X-Play
Encyclopedia
X-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 hosted by Adam Sessler
and Morgan Webb
, with Blair Herter
, Kristin Adams (nee Holt) and Alex Sim-Wise
serving as special correspondents/co-hosts. Sessler is the original host of the program; he has 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
; 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, and is now one of the highest-rated shows to air on the channel.
. Throughout the course of the show's history, it has gone through numerous changes, in more than just name.
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.
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 new episodes five nights a week at 11:30 p.m. EST, but it was moved up to 11:00 EST soon after.
Many of the episodes created during this time period aired on the G4 Rewind block of "retro" programming in 2008.
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.
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.
Both Adam and Morgan 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.
In a 2007 episode billed as a "primer on our scoring system", Adam and Morgan further elaborated on their ratings scale:
During this episode, the hosts also explained why they use a 5-point ratings system, rather than a 10- or even 100-point scale:
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
2 out of 5
3 out of 5
4 out of 5
5 out of 5
s (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:
The Screaming Intern (played by Robert Manuel) is actually not a true intern, but instead is an editorial coordinator for the show.
, Yoshi DeHerrera
, and Unscrewed's Martin Sargent
and Laura Swisher
). This continued after the merger with G4, with Attack of the Show! co-host Kevin Pereira
and G4tv.com's Tina Wood
.
Talent from other shows within the network have also been used in the role of temporary guest co-hosts; Blair Butler
, Julie Stoffer, and Kristin Adams have been seen to substitute for both Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb when they were unavailable.
X-Play has also had pseudo-celebrities who are not affiliated with G4 (such as Tony Little
, Kato Kaelin
, and Rip Taylor
) appear on the show.
her co-host directly.
This "violent" dynamic has manifested itself in various forms, from simple slaps and punches directed towards Adam (whenever the writers want to make it seem as if he has somehow offended or annoyed Morgan), to more exaggerated actions (like landing several blows upon Adam's person with a baseball bat during X-Play's mockumentary
on the history of violence in video games).
form of humor, in which he allows himself to be the object of ridicule and derision. He does this by pointing out several supposed faults within his character, such as a lack of purpose in his life, poor educational/social status, male pattern baldness, bad luck with women, and an unhealthy fudge
obsession.
Adam will also engage in physical comedy at the expense of his own dignity: past examples include dressing in women's clothing
(like a yellow cheerleader's
uniform or the skimpy outfit Morgan wore during her Maxim
photo-shoot), stapling himself in the crotch, and hitting himself in the head with a hammer.
. 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).
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), 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
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 (Adam, Morgan, and Blair) live-tweeting during reruns of the show airing on Thursdays and Fridays.
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
zombie
s and stealthy ninja
s and drunken pirates
and radioactive
Dik-dik
s", 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.
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.
Adam and Morgan would often direct the viewers to download these podcasts during the broadcast (for comedic purposes, Sessler would demand that X-Play must end up getting more downloads than his "bitter rival" The Dog Whisperer
).
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.
segment which debuted on the G4 website on August 3, 2007 (and usually comes out with a new episode every Tuesday), Sessler's Soapbox is a vodcast
where Adam offers his opinion on various gaming subjects in more detail than can usually be offered within the television show.
Copies of the book can be found everywhere from the Brooklyn Public Library
to the University of Hong Kong.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits. The program airs on G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
in the United States, G4 Canada in Canada, FUEL TV
Fuel TV
Fuel TV is a U.S. cable and satellite specialty channel that launched on July 1, 2003. It focuses on the cultures of such extreme sports as skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, motocross, surfing, BMX and FMX. It is a unit of Fox Cable Networks and is currently available to 26-million...
in Australia, Ego
EGO Channel
EGO Channel is an Israeli digital cable television channel that launched in 2002. EGO's programming is tailored to the "hot-blooded 18-45 male audience". EGO is owned by Ananey Communications.Programming occurs across four categories:...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, GXT
GXT
-Contenutes:GXT is thought mainly for the age 15-25 with wide spaces dedicated to wrestling with programmes like AfterBurn and BottomLine for what concern the WWE, while iMPACT!, TNA Xplosion and the old pay-per-view for what concern the TNA, but also much more like the programs Takeshi's Castle,...
in Italy, MTV Россия
MTV Russia
MTV Russia is a Russian language free-to-air 24 hour entertainment and music service seen in 22 million households in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Voronezh, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg, among other cities.-History:...
