Good Game is an Australian television program broadcast on ABC1 and ABC2, created by Janet Carr, premiered on September 19, 2006. [1] The program, currently hosted by Jeremy Ray ("Junglist") and Steven O'Donnell ("Bajo"), looks at reviews, gaming news and hardware tips. Good Game has similarities to other gamer programs shown in the past on the American cable and satellite television channel G4. The fourth season of Good Game premiered on February 11, 2008 on ABC2, with the addition of encore broadcasts on ABC1 late on Friday nights. [2] Good Game airs every Monday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC2 and since the commencement of the third season, can also be seen on ABC1 late Friday evenings. Prior to the fourth season, the program was broadcast every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC2 with repeats shown at 12:45 a.m. on Thursday nights, and 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays. As of 24 August 2009, the 100th episode had been aired on ABC2. The program is also available through ABC Online via a vodcast, with episodes available shortly before its broadcast on ABC2. [1] [4]

KAPOWSKI TICKETS BTS Tickets Rush Tickets Journey Tickets Shakira Tickets Bryson Tiller Tickets Earth, Wind and Fire Tickets

Presenters

Current

• Jeremy Ray "Junglist" : Throughout every season Junglist has been a co-host of Good Game .
• Steven O'Donnell "Bajo" : Because of Mike Makowski's resignation, auditions were held to find a replacement host for the new season. On the 9th of March 2007 the new host Steven O'Donnell (Nicknamed Bajo) was announced.
• Tracey Lien "Rei" was first introduced in Season 5, Episode 3 as a way of fending off the show 'jumping the shark'. She conducts interviews for various segments of the show.

Past

• Mike Makowski "Kapowski" (Season 1): On February 14, 2007 series one presenter, Mike Makowski, announced his resignation from the Good Game team. This was announced on the program's online forum.
• P_Nutz (Season 1): P_Nutz was a yellow puppet introduced during Good Game 's pilot episode in May 2006. Although it acted as a fourth presenter throughout the first season, it drew a lot of criticism and debate from viewers. Some were of the view that P_Nutz was not suitable for the program as it seemed to be aimed at children. Some likened it to a monkey modelled on Agro of Agro's Cartoon Connection . Some believed P_Nutz's presence would prevent the show from being taken seriously, and others were simply annoyed by its presence. A poll was conducted on the official Good Game website regarding the appropriateness of P_Nutz in the program. The results proved that P_Nutz was inappropriate, and it was decided that he should die while defusing a bomb in the popular online game Counter Strike . A Flash animation was made by community member "RubberRoss" (Ross O'Donovan, better known as RubberNinja by the Newgrounds community) and was aired in the final episode of season one. He has still remained on the show as a running gag, such as in the reviews of Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure , Killing Floor and Ghostbusters: The Video Game .
• Miles Tulett "Dr. Daneel" (Season 1-2): Dr. Daneel had computer segments on Good Game . He left the show to pursue his studies at university and because he felt that his segment was no longer hardware-oriented.
• Matthew Lee "Aiyiah" : Aiyiah ran the So You Think You Can Game segment on Good Game . As of season 3, he is now a researcher for the team.
• Sheridan Leanda "Lux" had segments on Good Game such as cyber bullying & Girls in Gaming.

Segments

All seasons

• Gamer News : A segment presented at the start of each episode on gaming news. Includes news such as new game announcements, major patches and developer and publisher actions.
• Name this game : Retro game trivia segment. Near the start of each episode a clip of a retro game is shown to the viewers with the challenge of naming the game. Each game is named at the end of the show.
• Reviews : Review segments done by the two hosts usually placed throughout the show. Each time a current game is discussed while footage is shown to the viewers. At the end a rubber chicken rating (a number out of 10) is given to the game. So far Guitar Hero II , Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice , Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , God of War: Chains of Olympus , Grand Theft Auto IV , Braid , Super Mario Galaxy , Super Mario Bros. , Saints Row 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have been given a 10/10 rubber chicken rating by either of the hosts. In contrast, the lowest rated game reviewed so far is ET for the Atari 2600, which was given a 1 and 0 rubber chicken rating by Bajo and Junglist respectively.
• Industry Interviews : Interviews with people related to the game industry.
• Roffle Cup : A multiplayer match of a specific game (past cups have featured Counter-Strike , Age of Empires and even Wii Bowling ) with commentary usually done by commentators from gaming SHOUTcast organisation Gamestah.

Cross seasons

• Gamer Tonight : A fictional flash animated talk show starring Richard Farkas from the "Win the Beast" entry "The Pitch". It interviews a different genre of gamer each episode. It's animated by Ross "Rubber Ninja" O'Donovan, who came to this position after years of animation experience on online sources such as Newgrounds, and features the voice talents of Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson, Faye Mata and Kira Buckland.

