Today is a big day for the mainstream acceptance of gaming: from now until Sunday, BBC Three is going to be streaming the League of Legends Championships live from Wembley.
Of course, they're streaming it online - still there remains a reluctance to show any sort of gaming coverage on proper TV - but it's an important and significant step nevertheless.
It's the first time a major broadcaster has filmed any sort of gaming content in aeons - unless you count the GTA drama on BBC2 last month. You know: the one that didn't quite have the confidence to show games development as it actually is, almost as if it was trying to paraphrase or sex-up everything for people who don't really understand gaming.
More pertinently, the League of Legends thing is a collaboration between BBC Three and BBC Sport, giving it some degree of real mainstream legitimacy. It's long overdue... but for the sake of the BBC, I sincerely hope it's the start of a trend for the corporation.
Of course, they're streaming it online - still there remains a reluctance to show any sort of gaming coverage on proper TV - but it's an important and significant step nevertheless.
It's the first time a major broadcaster has filmed any sort of gaming content in aeons - unless you count the GTA drama on BBC2 last month. You know: the one that didn't quite have the confidence to show games development as it actually is, almost as if it was trying to paraphrase or sex-up everything for people who don't really understand gaming.
More pertinently, the League of Legends thing is a collaboration between BBC Three and BBC Sport, giving it some degree of real mainstream legitimacy. It's long overdue... but for the sake of the BBC, I sincerely hope it's the start of a trend for the corporation.
YOUNGER PEOPLE ARE THE PROBLEM
The BBC and other broadcasters have a problem; younger people - the ones who would've in the past been groomed as the next generation of TV viewers - aren't watching TV like they once were. Instead, they're watching YouTubers, playing video games, talking to friends on WhatsApp and Instagram and Twitter, or building things in Minecraft.
Viewing habits are changing, and they're changing rapidly. So rapidly, that TV executives don't entirely understand what's going on, or how to keep pace with it. I speak as someone who has first hand experience of how the BBC operates: there's a reluctance to let go of what worked in the past, and what is familiar to programme makers.
Broadly speaking, what's happening is that while parents and pensioners are still watching telly, many viewers are deserting TV once they're past CBeebies age... and it's all so new that nobody yet knows whether they're ever going to come back. How is the generation behind us going to consume their entertainment in the decades to come? It's a question that only time can answer.
I believe that part of the issue why it's changing so fast is that the online world is so immediate. TV, generally speaking, moves at a glacial pace. In part it's because there are lots of cooks involved, and huge sums of money. Podcasters, vloggers, and websites don't need to hold multiple commissioning meetings: they can have an idea, and act - or react - upon it that day. There's a symbiotic relationship between online celebrity and its audience.
The sense I get is that the establishment is scared of what's happening online in the same way they were scared of punk. Punk music spoke to a generation that felt excluded and convinced them they could be in a band. YouTube is - for all its Zoellas and FilthyFranks and Nerdists and Smoshes - this generation's punk. But unlike punk, I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.
By comparison, the BBC looks old, slow, and stuffy. Safe, like a parent. And parents aren't cool - kids reach a certain age and have to kick against that. Before they didn't have another option: they were a captive audience. Now a whole other universe is sprawled out before them, inviting them in.
The BBC and other broadcasters have a problem; younger people - the ones who would've in the past been groomed as the next generation of TV viewers - aren't watching TV like they once were. Instead, they're watching YouTubers, playing video games, talking to friends on WhatsApp and Instagram and Twitter, or building things in Minecraft.
Viewing habits are changing, and they're changing rapidly. So rapidly, that TV executives don't entirely understand what's going on, or how to keep pace with it. I speak as someone who has first hand experience of how the BBC operates: there's a reluctance to let go of what worked in the past, and what is familiar to programme makers.
Broadly speaking, what's happening is that while parents and pensioners are still watching telly, many viewers are deserting TV once they're past CBeebies age... and it's all so new that nobody yet knows whether they're ever going to come back. How is the generation behind us going to consume their entertainment in the decades to come? It's a question that only time can answer.
I believe that part of the issue why it's changing so fast is that the online world is so immediate. TV, generally speaking, moves at a glacial pace. In part it's because there are lots of cooks involved, and huge sums of money. Podcasters, vloggers, and websites don't need to hold multiple commissioning meetings: they can have an idea, and act - or react - upon it that day. There's a symbiotic relationship between online celebrity and its audience.
The sense I get is that the establishment is scared of what's happening online in the same way they were scared of punk. Punk music spoke to a generation that felt excluded and convinced them they could be in a band. YouTube is - for all its Zoellas and FilthyFranks and Nerdists and Smoshes - this generation's punk. But unlike punk, I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon.
By comparison, the BBC looks old, slow, and stuffy. Safe, like a parent. And parents aren't cool - kids reach a certain age and have to kick against that. Before they didn't have another option: they were a captive audience. Now a whole other universe is sprawled out before them, inviting them in.
LOVE
Don't get me wrong: I adore the BBC (and not just because the BBC gives me work from time to time).
I think it's invaluable, has united the country over the past century, and is a brand that's rightly respected and envied around the world.
It's not perfect - no huge organisation could be - but when the BBC is at its best there's nothing to touch it. Most of my favourite TV shows growing up were BBC shows, and I probably watch more BBC stuff than anything from any other British broadcaster. Although, if I'm honest, I watch just as much YouTube (and I'm 78 next birthday)...
