Interview with Gareth Jones:
Question 1 – You have worked on many television, radio and internet shows, both in front of and behind the camera. How does GamePad steering rank in your career?
Pivotal, Violet was instrumental in encouraging me to direct the entire series, which was the first time I had the job at the top of the show. In doing so, I learned a lot about making television, which has kept me in the job for the last 10 years, and learned quite a bit about gaming in the process.
Question 2: GamePad came at a time when video game TV shows were missing from the air. Did you see a gap in the market and took advantage of it?
Not exactly, Violet had hosted a game show called Game Spot on Bravo. It was a remake of an American show, the same team tried to make an original show instead, already called Game-Pad, but it turned out to be more difficult for them than they thought. So instead of just being a hired host, Violet offered to take over the show as a producer, hire me as a director, and do it all ourselves through our company WhizzBang. We felt we could make a better and more original program, so we went with the slot keeping the GamePad name, but now it was a completely new program.
Question 3: GamePad was a great show created “by gamers, for gamers”. Did you purposely seek to make a show more mature than what had been on the air previously?
Violet really, really knew a lot about gaming back then, and she’s a smart cookie, so the whole GamePad culture was essentially Violet’s mindset, albeit a bit messy for me.
Question 4 – GamePad lasted four series. Were you disappointed that the show wasn’t renewed for another series?
Yes we were disappointed as we already had plans of what the next series would entail (Violet is a very good planner) however being responsible for EVERYTHING in a production takes a lot of time on the job, we had 2 very young children at the time so that we were somehow relieved when the GamePad didn’t show up we had a feeling it might go away because Bravo had just hired a new show commissioner who wanted to make his mark with new ideas he’d brought to the station rather than the revival of existing programs on the channel. So we just kind of stuck to work for a while and focused on the big stuff, the two little balls of energy bouncing around in our lives.
Question 5 – Have you always been a gamer?
I got into gaming in the late 80’s through my job as a kid’s TV host, I wasn’t really a gamer before that although my dad did run a TV and radio shop when I was a kid and I remember bringing some like Pong home. for me to play around 1970 something, i played it for a while but i got bored so i went to learn guitar.
Question 6 – What is your favorite video game of all time?
Drop 7, I play it on my phone every day, I love its trance-inducing Zen quality.
Question 7 – Were you a SEGA, Nintendo or Amiga man?
I started playing through Game Gear and Amiga, so I have a slight loyalty to those brands. I know this is controversial, but I’ve always thought Nintendo was profoundly old-fashioned, too cute for my rock and roll sensibilities.
Question 8 – Do you still play video games today?
See answer 6
Question 9: Violet Berlin rose to fame as one of the UK’s most respected video game presenters. What is it like being married to a great player?
I have no idea, we’re not actually married! But we’ve lived together since 1999 and we have 2 teenage kids, so I guess we’re stuck with each other now, you know, like Ratchet & Clank. Violet doesn’t have much time to play these days, other than the ones she writes, and she usually gets our kids to try them out.
Question 10 – Do you play video games together and who usually wins?
We haven’t played games together in a long time, when we did, Violet usually beat me, unless it was a driving game when I won, that was my specialty.
Question 11: How exactly did WhizzBang.tv come about?
Violet and I had written a format for a children’s show called Try This and sent it to ITV; when they showed much interest they asked “Who will do it?” we said we would do it ourselves, and so we quickly had to form a company. This gave us the confidence to tackle GamePad together. In the end we never got to do Try This, due to a change of curator at CiTV (those things happen a lot), but it firmly launched us into the world of production.
Question 12 – Do you have any future plans to do/host a TV show about video games?
No, not at this time. Violet is busy writing games and interactive installations for museums, and I’m busy with car-related projects at the moment.
Question 13: Do you think there is a current gap in the market for a TV show dedicated to the video game industry?
Yes, but it would have to be a truly original version of the theme, give it to Charlie Brooker and then it would be entertaining.
Question 14 – What are your views on the video game industry today?
If I’m being honest (and I always am) from the position I’m in right now, my view of the gaming industry is quite distant, ask me about cars or rockets, Wales or Slade and I could talk all day, all week. , the whole month.
Question 15 – What are you currently working on right now?
As well as appearing on a Welsh language comedy show on S4C called Caryl A’r Lleill (Caryl & The Others), I continue to do Gareth Jones On Speed, a podcast about cars and motorsports that I’ve produced for 10 years. I’m also doing Race To 24, a 12-part documentary series starting in March 2015 about a team choosing a driver to race for them in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. I’m also performing on stage for the first time in my career, playing Tommy Cooper’s manager, Miff Ferrie, in a touring production called the Tommy Cooper Show, which is turning out to be a hit.
Website link: http://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/