Retro|Spective 219: GamesMaster

[wakka]

To be honest even if you were stitched up, who cares lol. I can't imagine ever taking myself so seriously as to react like Dave Perry did.

The main reason it's a legendary moment imo is because of how badly he reacts. If he'd laughed it off like "Even the Games Animal has his off days!", probably no one would remember it.

The whole thing does have a v juvenile playground bullying vibe to it though.

It'll always be a mystery to me why I never watched Gamesmaster as a kid really. I guess maybe I was in the other room playing videogames! We had a lil ex-rental portable - RF-only, input fans - just for games with no aerial, and I was probably on that.

[Mayhem]

Like most, I remember seeing this at the time and thinking the guy acted like a petulant child (it was, as the kids say today, cringe). However, I read an article about it a couple of years ago which explained what happened, and I don't remember the details, but I came away from it much more sympathetic to him and I think he was stitched up for "content".

Was it this one?

https://littlebitsofgaming.com/2021/08/01/gamesmaster-a-retrospective-dave-perry-vs-mario-64/comment-page-1/

Weirdly enough I was reading it last week in relation to finding something Super Mario 64 related and it popped up in the search results. Yeah, if all of this was true, Dave was definitely stitched up in the sense that he had no idea SM64 was going to be the challenge title for the round and everyone else he could potentially face did and had been practicing it.

[Neon Ignition]

I think it says a lot that though it might seem odd now to be that big of a deal I genuinely remember it from when it originally aired. Given the shows tone I wasn't entirely sure at first if it was acted for camera till the penny dropped that it was real.

[Neon Ignition]

Entry 08 - Series 07: Shipwreck Island
The opening of this series set it up as a dream sequence in which Diamond imagines himself on a desert island aided by two Castaways. The episode count dropped back to the ten that the first series had experienced with guests including the band All Saints, Jo Guest and Sol Campbell. By the time the seventh series was due to begin airing viewing figures for the show were still strong and plans were in the works to roll into a series eight which would have been set on a pirate ship. The launch of the PS1 was bolstering interest in the show and its branding and the audience it drew fit the shows style well. However, the head of Channel 4 changed that year and the new Head didn't view the shows audience as one worth catering too so pulled the plug. As a result the show ended on this run with Diamond delivering his final closing speech as the set was dismantled around him.



Where you ready for GamesMaster to end at this point and what are your overall thoughts of the Patrick Moore era?

[Neon Ignition]

Entry 09 - Series 08: Power Station
After 24 years off the air, the show returned for a three episode new run. Returning with three presenters and heavier focus on trying to appeal to social streamer fans, the structure remained the same. Dominik Diamond didn't return and with Patrick Moore no longer with us, Trevor McDonald was hired to be the new GamesMaster. The revival proved a success and Channel 4 commissioned the show to return for a ninth series to debut in 2023, however for unknown reasons it never came and nothing has been said of it since bringing the story of GamesMaster to a subdued end.



What did you think of the revival series and of the shows overall legacy? Is there a place for it in todays world?

[Asura]

with Patrick Moore no longer with us, Trevor McDonald was hired to be the new GamesMaster

Didn't see this, but I must say, this was an inspired choice.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, I'd be curious to know as well why that ninth series didn't come through.