in Russia and Solar Sports
Solar Sports
Solar Entertainment Corporation which also created its sister stations, Talk TV, The Game Channel, ETC, 2nd Avenue, Jack TV, Universal Channel, Diva Universal & Basketball TV, Solar Sports or the Solar Sports Network is a Philippine sports channel owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
The show is hosted by Adam Sessler
Adam Sessler
Adam Donovan Sessler is co-host of X-Play on G4 with Morgan Webb and, as of December 17, 2008, editor-in-chief of G4's game content for the network. He is the only remaining television personality from the G4's origin network ZDTV.-Background:Sessler was born in Berkeley, California...
and Morgan Webb
Morgan Webb
Morgan Ailis Webb is a co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play, and host of the show G4 Underground...
, with Blair Herter
Blair Herter
Blair Joseph Herter is an American television personality.Herter was born in Scott, Louisiana. He previously worked for MTV, appearing on seasons of Road Rules and Real World/Road Rules Challenge series, as well as G-Hole...
, Kristin Adams (nee Holt) and Alex Sim-Wise
Alex Sim-Wise
Alexandra "Alex" Sim-Wise is a British model, writer and TV presenter.-Modeling career:Raised in Coventry, Sim-Wise started modeling after winning an FHM student competition while she was a studying at the University of East Anglia, where she was Captain of her University Cheerleading squad...
serving as special correspondents/co-hosts. Sessler is the original host of the program; he has previously co-hosted with Lauren Fielder
Lauren Fielder
Lauren Gonzalez, formerly known as Lauren Fielder, is the former co-host of the ZDTV show GameSpotTV...
and Kate Botello
Kate Botello
Kate Botello is a former American television personality best known for her work on the San Francisco, California-based ZDTV . She began her television career co-hosting the technology-oriented television program The Screen Savers alongside Leo Laporte...
.
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
Simon Rex
Simon Rex is an American actor, comedian, television host and recording artist. He is known for starring as Jeff Campbell in What I Like About You, during the first season.-Early life:...
; however, when an agreement was reached with the makers of the newly-created GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
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
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
and the partnership with Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis Inc. is an American publisher and Internet company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago by William B. Ziff, Sr. and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars,...
' 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
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
of TechTV and G4 in May 2004, X-Play became the only original program from either network to survive intact, and is now one of the highest-rated shows to air on the channel.
History
GameSpot TV, Extended Play, and X-Play all originated in San Francisco, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Throughout the course of the show's history, it has gone through numerous changes, in more than just name.
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 LegendsGauntlet Legends
Gauntlet Legends is an arcade game released in 1998 by Atari Games. It is a fantasy themed hack and slash game, a sequel to 1985's popular Gauntlet and 1986's Gauntlet II and marks the final game in the series to be produced by Atari Games...
and Rival Schools
Rival Schools: United By Fate
is a competitive fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game in 1997 and ported to the PlayStation in 1998.- Gameplay :The main fighting game is best described as a polygonal Marvel vs. Capcom game, with some notable differences...
arcade game cabinets. For the occasional special episode, filming would move off-site to another location, such as the Sony Metreon
Metreon
The Metreon is a shopping center located in downtown San Francisco at the corner of 4th Street and Mission Street. It is a four-story 350,000 square foot building built over the corner of the underground Moscone Center convention center...
arcade, and numerous game conventions such as the Classic Gaming Expo
Retrogaming
Retrogaming, also known as old-school gaming, is the hobby of playing and collecting older computer, video, and arcade games. These games are played either on the original hardware, on modern hardware via emulation, or on modern hardware via ports or compilations...
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.
Extended Play
When GameSpot TV converted to Extended Play in February 2001, 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.X-Play San Francisco
When X-Play debuted on April 28, 2003the 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
The Screen Savers
The Screen Savers was a live American TV show on TechTV. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV on May 11, 1998. The Screen Savers originally centered around computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world...
and Call for Help
Call for Help
Call for Help, also known as CFH, was a computer-themed television program that first aired exclusively on TechTV , a cable and satellite television network focused on technology, and then aired on G4techTV Canada and the HOW TO Channel in Australia...
. 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
TechLive
TechLive was a live television program on the former technology-oriented channel TechTVTechLive broadcast technology and entertainment related news, product reviews, and stock market reports. The program was cancelled when TechTV and G4 merged in early 2004....
