YouTube is cluttered with amateur-ish shows dedicated to retro and current video games. Among the most popular are Classic Game Room (which I like, but gets sidetracked too often and rarely breaks formula) and the obnoxious Angry Video Game Nerd, which I find vulgar, immature, and frequently depressing. What a relief it was to discover Game Sack.
Hosted by Joe Redifer and Dave White, and shot mostly in Joe's living room/basement it rises above the usual amateur shows by having professional lighting, photography, editing and effects. Joe and Dave deadpan their way through their reviews with occasional humorous touches. I'm quite a foul-mouthed guy myself, but the fact that Game Sack is swears-free keeps it light and more accessible.
Each episode has its own theme, such as difficult games, under-rated games and a repeating focus on games that were only released in Japan. A recurring sub-theme on the show is the rivalry between Joe and Dave over Sega VS Nintendo. Neither can seem to convince the other, but it's a fact that Sega IS better. Occasional shots of Joe's video-game collection feature many Genesis and Sega CD titles. It's no average collection and probably worth a pretty penny. Joe and Dave seem to have extensive trivial and technical knowledge of video-game history. I love absorbing trivia, and Game Sack has plenty of it.
The hosts also seem to have access to virtually every video-game soundtrack ever produced, and use a dozen or so tunes in every episode. Most of time I agree with them on cool tracks, but some of the 8-bit stuff from the NES is painful.
The show is strictly limited to console video games, eliminating PC gaming and retro games for the C64 and Amiga completely. My console history goes Mega Drive CD-Gamecube-Wii-PS3, so a lot of the games reviewed are new to me. I realize now a lot of what I missed-out on.
Game Sack ought to be on network TV, a nice 19:00 time slot. Long may it continue.
