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FRINGE BENEFITS: FIGURING OUT THE FUTURE OF DIGITISER - by Mr Biffo

2/10/2019

57 Comments

 
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Digi's YouTube audience seems to be waking up to the fact that the channel's shift away from video games might not be a temporary thing. In the last week we've had the first comments saying that people miss us talking about old retro gaming tat. 

That's fine.

​I mean, I knew not everyone was going to appreciate two men arsing around with balloons - the video that seems to have been the final straw for a fair few people - but I also think it's important that I keep creating what I most strongly feel the urge to create. I knew full well that there's a sort of meta joke in the latest Digi video about a failed balloon modelling video being terrible content, and either you get that or you don't.

It's telling that while we lost a lot of subscribers in the wake of it... we gained just as many too.

In all honesty, if writing the original Digitiser for Teletext hadn't been my job, there's no way it would've had as much gaming content as it did have.

I've never really identified with being that sort of hardcore gamer. I've always felt I was someone on the fringes of gaming, who just ended up somehow working as a games journalist.

Having said that, it's important to state here that we've no real strategy for either this website or the YouTube channel, beyond wanting to enjoy ourselves. It might be that we shift back to gaming videos at some point, or we mix gaming vids in among the others.

I honestly don't know, because I tend to work on instinct, and I'm not trying to build a career here, or even, particularly, try and grow the channel. I've already got a career where I have to wear my grown-up hat, and I'd always take a dedicated smaller cult audience over a larger, take-it-or-leave-it, one. At the moment, I'm enjoying editing and being in these short videos more than anything else, so that's where my energies are going.

Earlier this year I was talking about Digitiser The Show Series 2, but now that I'm at a point where I could, conceivably, have the time to launch a Kickstarter for it... if I listen to my gut, the enthusiasm isn't there to step into the crowdfunding arena again. I need to have my blood up in order to take on a project of that magnitude.

I've talked a bit recently about feeling kind of burnt-out after a tough and busy year, but there are other things at play, really, and they come back to what I said above about feeling on the fringes.
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ONCE UPON A TIME...
Back in the 90s, Digitiser was never really a part of the games industry. We struggled at first to be taken seriously, and when people started taking us seriously, we undermined that, and would find ourselves back on the fringes. We took the piss out of other games mags, out of games companies, the PR people, the games... even our own audience. 

It was almost like our natural state was to be on the outside looking in, to push ourselves away from others - because it's the antithesis of what's expected - and it was only those who got that who came along for the ride. 

I think part of it is that neither Tim/Mr Hairs or I were really hardcore gamers, so we didn't identify with the zealous passion of others. Don't get me wrong; that's not a criticism of those people. I've always loved games, but they were always part of my life, rather than my life. I've always loved films and music as much as I enjoy games - perhaps even more so. Yet here I am, 27 years in the "Mr Biffo the games journalistst" box.

I do, I confess, sometimes find that restrictive. 

BANGS
What I've realised recently is that I'm back on the fringes (oddly, once again, paired with a similarly iconoclastic cohort, as I was back with Mr Hairs). This time it's the retro gaming community I struggle to feel a part of. Please don't mistake this as any sort of criticism or attack; there are loads of people in the retro community who I admire and I'm friendly with. You know who they are.

At the same time, I was invited to be part of Play Expo Blackpool in a couple of weeks, and now that I'm not - I'm going away a couple of days afterwards, so it wasn't really practical - it's actually kind of a relief. I mean, I'm just not sure how well I fit in with the retro community. I kind of struggle to understand that dedication to one thing, and admit I find the number of channels producing similar content to be a bit bewildering.

If that's what you're after... great! You're well-served, but I'm not the person you need to be looking for it from. I'll always be outside looking in. Or not even looking in. I can't help it.

When I look back at my life, I can say it's not just gaming; I was on the fringes at school - never quite in one of the cliques; I'm sort of on the fringes in my family, much as I love them all. Nobody ever entirely gets me, and those times I have found myself a part of a clique, it's often because I've ended up suppressing the real me. 

It's kind of telling that my wife and I both thought the other was a "grown-up" when we first met, but we didn't get together until we dropped that act, and were happy to be seen as ourselves, for all our mutual weirdness.

So maybe it's a learned thing, maybe it's just in my head, or maybe I'm just a bit strange, and don't really belong anywhere except with other weirdoes. But when I do find those I click with - be it Digi's most dedicated audience members, a best friend, a wife, a comedy or writing partner - they always tend to be, like me, somebody who's more at home on the fringes.

People who don't fit so well into a box. Outsiders.
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GLASNOST
Don't think I'm always at peace with this. Sometimes I wish I could fit in better with the pack, but if I accept that the fact I don't does tend to come from me. I do get asked to be a part of retro gaming community things quite often - and be part of the gang with the usual suspects - but it's rare that I take up those offers. 

