Damaged Beyond Repair

I recently heard that Yahtzee's proposed TV show, game Damage, sadly, kinda died and won't be coming around as a full blown TV show.

I'm disappointed to say the least. Judging for the pilot, there was a lot of potential here. I heard some people compare said pilot to Top Gear and there is some truth there: Top Gear works becuase it has three hosts of three distinctive personalities and seeing them interact is part of the fun. Having that formula transfer into a gaming show would've worked a treat.

When i first saw the pilot I thought it was great as came across as being put together by people who knew exactly what they were talking about. They had humorous asides but there was a lot of red-hot info that wasn't clogged down by odd moments that were a) puzzling or b) lame attempts at humour. Having being disillusioned with Good game (at the time) for this reason, i was all set to support Game Damage.

But sadly it looks like it won't be happening. Ironically however, recently Good Game is getting better - even more watchable - with more emphasis on the gaming and less emphasis on the bullshit. Looks like Bajo and Hex get the last laugh....

My Game is Damaged

As I said before, Good Game is a mixture of the informative and the rubbish - to sit through the latter to get to the former is a chore indeed. Yet it is the only game program on TV so we Australians are stuck with it.
I personally would like to see Game Damage be granted a full-blown show. As is my understanding, there was some interest for a while but nothing has emerged since. I have seen the trailer and it certainly looks entertaining with information being well-presented and funny asides that are actually funny. I've seen some people compare it the trailer to Top Gear and that's hardly a bad thing: Top Gear succeeds through three distinct personalities bouncing off of each other and Game Damage appears to be operating on the same principle - and is all the better for it. Indeed, it actually looks like it was made by genuine gamers and not those who look great on camera.



So yes, I would like to see more Game Damage and hope it really gets made into a decent show. The way I see it, there's not much in the way of competition.

Shoot the Runner

I have mixed feelings towards the TV show Good Game (for the uninitiated it's a gaming show on Australian TV). I watch it yes but only becuase it's the only gaming show on TV. As such, the show frequently comes across as a mixture of rubbish and information - indeed, it is a chore to sit through the former just to get to the latter. I look forward to the day that the proposed Game Damage gets the green light but until then, Good Game is all we've got.

Still I'll give Good Game credit: I saw them give a glowing review to the WiiWare game Bit.Trip Runner. Intrigued, I downloaded, had a go at it and found it very much to my liking. It may seem quite daft, in that resembles an Atari 2600 game but the idea of collecting power-ups to build a tune is a strong one and here it works great. Sure some of the jumping may be frustrating (particularly when it sends you back to the beginning of the level!) but Bit.Trip Runner certainly has a lot going for it.

So yes - Bit.Trip Runner is a good game (for lack of a better choice of words).