VideoGaiden

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The correct title of this article is videoGaiden. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

videoGaiden is a Scottish computer games television show broadcast by BBC Scotland. Its creators and presenters, Robert Florence and Ryan Macleod, are responsible for the internet-distributed videogaming show Consolevania, upon which the show is based.

The show began as six ten minute episodes on BBC 2 Scotland, broadcast at around midnight on Fridays starting in December 2005. The episodes could also be viewed online from the BBC's web site. A second series, consisting of six half-hour episodes, was commissioned by popular demand[1] and began broadcast on BBC2 Scotland on Sunday November 5th, 2006 at 11:10pm, with episodes once again available on the BBC's website.

The show is currently running an (apparently BBC-sanctioned) campaign to have the Shenmue series either continued or permanently consigned to history.[2] Updates on the progress of the campaign including notable comments on the internet are included in each episode. The show has been provided with region-free "debug" hardware by Sony and Microsoft, however after multiple requests Nintendo have only been able to supply them with a Wii-branded mug, notepad, and wristband.[3]

1 Format
- 1.1 Series One (2005)
- 1.2 Series Two (2006)
2 External links

[edit] Format

[edit] Series One (2005)

Each episode opens with a brief satirical mention of the show's status within the BBC and the feedback it has received. This is typically followed by the first of many discursive game reviews. These feature one of the two lead presenters walking around an indoor or outdoor setting discussing the game in question. Footage from the game is superimposed on background objects and occasionally cut to directly during the discussion.

Recurring features unique to the first series are sketches about terrible videogames pitches (for example "Black and White Minstrel Show 2006"), Glasgow hard-man Barry Anoki reporting on videogames news, and "Devco", a soap about videogames development.

Each episode in this series ended with a brief sketch featuring world-famous videogamer Legend (a carry-over from Consolevania) discussing his childhood, which ran over the end credits.

[edit] Series Two (2006)

Robert Florence's impression of the videogamer stereotype, from the "Gaiden Guide to... You".

The second series has less of a sketch basis. While the opening comments and the style of reviews are the same, non-game reviews now feature in the style of a new games journalism panel discussion (compare to Newsnight Review).

There is a "funeral" with for a now-deceased console, followed by recommendations of notable games; and "Warnings From History", showcasing apalling old gaming action, followed by a game recommendation from a ramshackle robot named "Socrates". Of particular note is the "Gaiden Guide to..." by Robert Florence, sternly calling for change in a particular aspect of gaming culture (for example standards of journalism). Each episode of the second series signed off with a song about the series' far-from-universal appeal.

The series ended with "The videoGaiden Awards 2006" in which Rab and Ryan chose the best game of 2006. The winner of this award was Hitman: Blood Money. It was also in this episode that Rab fell on Socrates, crushing him beyond repair in the process.