I remember in middle school I would pretentiously proclaim to friends, "I don't watch TV.  I play video games."  Well, that's changed since The Sorpanos came about but I digress.  Who knew I'd be watching so many great 'video game'-centered series a decade later?  Let's be honest, video games had a hard time adapting to TV and film in the 80s.  I grew up with tips & tricks videos that featured the most hilariously anti-social nerds and terrible acid flashback video effects, which confirmed the idea that video games make for terrible subject in film/TV.  Seeing clips of Starcade and Video Power on YouTube did little to convince me otherwise.  Flash foward to 2010 and I have a difficult time choosing which series/film makes the cut on my top 10 list.  These are the films/web/TV series that have taken the broadest strides forward while keeping their focus on quality video game coverage.  So keep your Power Glove off my girl and we'll get to the runner-ups...

As much as I liked G4's Icons, it was a bit too much like VH1's Behind the Music and put too much into the hands of the PR behind the developers they would cover.  GT's Retrospective series might not call upon industry icons for interviews, but it gets to the essence of a game, simplifies its story and notable game mechanics, and gives some info on its time in development.  It's not that much different than what most YouTube game reviewers do, but Retrospectives does it with a much tighter script, editing, and production values.  The Final Fantasy series in particular is an excellent summary and tribute.  Sadly Retrospectives is not one of GT's priorities, so we probably won't see a new one anytime soon.

Select Series: The Final Fantasy Retrospective

Video game coverage is only one facet of the show, but it often feels like the most relevant.  TRS is a show about geek culture and hobbies, and you don't get geekier than video games (sorry, comic books).  TRS is a love it or hate it show, because the content always relies on its three hosts: Alex, Jeff, and Dan.  They aren't the most articulate or experienced bunch, but that's what makes it entertaining.  They are your average game consumer trying their best to express their opinions.  Sometimes their reviews seem stubborn or hyperbolic, but they are always forward and intentionally (or, more often, unintentionally) hilarious.  

Select Episode: The Third Annual Totally Rad Awards!

Anthony Carboni, who you might recognize as a temporary host for Attack of the Show back in the day, started his own web series that his him covering the latest indie releases every week.  What makes the show stand out--not that there are any other shows that cover indie games exclusively--is Carboni's ecstatic presence in front of the camera and the show's direct line to the audience.  Every week the show nominates three free indie games and sends its fans out to play and choose which they liked the most, forming a top 3 the following week.  Along with this, viewers are encouraged to send in brief video reviews that are played during the show.  It makes for a short, spastic series that leaves you every week with three great games to play that you wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

Select Episode: Blip Festival 2009, Pt. 2

Giant Bomb has become my comfort food of the Internet over the past year.  Whenever I want to zone out or have a laugh, I load up the latest Quick Look.  The Giant Bombcast, user database, and staff reviews are great, but it's the video content that has kept me visiting the site on a daily basis.  Ryan's TANG series is a gem of the internet; reviewing bad video game films shouldn't be that entertaining, but Ryan's hilarious scripts and Vinny's editing has somehow found a joy in rather dull films.  On top of this, you have the office videos that are always hysterical--they gather around and open up boxes filled with random stuff sent to them by fans and PR companies, shenanigans follow.  It's also a chance to see Dave who always makes me laugh.  Giant Bomb is the warm corner of the internet where you can make fun of video games while still enjoying them.

Select Clip: Quick Look: Darkest of Days

Adam Sessler has spent almost his entire video game journalist career holding back his brainy literate side, but it has slowly become his defining trait over the past year.  It started with his Soapbox series, which was great (Rev Rant is better), but it wasn't until he became host of G4's Feedback that he got to shine in the spotlight.  Every week Sessler and a panel of G4 writers (of which ex-1UP writers Mike Sterling, Andrew Pfister, and Patrick Kelpik are often called upon) discuss the latest gaming news and collectively review a recent release.  It's pretty much like every other gaming podcast, but the personalities and addition of game footage edited in make the show stand out.  Sessler is always on point, rowdy, and hilariously pretentious--his obscure references are tallied up in the corner of the screen on every episode.   It's the only place where Chomsky references can live aside discussions on the latest shooter.

Select Episode: Our Most Awaited Games of 2010 Edition

9 out 10 video game reviewers on YouTube copy Angry Video Game Nerd to a T, often feeling awkward and self-indulgent.  HVGN came out as another blatant copy, but he was upfront about it and cleverly made a show that intentionally opposes AVGN.  Where Rolfe drinks beer, complains about bad games, and exposes the world to games they rightfully haven't heard about, Derek Alexander drinks wine, praises great games, and exposes the world to games they wrongfully haven't heard about.  There aren't many episodes (season 2 just started), but there is something about a great HGVN episode that makes it transcend its goofy concept and hit upon our collective gaming nostalgia.  It's time you sit down and let Derek tell you about Rocket Knight Adventures.  Get stoked, bud.  I SAID GET STOKED!!!

