Adam Sessler
Sessler at TGS '07
Born	Adam Donovan Sessler (1973-08-29) August 29, 1973 (age 38) Berkeley, California
Occupation	Host and Senior Segment Producer
Known for	Hosting X-Play

Adam Donovan Sessler (born August 29, 1973) is a former co-host of X-Play with Morgan Webb and editor-in-chief of G4's game content for the network.^[1] He was the only remaining television personality from the G4's original incarnation until he and G4TV parted on April 25, 2012.

Background[link]

Sessler was born in Berkeley, California. He graduated from El Cerrito High School in 1991 and is a graduate of UCLA with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He was previously a credit analyst for a multinational Fortune 500 financial institution in San Francisco, and an actor on the San Francisco Public-access television show Chip Weigh Magnet Down, which he also helped to make. Adam admits that he is grateful to no longer work for Fortune 500 companies, saying in The X-Play Insider's Guide to Gaming that he was "very sad" about the job. Sessler currently lives in Los Angeles, California, having moved from the former TechTV headquarters, which was located in San Francisco, California.^[2] Sessler is married.^[3]

Some of Sessler's known favorite game series are: the Halo series for its first-person shooter qualities; the Japanese version of Rez for its Trance Vibrator feature; the Banjo-Kazooie, Rayman, Ratchet and Clank, and Sly Cooper series for their unique platform qualities; Resident Evil 4; and Call of Duty 4. He also stated during the broadcast of E3 2010 that Uncharted 2 was his favorite single player experience of all time.^{[citation needed]}

His favorite cabinet video game is Ghosts 'n Goblins, which he has stated on several occasions on older episodes of Extended Play and X-Play. "When I was 9 years old I used to scam quarters from my parents and sneak out to this local bowling alley that was so seedy Hubert Selby Jr. would get the creeps there. It smelled like personal abandonment. That's what I think of when I play my favorite game"^{[cite this quote]} he said.

Sessler has a younger brother, Jonathan, who appeared as Adam 2.0 (in X-Play's 2005 April Fool's Day Episode), a "clone" of Adam who claims he's much better-looking than the original Adam with a "special USB port" (a reference to the Game Boy Advance SP succeeding the original Game Boy Advance).^[4]

Career[link]

Sessler was the only original personality from ZDTV remaining on the network, surviving the network's progression from ZDTV (1998–2001) to TechTV (2001–2004), and subsequent transition to G4. Sessler is one of seven TechTV personalities, with Morgan Webb, Sarah Lane, Kevin Rose, Chi-Lan Lieu, Blair Butler and Brendan Moran, to survive the massive layoffs resulting from the May 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV, though until recently he, Webb and Butler were the only three hosts from TechTV still on G4.

In addition to co-hosting X-Play, Sessler also appeared semi-regularly on Attack of the Show! as a video game correspondent. On April 1, 2005, Sessler confused many by announcing he was leaving X-Play to host a late night talk show on G4 entitled Meet the Sess. A trailer of the new show aired on X-Play, showing Sessler verbally and physically abusing his guests until they released information about upcoming video games.^[5] Despite being extremely over-the-top and obviously fake, many viewers began flooding the G4 forums asking when the show would air and if Sessler was really leaving X-Play. Sessler has since publicly announced on several occasions that the show was in fact an April Fool's Day joke. However, he does have a podcast called "Sessler's Soapbox",^[6] as well as "Feedback", where he discussed various gaming topics with other G4 correspondents and guests until late 2011, when he was replaced by Blair Herter.^[7]

On April 25, 2012, Sessler and G4TV parted ways.^[8]

References[link]

• Orland, Kyle (2006-10-17). "Gaming's Top 50 Journalists". Next Generation. http://www.next-gen.biz/features/gamings-top-50-journalists. Retrieved 2007-01-02. 

1. ^ Brian Crecente (December 17, 2008). "Adam Sessler Gets the Boot... Up to Editor-In Chief". http://kotaku.com/5112391/. 
2. ^ IMDB - Bio - Adam Sessler
3. ^ Sessler's Soapbox - Gateway Gaming
4. ^ IMDB - Jonathan Oliver Sessler
5. ^ X-Play Classics: Meet the Sess
6. ^ Sessler's Soapbox
7. ^ G4tv.com - Feedback Blog
8. ^ "Adam Sessler Out at G4". April 25, 2012. http://kotaku.com/5905119/adam-sessler-out-at-g4. Retrieved April 25, 2012. 

External links[link]

• XPlay Hosts: Adam Sessler
• AOTS Blog: Jack Thompson vs Adam Sessler
• Adam Sessler at the Internet Movie Database

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since December 2007. It may contain original research. Tagged since January 2008.

X-Play (previously GameSpot TV and Extended Play) is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits. The program airs on G4 in the United States, G4 Canada in Canada, FUEL TV in Australia, Ego in Israel, GXT in Italy, MTV Россия in Russia and Solar Sports in the Philippines.