. The filming setup was increased to three cameras; a main floor camera, a Jibcam
Jib (camera)
In cinematography, a jib is a boom device with a camera on one end, and a counterweight and camera controls on the other. It operates like a see-saw, but with the balance point located close to the counterweight, so that the camera end of the arm can move through an extended arc. A jib permits the...
for high angle shots, and a black-and-white handheld DV
DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
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
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
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
Non sequitur (logic)
Non sequitur , in formal logic, is an argument in which its conclusion does not follow from its premises. In a non sequitur, the conclusion could be either true or false, but the argument is fallacious because there is a disconnection between the premise and the conclusion. All formal fallacies...
to Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
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
Unscrewed with Martin Sargent
Unscrewed with Martin Sargent was a late night American television show focusing on the comedy of technology. It was produced at TechTV and aired from May 26, 2003 to December 2004...
. X-Play originally ran new episodes five nights a week at 11:30 p.m. EST, but it was moved up to 11:00 EST soon after.
Many of the episodes created during this time period aired on the G4 Rewind block of "retro" programming in 2008.
X-Play Los Angeles
ComcastComcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
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
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
studios.
The new set designed for the show resembled a lounge - or "rumpus room
Recreation room
A recreation room is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual use. The term is common in the United States and Canada, but is less common in the United Kingdom where the preferred term is games 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
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
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.
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.
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".Both Adam and Morgan 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.
X-Play XL
In December 2008, the show aired X-Large one-hour episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. According to G4 television president Neil Tiles, 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
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
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). On X-Play's original TechTV homepage, the ratings system was broken down in the following way:In a 2007 episode billed as a "primer on our scoring system", 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: Bulletproof50 Cent: Bulletproof50 Cent: Bulletproof is a video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms. It was developed in response to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas after 50 Cent was asked to voice the game's protagonist Carl "CJ" Johnson with 50 Cent stating that he will only voice himself in video games...
- 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 SusanSuddenly SusanSuddenly Susan is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The show takes place at The Gate, a fictitious magazine which is based in San Francisco. Among the magazine's employees is Susan Keane , who always has been cared for by someone else...
cocktail of technical competence floated atop a pile of dreck."
- 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
- Example Given: Genji: Days of the BladeGenji: Days of the BladeGenji: Days of the Blade, known in Japan as , is an action game that was released on the PlayStation 3 platform.Genji: Days of the Blade takes place three years after the end of Genji: Dawn of the Samurai...
- 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 TellBlood Will TellBlood Will Tell, released as in Japan, is a PlayStation 2 game released by Sega. It is based on the Japanese manga series Dororo, which was created by Osamu Tezuka. It concerns a hero named Hyakkimaru, who has had much of his body stolen by forty-eight fiends, and has prosthetic replacements...
) or 3's that have a great concept that's poorly executed (like Railroads!Sid Meier's Railroads!Sid Meier's Railroads! is a business simulation game developed by Sid Meier on the Gamebryo game engine that was released in October 2006 and is the sequel to Railroad Tycoon 3. Although Sid Meier created the original Railroad Tycoon, subsequent versions were developed by PopTop Software...
), 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 FIFAFIFA SeriesFIFA, also known as FIFA Football or FIFA Soccer, is a series of association football video games, released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label...
game ever)."
- 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
- Example Given: Sid Meier's Railroads!Sid Meier's Railroads!Sid Meier's Railroads! is a business simulation game developed by Sid Meier on the Gamebryo game engine that was released in October 2006 and is the sequel to Railroad Tycoon 3. Although Sid Meier created the original Railroad Tycoon, subsequent versions were developed by PopTop Software...
- "There are really two kinds of games that get 4's regularly: these are great games with significant problems (like Dead RisingDead Risingis an action-adventure, survivor horror video game, developed by Capcom and produced by Keiji Inafune. It was released on August 8, 2006 exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game console. The game was a commercial success. It has been introduced into the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup, and a cell...
) and games that are amazing but just aren't suited for everyone (the Warhammer: Dark CrusadeWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark CrusadeWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade is the second expansion to the PC-based RTS game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. Based on Games Workshop's popular tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000, Dark Crusade was released on October 9, 2006. The...
expansion or any of the SimsThe SimsThe Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
expansions are good examples)."
- "There are really two kinds of games that get 4's regularly: these are great games with significant problems (like Dead Rising
- Example Given: Dead RisingDead Risingis an action-adventure, survivor horror video game, developed by Capcom and produced by Keiji Inafune. It was released on August 8, 2006 exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game console. The game was a commercial success. It has been introduced into the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup, and a cell...
