Helps if you’re in the UK though…
Following on from 2009’sGameswipespecial, acerbic critic and former PC Zone writer Charlie Brooker has delivered another excellent videogames program this time on Channel 4.How Videogames Changed the Worldis a two-hour special charting the lineage of videogames fromPongandSpace InvaderstoThe Last of UsandMinecraft. Of course it helps if you’re in the UK and can just watch it on Channel 4’s on-demand site but if you’re somewhere else in the world, I’m sure you’ll have your own means of watching (cough YouTube).
If you’ve watched a Charlie Brooker program (or read his excellentTV Go Home) you’ll know it’s a mix of interviews, clips, and social commentary. The history of videogames is told over 25 notable titles with some interesting picks for the defining games that have shaped what we play today. There’s appearances from the likes of Tim Schafer, Nolan Bushnell, Will Wright, David Braben, and Peter Molyneux.
Personally speaking it was quite something to seeHover Bover, one of the first games I ever played on my parent’s Commodore 64, on a TV screen. I say “TV screen” I actually watched the program on my laptop today whilst hungover. Ooops.
Brooker recently gavean interview with The Guardiansaying how hard it was to get someone to commission a show about videogames which seems a shame. Mind you, earlier this week Channel 4 also show a program aboutyoung Brits on holiday in the Mediterraneanwhich involved them drinking each other’s vomit and urine so maybe videogames can do without TV.
