Monday, March 30, 2009

Motherboard The Gaming Hour on VBS

Stephen Lea Sheppard hosts 'The Gaming Hour' on Dell Lounge VBS.tv

For fans of the long gone, high school comedy serues, Freaks and Geeks, you might recognize Stephen Lea Sheppard, as the zen-like kid on campus popping up every now and then, to provide cryptic advice for the confused main cast of characters in the show.

In the years after the shows unfortunate cancellation, Sheppard, has gone on to write for Vice magazine (among other things), and most recently has been assigned the task of hosting his own videogame segment on VBS.tv Dell Lounge Motherboard, called The Gaming Hour.

VBS's attempt at delivering technology and culture news is taking an even more geeky turn by focusing on gamers, and game reviews with Sheppard's inherent, uber geek persona, 'The Gaming Hour', actually compliments Vice quite well. The complete opposite of the hipster American Apparel attitude, but still fitting because it's cool to talk videogames.

The reviews are delivered with quick articulation, on par with any kid with Aspergers Syndrome. (Sheppard reminds me of a friend of mine, who is so uber intelligent, that when he talks about something, he talks really fast.) Also he's from Vancouver, which is cool. Mind you he isn't as rapid fire speaking as Zero Punctuation, but he's a fast talker, which adds to the fun of his reviews.

With the first episode, the show comes off a bit amateurish in presentation, but I think it's that unpolished 'basement production' look that makes it work, and seem suited for Vice's retro style. No fake overdone, hosts who pretend to like videogames.

It'll be interesting to see more from Sheppard and The Gaming Hour. VBS, why must you always have great content!

Watch the first episode of The Gaming Hour. (Though, it's not really an hour long.)

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