Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1994-2016 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
4,610 digital video discs (3,156 hr.) : XD Cam
3,955 video cassettes (1,977 hr., 30 min.) : Beta Cam SP
137 video cassettes (205 hr., 30 min.) : Beta Cam SP 90
2,477 video cassettes (1,944 hr.) : DVC Pro 66
145 video cassettes (72 hr., 30 min.) : HD Cam
61 tape cartridges (3,550 hr.) : LTO4
308 video cassettes (308 hr.) : miniDV
8 video cassettes (4 hr.) : U-Matic
424 compact memory cards (141 hr., 20 min.) : CompactFlash
2 video cassette (2 hr.) : DVCAM 64
1 video cassette (1 hr., 30 min.) : DVCAM 184
48 audio cassettes (24 hr.) : Quantegy DA8 MP-30
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
EP Media Ltd is a Vancouver-based media company which produces television and internet content related to the video game industry, gaming culture, and related entertainment. Founded by Victor Lucas as Greedy Productions Ltd., the company launched its website in April 1995. With the mandate, “to review every game, every peripheral, every machine ever made,” Elecplay.com became a virtual home for reviews, previews, and exclusive features on the video game industry and its surrounding culture. In 1997, Electric Playground developed a half-hour television pilot which mixed video game reviews and news with entertainment. The Electric Playground television show was picked up with a series order by Space TV, a Canadian television channel owned by CHUM Ltd. Its premiere episode aired on 27 September 1997. The show’s coverage of video game news and reviews, presented with ironic, off-the-cuff humour, was later described as “the Entertainment Tonight-meets MTV of the videogame world.”
The Electric Playground show went on to run on television for over 25 seasons reaching millions of viewers internationally and became the world's longest running program focusing on video gaming, game-related news, and game reviews. In 2001, The Electric Playground began airing throughout the United States, and the Caribbean, and through an alliance with the UK-based company Gameplay.com, also broadcasted segments throughout Europe.
In 2008, G4techTV was given exclusive broadcast rights in Canada to Electric Playground’s television content, which had split into two daily half-hour shows: EP Daily, which focused on game news and previews, gaming culture, and on-location coverage of events, red carpets, behind-the scenes interviews, and more; and Reviews on the Run, which gave consumer-focused reviews of games and gaming technologies (titled Judgment Day in U.S. broadcasts). In 2012, the media production expanded to include spin-off shows, documentaries, podcasts, radio programs, and other content. From 2010 to the end of 2015 the shows aired on Citytv and G4techTV Canada through a partnership with Rogers Wireless Inc. Since 2016, EP’s content, including Electric Playground, Reviews on the Run, and the video podcast Vic’s Basement continue to be distributed online via YouTube and Twitch.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated by Victor Lucas, May 2023.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of broadcast episodes of the television shows The Electric Playground (1997-2007), Electric Playground Daily (2010-2015) and Reviews on the Run (2002-2014); broadcast and webcast episodes of spin-off shows and documentaries, including Art of Play, Torrent, Quickplay, and GTN (1997-2016); raw footage from each program including A-Roll (interviews, live recordings, etc.) and B-Roll (video game footage and media packages, etc.); and back-up master tape recordings of most of the television programs and documentaries.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Future accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
The fonds has been arranged by the archivist into the following series: 1. Broadcast episodes; 2. Raw production elements; and 3. Back-up recordings.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
EP Media Ltd. retains copyright of the material and has granted the University of Toronto Mississauga Library a license to host the acquired material and make it available for private study, research, and education through the creation of digital copies.
Non-University of Toronto affiliated researchers are required to complete a researcher agreement in order to gain access to digital copies of EP Media Ltd. records.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Access to original media is restricted. Access is limited to material which has been digitized by UTM Library.
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s) Accession: A2023.001
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Preliminary descriptions: Aug., 2024, D. Denis; May 2024, A. Hyatt; Jul. 2025, N. D'Abreau and R. Sahota
Additional revisions: Jul. 2025, M. Albert
Finding aid created: Jan. 13, 2026, C.Long