Many of this group's members are fond of posting their proposals for new game shows here at Invision. Recently, David Bodycombe, co-webmaster of UKGameshows.com and veteran British TV game developer, brought a report he had written to the attention of this group. At some expense to myself, I decided to purchase a copy of this report. Here now, I present a review of this report.
Presentation: US buyers can only receive the report via e-mail, as a PDF. It costs 39 GBP (about $60; GADZOOKS!). The actual report prints out as a 145 page document, intended, apparently designed to be printed single-sided (as opposed to double sided, the way most books are printed). The margin is always on the left hand side. The text uses the same font used on WWTBAM (the actual name of the font escapes me), and is attractive and easy to read.
Format: The report is divided into thirteen sections: \"Industry Overview,\" \"Generating Ideas,\" \"Development Issues\" (important non-format considerations for developers), \"The Game Engine\" (how the game works), \"Entertainment Value\" (what makes a show fun to watch), \"Analysing a Format\" (comparing a fictional format example to a real one), \"The Paper Format\" (how to properly commit a format to paper). \"Format Protection,\" a Market Guide, a brief game show timeline, \"Future Developments,\" a glossary (developed in part with the help of this group), and a bibliography.
Readability: An easy read, entertaining and in-depth on most issues facing someone who wants to come up with their own game show format. The book does tend to focus on British television, with many British terms and titles, but does make a considerable effort to maintain relevance to international readers.
Relevance: beyond question. There was very little in this report that I could not tie into almost every show I ever seen. Again, lots of British flavor (like the idea that British companies accept submissions, wheras most American companies do not), but still applicable to American formats and procedure.
The Verdict: Recommend. If you have the money to buy this report, and you have the interest in developing your own full fledged game show, you must read this report.
Way to go, Dave.
\"Game Show Man\" Joe Van Ginkel
gameshowman@winning.com
captvangin@aol.com