The show is currently hosted by Morgan Webb and Blair Herter, with Kristin Adams (nee Holt) and Jessica Chobot serving as special correspondents/co-hosts (Alex Sim-Wise and Joel Gourdin have also served as correspondents in the past). Adam Sessler was the original host of the program; he previously co-hosted with Lauren Fielder and Kate Botello.

X-Play began on the ZDTV network in 1998 as GameSpot TV, where Sessler co-hosted with Fielder for the show's first year, then co-hosted with Botello up through 2002 (the producers of ZDTV originally had plans to air a video-game program when the channel launched called Extended Play that would be hosted by Simon Rex;^[2] however, when an agreement was reached with the makers of the newly-created GameSpot website, plans for the original show's format were scrapped in favor of a GameSpot-branded program, and Rex was dropped as host).

The show assumed the previously rejected Extended Play moniker in 2001 after ZDTV changed to TechTV and the partnership with Ziff Davis' GameSpot ended. Botello left in early 2002, and Sessler hosted the show by himself up until April 2003, when Webb joined the cast and the show was renamed X-Play.

After the merger of TechTV and G4 in May 2004, X-Play became the only original program from either network to survive intact.

In April 2012, it was announced that Sessler would no longer be part of the G4TV network ^[3].

History[link]

GameSpot TV, Extended Play, and X-Play all originated in San Francisco, California. Throughout the course of the show's history, it has gone through numerous changes, in more than just name.

[edit] GameSpot TV

In the days of GameSpot TV, the show was filmed on a simple ZDTV studio set consisting of faux-brick walls, randomly positioned TV monitors, and functioning Gauntlet Legends and Rival Schools arcade game cabinets. For the occasional special episode, filming would move off-site to another location, such as the Sony Metreon arcade, and numerous game conventions such as the Classic Gaming Expo and E3. Each episode would start off with Game News, where Sessler or Fielder would give a brief overview of top news stories featured on the GameSpot website. Game reviews were run in a segment known as The Grill (games were graded on GameSpot's official 0.1-10.0 system), Spotlight showcased special content such as interviews with industry leaders, and Game Breakers featured strategy guides and hints for recently released games. New episodes would debut on weekend mornings at 10:00 a.m. EST.

[edit] Extended Play

When GameSpot TV converted to Extended Play in February 2001^[4], the show moved entirely to the Metreon, and took on a very simple style and format. Filming consisted of co-hosts Sessler and Botello and a small single camera crew; the show featured strictly game reviews and game hints, and the 10-point grading system changed to a 5-point system. New episodes debuted once a week at 9:00 p.m. EST. Like GameSpot TV, certain special episodes would be filmed elsewhere. In August 2002, the series became a daily program with a mix of repeats and first-run episodes airing Monday-Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST, with Friday episodes remaining in the 9:00 p.m. timeslot. After the departure of Botello, Sessler continued to host at the Metreon by himself, until the change to X-Play in April 2003.

[edit] X-Play San Francisco

When X-Play debuted on April 28, 2003 ^[5] the show moved back to the TechTV studios from the Metreon, and Morgan Webb came onboard as co-host, leaving her previous hosting duties on TechTV's The Screen Savers and Call for Help. X-Play had a larger scale than that of Extended Play, but it still maintained an extremely simple and spartan style. Filming was done in TechTV's Studio A, home to the sets of Call For Help, Fresh Gear, and TechLive. The filming setup was increased to three cameras; a main floor camera, a Jibcam for high angle shots, and a black-and-white handheld DV camera, which would be cut to suddenly and intermittently throughout episodes.

X-Play's primary set consisted of a single couch, coffee table and television (with working game consoles) positioned in the middle of the large studio floor, but hosts Sessler and Webb would migrate around various areas of the studio, normally not even going to their actual set until the end of the program. Each episode would typically conclude with Sessler and Webb playing one of the consoles on the TV. The show's format consisted primarily of game reviews and previews (with some previews being conducted as live in-studio demos by Morgan and Adam), with an occasional game-related sketch thrown in for comedic value.

The Disembodied Voice was also introduced to the show at this phase in its history. This unseen announcer would begin each episode with an often over-the-top introduction to which the hosts usually responded or commented (these comments varied widely, ranging from total non-sequiturs to Gilbert and Sullivan references to current events, along with viewer-submitted intros taken from the show's web forums).

Unlike its predecessors, X-Play had more of an edge, containing some adult language and more mature (sometimes controversial) subject matter. As a result, it was paired in a programming block with the network's other new show, Unscrewed with Martin Sargent. X-Play originally ran five nights a week at 11:30 p.m. EST, but it was moved up to 11:00 EST soon after. X-Play aired four brand new episodes for their first two weeks, but would ultimately air three new episodes a week for the majority of the show's remainder on TechTV.

Many of the episodes created during this time period aired on the G4 Rewind block of retro programming in 2008.

[edit] X-Play Los Angeles

Comcast purchased TechTV in May 2004 and merged it with its G4 network, necessitating a move for X-Play's base of operations from San Francisco to G4's Santa Monica studios.

The new set designed for the show resembled a lounge - or rumpus room - where the hosts could sit around while discussing their latest reviews (during the 400th episode, which originally aired on May 8, 2006, all chairs were removed from the set so that Adam and Morgan had to stand throughout the duration of each episode).

