Sessler speaks about X-Play format shift
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Dec 22nd 2007 at 10:00AM }
Love it or hate it,
Joystiq's own Kyle Orland got a chance to talk to Adam Sessler, X-Play's host of ten years (and G4's recently appointed Managing Editor, Games Editorial) about the show's makeover. According to the Sess, the show will now air five days a week, focusing its attention on gaming news in addition to its usual reviews and feature segments. This doesn't mean the show is ditching its hit-or-often-miss sense of humor: "The tone of the show isn't going to be some grave, severe thing, because at the end of the day this is video games," Sessler said.
Sessler goes on to defend G4's somewhat lackluster programming lineup, saying he would rather "see a network with a lot of fresh content that's not always consistent on one topic rather than the same three hours repeated ad nauseum." We agree that it would be difficult to come up with an entire day's worth of programming based on video games, but perhaps they could find something a tad more relevant with which to fill those grim interims than syndicated episodes of The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gimbal @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:07AM
/me laments loss of TechTV. That is all.
lothar @ Dec 24th 2007 1:29PM
G4 took TechTV burned it to the ground and everything left from it, why cause they know they sucked and there was no chance of them beating TechTV so what did they do buy the competition and drop it.
Cops and Cheaters yeah thats what I want not the Screen Savers.
Dragod @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:10AM
They need to bring back Electric Playground and Game Makers... I loved watching documentaries and I loved watching the competitive game matches on EP. Replace Cops and Cheaters/Totally Outrageous Behavior with those two, and I'll be happy.
Tukulito-Zakayama @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:37AM
Electronic Playground is back already, if you did not know that...
Dragod @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:41AM
Well they need to replace those other shows with it... I haven't seen it on yet (Why I asked for it to come back).
Sunny @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:38PM
Isn't it online only? I've only heard mentions of it. Haven't had any reason to ever go to their shitty website.
Tiptup300 @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:18PM
Ahh, I think I'll just stick with joystick. With metareviews and negareviews how can I pick up the wrong game? Plus its kinda also useful for getting this news thing.
Geist @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:04PM
Ugggh Electric Playground? There are like three or four shows hosted by the same guys that do the same thing, just with different names. I can't understand why...
SoxFan13 @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:18AM
I thought the JAmie Kennedy Experiment was relevant due to his horrendous presentation at E3.
The same way Cops is relevant to that gaming exec that crashed his Lamborghini.
Cheaters is obviously reffering to Cassamassina's love affair with Perrin at Nintendo.
And Ninja Warrior, well that's relevant to being awesome.
roxxxo @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:20AM
never heard of this show
but i haven't seen g4 tv in like 5 years either
sheppy2.0 @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:30AM
Two things they NEED to bring back.
-Eye Candy
-Call For Help
As for Xplay, gave up. Tried watching a couple episodes but here's my problem. In a super crowded holiday season where lots of games get lost in the shuffle, they are having full show specials on single games. First episode I tripped across was COD4. Next episode was Mario. I know they are AAA titles, but FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK. You usually spend 5 minutes alone ranting how DBZ is retarded, couldn't you use that time to give some 60 second reviews? Couldn't you hype the games people likely DON'T know about? Couldn't you just... concentrate on more than one fucking game and intern abuse awkward laughs?
Majnun @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:06AM
Funny, they have at least 2 24 hour television channels devoted entirely to gaming in South Korea.
Of course that doesn't mean they have 24 hours of *content* each day (I think one of them is nothing but competitions)...but it is something anyway.
If someone had any friggin imagination (you know, like oh say Gamers With Jobs...or The Escapist) they could surely come up with something to fill a few hours each day with gaming/computer related programming.
But the morons who are currently on G4TV and the morons who are in charge of creating the mindless garbage that fills the channel now? Not a chance in hell of anything worth watching ever showing up on that channel (except Olivia Munn's cleavage and wondering if that little tool cohost with her will ever be able to grow a real moustache and look as village people as you know he wants to be).
finnith @ Dec 22nd 2007 12:26PM
Starcraft?
xtremesniper @ Feb 7th 2008 3:56PM
Actually Call for Help is "back", but not so much for US viewers.
For a while Call for Help (with Leo Laporte) moved to Toronto, Canada where they did the show for a fairly lengthy period of time. Recently (2007) they moved the show to Vancouver, Canada where it is now called "The Lab with Leo". I'm not sure if it's on in the US, but it's at least on in Canada under G4TechTV (the Canadian version never dropped the TechTV name; separate company up here) and in Aussieland under The How-To Channel.
