By Mark Rodriguez
Back in the day, before the internet became a thing, if you wanted to know more about an upcoming game and whether or not you should buy it you had videogame magazines like GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazines were cool but other than TV commercials or renting the game once it was actually out, the only way to see the game in actual motion before it was out would be watching a show like Video Power. Sometime later we got GamePro TV, an extension of the GamePro magazine.
GamePro TV starred JD Roth and Brennan Howard (though he'd never use his last name on the show) as they would cover several games. While Video Power was more Nintendo heavy because it was out during the 8-bit era, GamePro's later premiere would allow it to cover more 16-bit games from the SEGA Genesis, the SNES and the Turbo-Graphx-16. JD Roth would act a bit calmer and somewhat soft spoken while Brennan was the total 90's surfer dude and always seemed to stand as if he was always flexing.
The segments would vary but would be based on how the GamePro magazine would do things. They had ProReviews which would review a current game, and they would use the same 1-5 rating system with character faces as the magazine.
One of the most infamous examples looking back was when they reviewed Wolverine for the NES and Brennan would keep pronouncing Magneto as 'Mag-Net-o' as in fishing nets and whatnot. In his defense though, I'm not sure Magneto was that popular in outside media, since this show was on the air before the X-Men 90's series and way before the movies. This was even before the Genesis game that had him as the main villain. He might have appeared on the occasional Marvel cartoon here and there but I think most people at that time only knew how to pronounce his name however you decided when you were reading the comic book. It doesn't make it any less jarring to look back and hear it now though.
The ProPreviews would be previews of upcoming games. They also had SWAT, Secret Weapons and Tactics, which would be secret tips, codes and passwords hidden in games. For these segments, J.D Roth would always be super-imposed on the game itself as he gives the tips and it seems he was the only one doing these segments. They also announced the Sega CD and Game Gear before it was released and also reviewed the Neo Geo home console.
Fans could send in videos for Viewer SWAT and Ask the Pros. Viewer SWAT let fans mail in video of themselves showing off tips and tricks they also discovered. One of most the popular ones was when a kid mailed in the infamous Elecman glitch in the first MegaMan game, in which when Megaman fires off Elecman's weapon, you can pause and unpause the game repeatedly to let it cause more damage, even to some of the bosses. Ask the Pros let fans send videos asking for tips and tricks on games and if they get an answer, they can win a free shirt. There's also a Pro Challenge Board where people can send in pictures of their high scores or proof they completed a particularly difficult videogame and they win a free annual subscription to the magazine.
While GamePro TV didn't ever become a gameshow, the later episodes ditched Brennan and had JD run the whole thing himself. I never knew the behind the scenes reason why the B-Man got the axe, his departure didn't change too much, but for me as a kid it felt weird seeing a show go from two hosts to one, and maybe JD could have gotten a new co-host or something. It was just kinda odd having him do the whole show himself. But yeah, after all with reruns and whatnot, seeing Brennan in an episode meant it was an old one.
From what I understand the show had a bit of a short revival once or twice with completely different hosts, but I've never seen those so I can't comment or explain them as well as the original since I actually saw those episode back in the day. I know JD Roth hosted a Nickelodeon show called Fun House and later on went to voice Johnny in The New Adventures of Johnny Quest for the first season. I don't know whatever happened to Brennan.
Both Video Power and GamePro TV inspired us to do Video Game Masters and Youtube gave us a place to actually showcase. I love both shows and they both have their 90's cheese and charm, though to be honest, for more videogame info, tips, tricks and all that, GamePro TV was the better show.
Back in the day, before the internet became a thing, if you wanted to know more about an upcoming game and whether or not you should buy it you had videogame magazines like GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly. The magazines were cool but other than TV commercials or renting the game once it was actually out, the only way to see the game in actual motion before it was out would be watching a show like Video Power. Sometime later we got GamePro TV, an extension of the GamePro magazine.
GamePro TV starred JD Roth and Brennan Howard (though he'd never use his last name on the show) as they would cover several games. While Video Power was more Nintendo heavy because it was out during the 8-bit era, GamePro's later premiere would allow it to cover more 16-bit games from the SEGA Genesis, the SNES and the Turbo-Graphx-16. JD Roth would act a bit calmer and somewhat soft spoken while Brennan was the total 90's surfer dude and always seemed to stand as if he was always flexing.
The segments would vary but would be based on how the GamePro magazine would do things. They had ProReviews which would review a current game, and they would use the same 1-5 rating system with character faces as the magazine.
One of the most infamous examples looking back was when they reviewed Wolverine for the NES and Brennan would keep pronouncing Magneto as 'Mag-Net-o' as in fishing nets and whatnot. In his defense though, I'm not sure Magneto was that popular in outside media, since this show was on the air before the X-Men 90's series and way before the movies. This was even before the Genesis game that had him as the main villain. He might have appeared on the occasional Marvel cartoon here and there but I think most people at that time only knew how to pronounce his name however you decided when you were reading the comic book. It doesn't make it any less jarring to look back and hear it now though.
The ProPreviews would be previews of upcoming games. They also had SWAT, Secret Weapons and Tactics, which would be secret tips, codes and passwords hidden in games. For these segments, J.D Roth would always be super-imposed on the game itself as he gives the tips and it seems he was the only one doing these segments. They also announced the Sega CD and Game Gear before it was released and also reviewed the Neo Geo home console.
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| JD Roth giving tips on Sword of Sodan for the Genesis. |
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| I guess Bucky O'Hare for the NES got a straight average rating |
As you can tell from my description, this show was packed with videogame info and tips and had the advantage of not having more than the half of it being devoted to a cartoon like Video Power did. It was more interactive with the fans since they could send in videos and whatnot and had the advantage of having the magazine back it.
While GamePro TV didn't ever become a gameshow, the later episodes ditched Brennan and had JD run the whole thing himself. I never knew the behind the scenes reason why the B-Man got the axe, his departure didn't change too much, but for me as a kid it felt weird seeing a show go from two hosts to one, and maybe JD could have gotten a new co-host or something. It was just kinda odd having him do the whole show himself. But yeah, after all with reruns and whatnot, seeing Brennan in an episode meant it was an old one.
From what I understand the show had a bit of a short revival once or twice with completely different hosts, but I've never seen those so I can't comment or explain them as well as the original since I actually saw those episode back in the day. I know JD Roth hosted a Nickelodeon show called Fun House and later on went to voice Johnny in The New Adventures of Johnny Quest for the first season. I don't know whatever happened to Brennan.
Both Video Power and GamePro TV inspired us to do Video Game Masters and Youtube gave us a place to actually showcase. I love both shows and they both have their 90's cheese and charm, though to be honest, for more videogame info, tips, tricks and all that, GamePro TV was the better show.
Brennan moved on to embrace his inner weird:
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