PXG

Last updated

PXG
PXG Logo.png
GenreEntertainment
Created byPrism Entertainment
Presented byKentaro Suyama
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Production
ProducerAndrew Forgham [1]
Original release
Network Jetix
ReleaseFebruary 2005 (2005-02) 
March 2008 (2008-03)

PXG is a television show created by Prism Entertainment for Jetix in the United Kingdom which covered "the latest in gaming reviews, hints, tips and cheats". [1] It was presented by, directed by and starred Kentaro Suyama. The show began airing on the 12 February 2005.

Contents

Programming

The name "PXG" was an acronym derived from the 3 main home console video games in stores at the time i.e. PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. Each episode featured Kentaro and his CGI animated assistant "Game Girl" (voiced by Haruka Kuroda) reviewing various games and accessories. [2]

Original series (2005–06)

The original schedule was as follows:

Monday:Big in Japan: This segment discussed the latest popular games and systems in Japan, for example the launch of the Nintendo DS or the PlayStation Portable.

Tuesday:Mobile Madness: This segment focused on handhelds and their associated games. The first half discussed accessories and game rating previews while the second contained reviews.

Wednesday:Konsole Kids: This segment focused on consoles and their associated games. The first half was a Gameshow held within a caravan where gamers presented their replays of games they had played and their performance would be rated. If Kentaro enjoyed the replay then the gamer would win a supposed holiday on a tropical island and if not, then they would be subjected to a penalty involving flatulence.

Thursday:Easy PC: The first half of this segment consisted of a review of a PC game, while the second half consisted of several mini-reviews of games available online for free.

Friday: All the previous five-minute shows from the past 4 days were combined into one single show lasting half an hour. Also included was a final segment "Top of the Chops", a section in which five popular games were reviewed and answers of the questions given throughout the week were revealed. In addition to this there were also, video game related jokes and sneak previews of upcoming games at the time such as Zelda: Twilight Princess. Occasionally, the segment also featured videos of people dressing up as their favorite game characters.

Second series (2007–08)

In 2007, the show was renewed for a second series albeit with some changes to the show's format. [3]

Monday became Konsole Kids, Wednesday became Big in Japan, Thursday became Top of the Chops and Friday became Easy PC. "Top of the Chops" was significantly different, now only featuring one game in the section. Also "Game-Girl" was entirely absent during this season.

The second edition was deliberately designed to feature more user generated content. [4] Director of Jetix UK Dominic Gardiner claimed that changes were made to "give kids a greater sense of ownership of the show." [5]

Development

To promote the series Jetix UK commissioned and launched an online game based on the show PXG: Amoeba Attack. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pokémon Snap</i> 1999 photography-based first-person rail shooter simulation video game

Pokémon Snap is a 1999 first-person photography game with rail shooter style gameplay mechanics developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was first released in Japan in March 1999 and was later released in July 1999 in North America and in September 2000 for PAL regions. It is a spin-off game in the Pokémon series, being one of the first console-based games for it, and featuring many Pokémon rendered for the first time in real-time 3D. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in December 2007, for the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in June 2022.

Bonk, known as PC-Genjin in Japan and as PC Kid or B.C. Kid in PAL territories, is a video game character and former mascot for NEC's PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 video game console. Three platform games featuring the character appeared on the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, as well as two spin-offs featuring Air Zonk. The protagonist is a bald caveman named Bonk who attacks using his comically large head.

<i>Soccer Kid</i> 1993 video game

Soccer Kid is a 1993 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Krisalis Software in Europe for the Amiga. The player assumes the role of the titular main protagonist who travels across several countries around the world to repair the World Cup by retrieving pieces that were scattered by the alien pirate Scab, the main antagonist who failed to steal and add it to his trophy collection in a robbery attempt. Its gameplay mainly consists of platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button or two-button configuration, depending on the controls setup.

<i>PC PowerPlay</i> Australian magazine

PC PowerPlay (PCPP) is Australia's only dedicated PC games magazine. PC PowerPlay focuses on news and reviews for upcoming and newly released games on the Microsoft Windows platform. The magazine also reviews computer hardware for use on gaming computers. The magazine is published by Future Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Datel</span> British video game accessories manufacturer; makers of Action Replay

Datel is a UK-based electronics and game console peripherals manufacturer. The company is best known for producing a wide range of hardware and peripherals for home computers in the 1980s, for example replacement keyboards for the ZX Spectrum, the PlusD disk interface and the Action Replay series of video game cheating devices.

<i>Zero</i> (video game magazine)

Zero was a video game magazine in the UK, published monthly by Dennis Publishing Ltd. between November 1989 and October 1992. It won the InDin Magazine of the Year award in both 1990 and 1991, and was also briefly the best-selling multi-format 16-bit computer magazine in the UK.

Pucca is a South Korean media franchise from the South Korean company VOOZ Character System. The main and titular character, Pucca, is the niece of three Korean men who run a Chinese-style restaurant. The restaurant, known as the "Goh-Rong", is located in Sooga Village, a small village in the mountains. Pucca is also in love with the ninja Garu, and Pucca always seems to beat him in combat and unintentional competition simply by sheer will. Since taking the first step in Flash animation in January 2000, it has focused on character goods business and has gained great popularity in Korea, France, Southeast Asia, and other countries. In the ‘2020 Overseas Korean Wave Survey’, it is a global character that has maintained the top spot in preference for Korean animation characters for five consecutive years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V.Smile</span> Educational console

The V.Smile is a sixth-generation educational home video game console manufactured and released by VTech. The system was first released on August 4, 2004. Its titles are available on ROM cartridges called "Smartridges", a pun on the system's educational nature. Several variants of the V.Smile console are sold, including handheld versions and models with added functionality such as touch tablet integrated controllers or microphones. The V.Motion is a variant that includes motion-sensitive controllers and has titles designed to take advantage of motion-related "active learning".

