Good Game: Spawn Point Explained

Good Game: Spawn Point (abbreviated as Good Game SP or GG:SP, or known simply as Spawn Point) is an Australian video game review programme.

It is a spin-off (also described as a "sister program"^[2]) of the original Good Game that only carries reviews of games ACB-rated as G or PG, and professes to be "For young gamers, by gamers". It debuted on ABC Entertains (then known as ABC3) on 20 February 2010.^[3] Spawn Point was originally hosted by Steven "Bajo" O'Donnell and Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen from 2010 to 2016, when the latter departed; the former departed the following year. Later hosts included Gus Ronald, Angharad Yeo, Gemma Driscoll, William Yates, and Harry Jun. The series moved to ABC Family on 23 August 2024.

Production

Spawn Point began in 2010, hosted by Steven O'Donnell and Stephanie Bendixsen. The ABC has described Good Game: Spawn Point as "featur[ing] a family friendly mix of gamer reviews, stories about gaming culture and plenty of audience interaction". PlayStrat said, "The standard Good Game edition is a more adult oriented series—which includes reviews of games that fall into more mature classifications (i.e. they include violence, sexual content, profanity). It's good, therefore, that the show has the Spawn Point variant to allow the younger crowd to get their fill as well".^[4]

The show originally ran for 15 minutes, but was extended to 30 minutes per episode from Series 2, Episode 21 on 2 July 2011.^{[5] [6]} O'Donnell said, "The 30-minute show will allow us to review more games, produce more stories about game culture and delve deeper into gaming's rich history".^[7] Creator and executive producer Janet Carr said Spawn Point "is achieving a total TV share of 16.2% among children 5–12 years old and its average audience share is up 114% on series one. Series two has been extended due to the enormous response from the audience and it will give gamers more ways to interact with the show and make it their own". In 2011, Good Game: Spawn Point reached 166,000 viewers per episode.^[8]

As the show is "for younger gamers", it is not suitable to review games rated M, MA15+ or R18+. Bendixsen said "occasionally we might give you a glimpse of a mature title but only where it's necessary to make a point", and adds that the contentious content would always be excluded.^[9] On 1 July 2011, TV Tonight said "Together with ABC2's Good Game, Good Game: SP has reached over 1.3 million vodcasts, the most downloaded vodcasts of any ABC programme this year. ABC3's Good Game: SP website has recorded 254,000 visits and 1.6 million page views since January." O'Donnell named the "Ask Good Game" segment his "favourite part of the show, reading those letters and making the noises". He added "It's my dream that one day kids might look back on GGSP in the way I look back on shows from my youth, I hope we do it well enough that this might happen."^[10]

Bendixsen announced her departure from the show in January 2017; supporting host Gus Ronald and Angharad Yeo took her place.^[11] O'Donnell departed from the show in December 2017,^[12] and was replaced by Gemma Driscoll in 2018.^{[13] [14] [15]} Ronald departed the show in 2018,^[16] replaced by William Yates in 2019.^[17] Yates departed in 2020.^[18] In November 2022, Yeo announced her departure at the year's end.^[19] Harry Jun, who was a supporting host in 2023, joined Driscoll for a series of ten special episodes in 2024.^{[20] [21]}

Presenters

Main hosts

Name	Nickname	First show	Last show
Steven O'Donnell	Bajo	20 February 2010	9 December 2017
Stephanie Bendixsen	Hex		2 December 2016
Gus Ronald	Goose	18 February 2017	15 December 2018
Angharad Yeo	Rad		17 December 2022
Gemma Driscoll	Gem	10 March 2018
William Yates	Will	2 March 2019	12 December 2020
Harry Jun	Harry	23 August 2024

Supporting hosts

Name	Nickname	First show	Last show
Jackson Gothe-Snape	Ajax	1 May 2010
Jax	Jax	19 February 2022	10 December 2022
Suraj Kolarkar	Dr. Deviser	18 March 2023	16 December 2023

Notes

• The show was also presented by D.A.R.R.E.N. the Robot from its inception to May 2022.
• The show was also been presented by AAISA the Robot from 2022 to 2023.
• A puppet named Screen Goblin was introduced in 2024.

Guest hosts

• Kayne "Tremmers" Tremills (2010) hosted Series 1, Episode 19 (26 June 2010), replacing Bajo as he was at E3 2010.
• Pip Rasmussen (2017) hosted Series 8, Episode 19 (24 June 2017), replacing Rad and Goose as they were at E3 2017. Also guest hosted Series 8, Episode 35 (14 October 2017), to celebrate female developers for International Day of the Girl.
• Tim Mathews (2017) hosted Series 8, Episode 36 (21 October 2017).
• Bajo, Hex and Goose returned as guests for the 10th anniversary special on Series 10, Episode 20 (6 July 2019).
• Bajo and Hex returned as guests on Series 15, Episode 1 (23 August 2024).

Series overview

The first seven series were hosted by Hex and Bajo. Episodes originally ran for 15 minutes, and were extended to 30 minutes during the second series. The eighth series was exclusively referred to as Spawn Point in 2017, and hosted by Bajo, Goose and Rad as a trio. The ninth series returned to the original title and introduced Gem as a new presenter. The tenth and eleventh series were hosted by Rad, Gem and Will. The fourteenth series was solely hosted by Gem, with Harry and Dr. Deviser as supporting hosts. The fifteenth series, consisting of ten special episodes, was hosted by Gem and Harry.

Segments

Reviews

Review segments are presented by the host throughout the show. Each time a current game is discussed while footage is shown to the viewers. At the end, a star is given to the game.

