Dedicated Gaming Channel Coming to British TV

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
17,672
0
0
Dedicated Gaming Channel Coming to British TV



The UK's fall TV schedule is going to be more videogame-packed than you might have thought.

For certain portions of The Escapist audience, the idea of a dedicated videogame channel will seem passé, but for the UK, the launch of gaming channel Ginx is a first. The channel's launch was announced at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival earlier this morning by Ginx CEO Michiel Bakker, whose company already produces Gameface, the most popular videogame show on British TV.

Bakker said that the channel will focus on "light gamers," a label clarified on the channel's website [http://www.ginx.tv/] as core gamers outside the small percentage considered to be hardcore. The channel will focus on reviews at first, but will eventually expand into other types of videogame-themed programming, like shows that highlight celebrities that play videogames. Bakker says that whether or not an idea will make good television will determine whether it gets shown on the channel.

You might think that Ginx doesn't really sound like the sort of channel you'd like to watch, but that's kind of what the channel is about. If you're reading this story, then simply put, you're not in Ginx's target audience. It bills itself as the "MTV of videogames" and says it's all about "mainstream entertainment." It's a little disappointing that it's not more in-depth, but let's be honest, hardcore gamers aren't short of places to go for that kind of content, we don't really need a TV channel too.

Ginx launches its 24/7 service in November.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-26-uks-first-videogame-channel-announced]





Permalink
 

Sebenko

New member
Dec 23, 2008
2,531
0
0
I give it five years before it decays into a wrestling/reality tv channel because "that's what teens like, and teens play videogames"
 

88chaz88

New member
Jul 23, 2010
236
0
0
We did used to have Game Network. It was pants but it was there.

So no, this isn't a first.
 

imnot

New member
Apr 23, 2010
3,916
0
0
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Grrrrr, not fall - Autumn.

Fall is Fail.
This.
And also i think it would fail, after all i would never abandon here.
 

Jinjiro

Fresh Prince of Darkness
Apr 20, 2008
244
0
0
88chaz88 said:
We did used to have Game Network. It was pants but it was there.

So no, this isn't a first.
Oh god, the presenters on that... put me off gaming TV for a while.

But we did have GamesMaster in the 90's, which was awesome. Dominik Diamond = legend.
 

Drop_D-Bombshell

Doing Nothing Productive...
Apr 17, 2010
501
0
0
Can't wait. Looks really good and i hope they don't muck it up. Finally, something to look forward to in november.
 

rookie.of.the.year

New member
Jul 30, 2010
103
0
0
Their current show appears to be hosted by 'attractive blondes' that clearly have never seen a console in their lives... And to think I was excited about this.
 
Jul 22, 2009
3,595
0
0
Daystar Clarion said:
Really? Xleague was a channel full of GOW and Halo tourney tards, it was hardly a gaming channel.
It was the best damn thing we had.

I used to watch all the previews and reviews for ages. Then when the tournies came on (even though they were only ever Halo and GOW) I still loved watching them.

It wasn't the greatest... but there weren't anything better on.
 

konor77

New member
Aug 26, 2009
170
0
0
Logan Westbrook said:
If you're reading this story, then simply put, you're not in Ginx's target audience.
Their target audience are peole who've never heard of them?
i see this working out badly.
 

Spygon

New member
May 16, 2009
1,105
0
0
GamesB2 said:
... I'll at least try it out...

God I miss Xleague...
same here was a intresting idea and worked kinda well just they had a few more gamers doing the commatary and being the tourney makers as that what really sunk xleague
 

Torque669

New member
Apr 21, 2009
1,204
0
0
GamesB2 said:
... I'll at least try it out...

God I miss Xleague...
Yup, Xleague was amazing.

However Ginx Files / Gameface on Bravo are actually pretty good if you ignore the fact they've never called a game bad.
 

Jesus Phish

New member
Jan 28, 2010
751
0
0
I don't really remember any of the gaming shows on british TV being very good. Some of them started out ok, but then just went cheesy. Others just didnt start out good at all.

I cant imagine a whole channel of it being particularly great. And if it's the gaming version of MTV, it'll mean they'll show one review a day and the rest of the time will be split between, spoilt teens, rich twenty-somethings and underage parents.
 

Verlander

New member
Apr 22, 2010
2,449
0
0
What about Games Master? I hate the idea that everyone thinks we're in the stone ages in Britain just because we have a history.

I'll give it a go, but if it's all dull monotone reviews, vapid presenters, and watching other people play FPS, I'll pass. Gaming is an interactive experience, which is very difficult to translate on screen. Like sports, but in the case of sports, they are watched by people who think/wish they could do that. Any fat fuck with a TV/PC can game.

I wonder if they'll start showing gaming centric shows, in the vein of the Big Bang Theory/IT Crowd/ The Guild?
 

GothmogII

Possessor Of Hats
Apr 6, 2008
2,215
0
0
Jinjiro said:
88chaz88 said:
We did used to have Game Network. It was pants but it was there.

So no, this isn't a first.
Oh god, the presenters on that... put me off gaming TV for a while.

But we did have GamesMaster in the 90's, which was awesome. Dominik Diamond = legend.
/sigh I miss that canny Scotsman.