While originally maintaining its late-night time slot, new episodes were eventually moved to 4:00 p.m. EST in the afternoons (usually airing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) starting on April 10, 2006. This changed to 3:00 p.m. EST on September 5, 2006, before X-Play returned to prime-time on November 6 of the same year, to their current 8:00 p.m. EST timeslot.

On March 4, 2007, it was announced that the G4 Studios in Santa Monica would close on April 15. Production of G4 programs was relocated to the Studios of the E! Television Network situated elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. As a consequence, there were new sets designed for X-Play, and many G4 employees involved in production were laid off.^[6]

The E! Building's set was smaller than the Santa Monica studio, thus some aspects of the studio had to be shrunk down. The X-Play logo was retro-fitted to sit above the stage on the right-hand side of the set, with curtains surrounding the entirety of the space to create a sense of intimacy; a large flat-screen monitor was also placed in the background, and several small decorative glass balls were strategically placed around various spots on the floor (Adam and Morgan would often joke of their fear that they would trip over one of these balls and hurt themselves). During video-game analysis and viewer mail segments, Sessler and Webb would sit in orange recliner chairs as they debated over the issue at hand.

[edit] X-Play Expands

On January 14, 2008, the G4 network commenced with a complete overhaul to the show's entire format, branding the move as X-Play "jumping to the next level".^[7]

Both Adam^[8] and Morgan^[9] have stated that this new format represents "the type of show that they've always wanted X-Play to be", whereby a strict focus on game reviews was replaced with a broader range of topics relating to the video-game field (including more in-depth gaming news, first looks at game demos, and game cheat-codes/strategies with Kristin Adams twice a week).

The set was once again refurbished to coincide with the change, as the studio now has blue-tinged walls covered with several flat-screen monitors, and a giant orange X-Play logo (also newly redesigned for the relaunch) covering the floor. In addition, G4 took advantage of the new set and show format by expanding X-Play's schedule in order to air new episodes five days a week.

However, economic factors forced G4 to contract X-Play's schedule back down to only three original episodes per week, starting on March 2, 2009; in addition, the show's timeslot was moved out of prime-time to 6:30 p.m. EST (although reruns still air at 8 o'clock) and a number of X-Play staff members were laid off.^[10]

[edit] X-Play XL

In December 2008, the show aired X-Large one-hour episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.^[11] According to G4 television president Neil Tiles,^[12] this was an experimental change with the possibility of having all episodes run 60 minutes long sometime in the future where new segments were incorporated to see if X-Play could "go deeper than the current half hour show allows." Tiles also stated that the writers will be looking to add "more comedy" back into the program "as requested."

1,000th episode[link]

On February 1, 2010 X-Play aired its 1,000th episode; to commemorate this television milestone, G4TV featured a 6-hour marathon containing favorite episodes of the series, leading up to the premiere of the actual new episode.

Reviews[link]

The video game reviews on X-Play use a five-point rating scale, based on such factors as graphics, sound, gameplay, and playability (i.e. replay value).

Original ratings scale[link]

On X-Play's original TechTV homepage,^[13] the ratings system was broken down in the following way:

2007 ratings primer[link]

In a 2007 episode billed as a "primer on our scoring system",^[14] Adam and Morgan further elaborated on their ratings scale:

• A score of 1 is a game that "has to produce true crappiness, [through] the full cooperation of an entire development team - level designers taking off early to attend their children's soccer games, animators getting so high during their lunchbreak that they can't operate their mouse, and of course money hungry execs who will release anything if they can dupe kids into begging their moms for it."

Example Given: 50 Cent: Bulletproof

• A score of 2 "is such a difficult score to give, because it requires a game that fundamentally fails, but has a barely redeeming charm which makes it untenable to give a 1; it's that Suddenly Susan cocktail of technical competence floated atop a pile of dreck."

Example Given: Genji: Days of the Blade

• There are different levels to a score of 3 - "there's the 3 that's a mix of very good and very bad elements (like Blood Will Tell) or 3's that have a great concept that's poorly executed (like Railroads!), and then there's those 3's that are just churned out because they know people will buy them even though there's nothing original in it (like every FIFA game ever)."

Example Given: Sid Meier's Railroads!

• "There are really two kinds of games that get 4's regularly: these are great games with significant problems (like Dead Rising) and games that are amazing but just aren't suited for everyone (the Warhammer: Dark Crusade expansion or any of the Sims expansions are good examples)."