Haruka Kuroda is a Japanese actress and presenter. She provided the voice of Noodle from Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz from 2000 to 2017.

Bad Influence! is a 1990s British factual television programme broadcast on CITV from 1992 to 1996, produced in Leeds by Yorkshire Television. It looked at video games and computer technology, and was described as a "kid’s Tomorrow's World". It was shown on Thursday afternoons and had a run of four series of between 13 and 15 shows, each of 20 minutes duration. For three of the four series, it had the highest ratings of any CITV programme at the time. Its working title was Deep Techies, a colloquial term derived from 'techies' basically meaning technology-obsessed individuals. The show's finished title was a reference to how video games were often viewed by the UK press at the time.

The 2000s was the fourth decade of the video game industry. It was a decade that was primarily dominated by Sony, Nintendo, newcomer Microsoft, and their respective systems. Sega, being Nintendo's main rival in the 1980s and 1990s, left the console market in 2002 in favor of returning to third-party development, as they once were. Overall the decade saw the last of the low resolution three-dimensional polygons of the 1990s with the emergence of high definition games, and often focused on developing immersive and interactive environments, implementing realistic physics, and improving artificial intelligence. The sixth and seventh generation of video game consoles went on sale, including the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. Notable games released in the 2000s included Half-Life 2, Wii Sports, Grand Theft Auto III, BioShock, The Sims, Metroid Prime, Burnout 3: Takedown,Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Resident Evil 4, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Shadow of the Colossus,Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, LittleBigPlanet, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind,World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy X, Perfect Dark, God of War, Left 4 Dead, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Counter-Strike, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,Diablo II, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,Super Smash Bros. Melee, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Gears of War, Max Payne, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl,Super Mario Galaxy, Halo: Combat Evolved, Tony Hawk´s Pro Skater 3, Guitar Hero, Devil May Cry, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus,Hitman: Blood Money, Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 2, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Fallout 3, Super Mario Sunshine, Rock Band, Beyond Good & Evil,Portal, Ico, Jet Set Radio, Silent Hill 2, Psychonauts, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves,Halo 3, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

<i>Liquid Kids</i> 1990 video game

Liquid Kids is a 1990 platform arcade video game developed and published by Taito. Starring the hippopotamus Hipopo, players travel through the land of Woody-Lake throwing water bombs, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters in order to rescue Tamasun from her captor, the Fire Demon. The game was ported to the PC Engine and Sega Saturn. Home computer versions were in development but none were officially released to the public.

GamesRadar+ is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites Total Film, SFX, Edge and Computer and Video Games were merged into GamesRadar, with the resulting, expanded website being renamed GamesRadar+ in November that year.

Nintendo 64 accessories are first-party Nintendo hardware—and third-party hardware, licensed and unlicensed. Nintendo's first-party accessories are mainly transformative system expansions: the 64DD Internet multimedia platform, with a floppy drive, video capture and editor, game building setup, web browser, and online service; the controller plus its own expansions for storage and rumble feedback; and the RAM-boosting Expansion Pak for big improvements in graphics and gameplay. Third-party accessories include the essential game developer tools built by SGI and SN Systems on Nintendo's behalf, an unlicensed SharkWire online service, and unlicensed cheaper counterparts to first-party items. In the fifth generation of video game consoles, the Nintendo 64 had a market lifespan from 1996 to 2002.

GameCube accessories include first-party releases from Nintendo, and third-party devices, since the GameCube's launch in 2001.

<i>Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition</i> 2011 video game

Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition is a fighting video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo 3DS handheld game console. It was released as a launch game in all continents, but in Japan first on 26 February 2011. It is a port of the console game Super Street Fighter IV. The game has sold 1.3 million units worldwide for 3DS.

Toys-to-life is a video game feature using physical figurines or action figures to interact within the game. These toys use a near field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID), or image recognition data protocol to determine the individual figurine's proximity, and save a player's progress data to a storage medium located within that piece. It was one of the most lucrative branches of the video game industry especially during the late 1990s and 2010s, with the Skylanders franchise alone selling more than $3 billion worth over the course of four years.

<i>Harry Potter</i> video games Licensed video games based on the Harry Potter novels

The Harry Potter video games are a series of video games based on the Wizarding World franchise originally created by J. K. Rowling. Many of the Harry Potter-inspired video games are tie-ins to the film adaptations of the same name. The main series features a video game for every film. There are multiple distinct versions for individual games.

The TurboGrafx-16 Mini, also known as the PC Engine Mini in Japan and PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini in Europe, is a dedicated home video game console by Konami modeled on NEC's TurboGrafx-16, which was designed by Hudson Soft, a video game developer which Konami acquired in 2012. The Mini emulates the original console's 8-bit hardware. The Japanese model contains 58 games in total while the international models contain 57. The Mini was originally set to be released worldwide on March 19, 2020, exclusively through Amazon, but was delayed everywhere except for Japan because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was shipped in North America on May 22, 2020, and in Europe on June 5, 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "Prism makes gaming show for Jetix". Broadcast.
  2. "Haruka Kuroda - Rediff Pages". pages.rediff.com.
  3. "JETIX UK RE-COMMISSIONS PXG ::: Jetix". Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  4. "Jetix UK updates PXG for kid gamers".
  5. "Jetix UK reloads gaming show PXG".
  6. "PXG: Amoeba Attack". 8 February 2013.