JodyAnthony (death by snoo-snoo) @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:36AM
I think x-play is great. really the only thing worth watching on that channel
Phil Butcher @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:55AM
Nice avatar!
Anyway, to the article as a whole, they never seemed to have any lack of content when it was Techtv. This is because they were willing to show things that may have been only on the periphery of tech, but were still related in some way. As much as I think it is too silly/hit or miss to be funny, I think shows like Code Monkeys is a step in the right direction, which means it will bomb, assuming it hasn't already.
I like the chance in format. Well, in theory. I always thought that kind of stuff should have been included anyhow, but I guess we always had Electronic Playground if we wanted previews.
Last thing. Gosh, I sure with they would bring the old set back. All of the extraneous crap they have on the set now makes it look very lame and pretentious, which just reinforces peoples opinions that it is lame and pretentious. It is weird enough that they almost never have Morgan and Sess in the same shot anymore (are they in hate with each other?), but the set just.. Whatever. Anyway. Hopefully this is a push into the right direction for them.
Raikage (ROFLBERRY PWNCAKES Defence Force) @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:29PM
Yeah X-Play is my favorite show on G4. It's the last bit of Tech-TV we have.....
I do miss Kevin Rose and the Screensavers. (
Harbl @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:50PM
You don't miss Kevin Rose. Nobody does.
What you do miss is Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, and Martin Sargeant. THAT was the Screen Savers.
Einhanderkiller @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:13PM
I don't miss Kevin Rose because I watch Diggnation weekly. :)
NukeAssault @ Dec 23rd 2007 12:58AM
Agree'd on both comment and avatar. ALTON BROWN FTW!
Phi Nguyen @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:50AM
Is Ninja Warrior still on? Man, I loved that show!
Zorink @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:46PM
Nearly every day.
Mud @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:58AM
I haven't watched G4 in years. The Heroes recap brought me back for a few weeks though. I just can't stomach the "talent" they have hosting all of their shows. Horrid...
playwhutyalike (hates games lists) @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:59AM
Cheaters is awesome, in small doses. Especially if they have a white-trash, redneck fiasco.
Kind of reminds me of home. *sniff*
hvnlysoldr @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:14PM
I would have never guessed Samus was a redneck.
Steve @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:00AM
Will the change maketheshow suck less?
Jhongerkong @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:26PM
Will you learn howtousethe spacebar?
Twist @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:11AM
X-Play is one of the most annoying shows on G4, but I can sometimes respect their call-it-as-they-see-it game reviews. It almost sounds like they are going to be turning X-Play into an Attack of the Show clone only 100% focused on games. This really couldn't hurt and it might be decent if they got some decent people to host it (ditch Adam Sessler for Layla Kayleigh and ditch Morgan Webb for Kristen Holt and I would DVR it). Hopefully they will cut down the frequency of those moronic videos they make, but I doubt it.
But my pure hatred is reserved for G4's lame 2.0 shows. Some of the shows are shows I might actually watch if I can't find anything else, but all the annoying internet junk they have injected into them completely ruins them. If I wanted to be in a chat room I would be on my computer not in front of the TV.
Vince @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:24AM
they could always, you know, bring back the shows people liked to watch on TechTV that were cancelled for no apparent reason other than idiocy.
mattstl77 @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:41AM
Joystiq is not exactly the premier place for quality gaming news. Anybody else get tired of the stupid comic strips or stupid articles about gaming networks.
G4 is ok...it does need help. The only thing I watch semi-consistently is Attack of the Show. X-Play gets old but watching Morgan Webb never does...
Joystiq shouldn't throw stones at a glass house.
T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:49AM
Thats people in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, and from where im sitting joystiq is located on an oil rig not in a glass sky scrapper like g4. How dare you compare the two. Sessler sniffer!!!!
LaughingTarget @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:55AM
I like throwing stones at glass houses. Really, how stupid do you have to be to live in one? It gets really hot in the summer, everyone can see you all the time and it would echo like crazy in there. I'd do them a favor by chucking a hardened mineral lump at it.
kilodelta @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:41AM
why do people feel the need to screw up things that work ?