- 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: ŌkamiOkamiis an action-adventure video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for Sony's PlayStation 2 video game console in 2006 in Japan and North America, and 2007 in Europe and Australia...
During this episode, the hosts also explained why they use a 5-point ratings system, rather than a 10- or even 100-point scale:
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
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. 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 TitansClash of the Titans (video game)Clash of the Titans is a 2010 video game for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 based on the film of the same name.-Gameplay:The game features hack and slash combat. Some of the fights end with quick time sequences. The player can use points to upgrade their weapons. In some sections of the game the...
) 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 TheoryQuantum Theory (video game)Quantum Theory, is a third-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is developed by Team Tachyon and published by Tecmo. The game was released in September 2010....
and Tron: EvolutionTron: EvolutionTron: Evolution is a third-person action-adventure, tie-in video game for the film Tron: Legacy by Propaganda Games, published by Disney Interactive. It was officially announced at the Spike Video Game Awards and was released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Xbox...
3 out of 5
- Not bad, not great (average)
- Technically competent
- Often lacking in ambition
- Mainly rushed sequels (Front Mission EvolvedFront Mission Evolvedis a third-person shooter video game developed by Double Helix Games and published by Square Enix Co., Ltd. and was released in Japan on September 16, 2010, September 28, 2010 in North America, and October 8, 2010 in Europe. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
) and functional licensed games (James Bond 007: Blood StoneJames Bond 007: Blood StoneJames Bond 007: Blood Stone is an action-adventure video game, developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision for the Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. It is the 24th game in the James Bond series although it is not a direct sequel to any game; it is...
)
4 out of 5
- Good game with good ideas
- Accomplishes most goals
- Minor flaws hurt playability
- Games that might not be for everyone (Heavy RainHeavy RainHeavy Rain is an interactive drama psychological thriller video game created by Quantic Dream exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game is written and directed by Quantic Dream's founder and CEO David Cage....
, Warhammer 4000: Space Marine)
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 2Mass Effect 2Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
,
Sketches and segments
Various recurring segments and comedy skits have been used throughout the show's history by the X-Play writers.Recurring characters
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
X-Play has its own cast of internIntern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
s (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
Sharpie (marker)
Sharpie is a manufacturer of writing instruments whose products are sold in over 20 countries. Originally a name designating a single permanent marker, the Sharpie brand has been widely expanded and can now be found on a variety of previously unrelated permanent and non-permanent pens and markers...
.
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
G4tv.com
G4tv.com, also known as G4tv: The Show or simply G4tv, is a weekly video game talk show that aired on G4 and was produced by Laura Foy. The questions and polls used on the show were from the G4tv.com discussion forums live chatroom and were on any topic concerning games or the technology of gaming...
), 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, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
: Leticia Caparaz, Jason Frankovitz, Scott Humphrey, Chris Ivarson, Matt Ketterer, Desiree Peel, Jana Suverkropp, Kevin Theobald, Blake Yoshiura, and Kevin Yuen. - From Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern 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) is actually not a true intern, but instead is an editorial coordinator for the show.
Guest appearances
When X-Play was still a part of TechTV, personalities from other shows on the network would often make guest appearances (including Leo LaporteLeo Laporte
Léo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
, Yoshi DeHerrera
Yoshi DeHerrera
Joshua "Yoshi" DeHerrera is an American television personality and modding enthusiast who resides in Los Angeles, California...
, and Unscrewed's Martin Sargent
Martin Sargent
Martin Paul Sargent is an American television personality and was co-host of the This WEEK in FUN podcast with Sarah Lane...
and Laura Swisher
Laura Swisher
Laura Swisher was the comedic sidekick of Unscrewed with Martin Sargent that aired late-nights on TechTV. The show was cancelled on November 11, 2004, after G4 had purchased TechTV....
). This continued after the merger with G4, with Attack of the Show! co-host Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira is co-host of G4's Attack of the Show! .-Biography:While in high school, Pereira hosted Pointless Audio under the pseudonym Captain Immy...
and G4tv.com's Tina Wood
Tina Wood
Tina Wood is a former co-host of the interactive gaming show G4tv.com on G4. She served in this role alongside Laura Foy, Geoff Keighley, and previously Scot Rubin...
.
Talent from other shows within the network have also been used in the role of temporary guest co-hosts; Blair Butler
Blair Butler
Blair Butler is an American stand-up comic, and a television host, known for her work on the "Fresh Ink" segment on the G4 program, Attack of the Show!.-Career:...
