Go 8 Bit

Revision as of 18:37, 29 May 2017

Synopsis

Comedians play video games in front of an audience.

Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon team up with this week's guest celebrities for a romp through computer game history. Ellie Gibson explains the history of the game, and how it did (or didn't) alter game history.

Cubes and cubes.

The best way to explore games is to play them, and Go 8 Bit has lots of challenges. Complete a level, out-score your opponent, shoot them in the points. The show mixes 8-bit games from the Spectrum and Atari, later Nintendo and Sega games, and some of the weirder ones on the market now.

Do you wanna bet on it? Don't fret, get set, are you ready?

Each week's final challenge is done live in the studio - a controller that works by tapping people, for instance.

Cilla Black called, she wants her The Moment of Truth revolving stage back.

Go 8 Bit is adapted from a stage show, hosted by the games expert. For this television version, they brought in Dara O'Briain. He leads the conversation with the players, teasing out why the celebs have nominated their games.

Let's get clucking.

It is a contest, they do keep score - the audience votes with an app on their mobile computers to allocate a value.

Let's play Global Themonuclear War Tetris.

And there's a gimmick where the stage rotates - the big sofa is at right-angles to the big screen, and that's no way to play games.

The title sequence appears to come from 1984.

Go 8 Bit has rough edges - the rotating stage gimmick is used too much, and the audience voting appears random. The programme is honest and respectful, it treats video games as a mature cultural work suitable for critique.

Dara's pointless friend (or at least the female counterpart of his pointless friend), Ellie Gibson.

The show proved enough of a hit for Dave to commission two further series straight off the bat, together with a fanzine-type programme, Go 8 Bit DLC (it stands, a tad anachronistically, for DownLoadable Content) hosted by Ellie Gibson.

Inventors

Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon

Title music

Liam Tate, who used 8-bit synthesisers. Obviously.

Trivia

Voted the Best New Show in this site's Poll of 2016

Web links

Official site

Wikipedia entry

British Comedy Guide entry

Spin-off DLC has its own official site and British Comedy Guide entry

See also

Weaver's Week review

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