I find the idea of fitting in incredibly seductive. My wife called me eccentric the other day, and my instinctive reaction was to be taken aback. It's a label I struggle with - because of course I'd rather be "normal" - but I've had to accept that I'm not. When I stop to think, it's clear I'm always drawn to those who aren't part of the mainstream; my friends in the Centre for Fortean Zoology, Asperger's Are Us... people who see the world differently (and who I wish I was able to see more frequently).

I think that's why the Digitiser YouTube channel is evolving. It is, more than anything, a course correction, returning to a baseline that is more congruent and real. It's me reclaiming who I really am, and not being concerned with appealing to as big an audience as possible. 

I don't really feel like a central part of the gaming community, and it's time to make that clear in what I'm creating.

Of course I understand we'll lose a few people along the way, but I'm emboldened by the people we don't lose; those who watch everything we do religiously, because they get it. That's who we're making videos for, and I think I need to apply the same to this site. 

It's great that there are so many people making less challenging gaming content, because there's clearly a massive audience for it. That's not what Digitiser is for. It never was; we only had a huge audience back in the day, because there wasn't really another daily alternative to gaming info.

Yet it's telling that here we are 16 years after that first era of Digi came to an end, and plenty of people remember it fondly. Nay; passionately. Our audience is big enough, thanks.
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WHAT'S THE POINT OF ALL THIS?
So where am I going with this? Well, this is my working-out. For the last few years, I've had these periods towards the end of every year where I stock, and make course corrections, so that I'm on the most congruent path.

Digitiser The Show was, in lots of ways, me playing the role of Mr Biffo The Games Journalist - the person many think I am. Proud as I am of what we achieved, it's telling that I'm less pleased with the end result than I was with Mr Biffo's Found Footage, or the recent Digitiser Minis... both of which feel much more true to me.

Or even mine and Mr Hairs' old BBC Three pilot Biffovision, which was made with the minimum of input from producers. 

Digitiser The Show was a huge machine, where I listened to a lot of outside voices, and so I feel the end result wasn't entirely mine. Because I was out of my comfort zone, and had set myself the challenge of producing a "proper" gaming show, with me as presenter, I lacked confidence in my vision for it. 

It's like painting a picture, and ten people standing over your shoulder telling you to make the subject's hair brown, when you instinctively want to make it green. But you listen to them anyway, and though the end result might be pleasing to more eyes... it's not as pleasing to you as it would've been if you'd just stuck to your guns.

Consequently, Digitiser The Show - for me - had some of its edge sanded away, I was mildly disappointed with how it turned out, and so if I'm going to dedicate 18-months of my life to a project for which I'm not getting paid (and it's still rumbling along; we've yet to fulfill the backer rewards, due to a hold-up with the Digitiser Live footage), it has to be something that I love, rather than like. 

That's the only consideration; not whether other people enjoy it - whether I enjoy it. If that happens, then it's criticism-proof, because there's no arguing with something which has turned out exactly how the creator wanted. Not least if the creator is well aware that they're making stuff only for people like them. 
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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
So what's next?

I'm currently getting ahead on editing more Digi Mini videos. They'll keep coming for as long as I'm enjoying doing them. Gannon will continue to be my co-host, but we're hoping to get some guests in, as soon as we can. Larry and Octav1us will guest when we can, but it's important to draw a line under Digitiser The Show, and those who tune in expecting gaming content. My wife Sanya was a big hit on her first appearance, so she'll be back with us when we do another filming session. 

I like the desk-based nature of the Minis, but I don't want it to get stale, so we've tentative plans for some on-location episodes. Also, I'm toying with doing some live streams. As mentioned above, I'm off to America in a couple of weeks, and even thought I might do some live streams from there, if I can find the time while over there.

I've also an urge to do a podcast... I just don't know what about yet.

In short; I want to keep evolving the Digi brand, and keep the channel feeling fresh, and move towards it looking more professional (even if the content continues to be as sloppy and shambolic as ever). My Patreon has really helped with that; I've bought new sound gear in recent weeks, a couple of new cameras, and three new lights. None of that would be possible without your support.

I need to get the Digitiser The Show rewards fulfilled, but there's no doing that until the live show is edited. And that's kind of dependent at the minute on how soon I get the footage back. 

After that... sometime next year I'll have hopefully got it clear in my head what the next big project is. I've already mentioned that we've considered doing a sort of Saturday morning kids' show for grown ups... but even that I'm wavering on now. It's a great idea, but it feels so "big" that I'm daunted by it.

You have to remember that all of these major projects are mainly on my shoulders, and I need to know we're going to raise enough money to make it happen... and without the gaming community's wider support (which brings with it the sort of expectations that led to me compromising the original vision for Digitiser The Show anyway) I don't know if we'll get it.

It might even be that the way forwards for Mr Biffo-style weirdness is the live arena, but right now, I've even been toying with doing something along the lines of Mr Biffo's Found Footage again; another free-wheeling stream-of-consciousness, that would require less budget, and have less expectation around it.