Select episode: Rocket Knight Adventures

1UP.com had a lot of great video series, but Broken Pixels is the only one I'll go back and rewatch in its entirety every year.  The show is essentially Mystery Science Theater 3000 for video games with commentary by Shane Bettenhausen, Crispin Boyer, and TV's Seanbaby.  They play every thing from movie licensed crap to just damn strange Japanese imports.  The three of them manage to avoid dead air while not sounding desperate to crack another joke, but most of the time the games themselves are amusing enough.  Its an ode to the wonder of crappy video games filling their own niche for drunken, nostalgic twenty-somethings.

Select Episode: Wirehead

You know the power glove, you know the Rilo Kiley chick, and you know the preposterous tournament, but do you truly know The Wizard?  Many gamers from a previous generation look back at The Wizard as some unsavory napkin to remain in a waste bin, as it mainly stood as a marketing ploy for Mario 3 & Nintendo at the time--"You have to come to the theater for this game preview, suckers!", they imagined a man in a suit telling them.  To us, the late 80s bloomers, The Wizard idolized 8-bit gaming and the lifestyle we imagined would one day live.  We'd be video game designers going to our job, via hoverboard of course, as video game testers for Mega Man 6 in 1999 with the disposition cool of Fred Savage and gaming expertise of his on-screen half-brother Jimmy.  The Wizard is just one of those classic 80s films where everything bad about it makes it good and everything good makes it great--the fact that it's all about video games is the icing on the cake. 

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT6zfPC3sDk

Before AVGN, I never went on YouTube.  To be fair, I found him through GameTrailers.com, but his presence made me curious about what else I'd been missing--not much, I can say now.  Numerous copy cats prove that what makes AVGN great isn't his potty mouth, focus on crappy retro-games, or cartoon-like premises, but creator/host James Rolfe's spirit and inexhaustible knowledge of all things geek (check out Board James, You Know What's Bullshit?, and his SpikeTV film reviews if you haven't).  He delivers the funniest, most honest commentary on crappy games, while presenting it with exuberant direction that highlights his experience as a filmmaker.  The way he cuts in obscure commercials and references little details is what makes AVGN irreplaceable.  The the only bad thing about a new AVGN episode is knowing it'll be a long time until the next. 

Select Episode: Sega CD

I'll admit it: I've never felt so much envy until I stumbled upon The 1UP Show.  These guys get to exist in this warm, cheerful womb of video gaming that is 1UP and have a show that flaunts it.  Little did we know behind the text and scores of Ziff Davis' magazines and sites was a microcosm of gaming nirvana filled with lovable personalities, intelligent discussion of games, and childish antics performed by grown men.   

The 1UP Show started on faulty footing with some not-so-interesting previews that focused mainly on PR giving canned interviews and hit-and-miss sketches, but the show eventually found its identity through the strength of its reviews and personality.  Before they knew it, they had one of the catchiest theme songs and an unbelievably entertaining show that was once a side attraction on 1UP.com.  The last season, in particular, was filled with so many great hilarious sketches and insightful reviews.  Thankfully, something rose from the ashes of The 1UP Show after it's tenth and final season in '08. 

There was a gap on my Saturday morning programming and, more importantly, heart once the layoffs at 1UP left the show for dead.  Thankfully, the heart and soul of crew regrouped as CO-OP.  It might sound sad, but I've never felt more vicariously happy for strangers than when I read they had been picked up by Revision3.  CO-OP isn't exactly the continuation of The 1UP Show, however, it's an improvement.  The show is unshackled from the Ziff Davis office and free to run wild around San Francisco in HD.  Every episode finds SF's finest video game journalists (freelancers, Brad Shoemaker, and now Bitmob member Brett Bates!) reviewing (sometimes previewing) two to three games padded with sketches and clever advertisements they made themselves.  The show exceeds any expectation you'd have for a video game show as it covers everything you'd want out of a video game review complimented with some genuinely impressive filmmaking.  Ryan and Matt are obviously film nerds who don't shy away from pretentious steady cam shots and atmospheric locations.   

This wouldn't mean much if the reviewers weren't so great themselves.  Co-Op has lost a bit of the humor and prankster-quality of The 1UP Show (you can't have your Donahoe and eat it too), but it makes up for it with more in-depth reviews that are honest, understanding, and optimistic in a way few are.  The perfect example is the their recent "Tony Hawk: Ride, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines" episode that found them analyzing the merits of these two games that were largely shit-on by the larger, lazier gaming audience.  Another high point is their "1994, pt. 2" episode that found them mining our collective gaming nostalgia with a Super Metroid retrospective.  Perhaps it wouldn't have hit such a chord if the show didn't have such a fantastic soundtrack and directing. 

It's hard to properly articulate what makes CO-OP transcend its rather uninspired concept, guys sitting around talking about games.  It's a testament then to the talent behind the show that keeps it afloat every week, making my Tuesdays a lot more exciting.  Call me crazy but if I had to pick between the final season of Lost and more seasons of CO-OP, I'd go with the latter.  Mysteries are better left unsolved, anyway.  Just don't ask me to make a 'Sophie's choice' between it and Friday Night Lights...

Select episode: Episode 211 - 1994 Part 2

runner-ups: G4's Icons, Second Skin, Hackers, Jace Hall Show, Destructoid's Rev Rant, Motherboard's Gaming Hour, Bleep Bloop, GT's Bonus Round