TV Shows About Games

This is not Morgan Webb. This is not Adam Sessler.

X-play is the gold standard. Its still the most popular show on G4 and was one of the most popular on its previous home TechTV. Why not? When gamers turn off their boxes, they often turn to game news in magazines and on the internet, so its only appropriate they be able to see games on TV too.

But its hardly without competition, and it many cases its surpassed. If you’re still watching X-Play religiously because you think its the only show on TV talking about games (G4’s clusterhump “Attack Of The Show” does not count), you’d be missing out on more informative, more balanced, and in some cases, funnier shows. Allow me to focus on some of X-Play’s direct competitors, shows with similar production values and connections to the industry.

GameHead runs weekly on SpikeTV and online at GameTrailers.com. Hosted by Geoff Keighley, its contains capsule reviews, on location interviews, and feedback on gaming news and events. The reviews are kind of distracting and feel thrown into the show, but you can’t beat the interviews. Taking Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime bowling, catching up with Mega64, and grabbing time with industry heavy hitters during conferences, Keighley has a strong sense of what makes good TV as much as he understands that asking important questions is what makes an interview worth doing. Its no surprise that Keighley has the longest resume of anyone in game journalism, writing for Official Xbox Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Buisness 2.0, and appears regularly on Extra.

The 1UP Show is online only, but features some of the best of print, with writers from 1up.com, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Games For Windows. Surprisingly high production values for what amounts to a camera man in their offices, but the star of the show is the great conversations and comments they have about games. Journalists take a more insightful approach and articulating the good and the bad of a game on logical and emotional levels. The show takes on the tone of The Office more than anything else, with tension over Virtua Fighter tournaments, jealousy over getting beta copies, and office pranks being played for laughs. X-Play has a real strong suite in being a humorously written show, but I’d put the more subtle 1UP against it any day. Full disclosure: I have a crush on producer Kathleen Sanders.

Electric Playground plays in Canada only. Episode were re-run on G4 in the US for a while, but the shows host, writer, and producer Victor Lucas recently signed a deal with Rogers cable to broadcast exclusively on G4techtv in Canada. Since I’m not in Canada, and a lot of the shows I saw on G4 were already way old, its hard for me to say how good the show is now, but it seemed like a pretty well balanced show. Co-host Tommy Tallarico is beyond obnoxious, but he’s honest, and brings and insider’s view as he’s worked on more games than he’s reviewed. Full disclosure: I have a crush on co-host (and former Real World star) Julie Stoffer.

The G-Hole is an MTV2 show about games that also runs online. Its suprisingly subdued compared to other shows on this list, and especially compared to the majority of MTV programming. Again, this is mainly due to a game audience wanting to be educated more than a music listener or a movie goer, who would be satisfied with a smattering of samples in quick-cut fashion. Makes one wonder why video games are treated as some thing for an ADD addled mind.

I’m sure if I wanted to go even more indie, I could find dozens of shows online and on YouTube about games (including some content from here), but the greater point is that this is an awesome time to diversify your gaming TV lineup, and with 3 of these shows online, you can do it tonight.