And then there's this site...
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WHYYYY?
Digitiser2000 was started because I needed it.

I'd missed writing stuff that wasn't scripts - I'd even missed writing about games. I had an itch that I needed to scratch, and I needed something that was mine. It was a lovely surprise when it transpired that I still had an audience - though far smaller than back in the day - and that led to discovering such a lovely community of like-minded weirdoes. 

The site has never been a huge hit. We've had spikes of interest, where the views have soared, and though I was never doing it for the views - again, which bring a sort of responsiblity to maintain them -it's frustrating that it has never broken out, and telling that I don't write as many posts as I did in the early days.

I'm going to be honest... I don't know if I need it anymore, in the same way. I'm now getting that itch scratched in other ways, and five years in since the rebirth of Digitiser, what it is and what the brand means, especially now that I legally own the rights to it, has evolved. I've instinctively fought against that, because there'll always be a part of me which thinks I have to give people what they think they want, but it's probably time I listened to myself.

What this means, where we go from here, I don't know, but you can see from the recent long, personal, posts on here and Patreon that I'm trying to figure it out. I've got a platform, I've got a loyal, core, audience, and I'm very lucky to have all that. If I lose some of the audience and Patrons along the way that remains preferable to making stuff for others rather than myself. Hopefully new people will come aboard.

I'm not going anywhere, and this site will always remain as a focal point - but I just need to discover what it is I do with what I already have, and be sure that it's exactly what I want to do.

Stay tuned, and thanks for all the support over the past 5/27 years. 
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57 Comments
Chinny Hill
2/10/2019 11:13:38 am

Do what makes you happy. It's your channel, don't push yourself to places where you fall out of love with it.

And there's nothing wrong with being on the fringes. It's a more fun place to me. All that Play stuff with self promoters and hangers on. Certainly my view is that I already had a room full of old micros before I started a channel and I'd be using them if it was a popular hobby or if I had a channel or not. Everyone else is along for the ride IF they want to be. I don't have a gun to anyones head. I'm not jumping up and down going "look at me!".

Sorry you didn't feel Digi the series didn't come out as you wanted. I think it was actually a triumph. My only comment would be is that it seemed a bit overmanned at times which is something that can only be picked up in retrospect. But look at it this way. The juggernaught that is new Top Gear was quite different for its first series. They went away, looked at it, tweaked it and it became a huge hit. And like you, it was only simple stuff (sack the used car dealer, turn the lights down and drop the consumer stuff). Same with you. Nothing wrong with it, just needs a tweak.

But also don't lose sight of what you are good at. Dissecting games down to their very bones and taking the piss. There's a million channels out there eating awful looking food or dicking around, but there is only ONE Mr Biffo and only ONE Digi.

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Mr Biffo
2/10/2019 11:55:04 am

Cheers, Chinny. I always appreciate your feedback.

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Wapojif
2/10/2019 11:17:05 am

Digitiser back in the Teletext days was subversive. It's not a big surprise to see it doing the same now. I'm all up for that (em dash) if I want to see people endlessly playing retro games I'll watch AVGN. Some variation is always fun.

For those complaining, what exactly are you expecting? It's Digitiser, it was always surreal and different. This internet era seems to drag the inner entitlement and complainer out of some folks. So long as you cap off a complaint with "lol" then it's all in good jest, eh?

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Mr Biffo
2/10/2019 11:54:28 am

To be fair, nobody is really complaining, just remarking that they miss the gaming stuff, and some voting with their subscribe buttons. To be expected!

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Spiff/Paul
2/10/2019 11:39:16 am

I may have drastically oversimplified your very eloquent point, but where you mention being concerned that if you "abandon" the link to gaming you might not get enough support to realise your ambitions? I think you hit the nail on the head with the suggestion you try to see what the support is like for Found Footage-type sequel. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised that plenty of people will want to see more of Ghee Man and company. Like many of your older standing "fans" we discovered you due to your gaming journalism, but we stick with you because of YOU. And the fact that we (or me at least) just GET your sense of humour and enjoy however that manifests itself.

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Mr Biffo
2/10/2019 11:56:20 am

Ta, Paul. Interestingly, FF - certainly the earlier videos - have done far better than Digitiser The Show, so there might be something in that.

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Craig Grannell
2/10/2019 11:39:54 am

It’s a pity the show didn’t live up to your vision; I hope the live event at least came close. Personally, I loved them both. I’d have been very happy with another six episodes of Digi the Show, but not if knowing that wasn’t making you happy.

Ultimately, you have to do what you feel good doing. There’s no point trudging through the mire to meet people’s expectations on projects that aren’t part of your job. Where’s the fun in that? Since you had (have?) such great chemistry, it’s good to know the ‘other two’ are still potentially a part of Digi’s future as well.