But the BBC does need to evolve, if not organisationally, then it needs to change creatively. Turning it into a commercial organisation, or diminishing it in any way - as a sop to Rupert Murdoch's friends in the government - is not the solution. Frankly, let's not pretend that the current debate surrounding the BBC is about anything other than keeping people like Sky and The Daily Mail happy - they'd all benefit commercially if the BBC went down. But there is a debate worth having there.
For me, the League of Legends screening is more a step in the right direction for the BBC than any repurposing of the license fee. The conversation surrounding the corporation should be about the types of content it's producing, and how to retain and speak to its audience. Anyone with kids knows that they're not watching TV as they once were. Gone are the days when we'd all go into school and discuss the previous evening's episode of Grange Hill. The audience has fragmented.
The BBC should speak to all of Britain, but it has struggled to recognise that there are huge swathes of potential viewers that it isn't speaking to. It can't be all things to all people - there's an entire nation to serve. However, the BBC's remit allows it to take chances, and at least speak to audiences that would be ignored by commercial broadcasters.
Basically, one of those audiences is us: the geeks.
Don't get me wrong: I adore the BBC (and not just because the BBC gives me work from time to time).
I think it's invaluable, has united the country over the past century, and is a brand that's rightly respected and envied around the world.
It's not perfect - no huge organisation could be - but when the BBC is at its best there's nothing to touch it. Most of my favourite TV shows growing up were BBC shows, and I probably watch more BBC stuff than anything from any other British broadcaster. Although, if I'm honest, I watch just as much YouTube (and I'm 78 next birthday)...
But the BBC does need to evolve, if not organisationally, then it needs to change creatively. Turning it into a commercial organisation, or diminishing it in any way - as a sop to Rupert Murdoch's friends in the government - is not the solution. Frankly, let's not pretend that the current debate surrounding the BBC is about anything other than keeping people like Sky and The Daily Mail happy - they'd all benefit commercially if the BBC went down. But there is a debate worth having there.
For me, the League of Legends screening is more a step in the right direction for the BBC than any repurposing of the license fee. The conversation surrounding the corporation should be about the types of content it's producing, and how to retain and speak to its audience. Anyone with kids knows that they're not watching TV as they once were. Gone are the days when we'd all go into school and discuss the previous evening's episode of Grange Hill. The audience has fragmented.
The BBC should speak to all of Britain, but it has struggled to recognise that there are huge swathes of potential viewers that it isn't speaking to. It can't be all things to all people - there's an entire nation to serve. However, the BBC's remit allows it to take chances, and at least speak to audiences that would be ignored by commercial broadcasters.
Basically, one of those audiences is us: the geeks.
GENERATION PEWDIEPIE
When you look at how video games sell, when you see the viewing stats that the likes of PewDiePie get, the economic contribution that the games industry makes, the sense of community you get at the cons and expos, it's bizarre how gaming still somehow feels like this underground thing.
It's like John Carpenter's They Live - the aliens are already living among us, the invasion is over. And the aliens won. And - plot twist! - we're the aliens. But the establishment doesn't see that yet, or is generally turning a blind eye to it... fingers in ears, and "Tra-la-la", for... reasons.
What makes this doubly frustrating for those who want to see a proper games show on TV - one bolstered by the budget and behind-the-camera talent that only a big broadcaster can offer - is that there used to be games coverage on telly. 20 years ago we had GamesMaster, Bad Influence, Games World... regular gaming slots on the radio. What the hell happened?
Gaming TV doesn't have to be dull. A Top Gear or Great British Bake-Off for gamers is crying out to be made: something that speaks the language of its main audience without excluding other people. Something that's just good telly, and is enjoyable to watch in its own right. Basically, the sort of show the BBC excels at.
That's my biggest worry about the League of Legends streaming - that it's the very definition of hardcore. I mean, I don't want to watch a load of people playing some game I'm not familiar with - and I love video games. But it's better than nothing, and I really hope more than just a sop.
I want it to be a legitimate attempt to reach out to an audience, and pray that the BBC doesn't slap that audience's hand away the second it's over.
When you look at how video games sell, when you see the viewing stats that the likes of PewDiePie get, the economic contribution that the games industry makes, the sense of community you get at the cons and expos, it's bizarre how gaming still somehow feels like this underground thing.
It's like John Carpenter's They Live - the aliens are already living among us, the invasion is over. And the aliens won. And - plot twist! - we're the aliens. But the establishment doesn't see that yet, or is generally turning a blind eye to it... fingers in ears, and "Tra-la-la", for... reasons.
What makes this doubly frustrating for those who want to see a proper games show on TV - one bolstered by the budget and behind-the-camera talent that only a big broadcaster can offer - is that there used to be games coverage on telly. 20 years ago we had GamesMaster, Bad Influence, Games World... regular gaming slots on the radio. What the hell happened?
Gaming TV doesn't have to be dull. A Top Gear or Great British Bake-Off for gamers is crying out to be made: something that speaks the language of its main audience without excluding other people. Something that's just good telly, and is enjoyable to watch in its own right. Basically, the sort of show the BBC excels at.
That's my biggest worry about the League of Legends streaming - that it's the very definition of hardcore. I mean, I don't want to watch a load of people playing some game I'm not familiar with - and I love video games. But it's better than nothing, and I really hope more than just a sop.
I want it to be a legitimate attempt to reach out to an audience, and pray that the BBC doesn't slap that audience's hand away the second it's over.
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