In advance, I don’t really know what to expect from the Opera GX event in Warsaw once I get there. Relatively bare, I head towards Munich Airport, where my PR contact meets me at the Airbräu. A Bavarian culture shock and a schnitzel with spaetzle at half past nine in the morning later I’m already on the plane to Warsaw.
On the way to the hotel, I learn that a studio tour is planned for the following day and that I have exactly one hour to prepare for an extensive interview with Maciej Kocemba, Product Director at Opera. After an extensive conversation with the friendly gentleman, I am particularly surprised at how long a conversation can take place via a browser. I was even a bit infected by his enthusiasm and in fact Opera GX has meanwhile replaced my standard browser on my laptop and at work. You can read why that is and what Maciej told me in this linked special, where we go into the pros and cons of the gaming browser.
The next morning, after breakfast, we head straight for the TV studio. In addition to extensive catering, several rather loud Germans are waiting for me there – influencers, as I find out afterwards.
High goals set
My chosen ones are not much calmer in front of the cell phone camera, but they tried to answer my questions honestly and in detail. AviveHD, OdumanPique and Danergy have been working together for a long time and probably also use Opera GX privately alongside their very successful and quite amusing streams. So they didn’t hesitate when asked if they would like to compete together as a team in a quiz show that Opera is producing.
Opera GX makes a declaration of war on the German evening program with Hot Tab Hero (2) Source: Opera
Hot Tab Hero is a classic quiz format in which two teams compete against each other and answer video game-related questions. Although the end product will be published on YouTube, the studio setup does not need to hide from German evening programs. Opera aims to set high standards and reach large audiences.
LED monitors are installed everywhere in the studio, I count at least seven professional film cameras, some on crane arms. But before the test recording actually starts, technicians and set builders crawl through the scenery and take care of the final touches.
This is also the time when the host arrives. An ominous figure that nothing has been said about except that it is known and meant to be a big surprise to streamers.
A young veteran
If I’m to believe the staff at Opera, the show’s host even walked past me. But who had slipped by? I can only remember blonde curls; not very helpful.
Now a second hint from one of the Opera employees: the host is very well known in Germany and also a professor at a university. My suspicions are finally confirmed when I stand in front of his cloakroom and read in black and white: Uke Bosse. Former Editor-in-Chief of Game One and the show Reload; Author, Professor of Game Design; director and actor.
I am not prepared for an interview with him. But that is also difficult if you know neither the topic nor the interviewee. Nevertheless, I bravely dare to enter the lion’s den. Well, the good uke isn’t that bad. In the meantime, he turns the tables and suddenly asks me the questions. Apart from that, he answers me conscientiously.
Uke also tells me that he has dealt with the participants in detail: “Of course I try to respond to the participants of the show, after all it’s about them, not about me”. One of the people responsible for Opera’s quiz show also tells me that they decided against a second host because Uke already has so much presence that any additional person would probably get lost next to it.
But it also suits Uke well, the limelight, and he already has the participants under control in the first test shot. I’m really excited about the show because of him and how much of his kind he gets to bring to the table. But none of this answers the crucial question: Why on earth is a gamer browser putting in so much effort to produce a TV-grade YouTube show?
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