Example Given: Dead Rising

• Titles that earn a perfect 5 out of 5 are "those magnificent games which, whatever minor flaws they may have, call out to us and say, 'Buy me, you must buy me' ... "

Example Given: Ōkami

During this episode, the hosts also explained why they use a 5-point ratings system, rather than a 10- or even 100-point scale:

2011 ratings primer[link]

On the January 24th (2011) episode, Adam and Morgan gave an updated ratings primer in response to confusion spawned by aggregator review sites like Metacritic. To that end, the X-Play review scale was broken down in the following manner:

1 out of 5

• Broken controls
• Amateurish design
• Less fun than a menu screen
• Mainly shoddy licensed games (Clash of the Titans) and shovelware (Tournament of Legends)

2 out of 5

• Some fun to be had
• Serious flaws in gameplay
• Rental at best
• Examples given were Quantum Theory and Tron: Evolution

3 out of 5

• Not bad, not great (average)
• Technically competent
• Often lacking in ambition
• Mainly rushed sequels (Front Mission Evolved) and functional licensed games (James Bond 007: Blood Stone)

4 out of 5

• Good game with good ideas
• Accomplishes most goals
• Minor flaws hurt playability
• Games that might not be for everyone (Heavy Rain)

5 out of 5

• Outstanding, genre-defining title
• Realizes all ambitions of its design
• Renews your faith in gaming
• Examples given were Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2

Introduction of the half star[link]

During the 2012 season premiere (January 17th), the "half star" was introduced to the X-Play ratings system, with the hosts explaining that they felt a change towards a "more granular ratings scale will help distinguish the great games from the really great games from the really really great games." They also believed that over the years it had gotten "a little too easy to score the coveted 5 out of 5," and that the change will make such an accomplishment "more of a rarity"; it also means that the lowest score a game can achieve is now a "point-5 out of 5."

In addition, the review scale was again broken down to make the show's criteria clear to the viewing audience:

5 stars

• Exceptional game
• A true must-play
• Example Given: Gears of War 3

4 stars

• Great game with minor issues
• Lacks that "certain something"
• Example Given: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

3 stars

• Decent game
• Nothing special, nothing awful
• Example Given: Dead Island

2 stars

• Severely flawed
• Not recommended
• Example Given: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

1 star

• Truly awful
• No redeeming qualities
• Example Given: Thor: God of Thunder

The hosts concluded this explanation with the following caveat:

The first game to receive a half-star in its rating was Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (two and a half stars).

Sketches and segments[link]

Various recurring segments and comedy skits have been used throughout the show's history by the X-Play writers.

Recurring characters[link]

X-Play has amassed a large group of fictional characters that will appear from time to time, often to bring some humor during game reviews.

Interns[link]

X-Play has its own cast of interns (students from local universities who have signed up with G4 to gain valuable work experience in the television production field), who will sometimes appear as characters on the show. When appearing on camera, they are commonly outfitted in a white undershirt with the word INTERN scrawled across the chest in black Sharpie.

Their roles are not relegated to simply being on-screen comic relief, as the interns are accountable for much of the game footage used during reviews/previews. X-Play interns also play a role in other behind-the-scenes work on the show's set; some of the former interns have eventually been hired full-time within the G4 company itself. Examples include Leticia Caparaz (the first intern to be offered a full-time position in 1999 as a Production Assistant and later the program's Web Producer, before leaving the company in June 2004 as a result of the G4/TechTV merger), Jason Frankovitz (he would leave the show in early 2005), Albert Iskander (who has worked as a Production Assistant for G4's Video Game Vixens and G4tv.com), Gene Yraola (now a part of G4's Games Editorial Department, the liaison between the shows and the actual software/hardware companies), Eric Acasio (a production assistant for X-Play) and Emily Mollenkopf (hired as a production assistant on Attack of the Show in 2006).

A near-complete list of interns who have worked on the show follows:

• From San Francisco, California: Leticia Caparaz, Jason Frankovitz, Scott Humphrey, Chris Ivarson, Matt Ketterer, Desiree Peel, Jana Suverkropp, Kevin Theobald, Blake Yoshiura, and Kevin Yuen.
• From Los Angeles, California: , Eric Acasio, Russ Brock, Steve Dutzy, Brian Flores, Albert Iskander, Isaac Gelman, Kenny, Megan, Emily Mollenkopf, Geoff Pinkus, Stephan, Alex Villegas, Chuck Wilkerson, Chris Wilson, Gene Yraola, Rob Yeager, Daniel Powley, Michael "Sully" Sullivan, and Thomas McBeath

The Screaming Intern (played by Robert Manuel) was actually not a true intern, but instead was an editorial coordinator for the show.^[15]

Guest appearances[link]

When X-Play was still a part of TechTV, personalities from other shows on the network would often make guest appearances (including Leo Laporte, Yoshi DeHerrera, and Unscrewed's Martin Sargent and Laura Swisher). This continued after the merger with G4, with names like Kevin Pereira, Tina Wood, and Julie Stoffer.

X-Play has also had pseudo-celebrities who are not affiliated with G4 (such as Tony Little, Kato Kaelin, Michael Winslow, and Rip Taylor) appear on the show.

