Level Four of Discovery Channel Rise of Videogames Show: Starts like a God and ends, however you want?

" LEVEL FOUR

• Premiere: Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
  Ever since the invention of the computer, man has feared "the machine" and its ability to think. But a computer's unique computational power has also led to the development of unpredictable, intelligent and malleable games. "God games," like SimCity and Civilization, simulate entire worlds and let players experiment with cause and effect. As the 1990s dawned, global turmoil forced gamers to find solace in the world of videogames — a virtual world that offered control at a time when the real one seemed dangerously out of control. Now, videogames have become tools for learning and creative expression. Players use games like Halo and Unreal Tournament 3 to tell their own stories via Machinima or through custom content that is shared with others over the Internet. The line between producer and customer has forever blurred — further proof that videogames are destined to become the dominant form of entertainment. This episode features Will Wright (creator of SimCity, The Sims and Spore), Sid Meier (who developed the game series Civilization) and John Brennan (voice actor from the Jerky Boys and Family Guy)."DiscoveryChannel...

God games are discussed with another crazy look at the past and attempting to wrap an era around a game genre or games as a whole. With just as improbable parallels as those in episode 1. Simcity as a model for geopolitical cause and effect? Not really, most people looked at Simcity as a way to have a sandbox and play in it. It's not a mirror for reality, which they also state by admitting that real life has too many variables to see what happens. They also try to prove that in the early 90s people moved toward these games because they were more complicated and smarter. Yet today, most Sim-type games are usually purchased at Wal-Mart.

Making good versus evil and the whole morality thing being in the 90s is also insane. Considering the real good versus evil in games really didn't hit center stage until the first Black and White. Not Populous. Populous was just like Civilization or Simcity. There is no good or evil, you just do whatever you want and live with the effects of those actions. Wow, the show actually makes a good point. The Black and White games make a statement about religion. I guess even blind dogs find the door once in a while.

What is it about the military that is SO attractive for the makers of this television show. Certainly there are things in military technology that have seeped into every part of our culture. Why, are games being laser honed in on; as products of pure military heritage.

I would have liked to hear a good explanation of, WHAT exactly artificial intelligence does and how it works rather than just saying how great it is and how it came to be. Because this is definitely something that needs simplification for all most everyone.

I all ways love listening to what Will Wright and Peter Molyneux have to say. But to not really ask them too many things interesting, is kind of worthless and certainly a missed opportunity.

The moving from one era to another so often and so quickly in the name of discussing a theme is hard to follow for people who don't all ready know this stuff. And it is REALLY boring for the people who DO all ready know it. How can they go from the 70s or 80s to the 90s. Then all of a sudden start talking about present day. It's much too hard for the casual viewer to follow. Themed shows just aren't good for this type of thing. Either do history or do commentary on the modern era. Not just jump around like 9th grader writing his first term paper and expect people unfamiliar with the material to follow it.

The horribly over-viewed Mod community really is crazy. The whole thing just needs a rewrite. The microcosmic view of the world of video games is going to make the casual viewer think that all this has been going on without them knowing. The funny thing is, is that it has; but no one felt it to be important except the people in those communities. They are really crossing too many time periods and technological eras to make this whole thing understandable or even reasonable.

Machinima in the 90s? They are really stretching the boundaries here. Red versus Blue needed Halo and that came in 2001. Seems someone is putting the cart before the horse. What I really love about this show is that it uses dates when it serves the show. But when it doesn't, the dates and time frame is completely ignore it.

Rise of the Videogame began last night. But it should have been called the Rise of Lazy Documentary Writers!

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• LEVEL ONE
  Premiere: Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
  In the 1950s, the Cold War quickly evolved between the world superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. Mutually assured destruction enforced an uneasy stalemate, yet also drove computer technology to create missile simulations to predict the results of a nuclear war. This same computer technology was used to develop the first computer game in 1958 — Tennis for Two. The Space Race and the Vietnam war coincided with Steve Russell's game Space War! and the emergence of the first true giants in the video game business — Nolan Bushnell and Atari. In post-World War II Japan, electronics and computer technology emerged to rebuild a land and economy devastated by the atomic bomb. Space Invaders and Pac-Man soon followed, and the golden age of video games was born. Among others, individuals featured in this episode include Steve Russell, Nolan Bushnell, Ralph Baer (considered by many to be the inventor of the video game) and Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man designer). Video games emerged as a form of entertainment where the player was in control, as opposed to the more passive diversion of watching television."Discovery channel....

I'm really starting to wonder if the old adage about the video game industry being really small isn't more true than I could have imagined. This show is a great example. Everyone of these shows starts the same way and with the same people.
Here's some examples:
Nolan Bushnell (Check)
Ralph Baer (Check)
Peer Schneider from IGN (Check)
Heather Chaplin from Smartbomb (Check)
Aaron Ruby from Smartbomb (Check)
N'Gai Croal from Newsweek (Check)
Henry Jenkins from MIT (Check)
Tommy Tallarico (Check)

So what am I saying here? Well, it just seems crazy that in an industry where there are hundreds of people creating, writing, and marketing video games that these guys are all ways the ones that the writers or directors of these shows turn to. And who exactly is Stuart Moulder? I know I could just Google him but saying in his byline that he is a video game consultant is a little bit of a cop out isn't it?
Also why are all shows about video games made by the mass media are all ways about either the history of them or the controversy surrounding them?
Now, let me just say a couple of things about the show itself. How in the name of god do you get to equate video game history with global political history? It's like trying to compare the evolution of the potato chip with the history of Ireland. You can do it, but is anyone going to believe it?
Other than this theoretical flight of fancy. The rest of the show is basically a rip off of the old Game Makers shows on G4. These shows have albeit been abandoned because of different buyouts and marketing problems that they rarely air. But if they aired next to this show, the folks at Rise of the Videogame would be accused plagiarism. Oh and by the way, each one of those Game Makers shows which was formerly called Icons was a 1/2 hour This show that covers all most 5 or 6 of those shows in only an hour.
I think as big as this series supposedly is, they could have done without cutting corners and perhaps found some NEW information or gone more in-depth than those old ICONS or Gamemakers shows did. But, I guess that was too much work. Perhaps for Ken Burns next show, he'll call it, "Video Games!"
Oh, following their geopolitical scheme; what political statement does Tetris make about the world in which it was made?
Saying that games are Art and Culture is fine. But don't try and wrap some political or subconscious trappings on to Pac-Man, Pong, or Tetris.
Next up Nintendo and Donkey Kong.... I can't wait...