As the recorded music industry struggles to turn around from the rampant piracy that has seen a vast decline in sales over the past few years, sales video games have been on the rise. It seems that UK sales of games will exceed sales of music and video this year. With games becoming such an important part of our entertainment and culture how come they’re not represented better on TV?

TV and gaming have had a rocky relationship in the UK. Mainly the preserve of obscure satellite channels that show endless Unreal Tournament matches, mainstream TV has rarely been treated to good quality coverage of the videogame scene.  Those shows that do make it to channels with more than a handful of viewers tend to disappear as quickly as arrive.

Here are some of the most fondly remembered examples for deceased videogames shows.

Gamesmaster

Combining Patrick Moore with a little-known young Scottish presenter with a love of innuendo may seem an odd concept but that’s exactly what Channel 4 went with back in 1992 when Gamesmaster launched in a 6pm weekday slot.  With a focus on competitive challenges with a few reviews thrown in for good measure it was the first real ‘hit’ series to focus on games.

Over time the series’ quality declined.  In series 3 original presenter Dominik Diamond was replaced by former child actor Dexter Fletcher, best known for roles in Bugsy Malone and Press Gang.  Fans of the show, including my teenage self, were rather put off by his over-the-top cock-er-nee presenting style and Diamond eventually returned a few series later with a much more smutty version  of the show.  Still in a teatime slot but with more of a focus on getting as many glamour models and sexual innuendos into each show as possible, it was clear the show needed to be put to sleep.  That’s just what happened in 1998.  Here’s a clip of the show in its prime, from 1992.

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Bad Infuence

Following the success of Gamesmaster, ITV decided to launch a new games show aimed at a slightly younger audience.  Presented by Andy Crane and Violet Berlin, the show was less about challenges and more about news and reviews, with children offering their views on the latest releases.

For hardcore  gamers like my brother and I it sometimes seemed a little patronising but it was always fun and it was a shame to see it disappear from our screens in 1996.  Here are a couple of reviews from the first series, including an Atari Lynx(!) game and one of the earlier John Madden series games, still a huge cash-cow for publisher EA today.

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Bits

After the demise  of Gamesmaster in 1998, it was only a year before Channel 4 tried its hand at another videogames show.  This one, however,  was squarely aimed at adults and being on at about midnight it’d have to be!  Snappily edited and presented by a three-girl team who (shock) actually knew a lot about games(!) it was the smartest and most enjoyable games show to date.

Following the end of Bits, a similar show Thumb Bandits replaced it but it wasn’t anywhere near as enjoyable and was quickly axed.  One of the presenters of both shows, Aleks Krotoski, is now presenter of The Guardian’s Tech Weekly Podcast.  You may remember I went along to the Manchester meet-up in the summer.  Here’s a clip from the first series of Bits.

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For the past few years, gaming has very much been relegated to those aforementioned obscure channels in the furthest reaches of Sky’s programme guide.  So, does the British public simply hate watching games and prefer to play them?  Possibly, but many more people watch Football matches on TV than bother to kick a ball themselves so there’s obviously a market for spectator sports.  Think of all the people who watch Soccer AM or Football Focus to get their Football news.  Are people so disinterested in games news that they won’t watch a show about them?

What’s likely is that as the number of games shows have declined from their 90s peak, TV commissioners have lost confidence in videogames as a ratings draw.  Times change though and with sales of games up 42% this year, maybe its time for them to reconsider that viewpoint.  While sites like Gametrailers.com can give us reviews and footage of new games, there’s still a home for a popular pastime like games on TV.  So, come on commissioning editors; give us a smart, fun show about games made by people who care about them.  Pitch it right and you’ll have a hit on your hands.