Alfred @ Dec 22nd 2007 12:32PM
X-Play has always been great. Reviews have always been spot-on, and the comedy has always appealed to me. Also, MORGAN WEBB, come on! (And the network that airs Arrested Development is a godsend, even if I don't watch it because of the DVDs I've exhausted since the Bluths were born...)
I also enjoy Kevin and Olivia on Attack of the Show. G4 isn't breaking any ground, but it is entertaining, and for a network that seems to be run by only a handful of people, I appreciate them for that.
Austin Hobson @ Dec 22nd 2007 12:36PM
syndicated scrubs episode ftw
Michael @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:00PM
Replace X-Play with Zero Punctuation: The Television Series. You know, find and pay dudes that people actually like and find funny and give them the resources to step up their game to a television schedule.
You know, instead of scouring L.A. or wherever for mildly attractive whores that would suck a dick just as soon as they would pretend to like video games to get ahead in their vapid little field.
In short, swing from my gargantuan balls, G4.
Amos @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:03PM
Does G4 air Reboot? Because they should.
Zorink @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:48PM
Remember when Toonami on Cartoon Network was actually good?
Mr.ESC @ Dec 22nd 2007 2:33PM
Oh I loved Reboot that and Shadow Raiders,both shows were excellent.
Zach S @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:16PM
Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the Adult Entertainment Expo has to do with games, technology or anything in general! But G4 has "exclusive coverage" of course.
mouse_clicker @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:18PM
"G4" USED to have a lot of good programming, not having to worry abbout consistency or repeating the same block over and over again. Oh wait, I'm sorry, that was TechTV. Nope, G4's always sucked.
-Moses
GD86 @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:40PM
While I really liked Tech TV and ZD TV before it, my god do you people just remember it through rose colored glasses while getting a hand job. They aired around 19 hours a day from about 10am to 5am. And in the hay day of tech tv at least 3 of those hours was The Screen savers (Repeat of yesterday, Today's episode first running, Todays Episode second running), there were 2 runnings of hour long call for help, X-play and Unscrewed took up another two hours together, Another 2 hours was tech live, Another 2 was anime unleashed. And let forget the 3 hours of Robot Wars daily. Plus the random assortment of Fresh Gear repeats that happened daily. So lets not get all "G4 repeats everything so much, something that Tech TV would never do."
mouse_clicker @ Dec 22nd 2007 11:36PM
True, but there's a difference between repeating good content and constantly pumping out crap. And Screen Saves at least was constantly different, and was, in itself, basically a summary of the entire channel. It was a newer channel anyway, and off to a good start for a fledgling network. G4, on the other hand, bombed because it insulted its target audience, and instead of taking the hint and letting the abomination of an experiment just die, they bought TechTV's audience and forced the content on us. Not my idea of quality programming.
-Moses
Doug Kaplan @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:35PM
I can't stand the pretentious reviews that X-Play does. If I am listening to a review of a Ratchet & Clank game, don't make some random reference to a political group or something random like that, keep it to the game and get over yourselves. Stop with the ridiculous skits and focus on games please. You were so much better as Extended Play. Learng from the "Judgement Day" format but minus the insanely horrible and annoying Tommy Tallarico. Review games, report news, leave the stupid random-ness behind.
NvM @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:36PM
I don't mind Attack of the Show in small doses.
I can be annoying though, and half the time they realize their humor falls way flat.
Xplay doesn't give bad reviews though, but I'd rather just see it off metacritic.
TK00 @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:38PM
If you watch G4 you're a complete and utter moron. I'm pretty sure thats a fact.
Danny Champlin @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:44PM
if they can make a network dedicated to only food, they can do one related to tech/video games. I say bring back the tech tv shows everybody loved.
On a side note, it should be a sign the most popular g4 show is a tech tv show.
DustoMan @ Dec 22nd 2007 1:58PM
Sounds like Adam is going to have to cut back on the blow if the shows going Live five days a week.
Sam406 @ Dec 22nd 2007 2:05PM
Since I don't get G4. I used to go to their site and watch video reviews but I stopped doing that when once I heard Gametrailer's video reviews.
Their Horrible videoplayer haunts me to this very day...
ANt @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:09PM
They never should have become G4 in the first place. Tech TV was a great channel. Where else could you geek out with shows like "The Screen Savers" one of the best tech shows ever, if not the best.
Sessler is an annoying.....
"Sounds like Adam is going to have to cut back on the blow if the shows going Live five days a week." --- LOL!!!