Good Game: Spawn Point
Good Game: Spawn Point | |
---|---|
![]() Current logo, used since 2018 | |
Created by | Janet Carr |
Presented by | Steven O'Donnell Stephanie Bendixsen Gus Ronald Angharad Yeo Gemma Driscoll William Yates |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 14 |
No. of episodes | 586 |
Production | |
Producer | Eliot Fish[1] |
Running time | 25 minutes (2011–present) 15 minutes (2010–2011) |
Original release | |
Network | ABC3 / ABC Me (2010–2023) TBA (2024) |
Release | 20 February 2010 present | –
Related | |
Good Game |
Good Game: Spawn Point (abbreviated as Good Game SP or GG:SP, or known simply as Spawn Point) is an Australian video game review programme.
It is a spin-off (also described as a "sister program"[2]) of the original Good Game that only carries reviews of games ACB-rated as G or PG, and professes to be "For young gamers, by gamers". It debuted on ABC Entertains (then known as ABC3) on 20 February 2010.[3] Spawn Point was hosted by Steven "Bajo" O'Donnell and Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen from 2010 to 2016, when the latter departed; the former departed the following year. The show has been hosted by various others, such as Gus "Goose" Ronald from 2017 to 2018, Angharad "Rad" Yeo from 2017 to 2022 and William "Will" Yates from 2019 to 2020. The current host is Gemma "Gem" Driscoll, who joined in 2018.
Production
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b8/Good_Game_Spawn_Point_titles.jpg/200px-Good_Game_Spawn_Point_titles.jpg)
Spawn Point began in 2010, hosted by Steven O'Donnell and Stephanie Bendixsen. The ABC has described Good Game: Spawn Point as "featur[ing] a family friendly mix of gamer reviews, stories about gaming culture and plenty of audience interaction".[2] PlayStrat said, "The standard Good Game edition is a more adult oriented series—which includes reviews of games that fall into more mature classifications (i.e. they include violence, sexual content, profanity). It's good, therefore, that the show has the Spawn Point variant to allow the younger crowd to get their fill as well".[4]
The show originally ran for 15 minutes, but was extended to 30 minutes per episode from Series 2, Episode 21 on 2 July 2011.[5][6] O'Donnell said, "The 30-minute show will allow us to review more games, produce more stories about game culture and delve deeper into gaming's rich history".[7] Creator and executive producer Janet Carr said Spawn Point "is achieving a total TV share of 16.2% among children 5–12 years old and its average audience share is up 114% on series one. Series two has been extended due to the enormous response from the audience and it will give gamers more ways to interact with the show and make it their own".[7] In 2011, Good Game: Spawn Point reached 166,000 viewers per episode.[8]
As the show is "for younger gamers", it is not suitable to review games rated M, MA15+ or R18+. Bendixsen said "occasionally we might give you a glimpse of a mature title but only where it's necessary to make a point", and adds that the contentious content would always be excluded.[9] On 1 July 2011, TV Tonight said "Together with ABC2's Good Game, Good Game: SP has reached over 1.3 million vodcasts, the most downloaded vodcasts of any ABC programme this year. ABC3's Good Game: SP website has recorded 254,000 visits and 1.6 million page views since January."[7] O'Donnell named the "Ask Good Game" segment his "favourite part of the show, reading those letters and making the noises". He added "It's my dream that one day kids might look back on GGSP in the way I look back on shows from my youth, I hope we do it well enough that this might happen."[10]
Bendixsen announced her departure from the show in January 2017; supporting host Gus Ronald and Angharad Yeo took her place.[11] O'Donnell departed from the show in December 2017,[12] and was replaced by Gemma Driscoll in 2018.[13][14][15] Ronald departed the show in 2018,[16] replaced by William Yates in 2019.[17] Yates departed in 2020.[18] In November 2022, Yeo announced her departure at the year's end.[19]
Presenters
[edit]Main hosts
[edit]Former Current
Name | Nickname | First show | Last show |
---|---|---|---|
Steven O'Donnell | Bajo | 20 February 2010 | 9 December 2017 |
Stephanie Bendixsen | Hex | 2 December 2016 | |
Gus Ronald | Goose | 18 February 2017 | 15 December 2018 |
Angharad Yeo | Rad | 17 December 2022 | |
Gemma Driscoll | Gem | 10 March 2018 | incumbent |
William Yates | Will | 2 March 2019 | 12 December 2020 |
Supporting hosts
[edit]Former Current
Name | Nickname | First show | Last show |
---|---|---|---|
Jackson Gothe-Snape | Ajax | 1 May 2010 | |
Gus Ronald | Goose | 2 July 2011 | 2 December 2016 |
Jax | Jax | 19 February 2022 | 10 December 2022 |
Suraj Kolarkar | Dr. Deviser | 18 March 2023 | 16 December 2023 |
Harry Jun | Harry | incumbent |
- Notes
Guest hosts
[edit]- Kayne "Tremmers" Tremills (2010) hosted Series 1, Episode 19 (26 June 2010), replacing Bajo as he was at E3 2010.
- Pip Rasmussen (2017) hosted Series 8, Episode 19 (24 June 2017), replacing Rad and Goose as they were at E3 2017. Also guest hosted Series 8, Episode 35 (14 October 2017), to celebrate female developers for International Day of the Girl.