As for the games, perhaps there’s only so much you can do before you’re like one of those old cartoon backgrounds on repeat. Magazines, if nothing else, have shown us that. Good luck regarding whatever comes next.

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Mr Biffo
2/10/2019 11:59:05 am

I'm still proud of Digi The Show - my disappointment is more with myself than with the actual end product, if that makes sense. It's more disappointment in what it ended up having to be to raise the money, because we needed to try and make it kind of semi-mainstream (which I still ended up undermining 'cos I'm me!).

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WhatHoSnorkers
2/10/2019 11:56:06 am

Good article. You need to do these things for YOU after all. I enjoy your stuff. I've not watched much of Digitiser the Show. I love the Digi Mini madness, and the glorious weirdness of Found Footage.

I'm quite happy with your content, and am happy to continue to subscribe and support you on Patreon.

If that changes, I shall quietly stroll on, as you don't owe me anything!

:)

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Mr Biffo
2/10/2019 12:00:43 pm

Ta, Snorks.

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Jim Leighton (Future World Darts Champion) x
2/10/2019 11:56:36 am

You do You la'.

Us arseholes that read/watch/chip in your content will probably gobble up what ever you throw at us.

The moaners, haters, leavers and snowflakes will always tell you how you should do things, but the only remedy for that is to *ahem* Keep Calm and Carry On old boy.

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Mr Biffo
2/10/2019 12:00:16 pm

I feel really lucky, because there aren't really any moaners or haters. The occasional one, but I feel very supported by the community and audience as a whole. Most unusual in this day and age!

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Taucher
2/10/2019 12:45:27 pm

I count myself as a fairly recent fan of this website and your output (I was aware of Digitiser in the 90s but I only had a moderate interest in videogames then). Despite really liking retro videogames I learnt a while back that I cant belong to the wider scene and that talking to someone about old videogames is only interesting up to a point. And this is why I like your output - I cant treat videogames with breathless reverence like other YouTube and websites want me to.

In the 90s I remember some of my friends caring passionately about the superiority of their console over the others, even to the point of friendships being lost, and I never understood that mentality and I believe that most of your audience, now with jobs, children, other life commitments, have moved on from that too.

This website (and its videos) have become a nice part of my day and I have definitely enjoyed the non-gaming related content as much, and in some case more, than the gaming content.

If you do decide to do a podcast, I'll be on board with that, too.

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Corrus
2/10/2019 12:46:11 pm

I liked Digitiser the series. I liked Found Footage. I like the new minis. The common denominator is you. Continue to mix it up bruv!

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Grant Adams
2/10/2019 12:50:35 pm

I think you do yourself (and Tim) a disservice, we came along for the digitiser ride precisely because it wasn't just about games by hardcore gamers, it was weird , it was left field, it was (partly) games, it was jokes, it was non jokes, it was fighting back against the fanboys and the games industry insiders, it was about being an outsider finally fitting in (if only for 20 minutes or so a day).... most of us here are a little bit "Mr Biffo" inside..... of the couple of digi/gc groups I'm in ,it's the splinter groups that I indulge in the most, and they very rarely go anywhere near games , just girls and guys with surreal humour helping one and other get through the day (hi everyone in Robs Cave)... my rambling point is go with your gut, you owe us nothing, and it in the long run it can only be for the best. Thank you for the last 27 (on / off) years

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Craig Grannell
2/10/2019 02:20:28 pm

Looking back, now I think about it, I didn’t read Digi much for the games stuff either. Tangentially, perhaps, but by that point I didn’t even own a modern games system anyway (I still had a C64 into the 1990s). I just liked being able to get a daily dose of silliness.

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Sithlordadam
2/10/2019 12:56:51 pm

I genuinely love where the channel is heading at the minute. For me the past month or twos minis have been my favourites giving me genuine out loud laughs. Even my wife finds you funny which is saying something as the things I find amusing are normally met with blank looks.

The move away from gaming content has never bothered me either. There’s goodness knows how many other retro channels providing content if that’s what you wish but I feel you, Paul and now Sanja (hope is spelt it correctly) are pretty much unique in what you are putting out and it genuinely brightens my day when the videos drop!

Keep it up and I am genuinely excited to where it all goes next....

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TheCatDaddy
2/10/2019 01:00:51 pm

Do what makes you happy. Since discovering your work through Found Footage I've hung around and enjoyed your various output. It resulted in me taking an interest in the retro game scene so thank you. If you did manage to produce some more Found Footage though I'd be a giddy kipper indeed.

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RichardM
2/10/2019 01:02:09 pm

I’ve been in favour of a podcast for yoinks - I’m not sure it has to be about much, if the hosts have good chemistry. Athletico Mince is just Bob Mortimer and Andy Dawson talking shit, and it works very well for me. I’ve only been dipping in and out of the minis because I don’t really watch YouTube, I just stick them on in the car and listen like it’s a podcast. They work pretty well that way too.

