''VideoGaiden'' is a Scottish computer games

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

show that was broadcast by

BBC Two Scotland BBC Two Scotland ( gd, BBC Dhà Alba) was the national variation of BBC Two for BBC Scotland. It was broadcast via digital television and was the sister Scottish channel of BBC One Scotland and Gaelic-language BBC Alba. Unlike BBC One Scotland, ...

. Its creators and presenters,

Robert Florence Robert Luke McBrian Florence (born 29 July 1977) is a Scottish presenter, comedian and writer who starred in the BBC comedy sketch show '' Burnistoun''. Early life Robert Florence was born on 29 July 1977 and was raised in a working-class fa ...

("Rab") and Ryan Macleod, were responsible for the internet-distributed

videogaming Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...

show '' Consolevania'', upon which the show is based. The show began as six ten-minute episodes on BBC Two Scotland, broadcast at around midnight on Fridays starting in December 2005. The episodes were also able to be viewed online from the BBC's web site. A second series, consisting of six half-hour episodes, was commissioned by popular demand and began broadcast on Sunday 5 November 2006 at 11:10pm, with episodes once again available on the BBC's website. A third series consisting of eighteen weekly 11-minute online episodes began in December 2007, with three half-hour TV specials episodes also being produced. A Christmas special aired on 23 December 2007. A fourth series of the show was announced on 31 December 2015. Series 4 began in March 2016, and consists of six online episodes and one televised special. ''Gaiden'' (外伝) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

word meaning 'side-story', a reference to the show's relationship to its predecessor ''Consolevania''.

Format

Series One (2005)

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

MiniDV DV refers to a family of codecs and videotape, tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of camcorder, video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly ...

, the majority of series was filmed on a Sony HVR-Z1

This small scale camera made in possible to shoot series in 16:9, but without an expensive

DigiBeta Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. All ...

kit and crew; something that the small production budget would not allow. Recurring features unique to the first series were sketches about terrible video game pitches (like ''

Black and White Minstrel Show ''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' was a British light entertainment show that ran for twenty years on BBC prime-time television. Running from 1958 to 1978, it was a weekly variety show that presented traditional American minstrel and count ...

2006''), Glasgow hard-man Barry Anoki reporting on video game news, and a spoof soap opera about video game development called ''DevCo''. The "Gaiden Top 100" was ostensibly a series of talking-head interviews on the best games of all time, but in fact provided thinly veiled mockery or game-inspired jokes. Each episode in this series ended with a brief sketch which ran over the end credits, featuring a fictional world-famous video gamer called Legend (a carry-over from ''Consolevania'') discussing his childhood.

Series Two (2006)

The second series had less of a sketch basis. While the opening comments and the style of reviews were the same and the Top 100 returned, most of the comedy was changed. This series also included a wide range of special guests, such as journalist

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

and actor

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

appearing in character as the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Ba ...

. Non-game reviews were featured in the style of a new games journalism panel discussion called "Eternal Pixel" (compare to ''

Newsnight Review ''The Review Show'' was a British discussion programme dedicated to the arts which ran, under several titles, from 1994 to 2014. The programme featured a panel of guests who reviewed developments in the world of the arts and culture. History ' ...

''). More episodes of Eternal Pixel were filmed than aired, with plans to release these additional episodes online; however, these did not come to fruitio

In the first three episodes there was a "funeral" for a now-deceased console, followed by recommendations of notable games. Each episode included "A Warning From History", showcasing appalling old gaming action, followed by a game recommendation from Socrates, a "games criticism robot" made from cardboard. Of particular note was the "Gaiden Guide to..." series 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 show also ran an (apparently BBC-sanctioned) campaign to have the ''

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for Dreamcast. '' Shenmue III,'' developed by Suzuki's company Y ...

'' series either continued or permanently consigned to history. Rab and Ryan called on gamers to produce ''Shenmue'' tributes or outright mockery, respectivel

Updates on the progress of the campaign including notable comments on the internet were included in each episode. Rab won overall, with the public favouring the return of ''Shenmue''. However, an unofficial statement from Sega warned them not to expect a new installment for some time. 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.

Series Three (2007–2008)

Series three was broadcast online o
the BBC's VideoGaiden website
with each weekly episode lasting around 11 to 13 minutes. The series generally contained two regular reviews lasting a couple of minutes each, and one shorter review comprising only video game footage and voice overs. These would be interspersed with short comedy sketches. Each episode would also have a bookending pair of sketches that would only rarely be returned to during the course of the series as a whole. An ongoing serial called Hunter and Rayorg featuring CGI versions of Rab and Ryan was one of only two recurring sketches. The other was VideoGaiden Worldwide News, which had Rab and Ryan interviewing a number of correspondents: a manager from a games store in Scotland (G-Force, Glasgow) who announced that week's top-selling titles; an English correspondent who is clearly Scottish; and a woman in Japan, who would always end up reviewing Japanese cuisine, despite claiming that she was talking about video games. Each week would also see Rab and Ryan trying to contact a representative in the US, before announcing that they couldn't get the satellite link-up working and giving up. This was changed briefly in episodes four and five, when US comedians

Tim Heidecker Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric. He has also appeared in films, including '' Bridesmai ...

and

Eric Wareheim Eric Alexander Wareheim (; born April 7, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, and winemaker. He is best known as one half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, alongside Tim Heidecker. He also had a recurring role on the Netf ...

(both of ''

Tom Goes to the Mayor ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'' is an American adult animated series created by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 14, 2004 and ended on September 25, 2006 with a t ...

'' fame) made guest appearances.

Series Four (2016)

On New Year's Eve 2015, Ryan Macleod and

via

Periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

announced a return of ''videoGaiden'', after eight years. The first episode was released on YouTube on 3 March 2016. Series 4 features review segments, the videoGaiden top 100, Ryan's coverage of indie games, Rab's coverage of board games and segments of the two realising they are trapped in an existential prison.

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0880433, videoGaiden BBC Scotland television shows Television shows about video games 2005 Scottish television series debuts 2008 Scottish television series endings 2000s Scottish television series