Cinematech was a clip show that launched with G4TV in 2002. At first, it was a straightforward affair of showing then-recent Video Games, but eventually branched off into themed shows (Survival Horror games during Halloween week, for example).
In 2005, Cinematech was spun off into Cinematech: Nocturnal Emissions for G4's late-night block of programming, with more sexually suggestive, violent, and Japanese content than its sister series.
Cinematech provides examples of the following tropes:
- Americans Hate Tingle: A literal, In-Universe example in an episode featuring a soccer game on the PlayStation Portable. The segment featuring the game had very jokey, Monty Python-esque music and ended with a graphic of a white picket fence with "Paint (Drying)" on it.
- Darker and Edgier: Certain episodes of Cinematech itself that featured such controversial games as Manhunt, Phantasmagoria, and Grand Theft Auto. Nocturnal Emissions took this even farther with even more obscure and potentially disturbing games.
- Montage: The most general way to show a game on the series. Other times, they would do a montage for a specific genre.
- Oh, and X Dies: On a 2005 episode where they crossed over with Gamespot, Jeff Gerstmann ended a summary of Final Fantasy VII with this trope:Jeff: And oh yeah,
Aeris dies.