The best bit of Digitiser was always the irreverence and the characters: I don’t think I ever bought anything on the strength of a Digi review!

Looking forward to whatever comes next (and the Disney Star Wars report! Enjoy!).

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Geebs
2/10/2019 01:15:08 pm

Retro gaming is completely done to death anyway. Your best stuff (IMO) uses gaming as an excuse for some weirdness.

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Rudy Manchego link
2/10/2019 01:30:08 pm

I'm a very new reader/viewer/hanger on and I came across Digi The Show via the gaming/retro gaming world but to be honest, as much of a gamer as I am, I thought Digitiser could have replaced the games with most things and would still have worked at its core.

There are two things that are a massive challenge. First is enthusiasm. People both want what they want but at the same time, can tell if it is cynical and phoned in. Digitiser would get more views if it reviewed a game or console every week but would lose views when it is clear that there is no passion behind it.

Secondly, comedy is a harder sell than a topic. Comedy is far more subjective and doesn't have a clear target audience. A gamer is likely to click a video about something they are intersted in but not so much for comedy that is tangentially about what they like or even lampoons that subject matter.

Me and a friend do a very amateur podcast that is our juvenile attempt to parody amateur gaming podcasts and be silly. We have no clear target audience or indeed very little audience. I don't think we will ever get an audience because people either like or hate it and we are certainly not algorithm friendly. The key thing is, we like doing it, it makes us laugh and everything we put out is something we enjoy. That is what matters most.

So basically do what makes you and your collaboraters happy. Oh and more fart jokes. But don't kill yourselves. I mean literally, please don't. We may have to get the HSE on to you.

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Kevin Clarkson
2/10/2019 01:35:22 pm

To be honest, I come for the absurdity. I came in via retro games but I stayed because of Paul and yourself. And then there was the epic Live Show.

Keep doing what you want pally and by Nivvin's Pranny I'll be there to watch and laugh 🙂.

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Karl
2/10/2019 01:57:31 pm

Might be one of the odd ones out who came to Digitiser through finding Found Footage on youtube. It's your sense of humour and not quite knowing what to expect (other than a wonderful strangeness) that keeps me coming back to the videos.

With Digi the show I felt it sometimes it was a good retro gaming show but kinda missed the mark of what I loved about found footage. Then sonic would come on screen, make people sniff his rings and the ballance would be restored. When the Digi minis started I would watch only ones about gaming subjects that interested me but since it be came anything goes in the content department I've watched religiously. I'm a big retro gaming fan but feel there are better channels for retro gaming but no better channel for your style of weird and wonderful humour.

In my ideal world I'd love to see a Found Footage 2 which was more 'randomly' acquired video tapes that have nothing, story or recurring characters wise, related to the first found footage. In any case I hope you find a project to work on that you can feel truly passionate about making, I'll be watching!

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Jonno
2/10/2019 02:00:04 pm

I remember finding Digi in the 90s on account of looking for as much gaming content as I could cram down my gullet. Even as a (very) naive lad in his early teenage years I could see that the gaming was merely a shopfront for just sheer joyous silliness and lunacy. I guess in a way it made sense as we couldn't have been that far out of the Spectrum years and it's almost anarchic freedom for home coders to produce whatever they wanted

After witnessing Turner the Worm being sick it did feel like the end of an era for me. I wasnt far off heading to uni and it marked a key shift in my life. For all this to return 15 years later has been amazing for me and I'm forever grateful for the content you have produced. I'll always have a soft spot for gaming but to me Digi was something more... and with that I have no doubt I'll support whatever route you decide to take.

Cheers again!

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TreasureBloke
2/10/2019 02:46:27 pm

Remember there is a reasonable tyranny of the artist. You are only limited by physics. There are golden ages where people say their weird and wonderful thing and people love it. Then the audience starts to make demands and you end up producing the 'same old' because your wage depends on it. The best videos out there show weird people doing things and interests and they are of interest as well as their hobby. But you need change "The sleeper must awaken." -Dune. I am in agreement of your judging of your projects and how good they were.(love/like). Also can relate on the outsiderness. I think I am cut from the cloth of creative/imaginative outsider where there are others that aren't creative but are more technical. What we produce even if it's opinion is consumed by the latter, as we consume the infrastructure of physical civilised life they build. Bit like Fraggles and Dozers.

P.S. what cities you visiting in the states. Might have treasure buried in places for you to take photos of yourselves pointing at the ground at. Mail me if you wish to keep your holidays secret.

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Sedric-and-Charlie
2/10/2019 04:01:58 pm

The heart of Digitiser is chaos (and possibly ghee); I think as long as you maintain that wayward spirit it's no problem what medium or motif you use to channel it

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
2/10/2019 04:35:54 pm

I am here precisely because of the weirdness and fact it’s not all games. It feels real and sincere and personal in a way that almost no other game-related stuff out there does. Even if it’s not always about games. It’s like when you’re at a friend’s house ostensibly to play a game and it’s sitting there on the main menu screen for an hour because you’ve become distracted by something else.