Season One only

• The Team - Machinima : An Australian machinima video segment was shown each episode. This was highly criticised by fans on the forums. In season 2 this was replaced by Gamer Tonight.
• Build a Machine : In each episode of season 1, Dr Daneel looked each aspect of a computer, showing what parts to choose and how to install them among other things. This was tied in with the competition to win a computer that ran through the season.

Season Two only

• MeatSpace : A Lego stop pause animation created by community member Blunty (Nate Burr). It revolves around two friends and their gaming related incidents.
• Ask the Doc : A new segment in season 2 to replace the Build a Computer segment, Daneel helps people who have a fairly common technical computer problem. However, he also looked at how the Wii sensor bar works.
• Ultimate Showdown : A 'best of' style segment related to games. The segment looks at specific features of games such as the boss fights and opening sequences, and asks forum members to post their opinions on which game has the best one (e.g, which game has the best boss). The thoughts of the forum members are then mentioned while showing footage of the games.
• So you think you can game? : Segment presented by Aiyiah based on hints and tips for specific games. At the end he also gives a challenge for the featured game.

Season Three only

• Quarter Circle + A : A series of primarily animated video game parodies created by Rob Moffett and Benjamin Baker. Replacing Gamer Tonight and MeatSpace, The show's presentation is varied each week with formats ranging from machinima, fictional in-game footage, satirical video game reviews to lampooning 1950 educational films.

Season Four only

• Good Game "Game" : Was a competition for season 4. Viewers were asked to give suggestions and ideas for a playable game prototype. It was be developed by the Australian Film Commission and ABC TV. The game is called Office Wars. The prototype of Office Wars is available at this link:
• A Cartridge Affair : A spin on the show A Current Affair , this segment is a humourous news spin-off about a different game subject each week.
• Backwards compatibility : A new segment that goes over the best and worst of gaming history, and how this has helped shape the future of gaming. Continuing in season five.
• Fatal Rage of Conflict : This segment is a animation set in a 2D side-scrolling fighting game, but the 2 fighters Rick and Todd don't fight just complain over stupid things.

Season Five only

• WTF? (What Were They Thinking?) : This new segment talks about one game where either Junglist or Bajo criticise a game and question why that game was made in the first place.
• Good Game "Serious Game" : With the Good Game game, Office Wars released, Bajo and Junglist announced on episode 4 of season 5 that a serious game (a game designed for a purpose rather than amusement) would be developed. The game is in its early pre-development stages.
• Great Gaming Moments : This segment displays a moment in a particular game where something happens that is dubbed as 'classic' or a moment that has been long-awaited, such as where in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time the character draws the 'Master Sword' from the stone, which turned the young character into an adult and unlocked a whole new way of playing.

Societal impact

Audience

Recently, there has been a significant shortage of Australian technology and game related content in the Media. The ABC realised there was an open market for this and developed the show Good Game on ABC2. Their prime target audience consists of both new and professional gamers. Producer Janet Carr said herself that "The gaming community are harsh critics" , which indicates the program will have to cater to a 'tough market'. Ray (Junglist) said that, "Good Game is all about bringing the gamers what they want, showing them stuff that they will actually be interested in watching, and we can do this because we are gamers ourselves." The show is filmed in the 'Den of Gaming': a gamer's paradise with the latest gaming equipment and a plasma television. This is intended to appeal to the target audience, with their wide variety of gaming devices.

It has been identified that three quarters of Australian households contain a device by which computer or console games may be played, with over $850 million AUD spent on gaming products annually. ^[5]

Feedback

The main source of feedback received for Good Game is from their Official website forums. The hosts, and some members of the crew actively browse these forums and take a lot of constructive promotion or criticism on board. They readily listen to the public to identify what their target audience wants to see on the show. Reviews are also given by the viewers on the forums, and can be awarded prizes on the show for the best review. Viewers' comments are also referred to during the show, given they are relevant to the current game of discussion. The Good Game Forum is now the largest ABC television forum with over 920,000 messages, 857 topics, and over 6000 contributors. ^[6]

Awards

At the 2008 IT Journalism awards Good Game was awarded with a "Lizzie" for Best Multimedia Coverage of 2007 and also the biggest award of the night, the Gold "Lizzie" for Best Title of 2007. Special mention was made that Good Game won the Gold "Lizzie" by the most votes in the awards history. Good Game was also commended in the Best Gaming Title of 2007 category and Good Game's researcher Maurice Branscombe was also highly commended in the Best Gaming Journalist of 2007 category.

Good game also picked up a "Lizzie" in 2009, for "Best Video Production".

References

1. Gamers go prime-time on ABC
2. Good Game Returns
3. Gamers go prime-time on ABC
4. Good Game
5. GOOD GAME: A PROGRAM BY GAMERS FOR GAMERS ON ABC2
6. ABC Message Board