Perfect scoring games

• Portal 2 (2011 – Bajo and Hex)^[22]

• Ori and the Blind Forest (2015 – Bajo and Hex)^[23]

• (2017 – Bajo and Goose)^[24]

• Cuphead (2017 – Bajo and Rad)^[25]

• Super Mario Odyssey (2017 – Rad and Goose)^[26]

• Ori and the Will of the Wisps (2020 – Gem and Rad)

• (2020 – Gem and Rad)

• (2021 – Gem and Rad)

• Tunic (2022 - Gem and Rad)

• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022- Rad and Gem)

• (2023 - Gem)

GG: Spawn Squad

GG: Spawn Squad is a spin-off series which premiered in 2022. Episodes run for 15 minutes and feature host Gem competing in video games against child guests or content creators. The second series debuted in 2024 and featured both Gem and Harry as presenters, airing on ABC Entertains rather than ABC Family.

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Yes, Good Game: Spawn Point Will Be Hiring A Replacement For Bajo. https://web.archive.org/web/20171101081622/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/11/yes-good-games-spawn-point-will-be-hiring-a-replacement-for-bajo/. dead. 1 November 2017. 1 November 2017. Kotaku Australia. 29 November 2021.
2. Web site: ABC Television | The complete TV guide for ABC1, ABC2, ABC ME, ABC News24 & ABC iView . Abc.net.au . 2010-09-25 . 2013-04-28.
3. Web site: ABC to launch new kids digital TV channel ABC3. Theaustralian.com.au. 6 December 2016.
4. Web site: Good Game: Spawn Point now in 30-minute episodes . https://archive.today/20130630034346/http://www.playstrat.com/2011/07/good-game-spawn-point-now-in-30-minute.html . dead . 2013-06-30 . PlayStrat . 2011-07-12 . 2013-04-28 .
5. Web site: Harris . Leigh . Videogame TV show Good Game: Spawn Point expands | Games industry news | MCV . Mcvuk.com . 2011-07-08 . 2013-04-28.
6. Web site: ABC TV Blog: ABC3 . Blogs.abc.net.au . 2013-04-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121031080152/http://blogs.abc.net.au/abc_tv/abc3_kids_channel/page/2/ . 31 October 2012.
7. Web site: ABC3 extends Good Game: Spawn Point . 9 July 2011 . TV Tonight . 2013-04-28.
8. Web site: Good Game returns to ABC2 in 2012 . PlayStrat . 2012-01-26 . 2013-04-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121227181151/http://www.playstrat.com/2012/01/good-game-returns-to-abc2-in-2012.html . 27 December 2012.
9. Web site: Good Game Spawn Point - Ask Good Game: Gabby, Chris, chaosvampire and James. . 6 December 2016.
10. Web site: Bajo and Hex, hosts of Australian TV shows Good Game and Good Game Spawn Point - AMA. 6 December 2016. 3 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131003142953/http://www.topiama.com/r/1458/bajo-and-hex-hosts-of-australian-tv-shows-good. dead.
11. Web site: Good Game Has Been Cancelled . https://web.archive.org/web/20170131052432/http://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/01/good-game-has-been-cancelled/ . dead . 31 January 2017 . Yeo . Amanda . . . 31 January 2017 . 1 November 2017 .
12. Web site: Bajo departs ABC . Daal . Joel Van . MCV Pacific . 1 November 2017 . 1 November 2017 . 6 November 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171106065215/http://www.mcvpacific.com/news/read/bajo-departs-abc/0188415 . dead .
13. Web site: Yes, Good Game: Spawn Point Will Be Hiring A Replacement For Bajo . https://web.archive.org/web/20171101081622/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/11/yes-good-games-spawn-point-will-be-hiring-a-replacement-for-bajo/ . dead . 1 November 2017 . Serrels . Mark . . . 1 November 2017 . 1 November 2017 .
14. Web site: ABC announces new host for Good Game: Spawn Point . Van Daal . Joel . . . 27 February 2018 . 20 April 2018 .
15. Web site: Good Game Spawn Point returns next week with new host . Wright . Steve . Stevivor . 1 March 2018 . 2 March 2018 .
16. Web site: Goose bids farewell to GGSP . Naylor . Adelaide . The Influence . Trade Media . 18 December 2018 . 23 February 2018 .
17. Web site: Meet The New Host Will & We Review My Time At Portia! . . 1 March 2019 . 12 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230907224253/https://www.abc.net.au/goodgamesp/episodes/meet-the-new-host-will-&-we-review-my-time-at-portia!/10847494 . 7 September 2023 .
18. Web site: The GGSP 2020 Game Awards & Will's Farewell . . 12 December 2020 . 12 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201216034205/https://www.abc.net.au/goodgamesp/episodes/the-ggsp-2020-game-awards-&-will%E2%80%99s-farewell!/12965112 . 16 December 2020 .
19. 1593506550966280193 . Yeo . Angharad . angharadyeo . let me use the last few days of twitter to announce that after 10 fruitful years I'm leaving Good Game Spawn Point at the end of this year . 18 November 2022 . 11 December 2022 .
20. Web site: Good Game Spawn Point . Knox . David . . 22 August 2024 . 15 October 2024 .
21. DAsug9xyF2D . We just wrapped on filming the last 5 special episodes for season 15 of Good Game Spawn Point! . Jun . Harry . _harryjun_ . 4 October 2024 . 15 October 2024 .
22. Web site: Spawn Point - Portal 2. Abc.net.au. 10 February 2018. en-au.
23. Web site: Ori and the Blind Forest. Abc.net.au. 10 February 2018. en-au.
24. Web site: Spawn Point - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Abc.net.au. 10 February 2018. en-au.
25. Web site: Spawn Point - Cuphead. Abc.net.au. 10 February 2018. en-au.
26. Web site: Spawn Point - Super Mario Odyssey. Abc.net.au. 10 February 2018. en-au.