When Games Attack
Encyclopedia
When Games Attack was a British television show, that originally aired on Bravo from 2004 to 2005. The show was created and presented by Dominik Diamond
in conjunction with Jonny Finch with whom he had previously worked on GamesMaster
. Its main focus was video games.
Examples of locations:
"I'm Famous, Give Me My Joypad!"
Eight Premiership and Championship
football players took part in a head-to-head tournament playing Pro Evolution Soccer
. Alternately, it featured a dancing contest with five glamour models. The girl would usually wear clothing that wasn't suitable to dance in and compete at Dance Dance Revolution
or DDR for short. Before and after the girls danced, Dominik would often flirt with them, only to be shot down every time.
Behind the Game
A history of certain games ranging from Space Invaders
to Grand Theft Auto
. Viewers would be told the story of how the game was created, where the ideas came from and what impact it had on the world as footage of the game played with small facts scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
Head to Head
This section starred Dominik and two mute teddy bear puppets: a rusty-coloured one with a cream-coloured face and ears called Queenie and a white one with pink ears and paws called Cugly. For comedy purposes, Diamond and the two bears would appear to have been caught the act of something (often illegal) such as a seedy chat line and selling uranium on the black market.
Each puppet would pick one of two video games that were similar such as Tekken
vs Virtua Fighter or Grand Theft Auto vs True Crime: Streets of LA
. Dominik would then rate each game on Graphic, Gameplay and so forth with the losing puppet doing a "forfeit" which was usually either bizarre or very violent. The segment closed with a corny joke such as, after losing Cugly is stuffed into a washing machine as Dominik exclaims "Don't worry, Cugly! It's all good clean fun!"
On Location
Dominik travels to locations around the UK and America
ostensibly to review events such as the San Diego Comicon, however these sections would more often present a thinly-veiled excuse for him to make fun of the people and places he visited.
When Flack Attacks
Caroline Flack
hosts a brief segment in which she travels around Japan looking at weird, wonderful and bizarre things such as giant robots, cosplay and how an anime is made. Frequently Flack makes note of how different eastern culture is from western culture. When she attended a cosplay convention, as grown men queued to take photographs of a, presumably young girl in costume, Caroline pointed out that had they been in Britain they all would be arrested by now.
Bunch of Five
A chart that runs throughout the show. Often unique topics such as "The 5 worst abuses of women in videogame", "The 5 most disappointing endings", or "The 5 best videogame deaths".
Dominik Diamond
Paul Dominik Diamond is a Scottish television and radio presenter and newspaper columnist. He is best known as the original presenter of Channel 4's video gaming programme GamesMaster, as host of The Dominik Diamond Breakfast Show on Xfm Scotland and as a columnist for the Daily Star...
in conjunction with Jonny Finch with whom he had previously worked on GamesMaster
GamesMaster
GamesMaster was a British television show, screened on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998, and was the first ever UK television show dedicated to computer and video games.-Origins:...
. Its main focus was video games.
Stage
When Games Attack was not based in a studio, instead, it was filmed in a different location for each episode with the locations usually dictating the sort of humour and jokes Diamond used in each 30 second link between segments.Examples of locations:
- A Fruit & Veg stall (Dominik ends the episode claiming he will go home with "A banana for the wife")
- Outside Celtic Football Club's stadium.
- Dominiks fishing trip (again, he makes a sexual innuendo saying something similar to "The times when you sit alone with a rod in your hand are the best moments of your life")
- A bus stop (In this episode, Dominik claims he laughs at tourists trying to figure out UK bus timetables, saying we all know they are as accurate as your average weapons dossier. This was during the claims about Weapons of Mass DestructionWeapons of mass destructionA weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
in IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.) - Las VegasLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
(Dominik gets "arrested" for speeding but warns the officer he "Knows Richard and JudyRichard and JudyRichard and Judy is the name informally given to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a married couple who are both British television presenters and columnists. Since their marriage, their television appearances have been largely made as a couple. They are best known for presenting This Morning and...
", minor British celebrities.) - Council estate. (Dominik ends the episode telling the viewers he is going to hang around street corners looking "hard" until his mother calls him in for tea. This is poking fun at Neds as they tend to come from council estates and do just as Dominik claimed he was about to do.)
- Dominiks house as he baby-sits his young children.
- An empty Hallway. (Because he has been "A bad boy" and has to think about what he did, as if he were a misbehaving child.)
Show structure
Each 30-minute show featured several different sections such as:"I'm Famous, Give Me My Joypad!"
Eight Premiership and Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
football players took part in a head-to-head tournament playing Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer is a series of football video game developed and published by Konami...
. Alternately, it featured a dancing contest with five glamour models. The girl would usually wear clothing that wasn't suitable to dance in and compete at Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution
Dance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
or DDR for short. Before and after the girls danced, Dominik would often flirt with them, only to be shot down every time.
Behind the Game
A history of certain games ranging from Space Invaders
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
to Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
. Viewers would be told the story of how the game was created, where the ideas came from and what impact it had on the world as footage of the game played with small facts scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
Head to Head
This section starred Dominik and two mute teddy bear puppets: a rusty-coloured one with a cream-coloured face and ears called Queenie and a white one with pink ears and paws called Cugly. For comedy purposes, Diamond and the two bears would appear to have been caught the act of something (often illegal) such as a seedy chat line and selling uranium on the black market.
Each puppet would pick one of two video games that were similar such as Tekken
Tekken (video game)
Tekken is a fighting game and is the first of the series. It was released at arcades in late 1994 and on the PlayStation in 1995. A simplified "arcade" version of the game was later released in Tekken 5s Arcade History mode. It was developed and published by Namco...
vs Virtua Fighter or Grand Theft Auto vs True Crime: Streets of LA
True Crime: Streets of LA
True Crime: Streets of LA is an action-adventure video game developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube in November 2003 and the first game in the True Crime series...
. Dominik would then rate each game on Graphic, Gameplay and so forth with the losing puppet doing a "forfeit" which was usually either bizarre or very violent. The segment closed with a corny joke such as, after losing Cugly is stuffed into a washing machine as Dominik exclaims "Don't worry, Cugly! It's all good clean fun!"
On Location
Dominik travels to locations around the UK and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ostensibly to review events such as the San Diego Comicon, however these sections would more often present a thinly-veiled excuse for him to make fun of the people and places he visited.
When Flack Attacks
Caroline Flack
Caroline Flack
Caroline Louise Flack is a British television presenter. She is known for presenting I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! from 2008 to 2010....
hosts a brief segment in which she travels around Japan looking at weird, wonderful and bizarre things such as giant robots, cosplay and how an anime is made. Frequently Flack makes note of how different eastern culture is from western culture. When she attended a cosplay convention, as grown men queued to take photographs of a, presumably young girl in costume, Caroline pointed out that had they been in Britain they all would be arrested by now.
Bunch of Five
A chart that runs throughout the show. Often unique topics such as "The 5 worst abuses of women in videogame", "The 5 most disappointing endings", or "The 5 best videogame deaths".