Play The Game On GIGA.DE

Providing online video is a widely adopted strategy for community websites to enhance the total media experience with a new level of interactivity. For the makers of GIGA.DE, the popular German gaming platform, video is already a familiar concept. In fact, GIGA has its origins as a TV channel that has been moved exclusively to the web lately. Boinx asked Michael "Micha" Schlieper, editor-in-chief of GIGA.DE, about the adventurous story of running a special interest community website, and the challenges of creating a daily show with BoinxTV.

Entering A New Era

Started as a complementary website to a gaming TV channel in 1998, GIGA.DE could rely on a strong and loyal user base, pioneering many social communication technologies that are now in common use. "The buzzword 'social networks' is not far from what we called 'community' at that time", remembers Michael. "Community is the foundation of GIGA.DE. It's all about social and personal networking."

Looking back, the history of GIGA was a rocky one. The TV channel was shut down in April 2009, but GIGA.DE, with its huge user community, soon found a new home in the worldwide IGN Network. Recently, the editorial staff moved to a new location. "We're entering a new era," Michael noted, who started working for GIGA ten years ago. He expects "bigger changes in content and user base, as GIGA is now web-only." But Michael isn't unnerved easily. GIGA always was a play ground for the development of new forms of user interaction and technologies. "GIGA is not a German version of IGN.com-it has it's own distinct community feeling and strengths".

Daily Video Production

It's not easy to describe this "GIGA feeling" adequately. Maybe it's the tight relation with the community to pick up feedback immediately. Sometimes it seems that the editorial work is basically summing up the topics that were discussed within the community and stirring up new ones. Of course, Giga.de is all about gaming and entertainment, but the community is not a passive "audience," it plays an active role in the creation of the content.

This is where BoinxTV shines. It's the only way to produce "Live on Tape" without editing and post-production.

Michael Schlieper, GIGA.DE

Creating a daily video show with almost no preparation time requires both spontaneity—we can't invest much time for the production. It's all spontaneous and improvisational," Michael admits. "This is where BoinxTV shines. It's the only way to produce "Live on Tape" without editing and post-production. Usually there is no second take and this creates the specific 'Wayne's World' style we want to retain."

Is it difficult to become suddenly a known "face" in front of the camera?

Schlieper: "Many video projects copy well-known concepts from TV–with all the consequences and requirements. This is different at GIGA.DE. We don't care if someone looks like Brad Pitt or Frankenstein's first try. We deliver authenticity. You can watch high gloss shows on your TV. On the web it's more important to be dedicated to your subject and to your audience. At the end it's the content that matters. Sure, it's not easy for a writer to play the entertainer, but in the years of GIGA TV everybody was hauled in front of the camera."

It's a fantastic product to create recordings fast and easy without any post-production. We often get inquiries from our viewers about which tool we're working with. Apparently BoinxTV succeeds in bridging the gap between "high-gloss look" and ease-of-use.

Michael Schlieper, GIGA.DE

What is your setup for the show?

Schlieper: "Minimal. We're using a 17" MacBook Pro 2,8 GHz and an aged Mini-DV-Cam with Firewire, some basic clip micros and decent headlamps. That's it. At the moment we're exploring the possibilities of using a green screen and trying to find the best set-up for lighting and camera. We plan to upgrade to faster hardware and additional studio equipment. In BoinxTV the standard Placer layer is very handy to display videos and images. The News Crawl layer is essential for every "Daily G" episode, to overlay RSS news feeds. So far our setup has been quite simple. Every now and then we're trying new layers for our show. Recently, during our London visit, the "Waving Flag" layer was used all day long.

What are your experiences with BoinxTV so far?

Schlieper: "It's a fantastic product to create recordings fast and easy without any post-production. We often get inquiries from our viewers about which tool we're working with. Apparently BoinxTV succeeds in bridging the gap between "high-gloss look" and ease-of-use. Please tell your developers that it would be great if BoinxTV could stream out-of-the-box directly to different live video platform."

GIGA.DE is about gaming. Is it business, or a personal passion for you?

Schlieper: "Both! I've been playing video games since the first Pong devices. There are times I'm playing more, or less, but my enthusiasm for games has never waned. And if you see the direction games have been developed in recent years, then it's not the end. Of course a professional review requires a different approach on games because someone out there will make a purchase decision based on our articles and videos. But it's not rocket science, and I don't have to analyze every pixel. At the end of the day, in work and personal, it's the fun of playing games that matters."