Hatred[link]

There have been several gaming titles/genres/trends over the years which the hosts have displayed an exaggerated sense of "hatred" towards (often playing up their dislike for the cameras in order to make for humorous television).^[16] These include:

• Card battle games such as Yu-Gi-Oh!
• Games based on anime series (particularly Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, and Fullmetal Alchemist)
• "Ungodly boob physics", where female video-game characters are rendered with impossibly large breasts that bounce and sway unnaturally and independently from the rest of their bodies (this phenomenon is particularly prevalent in Japanese dating simulation games like Sexy Beach 2)
• Game series which continue to produce titles despite a lack of quality and/or innovation (such as Dynasty Warriors, Mega Man, Leisure Suit Larry, and Tony Hawk)
• The proliferation of WWII first-person shooter games on the market (during their review of Moscow to Berlin: Red Siege, Morgan remarked "That's it! No more World War II games! According to my contract, I only have to review 75 World War II games per year, and I already hit my quota in March!")
• Video games based on existing IPs (like current movies or TV shows), since they are usually rushed to the market to cash in on the latest craze and end up being painful to actually play (such as the Charlie's Angels or Da Vinci Code video games)
• 3D water levels in games, since the show's writers feel that game developers almost never capture the feeling of swimming in an enjoyable manner ("Instead of making us awkwardly pilot our character through zero-gravity space, why don't you just come to our house and punch us in the face? It's exactly the same amount of fun!")
• Escort missions, where the player is forced to keep an NPC character (who has its own health meter) from dying; this often proves difficult when the NPC's A.I. is so insufficient that they continuously place themselves in harm's way (leaving the player with little or no chance to save them)
• Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue (Morgan has often called this the worst game ever made)
• Jonny Moseley and the ridiculous comments made in his video game Jonny Moseley Mad Trix (including the classic line "What if it snowed in San Francisco?")
• Dane Cook and his brand of comedy
• Uwe Boll and his film adaptions of video games
• Shovelware for the Nintendo Wii, like All Star Cheer Squad and "Crappy Minigame Collection No. 272"
• Developers who feel the need to take a perfectly acceptable single-player game and tack on a multiplayer mode
• Sixaxis controls in PS3 games
• 3D Castlevania games
• Level grinding in role-playing games

Physical abuse on set[link]

For comedic purposes, the X-Play writers have portrayed the show as an exceedingly violent working environment; interns are often depicted as suffering from sexual harassment and physical abuse at the hands of the hosts (such as being forced to use a bucket to relieve themselves - instead of the bathroom - or retrieving items suspended over the "X-Play snake pit").

This violent dynamic has also manifested itself within the interactions between the hosts themselves (like when Morgan Webb continuously struck Adam Sessler with a baseball bat during X-Play's mockumentary on the history of violence in video games).

Online content[link]

The producers of X-Play have used a number of internet-driven initiatives to engage the show's technologically-savvy audience.

[edit] The X-Play Boards

The show's hosts have often been the subject of numerous negative comments (including "Morgan's not really a gamer!" and "Sessler doesn't know gaming because he hates Final Fantasy!") through the show's official message board. The vitriol spewed forth on the forums has become so well-documented that the X-Play staff even produced a music video dedicated to the message board's denizens entitled On the X-Play Boards (MP3 format).

The song was written and performed by Marque Phahee and the Bling Dongs (in reality X-Play segment producer Mark Fahey playing an acoustic guitar), featuring the X-Play After School Choir (composed of Morgan, Adam and various recurring X-Play characters). It is also supposed to be the lead track from the X-Play: The Musical motion picture soundtrack (even though X-Play eventually created an actual all-musical episode which made no mention of On the X-Play Boards).

Chat[link]

When X-Play was still a part of TechTV, the show would host an online chat every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. EST. After the merger with G4, X-Play's official IRC chat room was re-designed by Philippe Detournay and Raphael Seeqmuller using the PJIRC chat client.

On November 6, 2006 (to coincide with the show's move to prime time^[17]), the G4 network integrated X-Play's chat feature into the actual broadcast of each new episode. Using an idea similar to their production of Star Trek 2.0, a window covering the bottom half of the screen would pop up during reviews and display messages typed out by G4 users on X-Play's official web site in real-time (with moderation for broadcast standards to avert profanity and other inappropriate responses). The presentation of the X-Play chat function was later redesigned for the show's 2008 reformatting, so that chat messages would display on the left-hand side of the screen during a review.

Twitter[link]

The interactive chat feature was abandoned in late 2009, in order to take advantage of the increasing popularity of the micro-blogging site Twitter. The show's producers now present X-Play viewers with a question relevant to the day's news/reviews via their official Twitter feed, then display the resulting answers during that night's episode through a scrolling ticker on the bottom portion of the screen.

Starting the week of June 13th (2011), the show began the practice of having their on-air personalities live-tweeting during reruns of the show airing on Thursdays and Fridays.

[edit] X-Play: The Online Game

X-Play: The Online Game is a short Flash game created by the San Francisco-based company Orange Design (graphics and audio by Sean Talley, programming by Fearghal O'Dea).

The brief intro sequence begins in the fictitious X-Play Labs (which made an appearance on the show during the X-Play X-Plentions skit), where Morgan is about to put the finishing touches on the X-Play online game. An excited Adam asks if the game can have "fudge zombies and stealthy ninjas and drunken pirates and radioactive Dik-diks", then haphazardly presses a large red button which "digitizes physical matter and materializes digital matter"; this causes all of the bad guys from the X-Play video game to escape (much to Morgan's chagrin).

