Small Screen Surfin'

1 Conversation

Welcome back... An interesting piece of media news that I discovered the other day was that
Marvel Inc.1 are moving into the
(video) gaming industry. They take up comics, TV and movies so why not the gaming media? Although
there have been Marvel character games out there, the difference here is that Marvel will be
making them for itself. My point? Why it's another lousy tie-in introduction!

This week's SSS looks at the video games programme Around the World in 80
Games
on Bravo. Firstly whoever is responsible for that title is anybody's guess but should be
sacked for two reasons:

  1. It sounds like 'Around the World in 80 Gays'. Inspired no doubt by Jules Verne's 'Around the World in 80 DAYS'.
  2. The 'world' in the title consists only of the United States of America.

The presenter Aaron Paul travels the w-- America (throughout the series) trying to discover
what has made the gaming industry 'bigger than Hollywood', meeting games developers, games
players and general lackeys for the major three games companies who must proclaim their bosses'
are the best in the world to avoid a whipping.

The show, although interesting, doesn't seem to answer the question it sets out to find, being
more of a look behind the scenes of production than trying to discover some kind of hidden tome of
Gaming Lore that makes it known why the industry is the fastest growing. I, however, can sum it up.

Games are bigger than movies because you can interact with characters and have a basic
free will to reach the end of stage, plus, it's the fastest growing because, there's so much more to
be done in the gaming media - apart from being only twenty/thirty years old - like increasing
advancements in how much can be put on one cartridge, disc, CD etc. It will continue until
characters on screen look and act exactly like... us.2

If you know nothing about the gaming industry this programme will probably not change that, or
give some alien perception. Fun galore in discovering the answers to questions including 'What
relevance does the Star Wars Fan Club's favourite Star Wars game have to to do with the growth
and popularity of the format?'

Don't get me wrong I like this programme, but some things just stand out, like giving one game
company devoted to making female orientated games for a 'male dominated' audience a forum to
speak when it just raises questions. Why is that a company making games purely for girls just
because it's mostly males that choose to play games? Are we to encourage a purely 'made
for boys' set of games or would that be sexism?

One company N-Lightning, is an independent Christian games company. Their founder
assures Paul that the games are just supposed to be an alternative to violent games and they don't
spread a Christian message. He then shows a demo(nstration) of one of their games where players
shoot with balls of light and demonically possess Romans with a sword of the spirit who, once hit,
drop to their knees after being saved instead of being killed. That's what? Three Christian
messages? The name of the company says it all!

As previously stated this is one for the people with a basic knowledge of games unless you want a
false view. In one voice-over after hearing how games producer Shigeru Miyamoto is the most
influential man in the industry, Paul states how unfortunate that Miyamoto lives in Japan so he
'can't just pop over for tea'. Not only does this need a reference back to the misleading title but
there needs to be evidence instead of this opinion forced down your throat. There's a tiny need to
note down that Japan is where the industry was revolutionised and grew from... important? Not
here it isn't. Average programme with an annoying theme tune nice an Country style. Watch if you
really have the patience or nothing else available.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

And now: A Small Screen Supplement...

The moment of last week has to go to the former weatherman turned 'questioner of reality' on This
Morning
assuring viewers that the world's most powerful people, his examples being Bush, Blair
and the Royal Family, are all part of a underground (literally) lizard bloodline called the Illuminari,
which controls humanity's existence by creating a false reality. The Illuminari caused Sept.
11th and objects are solid because you are made to think they are. Atoms being made
up of mostly nothing inside after all. The man didn't move his hands through walls or anything to
prove this however. At least it explains the Queens need to savage a pheasant though!

Keep Surfin'!

Small Screen Surfin'
Archive

HPB

29.01.04 Front Page

Back Issue Page

1The guys responsible for Spider-Man, Daredevil, Punisher,
Wolverine, Hulk
and more assorted comic book characters.
2Yikes, scary thought in my case...
gtc.

Bookmark on your Personal Space


Conversations About This Entry

Entry

A2239049

Infinite Improbability Drive

Infinite Improbability Drive

Read a random Edited Entry


Written by

Credits

Disclaimer

h2g2 is created by h2g2's users, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the Not Panicking Ltd. Unlike Edited Entries, Entries have not been checked by an Editor. If you consider any Entry to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please register a complaint. For any other comments, please visit the Feedback page.

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more