Gaming Mercenaries invade TV

TV shows about computer games have been a decidely hit and miss affair in the past, from incompetent documentaries on the threat of violent games to Gameplay's abortive Blam!, which was such a thinly disguised attempt to get people to buy games from them that the end credits had to admit that it was officially classified as an advert. The BBC tried to buck the trend with Bleeding Thumbs, which was set to use a customised version of Unreal Tournament, but that was cancelled before ever reaching the airwaves.

The latest attempt to bring gaming to the television is Mercenaries from Brighton based media company The Bridge. Due to be shown at weekends on Bravo starting in August, the show will feature two teams of players battling it out in a range of different games each week, including the likes of Counter-Strike, Operation Flashpoint and Eurofighter Typhoon. The games will be linked into a single military campaign for each half hour show, with the teams fighting each other in the skies, on the ground and at sea while the sixth member of their team acts as a hacker, seeking to uncover information that will give them an advantage in the battle. Special missions are being designed for the show by British publishers such as Codemasters and Rage, and as many as 40 different games are apparently under consideration for inclusion in the series.

Exactly how this will all work in practice remains to be seen, but it's certainly an interesting idea. If you live in the UK and fancy your chances, e-mail cat@mercenaries.tv for more information on how to apply, or call 07855 444608.