Once the game begins, players can choose from big-headed versions of either Adam (whose main weapon is Slippy the Fish) or Morgan (whose main weapon is her fists), and battle their way through a few continuously repeating levels of action. Controls comprise of the arrow keys for movement, the "A" key to punch, and the "S" key to kick.

The game is no longer available on G4's website, but a mirror site can be found via Orange Design's online company portfolio.

[edit] Hyperactive

Culled from the theory that many viewers of TechTV both watched the network while using the internet, TechTV's Hyperactive was launched in 2004.

Designed to be used as a combination trivia game and chat room which would run concurrently with the 11 PM weeknight block of X-Play and Unscrewed with Martin Sargent, participants could compete against one another by answering questions relating to, and revolving around, video games, pop-culture and host references from episodes that were currently airing. Leaderboards were synchronized with the episodes as they aired, often showcasing the names of the 10 highest scoring contestants as the show came back from each commercial break.

After the merger of TechTV and G4TV, Hyperactive was abandoned.

[edit] Daily Video Podcast

On November 11, 2005, G4 started offering X-Play segments (reviews, skits, etc.) for free in podcast form via their website and the iTunes store, giving viewers the opportunity to watch segments on-demand with their computers and portable devices. These podcasts have since become available through other podcatcher software (such as the Zune Marketplace) as well.

[edit] X-Play Weekly

On August 14, 2008, a special weekly wrap-up show called X-Play Weekly was made available for download on the Xbox LIVE Video Store,^[18] allowing Xbox 360 owners to view highlights from the previous week's episodes for 160 Microsoft Points ($2 US).

Beginning the week of June 15, 2009, X-Play Weekly was also made available for download through the Playstation Network, also at $2 per weekly program.

[edit] Feedback

In September 2009, G4TV.com rebranded its Feed Nightcap vodcast (a web spinoff of the Attack of the Show segment "The Feed") with the new title Feedback. This weekly segment was hosted by Adam Sessler (before Blair Herter took over official hosting duties with the October 19th 2011 episode) and features a rotating panel of co-hosts drawn from X-Play's editorial staff with the occasional guest from the gaming industry (such as Tim Schafer and Cliff Bleszinski). The show's stated goal is to deliver "intelligent, informative, and very very humorous discussion about games" by reviewing current news stories as well as answering viewer questions, and is filmed via a roundtable format in G4's audio recording studio. Even though the show could be considered an extension of the AOTS brand, all of the content for the program is drawn from and presented by X-Play staff.

Book[link]

On October 22, 2004, TechTV (in association with Peachpit Press) published the book The X-Play Insider's Guide to Gaming: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Video Games From G4techTV's Brutally Honest Experts. Written by Marc Saltzman (along with the X-Play Cast) and weighing in at a hefty 468 pages, the book contains game reviews, cheat codes, and Q&A sessions with the cast and crew. Adam and Morgan even went on a nation-wide book-signing tour to help promote their literary endeavor.

Copies of the book can be found everywhere from the Brooklyn Public Library to the University of Hong Kong.^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• X-Play microsite to celebrate show re-launch
• X-Play Reviewed Games Database
• X-Play at the Internet Movie Database
• X-Play at TV.com

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve it by adding citations to reliable sources. Tagged since October 2007. It may contain original research. Tagged since January 2010. Very few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links to this page from other articles related to it. Tagged since January 2009.

X-Play is not relegated to just video game reviews and previews, but rather features several segments and comedy sketches that frequently appear throughout the duration of each episode.

Current Segments[link]

[edit] Gaming Update/The Feed: Gaming Edition

The Gaming Update originally began in 2007 as a short segment (hosted by Joel Gourdin) which recapped the top three or four news items of the day, and would often air before leading out to commercial. When X-Play relaunched with their new format in 2008, the segment developed into a two-to-three minute piece running at the start of each show, narrated by either Adam or Morgan (or by Blair Herter, who served as X-Play newsdesk producer at the time), then continued via a news ticker at the bottom of the screen throughout the rest of the episode.

Starting with the February 17th (2009) episode, this segment was rebranded as The Feed: Gaming Edition (to synchronize with the general news segment that airs on G4's Attack of the Show!), and is now relegated solely to the ticker at the bottom of the screen.

[edit] Video Viewer Mail/X-Play Inbox

Adam and Morgan would often read selected correspondence from the program's viewers at the end of every episode. These messages from the fans could be questions about the current state of the videogame industry, requests for recommendations on the best games to buy, or (especially during the TechTV era) hate mail from viewers who felt that X-Play did not give certain games a "fair" rating.

On November 6, 2006, X-Play gave their Viewer Mail segment a high-tech face-lift, by renaming it Video Viewer Mail. While previous correspondence was held via the written word or e-mail, the producers added the ability for viewers to also record short clips of themselves asking questions with a webcam or video recorder; people who had their viewer mail appear on air often would receive a free gift, such as a game or t-shirt provided by Jinx.com.

In early 2011, this segment was again rebranded as simply The X-Play Inbox, with the practice of featuring video clips sent in from viewers seemingly dropped altogether.

