Joshua Gomez, Morgan on the NBC action-comedy Chuck, loves his video games. And, when I say 'loves' I really mean 'LOVES'. He's a man who can spout philosophically about the difference between Halo and Halo 2, and can spend 12 straight hours on the couch playing Xbox. Now, that's dedication! Especially since he never mentions anything about bathroom breaks.

So, being cast as a die hard gaming wonk on Chuck was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. That, and he was able to find a kindred gaming spirit in the show's star, Zach Levi. In an article at the gaming website Kotaku, Gomez talks about the game references that are liberally sprinkled throughout an episode. He mentions that many of those references are ad-libbed because the writers aren't actually gamers, themselves.

Here's what USA has in development for 2008:

• Halo will center on a man who wakes up one morning to find a halo over his head. Brilliant! I mean, the halo will be "brilliant," as in: "luminous" -- the show itself doesn't sound brilliant at all. The man tries to get rid of the halo but finds himself doing good deeds in the meantime. Actually, I'm being a smartass, and if it weren't a USA series I'd probably be rolling my eyes at the idea, but something tells me there might be something more substantive here than what the synopsis implies.

If you are tired of venturing up into the triple digits on your cable box to get some Quake or Halo tournament action, CBS has a little something for you. Game Daily Biz reports that the network, along with CSTV and VOOM HD Networks, is part of a plan to make the World Series of Video Games the most covered gaming event in history.

CBS will air a one hour special called "They Got Game" which follows five up and coming professional gamers as they make their way through the World Series. That will be followed up by a five week series on CSTV (Colleg Sports Television) that covers the tournament as players compete in Counterstrike 1.6, Quake 4, Warcraft III, Halo 2, Project Gotham Racing, and Ghost Recon. The finals will also be streamed live at cstv.com.

That's all well and good, but I don't really see this as any kind of a breakthrough for gaming. It is some form of network exposure, to be sure, but at the end of the day I just don't think there is a big audience for professional gaming. If that audience was there, G4 wouldn't be the mess that it is today. And that's not meant to belittle gamers or gaming. I think someone like Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel has put in the time perfecting his craft and could be put on the same level as other professional athletes. I just don't think there are a lot of people that want to watch him do it. Pro gaming is still closer to professional lumberjack competition than it is to the NFL.

[ via Slashdot ]