Other places that try to capture this feeling invariably fail at it, because you can tell they’re forcing it.

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Chris Dyson link
2/10/2019 04:56:32 pm

Future?

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Adam
2/10/2019 05:21:18 pm

Perhaps you should move into key-cutting with Zammo.

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Chris deadbydayinblack Jordan link
2/10/2019 05:36:13 pm

Your show....... you are the rules master.
TBH I do wonder if the ones that want a closer return to games are maybe younger. And so never really grew up with digitizer on the tv. ( fucking 4 channels boys n girls....deal with it)
And thus are bemused at some of the random shite. Goujon John is for me a comic master piece and would not have been out of place on a "vic and bob" sort of show. Or even Absolutly ( fine bit of scottish humor that by the by).

Or maybe I am wrong
Mayeb I am an old twat with his finger so far off the zetigeist its went up my arse and came back out my mouth.

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Tyronne Mann
2/10/2019 06:19:05 pm

Paul, Like I said on Patreon - you just keep on doing whatever you wish to do as personally I really enjoy watching it regardless the subject matter :)

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Me
2/10/2019 06:35:53 pm

Refining the audience takes time... Stewart Lee went through his refining phase and emerged hated by many of the Fist of Fun and TMWRNJ crowd...but adored by those who got it.

Your brand is the best of British eccentrism and we love it. Arsing around with balloons was better than yet another video about the Vectrex or something.

If you build it etc

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Starbuck
2/10/2019 09:52:21 pm

TMWRNJ!

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Bongmaster
2/10/2019 06:45:54 pm

Its a journey and we are all along for the ride :) as long as its not poo-pottery :v

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Captain Commodore link
2/10/2019 06:48:32 pm

Keep doing exactly what you're doing Biffo, loving all the short videos. Totally understand where you're coming from in gaming exhaustion, it's why my own retro games site has rotted untouched for a decade. I just don't have any enthusiasm for it. But love seeing your daft videos of talking about tat, knob jokes, very bizarre things you should be banned from buying, eating peculiar substances. Don't be put off by the fickle Youtube commenting market, I for one watch every video without fail yet I simply don't comment on Youtube, I'm old fashioned and just passively watch things like I used to on a real television set. You're doing great, keep up the great work :)

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Melancolombia
2/10/2019 07:16:06 pm

I’m not sure how I found Digitiser in the first place. I’m fromSweden and have no real reason to relate to what it used to be before it came to youtube. But I couldn’t stop watching once I started and after finding (no pun intended?) Mr Biffos ’s found footage I was hooked. Just keep doing what you enjoy and I’ll enjoy watching you do it.

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Phil
2/10/2019 07:42:16 pm

At the end of the day Digi is yours and you need to do what makes you happy and motivated, I would do the same.

If I'm honest I'm still in to the retro gaming stuff and I have enjoyed your take on it but ultimately we are well served with retro gaming content, saturated. What we don't have a lot of is your off kilter weird humour, I really enjoyed found footage and would happily see more of that kind of stuff over the dissection of Super Mario. So I'm along for the ride. Can't wait to see what come next.

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Vicky @ The Motherhood link
2/10/2019 08:40:35 pm

I have been a online content creator for ten years and have gone through these phases where I don't fit in or feel pigeonholed into something I'm not, and in fact I'm having the same thing right now as being a mum to a teenager I've found my content drifting to other things but PRs and agencies see me as a site for kids things. When really the content I am known for is much more mature and that is why people like Warner Bros will not work with me as I have to many knob jokes on my blog and social media!

It was only when I was talking to a business networking event and telling people that they should be genuine on their social media as people buy people and not just a name that I realised that this was true to me too, and the same witn Digi. I know we watch because we love the chemistry between you all, it's not like anything else out there just now and you don't take yourself seriously which is awesome. We have conversations of the same ilk in our house on a day to day basis so you feel like an extension of our friends group with fart and knob gags galore!

But like everyone else has said, you do what makes you happy and we will be here.

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Pink le Cat
2/10/2019 09:08:29 pm

Just keep doing what you do. To be honest I'm looking forward to more utterly surreal content of the Mr Biffo's Found Footage sort. As much as I have a great nostalgia for gaming nonsense of Digitiser on teletext, I appreciate your particular brand of weirdness more than that.
Give us more madness please :)

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Rob Remakes
2/10/2019 10:01:37 pm

Just echoing what everyone else has said, really. Gotta do what you need to do for yourself.

When you resurrected Digi a few years back, I wasn't happy to have you round writing about games as much as having you round writing. And that's the same for video stuff.