, Julie Stoffer, and Kristin Adams have been seen to substitute for both Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb when they were unavailable.
X-Play has also had pseudo-celebrities who are not affiliated with G4 (such as Tony Little
Tony Little
Tony Little is an American television fitness personality and businessman, best known for his fitness infomercial products....
, Kato Kaelin
Kato Kaelin
Brian Jerard "Kato" Kaelin is an American radio and television personality who gained fame as a witness during the 1994–95 murder trial of O. J. Simpson.-Personal life:...
, and Rip Taylor
Rip Taylor
Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor, Jr. is an American actor and comedian.-Early life:Taylor was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Elizabeth, a waitress, and Charles Elmer Taylor, Sr., a musician. As a young man, Taylor served in the Korean War while in the U.S...
) appear on the show.
Hatred
There have been several gaming titles/genres/trends over the years which co-hosts Adam and Morgan have displayed an exaggerated sense of "hatred" towards (often playing up their dislike for the cameras in order to make for humorous television). These include:- Card battle gamesCollectible card gamethumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
such as Yu-Gi-Oh!Yu-Gi-Oh!is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games... - Games based on anime series (particularly NarutoNarutois an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
, Dragon Ball ZDragon Ballis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
, One PieceOne Pieceis a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...
, and Fullmetal AlchemistFullmetal Alchemist, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...
) - "Ungodly boob physics", where female video-game characters are rendered with impossibly large breastBreastThe breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s that bounce and sway unnaturally and independently from the rest of their bodies (this phenomenon is particularly prevalent in Japanese dating simulation gamesDating simDating sims are a video game subgenre of simulation games, usually Japanese, with romantic elements. They are also sometimes put under the category of neoromance. The most common objective of dating sims is to date, usually choosing from among several characters, and to achieve a romantic...
like Sexy Beach 2) - Game series which continue to produce titles despite a lack of quality and/or innovation (such as Dynasty WarriorsDynasty Warriorsis a series of tactical action video games created by Omega Force and Koei. The award-winning series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, based loosely around the Chinese classical novel of the same name. The first game titled Dynasty Warriors,...
, Mega ManMega Man (series)Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
, Sonic the Hedgehog, Leisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit Larry (series)Leisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
, and Tony Hawk) - The proliferation of WWIIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
first-person shooterFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
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 IPsIntellectual propertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
(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 AngelsCharlie's AngelsCharlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
or Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
video games) - 3D water levels in games, since the show's writers feel that game developers almost never capture the feeling of swimmingAquatic locomotionSwimming is biologically propelled motion through a liquid medium. Swimming has evolved a number of times in a range of organisms ranging from arthropods to fish to molluscs.-Evolution 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 NPCNon-player characterA non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
character (who has its own health meter) from dying; this often proves difficult when the NPC's A.I.Artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
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 RescueBarbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse RescueBarbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue is a video game available for PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and Xbox, based on the Barbie line of dolls by Mattel.-Gameplay:...
(Morgan has often called this the worst game ever made) - Jonny MoseleyJonny MoseleyJonathan William Moseley, better known as Jonny Moseley , is the first Puerto Rican to become a member of the U.S. Ski Team.-Early years:...
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 CookDane CookDane Jeffrey Cook is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album...
and his brand of comedy - Uwe BollUwe BollUwe Boll is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.-Early life:...
and his film adaptions of video games - ShovelwareShovelwareShovelware is a derogatory computer jargon term that refers to software noted more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness...
for the Nintendo WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, like All Star Cheer Squad and "Crappy Minigame Collection No. 272Furu Furu ParkFuru Furu Park is a collection of minigames for the Wii. It was developed and published by Taito and was originally planned for a release in Japan for the Wii launch, but was pushed back to April 19, 2007. The minigames are inspired by classic Taito arcade games. Majesco published the title in the...
" - 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 CastlevaniaCastlevaniaCastlevania, known as in Japan, is a video game series created and developed by Konami. The series debuted in Japan on September 26, 1986, with the release of for the Family Computer Disk System , followed by an alternate version for the MSX 2 platform on October 30...
games - Level grindingGrind (gaming)Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or boring tasks not pertaining to the story line of the game...
in role-playing gamesRole-playing game (video games)Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
Physical abuse on set
For comedic purposes, the X-Play writers have often portrayed the show as an exceedingly violent working environment; when Adam and/or Morgan aren't being depicted as "putting the interns in harm's way," Morgan often appears to be the one abusingPhysical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
her co-host directly.
