G4/Tech TV

The other thing I wanted to comment on from this weekend was that I finally got a chance to check out the 'new' G4/Tech TV on the in-law's satellite.

It's interesting. There are some of the old Tech TV shows, like Call For Help and The Screensavers which deal with general tech issues and news. That's fine.

Then there are the 3-4 different game related shows, like Electric Playground, that are aimed more at the hardcore gamer than anyone.

There are also little news blurbs that pop up here and there like the tickers on Newsworld but with game news instead.

That's cool, but here's the thing.

While someone like myself would actually really enjoy watching the new Tech TV all day long, I know that I'm by no means a majority. I mean, it's cool to see new tech news and get game coverage galore, since I don't hang out at EB anymore and can't geek out as much as I used to. This would give me somewhere I can geek out vicariously instead of watching Trading Spaces reruns.

For someone like my father-in-law though, who is interested in the techy side of things but could give two figs about games, the new style of the channel is probably a real downer. There's just too much game stuff now, and I never thought I'd ever say that.

I came to this conclusion when I turned it on at 10pm on sunday night to see a round table discussion/phone-in show hosted by three people who looked no older than 19. Even I was getting annoyed at how they were trying to jazz up the conversation by trying to act all hip and cool. They should know that their target audience is neither! Just tell us about the neat new features and such, don't try to act like having the latest video card will make us the coolest kid on the block.

Also, watching a bunch of people playing a game for 10-15 minutes was lame back when YTV used to do it on their Top 10 Arcade show back in the day. It's even lamer now. I don't mind seeing some clips of the game in motion, but I do not want to have to sit there watching some guy playing a game and having the host make idiotic comments about either the game or the guy's sucking at it.

I dunno. Maybe it's just that latent curmudgeon gene kicking in again.

I did like the half-hour 'History of Doom' program they had. Must... upgrade... computer...