TV Videogame shows: Have they always sucked ass?

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The accepted wisdom is that TV just doesn't 'get' games, but is that really true? Time for a look through the archives...

Nick Arcade: 1992 - 1993

Nickelodeon's Nick Arcade was completely insane. Simple as that. Yet another gaming show with its feet firmly planted in the cloying mud of kidville, it eschewed all attemptsat industry relevence by taking the game-show route instead. And what ludicrous mix of gloriously garish nonsense it was.

The show consisted of three rounds; a brief face-off between the teams on a simple game made especially for the production, a board game-style section, and The Video Zone. Landing on different squares in the board game could result in bonus points, quiz questions, prizes, or challenges on the console games of the day. And The Video Zone? Well that was just one of the most lunatic concepts ever commited to video tape...

The winning team would be dropped into a 'live action videogame' (read: bluescreen roomwith generic videogame scenery projected over the top) and battle valiantly forth through three levels in order to defeat the villain (read: stumble like a jibbering fool through the set while trying to work out what the hellwas going on by glancing at a monitor). It was a mess, but what a beautifully spectacular mess. Check out the videos on this page for evidence of that.

David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.