This "violent" dynamic has manifested itself in various forms, from simple slaps and punches directed towards Adam (whenever the writers want to make it seem as if he has somehow offended or annoyed Morgan), to more exaggerated actions (like landing several blows upon Adam's person with a baseball bat during X-Play's mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
on the history of violence in video games).
Self-humiliation
Adam Sessler uses a self-deprecatingSelf-deprecation
Self-deprecation, or Self-depreciation, is the act of belittling or undervaluing oneself. It can be used in humor and tension release.-In comedy:...
form of humor, in which he allows himself to be the object of ridicule and derision. He does this by pointing out several supposed faults within his character, such as a lack of purpose in his life, poor educational/social status, male pattern baldness, bad luck with women, and an unhealthy fudge
Fudge
Fudge is a type of Western confectionery which is usually very sweet, and extremely rich. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency...
obsession.
Adam will also engage in physical comedy at the expense of his own dignity: past examples include dressing in women's clothing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
(like a yellow cheerleader's
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
uniform or the skimpy outfit Morgan wore during her Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
photo-shoot), stapling himself in the crotch, and hitting himself in the head with a hammer.
Online content
The producers of X-Play have used a number of internet-driven initiatives to engage the show's technologically-savvy audience.The X-Play Boards
Adam and Morgan 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 boardInternet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
. 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
When X-Play was still a part of TechTV, the show would host an online chatOnline chat
Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver, hence the delay for visual access to the sent message shall not hamper the flow of communications in any of the directions...
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
PJIRC
Plouf's Java IRC is a web-based open source IRC client that is written in Java. Any web browser that supports the Java Runtime Environment, or an alternative Java interpreter, can use the applet. Many IRC networks have a public installation of the applet for their network.Philippe Detournay, the...
chat client.
On November 6, 2006 (to coincide with the show's move to prime time), 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
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, 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
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. 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 (Adam, Morgan, and Blair) live-tweeting during reruns of the show airing on Thursdays and Fridays.
X-Play: The Online Game
X-Play: The Online Game is a short FlashAdobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
game created by the San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
-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
Fudge
Fudge is a type of Western confectionery which is usually very sweet, and extremely rich. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency...
zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s and stealthy ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
s and drunken pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
and radioactive
Radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases , where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places...
Dik-dik
Dik-dik
A dik-dik, pronounced "dĭk’ dĭk", is a small antelope in the Genus Madoqua that lives in the bushes of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand 30–40 cm at the shoulder, are 50–70 cm long, weigh 3–6 kg and can live for up to 10 years...
s", 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
Arrow keys
Cursor movement keys or arrow keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor in a specified direction....
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.
Daily Video Podcast
On November 11, 2005, G4 started offering X-Play segments (reviews, skits, etc.) for free in podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
form via their website and the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
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.
Adam and Morgan would often direct the viewers to download these podcasts during the broadcast (for comedic purposes, Sessler would demand that X-Play must end up getting more downloads than his "bitter rival" The Dog Whisperer
Cesar Millan
Cesar Millan, is a Mexican-born American dog trainer. A self-taught expert, he is widely known for his television series The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, now in its seventh season and broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide...
).
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, allowing Xbox 360Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
owners to view highlights from the previous week's episodes
Omnibus (broadcast)
An omnibus is a compilation of daily television or radio episodes that is re-broadcast during the following weekend. The term has been most frequently used in the United Kingdom, though it has also been used in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa...
for 160 Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows - Live Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, and Zune online stores. The points allow users to purchase content without a credit card and to reduce the number of small credit card transaction fees, which Microsoft would...
($
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
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.
Sessler's Soapbox
A short 5-7 minute editorialEditorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
segment which debuted on the G4 website on August 3, 2007 (and usually comes out with a new episode every Tuesday), Sessler's Soapbox is a vodcast
Video podcast
Video podcast is a term used for the online delivery of video on demand video clip content via Atom or RSS enclosures...
where Adam offers his opinion on various gaming subjects in more detail than can usually be offered within the television show.
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 is usually hosted by Adam Sessler and features a rotating panel of co-hosts drawn from X-Play's editorial staff. 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
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
Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is the fifth largest public library system in the United States. Like the two other public library systems in New York City, it is an independent nonprofit organization that is funded by the...
to the University of Hong Kong.