Things that aren’t formats yet but probably should be

By | March 12, 2018
16 Comments

It is POP FACT that Agatha Christie invented the modern reality elimination competition when she wrote And Then There Were None way back in the dim and distant past (in fact it’s practically The Mole, do read/watch/see performed if you haven’t already).

However recently I’ve been finding I’ve been watching lots of streams of a videogame called Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, and it’s literally the film Battle Royale with Takeshi Kitano. 100 people dropped on an island who have to loot buildings for weapons and then vie to be the last one standing, to keep people moving and to keep people close the map contracts every few minutes, dealing damage to anyone who isn’t in the safe zone. With the right people I find it quite compelling.

This sort of thing has become all the rage in Videogameland now, there’s a similar free-to-play game called Fortnite Battle Royale which is basically the same thing but faster and with building elements.

The closest we’ve come to this sort of thing, I think, is the Japanese show Battle For Money, a spin-off of Bother’s Bar favourite Run For Money, which featured people running around a map eliminating each other with dodgeballs. Here’s an ep with English subs:

16 thoughts on “Things that aren’t formats yet but probably should be”

  1. Will Tennant

    First someone brings Up Digitiser which will feature my good pal Larry, and then here’s Ian’s Sausage head in this post too. Small World.

    If anyone wants to play PUBG, best getting the PC version over Xbox unless you have a Xbox One X as the loading issues are problematic.

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  3. Chris M. Dickson

    It’s tempting to wonder at this point what the quality of camera drone technology is like. Would it be more practical to have some sort of stealth game captured on, say, fifty fixed cameras and fifty flying drones rather than having sundry cameramen giving people’s locations away – or would the camerawork from a flying drone be likely to make people sick? You don’t read so much about drone racing any more…

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  4. David

    I think Battle for Money got cancelled- at least the Fuji TV website doesn’t have anything past late 2016 for it (while there was a Run for Money ep in January)

    I know the show Stranded with a Million Dollars a while back used drone cameras extensively (not exclusively, but a big majority of the show)

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    1. Alex

      RfM’s still going?

      I was REALLY into it years ago and then I all of a sudden just…stopped.

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  5. Mathew Palmieri

    Dont forget Whodunnit? (which is probably a more accurate/straighter version) shame it never got a second season… https://youtu.be/5nZ5E9s9quk (WITCH STILL THIS DAY i insist was plagiarized to the heavens by joey graceffa’s escape the night youtube red show, specially in its first season. https://m62259.tumblr.com/post/171469613553/whodunnit-2013-compared-to-escape-the-night ) Really the battle royale thing was more or less inspired by the “The Most Dangerous Game” story by Richard Connell.
    In other non death-game murder mystery related news…..
    Red nose day US will start on 8PMEST on NBC hosed by chris hardwick of all people, Featuring red nose day version’s of Hollywood game night and a celebrity american ninja warrior. hardwick will check in live in both specials as he gears up for the main special.

    “The evening will serve to entertain and educate viewers while providing many opportunities to support the charity through calls to donate, with money raised supporting millions of children in need in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and around the world.”
    (Wonder what you British think of our red nose day here in the states…..)

    And Other OTHER news, american idol just got revived last night on abc if singing shows happen to be your thing…. (probably not, but wanna mention it anyway’s)

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  7. David B

    This is also a rabbithole I’ve fallen down recently. IMHO, the best people to watch for Fortnite (the easier game to follow) are iTemp Plays, Ali-A and Muselk. Or Ninja if you want MAD SKILLZ.

    What I found interesting about watching people like Jackfrags play Battlegrounds, Battlefield etc. is how games can now become an all-encompassing universe. Before, games were something you could run OR drive OR shoot OR fly. Now, if your plane gets shot down, you can parachute out, run to a new checkpoint, commandeer a tank or take charge of an anti-aircraft battery.

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  8. Clicky

    I didn’t know “POP FACT that Agatha Christie invented the modern reality elimination competition when she wrote And Then There Were None way”… although ironically I always wondered it, as And Then There Were None is my favorite book and I always used to wonder if it was the original inspiration for Reality TV Shows (i.e. Survivor, etc.)

    Battle Royale is also one of my favorite movie themes ^_^. Definitely checking out this video game and subbed game show when I get a chance :D.

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    1. Clicky

      Battle for Money reminds me of Cha$e that used to be on SciFi. But it’s better. Love it ^_^.

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  11. CeleTheRef

    Enrico Papi has trouble with spelling and with steps 😀

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