Games Lounge is a brand new live-streamed show about video games, being created and produced here in Scotland. The idea for the show and the driving force behind the project, Shaun Paul Johnson is now using Kickstarter to help finds funds to make the show a reality.
Shaun explained his reasoning for starting the project…
Back in the early 90’s there were some pretty amazing video game shows on television, like Games World and Bad Influence! for example; that really captured what it felt like to be a gamer back then, playing awesome beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage on the Mega Drive, or Genesis for the American gamers out there, and the eye-poppingly fast F-Zero on the SNES running in glorious Mode-7-ovision. When I first saw Bad Influence! it was a revelation, covering all the latest news and info on the games industry from around the world, including things like exclusive peaks at the Silicon Graphics tech powering the ‘mind-boggling at the time’ 3D graphics on “Ultra 64” games. It was a great gaming show made specifically for passionate gamers like me that ran for 4 years before closing shop and it’s probably one of my favourite childhood memories.
The goal for Games Lounge is to create a classic and focused experience which harks back to the well-loved TV shows from years gone by. Channel 4’s Games Master and Bits! primarily, and definitely not Sky’s Gamezville (we were there man, we saw some things…)
The initial pilot episode has already been filmed and released, but the ambition for the show goes much further.
Games Lounge is looking for £7000 to help them make the show a reality. An ongoing series, released online and covering everything important to gamers from the latest news and releases, to reviews, retro gaming, fan films, interviews, convention coverage and more.
The company behind Games Lounge, Small Fry Unify explained to us what the funding will be used for:
For the last year we’ve been setting up a small independent studio in here in Edinburgh called SmallFryUnify. We took what was essentially a rundown warehouse and turned it into a place where we can host and film Games Lounge but it lacks some fundamental things, like a complete set of cameras and quality microphones.
To film the trailer and pilot episode we had to borrow cameras, lighting rigs & even furniture from friends and colleagues, which obviously isn’t ideal. It also meant we had to pre-record the pilot episode and edit it later. The end result is still great but we know having a live show would be even better and to make that a reality we need some proper equipment of our own. I’m going to do the best I can to get as much of the equipment together as possible, but the fact is we need your help.
The crowd funding will be used to get the company the materials it needs to make Games Lounge an ongoing project:
- At least 1 cameras so we can switch between areas live
- Wireless lapel microphones
- Direct video capture card
- Flat screens for consoles and news wall
- Current consoles & handhelds to cover all the latest games
- Furniture
- Broadcast software
Pledges start at £1. It’s been a while since we’ve had any decent video games programmes on TV and Scotland has, to be honest, produced most of the good ones… Bits!, Consolevania, Videogaiden, Bit Socket – even the genial host of the original Games Master, Dominik Diamond brought his down-to-earth Scottish charm and easy going sense of humour to viewers.
If you can spare a few quid, a fiver, or more, then please consider pledging something to the Games Lounge team. We could see something new and amazing growing from the Games Lounge pilot.
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