
Charlie Brooker’s Gameswipe
Video games get the Charlie Brooker treatment: the acerbic critic and Screenwipe host turns his camera on the medium for a one-off special, working through genres, how they've changed since the earliest consoles, and how television and newspapers tend to depict games and the people who play them. Brooker sits with a pile of consoles and a stack of discs, alternating between mockery of the industry's dumbest impulses and genuine arguments for why a game can hold attention as well as any drama. Dara O'Briain and sitcom writer Graham Linehan turn up for interviews, alongside Rab and Ryan from the games podcast Consolevania, each offering a different angle on why gaming gets dismissed or misunderstood. The format mirrors Brooker's television criticism almost exactly, just aimed at a different screen, with clips of oddball games sitting next to his trademark deadpan voiceover. It's less a survey of the industry than an argument for taking it seriously without taking it too seriously.