I know I've mentioned it before but the video stuff is a highlight of my eldest's week. They look forward to what you put out and the games bit is entirely secondary for them too. It's been how long now and they still talk about trojan arse. But as a parent, it means a lot to have somewhere they can get a face full of abject inanity and for it not being made by actual nazis or something. It's something I've been able to recommend to others on that basis alone. I love that and appreciate your stuff all the more for it.

So yeah, you keep on doing you. That's the right way to go

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Sconner Campbell
2/10/2019 10:43:42 pm

Dear Biffo,

I think you worry too much mate! Do what you feel like doing. Personally I’ve liked how Digi has changed. I liked The Show - it had some genuinely hilarious moments, I loved when the Minis started and it’s been great watching them evolve (or dissolve!) into the somewhat ludicrous 20 minutes of stupidity and farce that as a patreon, I can’t wait for the next email saying a new vid is up. You and Gannon are why I’m watching Digi now, but depending on what direction you decide to go in, I’ll keep watching.

So if the next project is Found Footage 2, more Minis or maybe even revisiting Digi The Show in a couple of years if you fall back in love with that project, I can’t wait. Just keep the content coming whatever form it takes.
Bye!

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Stringfellow Hawke
2/10/2019 11:16:23 pm

To be honest I did kind of lose interest in the Minis when they drifted away from video games, though I guess you should go in the direction you find most rewarding.

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Jon Downes link
2/10/2019 11:27:24 pm

My dear chap, follow your star wherever it takes you. I for one will always be checking out where the path leads.

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Ben
2/10/2019 11:58:28 pm

I massively enjoy your videos, and the evolution they are going through. It's clear there is little enthusiasm in the gaming oriented ones, such as the mini consoles and VR vids, but there's a ton of other content to scratch that itch. I love Larry to bits, but again he's too "video games" for the channel. Octavius always seems like she really doesn't want to be there, it's an awkward and depressing watch. Your wife was a great breath of fresh air, however. You and Gannon have brilliant chemistry, and you seem in your element playing with retro kids toys - more of that, please! I only subscribe to 3 YT channels, Digitiser Guru Larry and MVG. Used to be 4 but Barshens went to absolute dog shit. Just keep going, it works out.

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James Walker
3/10/2019 12:15:50 am

Bloody hell biffo, i’m a bit pissed cos Liverpool played tonight but I can totally dig where you’re coming from on this one.
Digi the show and Found Footage are two different beasts for different reasons and I preferred one over the other (ff was best).

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Richard
3/10/2019 12:47:31 am

Keep it going the way you want. I find the Digi minis hilarious. You and Paul make a great team. As someone who suffers with depression and anxiety, finding joy in anything is hard. Watching your show actually makes me smile and laugh, something that doesn't happen often! Seeing you dicking around, having a laugh is great, even if setting fire to your hair doesn't happen everytime!! Keep up the good work and may it last for many years to come.

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Gordon Bennett
3/10/2019 01:10:34 am

I don't think that what you're saying here comes at all as a surprise. I read some time ago your concerns that when it comes to games coverage everything had been done before and you didn't like to talk about things that were already well covered.

It was around that point that I also noticed that your videos focused on more obscure hardware and toys. Something different. Personally I disagree with your assessment that there isn't fresh content to be had when it comes to classic games. Even on a road as well travelled as the Spectrum, there are hundreds of games outside of the better known and more popular ones that get little or no attention. Every time I flick through an issue of Crash or Your Sinclair I see games I'd either forgotten or never heard of at all.

However I respect your view and it may be possible that you don't feel those are distinct enough or interesting enough. It's your creative expression, it's your call and ultimately I'm here because I'm just as entertained by the balloons, the magic tricks and whatever that you like to cover in your style as I was the gaming content.

Keep doing what you enjoy, Biffo. Those of us who enjoy and appreciate what you're doing are happy to stay along for the ride.

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Phoenics
3/10/2019 02:38:03 am

I only found digitiser (fairly) recently, from your collab coll cheap show, and good god has it become stuck in deep as one of my favourite sources of absolutely bizarre, surreal, subversive and weird shit ever, I love it! Having a channel so dedicated to just making whatever the fuck and then taking absolutely monolithic amounts of piss, there's no channel like Digi, and i feel a real connection with the "weird/fringe" stuff. Guess I'm part of the cult audience then lol

As for streaming/on location/ podcast: ABSOLUTELY YES ! Also please if possible upload the streams to YouTube!! I also just found your patreon, and I desperately would love to see the Digi live footage somehow. Lol yep definitely cult audience, love your work, MIGHTY BIFFO! 😁

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Dowser00
3/10/2019 08:19:57 am

I was well into gaming in the 90s and found your reviews more honest than the gaming mags which was all part of the schtick you are talking about - you weren't insiders or beholden to advertisers so from you we could get...The truth about these games lol! Looking back though I wonder if the games were just acting as the straight man to lure us into the surrealism and whackiness

I'm still interested in what you think about games especially modern games even if you are bored stupid of their tropes and cliches because I still think if you find something that really engages you it'll probably engage me too?