- Tim Mathews (2017) hosted Series 8, Episode 36 (21 October 2017).
Series overview
[edit]The first seven series were hosted by Hex and Bajo. Episodes originally ran for 15 minutes, and were extended to 30 minutes during the second series. The eighth series was exclusively referred to as Spawn Point in 2017, and hosted by Bajo, Goose and Rad as a trio. The ninth series returned to the original title and introduced Gem as a new presenter. The tenth and eleventh series were hosted by Rad, Gem and Will. The fourteenth series was solely hosted by Gem, with Harry and Dr. Deviser as supporting hosts.
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 42 | 20 February 2010 | 4 December 2010 | |
2 | 42 | 12 February 2011 | 26 November 2011 | |
3 | 42 | 18 February 2012 | 1 December 2012 | |
4 | 42 | 16 February 2013 | 30 November 2013 | |
5 | 42 | 22 February 2014 | 6 December 2014 | |
6 | 42 | 21 February 2015 | 5 December 2015 | |
7 | 42 | 20 February 2016 | 2 December 2016 | |
8 | 43 | 18 February 2017 | 9 December 2017 | |
9 | 41 | 10 March 2018 | 15 December 2018 | |
10 | 42 | 23 February 2019 | 7 December 2019 | |
11 | 42 | 22 February 2020 | 12 December 2020 | |
12 | 40 | 13 February 2021 | 18 December 2021 | |
13 | 44 | 19 February 2022 | 17 December 2022 | |
14 | 40 | 18 March 2023 | 16 December 2023 |
Segments
[edit]Reviews
[edit]Review segments are presented by the host throughout the show. Each time a current game is discussed while footage is shown to the viewers. At the end, a rubber chicken(or star) rating (a number out of 10 [2010-2014] or 5 [2015-now]) is given to the game. Two games are usually reviewed during each show. Some reviews are also replayed from the main show.
Perfect scoring games
[edit]- Portal 2 (2011 – Bajo and Hex)[20]
- Ori and the Blind Forest (2015 – Bajo and Hex)[21]
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017 – Bajo and Goose)[22]
- Cuphead (2017 – Bajo and Rad)[23]
- Super Mario Odyssey (2017 – Rad and Goose)[24]
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps (2020 – Gem and Rad)
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020 – Gem and Rad)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021 – Gem and Rad)
- Tunic (2022 - Gem and Rad)
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022- Rad and Gem)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023 - Gem)
GG: Spawn Squad
[edit]GG: Spawn Squad is a spin-off series which premiered in 2022. Episodes run for 15 minutes and feature host Gem competing in video games against child guests or content creators. The second series debuted in 2024 and featured both Gem and Harry as presenters.
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 20 | 23 September 2022 | 3 February 2023 | |
2 | 10 | 30 March 2024 | 1 June 2024 |
Notes
[edit]- ^ "D.A.R.R.E.N." stands for "Digital Assistant for the Research & Regulation of Excessive Noobery", formerly "Data Analysing Robot for the Ruthless Extermination of Noobs".
- ^ "AAISA" stands for "Amazing Artificially Intelligent Science Assistant", formerly "Amazing Artificially Intelligent Scoop Assistant".
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Yes, Good Game: Spawn Point Will Be Hiring A Replacement For Bajo". Kotaku.com.au. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ a b "ABC Television | The complete TV guide for ABC1, ABC2, ABC ME, ABC News24 & ABC iView". Abc.net.au. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "ABC to launch new kids digital TV channel ABC3". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Good Game: Spawn Point now in 30-minute episodes". PlayStrat. 12 July 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ Harris, Leigh (8 July 2011). "Videogame TV show Good Game: Spawn Point expands | Games industry news | MCV". Mcvuk.com. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "ABC TV Blog: ABC3". Blogs.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ a b c "ABC3 extends Good Game: Spawn Point". TV Tonight. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Good Game returns to ABC2 in 2012". PlayStrat. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "Good Game Spawn Point - Ask Good Game: Gabby, Chris, chaosvampire and James". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ "Bajo and Hex, hosts of Australian TV shows Good Game and Good Game Spawn Point - AMA". Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
- ^ Yeo, Amanda (31 January 2017). "Good Game Has Been Cancelled". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- ^ Daal, Joel Van (1 November 2017). "Bajo departs ABC". MCV Pacific. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- ^ Serrels, Mark (1 November 2017). "Yes, Good Game: Spawn Point Will Be Hiring A Replacement For Bajo". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- ^ Van Daal, Joel (27 February 2018). "ABC announces new host for Good Game: Spawn Point". MCV Pacific. NewBay Media. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ Wright, Steve (1 March 2018). "Good Game Spawn Point returns next week with new host". Stevivor. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ Naylor, Adelaide (18 December 2018). "Goose bids farewell to GGSP". The Influence. Trade Media. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ "Meet The New Host Will & We Review My Time At Portia!". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "The GGSP 2020 Game Awards & Will's Farewell". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ Yeo, Angharad [@angharadyeo] (18 November 2022). "let me use the last few days of twitter to announce that after 10 fruitful years I'm leaving Good Game Spawn Point at the end of this year" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Spawn Point - Portal 2". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ "Ori and the Blind Forest". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ "Spawn Point - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ "Spawn Point - Cuphead". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ "Spawn Point - Super Mario Odyssey". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 February 2018.