Steve McNeil

Steve McNeil
Born (1979-09-01) 1 September 1979
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Occupation Streamer, Podcaster, TV Presenter, Actor, Writer and Comedian
Years active 2014-present
Children 1
Website http://www.stevemcneil.co.uk/

Steve McNeil is a Twitch and TV host who regularly creates content for Ginx TV. He is also known for being the co-creator of Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit and the more recent Wi-Fi Wars.[1][2][3]

Career

Steve McNeil began his gaming/comedy career doing Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit alongside Sam Pamphilon, initially proposed as weekend fun but later turned into a mix of comedy and videogames roadshow. Comedians such as Sara Pascoe and Marcus Brigstocke have participated as guest members of either Team McNeil or Team Pamphilon. The TV show version has aired for three seasons on Dave and fans are hopeful for a renewal for a fourth season. However, as of July 2018, both Dave and McNeil himself refuse to say if the show will be either renewed or cancelled.

His next project was Wi-Fi Wars where instead of comedians being the players on stage, the audience including two team captains play the game using their smartphones. This uses the technology from Go 8-Bit and advances it for mass playing. The new show began when the duo appeared on the BBC's coverage of the 2014 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Wi-Fi Wars was and is still used as a way of road testing technology for future presentations. As part of Wi-Fi Wars, on July 22, 2016 Steve became a Guinness World Record holder in the category of "Most people playing a single game of Pong"[4].

Wi-Fi Wars itself has now branched out with the creation of The Video Game Game Show Show[5] by Steve McNeil and Rob Sedgebeer. Launched on 24th October 2017, The VGGSS works similarly to Wi-Fi Wars, except with celebrity team captains and some of the stages of competition replaced with a head-to-head match between the two team captains. Notable team captians have included James Acaster, Phil Wang and Ed Gamble amongst others. The rest of the program follows the same format and people can play along both in the audience and from around the world, using cellphones and streaming.

On 18 September 2015, a new podcast launched which featured McNeil as part of its four-man group. Game Friends launched to number two on iTunes 'Games and Hobbies' chart, as well as 'videogames'.

Also in 2015, he was nominated for a Games Media Award for his podcast Twomorewhiteguys, as well as Videogame Nation which Steve contributed to.[6]

In July 2017, Steve featured on an episode of gaming podcast That King Thing where he spoke about how Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit came about, as well as some of his own experiences in gaming.[7]

In March 2018, as a reward to supporters on Patreon, he began a new podcast called Let's Do A Gaming![8] where he talks about games and gaming and has a guest on each episode from the worlds of videogames or comedy.

In September 2018, it was announced that Steve had written his first book and that it will be released on April 19th, 2019 by the publishers Headline Publishing Group. McNeil's book, Hey! Listen!, focuses on video games starting with the humble origins of games like Pong, through arcade cabinets and eventually home consoles, leading up to Sony's launch of the groundbreaking PlayStation. The book covers not only games but their developers, artists and writers who poured endless energy (whilst making some hilarious mistakes along the way) into satisfying a generational desire for new and unique, but also accessible, entertainment. [9].

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013The Last of Us: Game of the YearContributorSpecial
2014-2016Console Yourself
2014Games EvolvedGuest host4 episodes
The Quest
2014-2016Videogame NationContributor/guest hostFilled in for Dan Maher for three episodes in 2016
2015E3 2015 - Live!HostSpecial
E3 Today, TonightSeries of specials
GamesportGuest host1 episode
Ginx LiveContributor4 episodes
Minecraft: Digging DeeperPresenter
Players' LoungeHostFocused on Batman: Arkham Knight
The First HourGuest host
Under the Radar9 episodes
2016-Dara O Briain's Go 8 BitCreator, dictator, and moreAiring on Dave[10]
2018-Let's Do A Gaming!Himself8 episodes

References

  1. ↑ "TwoMoreWhiteGuys - Twitch". twitch.tv. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "McNeil and Pamphilon". www.mcneilandpamphilon.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Guide, British Comedy. "Steve McNeil interview (from McNeil & Pamphilon) - 2013 Edinburgh Fringe - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Dominic Davis-Foster [@DDFoster96] (22 July 2016). "New @GWR #WorldRecord for the most people playing Pong #WiFiWars at the @Ri_Science with @BBCClick" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ↑ "The VGGSS". wifiwars.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Finalists for Games Media Awards 2015 revealed". Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  7. ↑ Development, PodBean. "Episode 68 - Steve McNeil Interview - Talking Go 8 Bit & More!". podbean.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Podcast: Let's Do A Gaming". stevemcneil.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Hey! Listen!". Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  10. ↑ "Go 8 Bit". stevemcneil.net. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
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