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Phil
3/10/2019 12:29:28 pm

I read Digi when I didn't have any consoles or computers. It was the humour that kept me reading.

Be true to yourself Biffo; don't start producing content to appease the masses; it is a mistake as you say. Audiences do have an uncanny knack of being able to sniff out the genuine from the contrived. The latter has no soul and it's palpable; you can see the despair in the performers eyes.

You & Gannon could present sliced bread and it would still be funny. Do what you want, you'll always have us.

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Taz
3/10/2019 01:30:07 pm

No matter what you do or whatever direction you decide to go, people will always complain about something. You cannot please everybody all of the time.

The only people that need to be concerned are you and the fellow idiots that are creating this insane collection with yourself. If you like it then that is really all that matters and the chances are fellow idiots-in-arms such as myself will like the stuff you put out!

So what if there isn't as much gaming content.... just as long as you don't blow the house up everybody is a winner I reckon. Never try to chase that mythical formula that means overnight everyone will devour all your content, it doesn't exist.

Personally speaking, I am liking the new stuff, small slices of insanity that make me realise that I am not the only overgrown idiot in the universe, there is a whole collective of us out there and I think you will find that you aren't getting rid of us anytime soon !

But that plasterwork............

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Dansk404
3/10/2019 01:57:26 pm

I know I'm just echoing comments already made, but I will continue to watch you and Gannon dick about with whatever nonsense you've bought off the internet and sometimes cause minor injuries. You both play off against each other very well, and the game content for me I can take or leave, and I love a bit of retro.
The Digi YouTube channel is one of my main sources of entertainment, now complimented by Derek Findas thanks to your recommendation. Long may it continue.

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Blustons' Gowns
3/10/2019 02:12:51 pm

Am old, read Digi way back when it was on the telly. Digi was funniest when it slapped you out of nowhere with unexpected silliness and just left you confused and gasping for air. Even now Biffo's writing is still the funniest and most creative I've ever read. There's a silly innocence to it without being arch or offensive in any way. It's just funny, absurd and wholly original. I will miss that writing terribly if the site transitions (oo-er) over to Youtube fully. The video stuff just doesn't work for me as well as the writing - I can honestly say that Biffo's writing is the only thing that ever causes me to properly laugh these days - explosive, uncontrolled, belly laughter and crying. The videos just raise a bit of a smile.

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JB
3/10/2019 10:13:38 pm

It's taken me the best part of 23 years to write in to Digitiser.

I used to look forward to, and read, every word and page of Digi way back then. It was a subversive but safe place I could come when everything around me was changing beyond my control, and life was falling apart around me with the death of a parent.

When I discovered Digi 2000 a year or so ago it was a treasure trove of new content that I consumed like a rabid animal. It was also a chance to reconnect with my younger self and understand why I enjoyed your writing all that time ago, and why it had left such a lasting impression.

Since then I've checked in daily to consume any new posts, and lately videos and everything else you've done. It's become part of my daily ritual and life again, after all that time.

What you've created and provided on this site for free for all us freeloading numpts is nothing short of greatness. But nothing lasts forever as I'm all too aware, and if this is the end of the Digi site I wanted to finally actually write in and say thank you Paul. You are an absolute legend.

There, I did it!

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Clive Stone link
4/10/2019 12:29:14 am

I'll echo what's been said already - do what you bloody well like - you owe us nothing yet have achieved lots. I will add that you have gone from someone who didn't much like being in front of a camera pre-Digi the show to someone that is having a whale of a time doing what they love.

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Jacksioni
4/10/2019 10:08:18 pm

Back in the day, like you Biffo, games were a big part of my life.

But I never used to religiously peruse Digi on Teletext because of the games content. I used to send in rubbish cheats to try and get my name on the screen, to be part of that Grade A mucking about club curated by yourself.

Do what you want to. Found footage was glorious. The saturday morning thing sounds beautifully warped. I loved Digi The Show, but if thats not the future, sack it off.

In the meantime I shall look forward to a couple of idiots making Hi De Hi level innuendos, while setting their hair on fire X

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Peter Ainsworth link
12/10/2019 03:04:58 pm

I enjoyed Digitiser The Show and thought it was well done. Your current videos are funny as well. I guess we all reach a point where we get a bit bored with what we're doing and branch out to something new.

I'm at somewhat of a crossroads with what I do as well. I've been a gamer and developer for a long time, but I'm not famous for it. In fact I don't think I'd handle real fame very well at all...I'm also a full-time carer looking after my mum. I've sort of fallen out with developing games and I've not been playing that many either. I've decided to "reboot" the blog and have a try at writing about games, thinking that this may rekindle my love for gaming... It may not, but my blog is sitting around doing nothing, so I might as well put it to some use. Who knows, maybe playing games to write about them might turn out to be kinda fun...

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