[edit] X-Play Exclusive

The show debuts a never-before-seen trailer or piece of gameplay footage.

[edit] Hands On

Adam and Morgan have a producer (or some other person associated with the development of a certain game) in the studio to show off the latest build/demo of their work.

[edit] Face Time

This segment features Adam or Morgan conducting an interview with a personality from the gaming community (programmers, directors, company CEOs, etc.) via satellite. It continues the X-Play tradition of having famous names on their show, including non-gaming celebrities such as Adam West, David Duchovny, John Cleese, Ben Affleck, Angelina Jolie, Carmen Electra, Ben Stiller, Andrew W.K., Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Quentin Richardson, Jet Li, and Vin Diesel.

[edit] X-List

A top-five list compiled by the X-Play writers that have to do with video games (including Top Five Smash Bros. Levels, Top Five Creatures in Halo 3, and Top Five Recommended Obscure Games).

[edit] X-Play Top 10

Similar to the X-List, except that the list is expanded from five to ten items ... Past examples have included the Top 10 Games for Adult Eyes Only and Top 10 Badass Weapons.

[edit] Will Work for Games

X-Play shows what it's like to actually work within the video-game industry, documenting a day in the life of various gaming employees (such as facial animation producers and games testers).

[edit] First Look

Previews and trailers for upcoming video games.

[edit] Head to Head

This provides Adam or Morgan a chance to invite some of the top names in the video game industry (be they developers, programmers, or fellow reviewers) on the show via satellite to debate the hot gaming topics of the day.

[edit] All Access

An indepth look at certain video games.

[edit] On Location

The hosts take a "field trip" to certain game-related locations or events, such as the annual D.I.C.E. Summit or the "ultimate gaming room" created by Barry Evans.

[edit] The Download

Highlighting the most recent patches and downloadable content available.

[edit] Cheat!

The Cheat! concept originally existed as a half-hour television program airing on the G4 network; however, in 2008 the show's host - Kristin Adams - moved over to the X-Play staff and Cheat! was re-created as a single segment where she provides cheat codes and/or secrets for currently-released games to the viewing audience.

[edit] Big Ones

X-Play takes a look at the biggest upcoming titles, such as Killzone 2 and LittleBigPlanet.

[edit] Release Radar

This is a quick list of which anticipated games will be available for purchase over the coming month.

[edit] Spoiler Theater

In this segment, Adam and Morgan showcase and spoil the endings of current-generation games that have been on the market for some time (their reasoning is that the game has been available to the home viewers for such a length of time that if they have not yet purchased/beaten said game by this point, they never will). Past games that have been given the Spoiler Theater treatment include Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Kingdom Hearts, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Metal Gear Solid 2.

There is also an occasional segment called Insignificant Spoiler Theater (identified as Not-So-Spoiler Theater and Irrelevant Spoiler Theater on G4's website), which features the endings of games that either exhibit very little in the way of plot (such as Katamari Damacy and Left Behind: Eternal Forces) or are based on movies where the storylines are already well-known (like The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs, and Pirates of the Caribbean).

[edit] X-Play Investigates

This segment began during the TechTV era as a parody of investigative news programs; X-Play would delve into such "hard-hitting" issues as the effects of E-rated games on America's youth, just what the "cool" people (such as then-TechLive anchor Chris Leary) were into, the horrors of animal testing for video-game quality control, and why certain intellectual property - like the TV show American Chopper - deserved to have their own video games (in the cleverly titled "How'd They Get a Game?").

However, this segment has recently taken on a more serious tone, with the show tackling subjects without the sole intent of creating comedy skits. Examples include a look at the portrayal of sex in video games, the prevalence of "achievement whores", and an inspection of the life of competitive gamer Steve Wiebe.

[edit] Splinter Cell: Co-op Theatre

In this machinima skit, X-Play takes scenarios from the Splinter Cell games and plays humorous dialogue to go with them. The two characters in this skit are "Special Agent Bob" and "Secret Agent Steve". Examples of their antics include curing pornography addictions with a bullet to the crotch, and Bob trying to convince Steve to see the movie Bareback Mountain with him.

[edit] X-Play Presents G-Phoria

What began as a video game award ceremony produced by the G4 network (similar to other events like the Spike TV Video Game Awards and Teen Choice Awards in that it featured high production values, celebrity guests, and a live audience), was stripped of its extravagances in 2006 and reformatted into an annual one-hour "special episode" of X-Play. Filmed in the normal X-Play studios (without an audience) and hosted by Adam and Morgan, each yearly G-Phoria-themed episode compiles votes submitted by the home viewers in order to announce winners in various categories, such as Game of the Year, Favorite System, and Best Graphics. This differentiates it from X-Play's "Best Of" Awards, in which the winners are chosen by the writers and producers of the show (not the home audience).

