Retro Yakking

I say, get me out of here at once! Good heavens.

The modern gamer is spoilt for choice. They can load up the latest news and reviews on any new release they’re looking to buy with a few simple clicks of a mouse via this thing I believe they call the Internet. There are gaming networks with hints, tips and cheats as well as discussion boards and forums so people can chat about their experiences with individual games or consoles.

It wasn’t always like this though - time was you had to rely on magazines, Teletext and word of mouth to find out what a game is like. There was another option, though - a Channel 4 television show for kids (and adults) alike to get their gaming fix. That show was known as GamesMaster, and it was quite literally a juggernaught of its time, spanning seven series and the vast part of a decade.

Of course, GamesMaster wasn’t the only computer and video games show on the telly. Many other series looked to emulate its achievements, with varying success, but none really made quite the same cultural impact as GamesMaster, with its robotic Patrick Moore-voiced computer thingy, cheeky chappie presenter and double entendre-laden dialogue.

There was, however, one very similar programme from the same stable - Hewland International - the games contest show Games World. In many ways, it expanded on GamesMaster’s ‘head to head’ format, running three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) on Sky One. Friday’s show would see winners from the past week taking on The Videators, a bunch of cartoonesque bad guys in strange costumes. One guy in particular, Electric Eddie, seemed almost unbeatable, and I doubt anyone who ever watched the show could forget Big Boy Barry.

Now you can watch clips from both shows courtesy a group of dedicated fans. The guys who brought you the semi-official GamesMaster Live website (many original tapes are courtesy of GW co-presenter Dave Perry!) have now branched out to YouTube with the irrepressible GMLTV. It’s only been up a few days, but already the total uploaded clips number more than 25, and with many, many more classic contests and segments yet to be added it’s all set to be an absolute beast of channel for retro video game buffs.

This relaunch of the now defunct GamesMasterTV coincides with a new deal between original broadcasters Channel 4 and YouTube to bring full-length shows such as Hollyoaks and Father Ted to the video sharing website. It is all a bit of a co-incidence, however, as it’s unlikely Channel 4 themselves will upload any of the old GamesMaster shows in full, or even endorse GMLTV’s existence. Or will they? Stick with us to find out.

A shout out to the wonderful Channel 4 who, unlike certain other outlets, aren’t being absolute babies about the whole thing. Around 18 months ago, I uploaded segments from an old GamesMaster episode to one of my YouTube channels. Now, they could have been killjoys and had the videos taken down, but like the cutting edge, finger-on-the-pulse network they are, they allowed the clips to stay, paving the way for channels such as GMLTV. Good on ya guys!

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