Videogames and television have always had an uneasy relationship. In the eighties and nineties audiences were subjected to magazine-style or competitive arena-type shows of varying quality, from Gamesmaster to Cybernet to Bits. Attempts to take a more serious look at the medium and its history have usually failed to take in the true depth and breadth of modern games culture, focusing instead on the twin cliches of virtual violence and the negative behavioural stereotypes associated with gaming.
Charlie Brooker’s Gameswipe, which aired on BBC3 earlier this year, addressed many of these long-held grievances and, despite its multitude of flaws, was considered about as good as games-based programming was likely to get. That’s why it’s such a pleasant and unexpected surprise that another BBC4 documentary has gone further still only a few months later and put a genuinely intelligent and though-provoking examination of the medium, from the early seventies onwards, on our screens.
Joystick Generation, the third episode of Games Britannia, a series exploring the history of games and play from the Middle Ages onwards, is a very British look at the development of the industry. Rather than concentrating on the accepted ‘canon’ history of videogames, from Pong to Space Invaders to Mario, it charts the progression from D&D to MUDs, from Manic Miner to Populous, all the way to Tomb Raider, Wipeout, GTA and LittleBigPlanet. This is the story of gaming as experienced in Britain rather than Japan or the USA and is firmly grounded in the social and cultural realities of Britain over the last four decades.
Naturally, there’s only so much any documentary can do in an hour and Joystick Generation races through the early years of the British games industry to plunge headlong into more modern fare. But it would be churlish to pull the program up for only focusing on a few key early titles when it features historian Benjamin Woolley playing Elite under the tutelage of David Braben and Black and White with Peter Molyneaux close to hand. The depth and complexity of these crucia games are explored in depth and the extent of the creative visions behind them lavishly praised.
Joystick Generation also features an extended look at the Grand Theft Auto phenomenon and while acknowledging the series more notorious aspects, digs deeper to explore issues of morality, free choice and the learning experience within the virtual confines of the GTA universe. LittleBigPlanet is also discussed at length, with particular focus on the game’s creative and social aspects and provides a very refreshing alternative to the usual sensationalist coverage of games in the mainstream media.
Joystick Generation’s greatest triumph, however, is that its creators have created a documentary which genuinely appeals to both gamers and non-gamers alike. As well as providing a whistle-stop tour of the history of the industry in Britain, there’s a serious attempt to do justice to more complex issues surrounding storytelling, game design and theory. Though for the most part lacking the celebrity pulling power of Charlie Brooker (who does appear briefly in several talking head segments and to provide analysis for GTA) and the *wipe brand, Joystick Generation is perhaps the first games-based television show to actually provide an accurate representation of what gaming means today.
It will be on iPlayer for another week and for anyone with even a passing interest in games should be counted as essential viewing. Even better, it doesn’t mention Modern Warfare 2 even once. Go watch.