[edit] Best Of Awards

Every year, X-Play will dedicate an entire show to the best games released over the preceding twelve months; awards are handed out in several categories, such as "Most Original Game" and "Best Handheld Game", but the most prestigious - and most hotly debated - is "Game of the Year":

• 2011 winner - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• 2010 winner - Mass Effect 2
• 2009 winner - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• 2008 winner - Fable II
• 2007 winner - BioShock
• 2006 winner - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• 2005 winner - Resident Evil 4
• 2004 winner - Halo 2
• 2003 winner - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

[edit] Golden Mullet Awards

The polar opposite of X-Play's yearly "Best Of" special, The Golden Mullet Awards are used to showcase the reviewers' picks for worst video games of the past year. The name is a twisted "homage" to the Aquaman character from the poorly reviewed 2003 game Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis, who sported a blonde polygonal mullet hairstyle. To honor this unique look, Adam and Morgan will usually don large mullet wigs during the awards proceedings.

[edit] Convention Coverage

X-Play has conducted several on-site recaps from various fan conventions and trade shows throughout the world (including E3, Comic-Con, Leipzig, Gen Con, PAX, QuakeCon, and FanimeCon). One 2003 episode even featured clips from a number of these reports under the umbrella of a fictitious X-Play-inspired convention called X-Con; however, fans attending the event seemed to be more interested in receiving autographs from the interns than from Adam or Morgan.

[edit] April Fool's Day

The X-Play writers often come up with some outlandish premise during the first week of April to try to fool the viewing audience (and judging by remarks made afterwards on the show's official message boards, a lot of people do indeed fall for these stunts). Some of the pranks have included Eyewitness X-Play (where the show was supposedly re-formatted into a more serious hard-edged news show, taking place at the TechLive desk), Meet the Sess (viewers were led to believe that Adam had left X-Play to pursue his own talk show), Johnny's Xtreme Adventure (Adam and Morgan review a fictitious 2D side scroller starring the recurring X-Play character Johnny Xtreme), and a "re-review" of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (a voice-over replaced Adam's original negative comments with more positive words, as the game was given a "six out of five").

[edit] Games For Cheap Bastards

This segment of the program highlights good-to-great games that have recently fallen in price and can now be considered great bargains for the discriminating video-game connoisseur looking to add to his or her collection (without destroying their gaming budget). Prior to April 2006, this segment was sponsored by EB Games.

Various take-offs on this segment have been produced, including:

• Games for Rich Bastards, where games with significantly larger price tags ($70 and up) are highlighted. These include Steel Battalion (a mech simulation game notorious for being sold pre-packaged with an immense $200 40-button control panel) and the Japanese version of Rez (an extremely rare hybrid of a rail shooter and rhythm-based game).
• Even Cheaper Games For Even Cheaper Bastards, a tongue-in-cheek look at games for those who are really strapped for cash. These games are mostly outdated freeware or shareware (such as Stickybear Typing and Minesweeper), and - at the end of the segment - Adam or Morgan would claim that they were sponsored by "companies" that reflect the consumers' thread-bare resources (including Stale Ramen Noodles and Driving Your Girlfriend's Car).
• Games For Robot Bastards, which was really just a look at the history of robots in video games.
• Games For Bastards, which features games that you would only give to your worst enemy (due to their high degree of difficulty, bad camera angles, or just a complete lack of entertainment).
• Games for Pluto, a "salute" to Pluto's demotion to the status of "dwarf planet" by highlighting games that just do not measure up (like Homeworld 2 and Destroy All Humans).
• Games for NASA, which parodies the various delays that NASA shuttle missions have experienced in the past, by highlighting games that have suffered through lengthy delays themselves (such as StarCraft: Ghost and Duke Nukem Forever).
• Games for Out-of-Work Graduates, which pokes fun at those individuals leaving college in 2009 to look for work during one of the worst economic landscapes in American history.

[edit] The MMO Report

A preview of G4's online-only MMORPG-focused vodcast. During these brief segments, the show's host - Casey Schreiner - will appear "live via satellite" and discuss the latest headlines that can be found through the vodcast's official website, before throwing things back to Adam or Morgan in the X-Play studio. Although The MMO Report originally began airing webisodes in August 2007, these previews did not start appearing on X-Play broadcasts until the show's reformatting in January of 2008.

[edit] Sessler's Soapbox

A preview of Adam's weekly vodcast, which was added to G4's "News from the Feed" website on August 3, 2007. The man himself describes this online outlet as a chance to share his "true" feelings on the gaming industry (supposedly distinct from what he is allowed to discuss on air); past episodes have included his pleas to end the racist taunting on Xbox Live, and a dialogue on whether or not M-rated games are actually good for children.

[edit] Pro Tips

A segment where various correspondents appear to share their knowledge of video games. Past examples have included TSquared doling out advice on multiplayer in Call of Duty 4, Chris Gore modding a controller in order to play the tambourine with Rock Band, and Joel Gourdin showing off his techniques for Guitar Hero.

[edit] Mod This

A celebration of fan-generated video-game user mods, such as the customized Super Mario Bros. level created by FrontAXL for Unreal Tournament III.

[edit] X-Play Recommends

As the title would imply, these are games that come highly regarded from the staff of X-Play (including Boom Blox and Grid).

[edit] Games in 60 Seconds