Games.net publisher IDG Entertainment and video game TV channel G4, owned by Comcast Corp., have partnered to produce three episodes of the show "Filter," the first of which will air Monday night.
The "Filter" episodes, all of which involve top-10 lists of games, will rely heavily on consumers voting via the Internet. First, Web site visitors at Games.net will vote on which topics
they would like to see covered in the episode; then, visitors to the "Filter" site will vote on the games themselves.
For example, Monday's show will be devoted to "The Top 10 Driving Games the
DMV Doesn't Want You to Play,"--a topic voted on by Games.net visitors. The No. 1 game on that list, "Burnout 3," was selected by online visitors at "Filter." Games.net will also host clips from the
television program, and direct users to pick up the print magazine to hear about the next episode.
In addition, IDG will tout its print magazines with this deal, writing articles in GamePro about
the games featured on "Filter."
"It's a big cycle across platforms of both editorial and promotion," said Craig Eastman, IDG's director of online product development. "The major idea is to start
writing content on the Internet and utilize that content in different formats."
On G4's end, part of the appeal of the partnership was to lend the voice of experts to "Filter," which largely
features the opinions of the voters on its Web site. "One of the things that we've sought to do with G4 is to look for the gaming experts that are out there," said Josh Krane, vice president of
interactive for G4. "We use them to really give validity to what the users have chosen."
This is the third cross-promotion deal that G4 has done. Game sites IGN and Gamespot have provided content
and promotion for G4's programming. IGN partnered with the channel for coverage of the E3 developer's conference in May, and Gamespot provided content for G4's Cinematech, a show focusing on in-game
videos and cinematics, in three episodes that aired last week.