Show attended:
Cambridge Junction 2,
2pm, 1st October
£15 + booking fee
We quite like Go 8 Bit on Dave, not perfect but entertaining enough, a TV show based on an Edinburgh show where celebs play video games. You may remember there’s a voting mechanic where the audience vote on their phones as to who they think will win each challenge.
WiFi Wars comes out of taking the technology behind that and seeing how far they can push it, starting with super-simple (a game of Pong where the paddle moves if your team correctly votes on whether the paddle should move up or down) through slightly more complex (Whack-A-Mole, Track and Field) right through to 110 player Bomberman and virtual reality flying. And providing your phone or tablet is reasonable enough you get to play along with ALL of it.
My biggest criticism of the show comes right at the start which is when you try and connect your phone to King Rob Sedgebeer’s server using the WiFi – certainly when I tried my Android phone wasn’t sure it liked it, complaining of no internet connection, but when I went to the website on the giant screen anyway it all seemed to work anyway. There are hints that flash up before the show and Steve McNeil and Rob seemed very happy to set people’s equipment up if they weren’t sure how to do it (it seems like these shows play to around 60-100 people usually, The Junction 2 felt quite full but it’s certainly not a massive venue). I don’t know if there’s a friendlier way of doing it or telling the audience that if it says you can’t get internet to try going to the website anyway but I would suggest that on my phone at least (a Moto X Play) once the show got going the browser software worked flawlessly. You put a name in and take a selfie (you can untick a box if you’re a bit shy and don’t want to appear on screen). Meanwhile an endless disco remix of the Star Wars theme plays in the background.
The audience is split into two teams but everybody is also playing for themselves with a prize for the best player across the session. McNeil is the host explaining the technology and leading the games whilst Sedgebeer largely sits silently with computers on the other side of the stage, like a modern day videogame reworking of the Pet Shop Boys. Before each game a member of the audience puts forward a yes/no question to vote on with the higher percentage determining how many points the game is worth to the winning team. Audiences are encouraged to think up smart questions to make the game worth more.
The games in the first half are quite simple affairs only using a few buttons – Pong, Track and Field, a penalty shootout game, my favourite was Whack A Mole where provided you have the muscle memory to not need to look down at your phone to see where you’re pressing is an intensely fun sixty seconds (tellingly it’s also a game I finished second in the room at – players are ranked and earn points on a big scoreboard as the show progresses).
After the interval the games get more experimental and really push the boundaries, including a massively multiplayer version of Bomberman (we played it with 110 players – a WiFi Wars record, although Rob’s server couldn’t really keep up, they reckoned 80-ish was the highest number it worked reasonably well with) and a full on 3D First Person shooter. The top ten players before the final got to play the last game on stage with Google Cardboard, a virtual reality flying game, where the audience could only play without the VR. There was also a super fun elimination memory game earlier which I shan’t spoil.
It was all fantastic fun, the audience was full of parents and kids (this was a 2pm show, the intention was also a 7pm one but that had to be cancelled – the 2pm one was certainly child friendly) and everyone seemed to have a great time. And you can get your points and a certificate e-mailed to you afterwards.
There are also homages to the ITV Schools clock and Top of the Pops for all the telly nerds.
Bother’s Bar absolutely recommends going to see WiFi Wars if it’s coming to your area.