by taking the piss out of his crucifixion disaster and admitting how much the readers hated his monthly deposit in his final article.
Perry also thinks that there are no games celebrities because the viewers keep slagging off the limp excuses masquerading as games TV that sometimes pop up instead of supporting them. The fundamental problem with that argument is that viewers slag off shows like Bits and Games Network’s crap because they’re utter shit scraped from the crack of a PR’s arse.
The reason that there aren’t any proper games celebrities is partly down to the paucity of genuinely talented games writers, and the undeniable truth that television (and podcasting and all that shit) are totally different mediums. The solution is simple – bring back the tried and tested talent from the past. Get Perry and Diamond onto a show together, have Jaz Rignall lurking around talking about new games in the background, and bring in some underrated talent like the wonderful Chris Long. Make decent TV shows with decent presenters, and the majority will watch and support them. We’re only here to criticise shit.
Perry talks about the wealth of talent in the games industry who could step into the role of a TV celebrity. We’ve met and/or know plenty of games journalists. The ones who can string together great articles that are informative and funny (as the OGJ code demands) would never make it when away from their desks. The ones who aren’t informative and funny should fuck off and work in PR.
The ones who have tried – step forward Triforce guy Ste Curran and his brave attempt at games radio One Life Left – are undoubtedly talented writers, but do struggle outside of the comfort zone of the written page or webspace. The World of Stuart forum recently criticised Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe for being like watching someone reading out their weekly column into an autocue.
Dave mentions Dominik Diamond as someone who’s transcended the games arena. It’s true that at the time, Diamond did a reasonable job of presenting GamesMaster. The thing to remember is that he wasn’t a games journalist before landing the job, and he’s never been able to cut it as a games journalist since. The proof of that is in his embarrassingly unfunny column for kids’ comic PC Zone that’s now been axed, but Diamond at least bowed out with his dignity by taking the piss out of his crucifixion disaster and admitting how much the readers hated his monthly deposit in his final article.
Perry also thinks that there are no games celebrities because the viewers keep slagging off the limp excuses masquerading as games TV that sometimes pop up instead of supporting them. The fundamental problem with that argument is that viewers slag off shows like Bits and Games Network’s crap because they’re utter shit scraped from the crack of a PR’s arse.
The reason that there aren’t any proper games celebrities is partly down to the paucity of genuinely talented games writers, and the undeniable truth that television (and podcasting and all that shit) are totally different mediums. The solution is simple – bring back the tried and tested talent from the past. Get Perry and Diamond onto a show together, have Jaz Rignall lurking around talking about new games in the background, and bring in some underrated talent like the wonderful Chris Long. Make decent TV shows with decent presenters, and the majority will watch and support them. We’re only here to criticise shit.
Bringing back an old format like that probably would be the best option, but only because it would be preferable to the videogame-TV wasteland we currently enjoy.
ReplyDeleteIf I can shamelessly plug my own fevered ramblings, I think the reality of a new mainstream videogame TV show is likely to be quite different.
Saw Perry's comments in last week's MCV too. Pointing out how he had warned the industry about the dangers of turning against ECTS overt wo years ago, and that now the UK industry is paying for not listening.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting that the Editor of MCV at the time actually took the piss out of Dave, yet now is being made to eat his words.
I personally have never been sure of what to think about 'The Animal', but generally he seems to speak a large amount of sense.
What is he up to these days?