I blew the interview with Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, hosts of X-Play, which celebrates its 1000th episode this coming Monday, February 1. I had plenty of questions prepared - how long an episode takes to make, how the duo has seen the industry change over the nearly seven years since the show's inception, their thoughts on the current state of game journalism - but I never got around to asking them because we were too busy talking about Mega Man, Lara Croft, and whether or not Too Human sucked. I thought I was going to be interviewing Important TV People, but I ended up chatting with gamers instead. I'm pretty ok with that.
Sessler, for example, was just as blown away by Deus Ex ("I just didn't think you could do that") and Ico ("everyone knew it was artsy, but it was fun, too") as you were. "Those were some of those revelatory moments [in gaming]," he says.
When Webb tells you that "Tomb Raider destroyed any authenticity it had," you know she's not talking as some kind of elitist critic, but rather as a fan who's sick of the franchise making promises that it can't keep. You know, just like you.
That genuine gamer passion is a big part of why X-Play has made it to four digits' worth of episodes. When Sessler gushes about how much he enjoyed Uncharted 2, he doesn't pick it apart like it's a specimen to be analyzed, he talks about how it reminds him of seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark with his dad. It's really hard not to feel Webb's pain at getting stuck reviewing Mega Man X for the GameCube, and when they both make fun of people for still being upset that Aeris died...well, it's not the sort of reaction you expect from supposedly objective journalists, but rather from gamers who are tired of hearing people whine.
G4 is planning a six-hour extravaganza to pat Sessler, Webb, and the rest of the X-Play family on the back for their milestone achievement. The shindig begins at 1pm ET/PT, with a "Best of X-Play" marathon, leading into the special one-hour X-Play 1000th special at 6pm ET/PT. Highlights from the special include X-Play's most brutal reviews, Webb's first appearance on Tech TV's The Screen Savers, and Sessler's first appearance on Extended Play. (Fun facts: Russ Pitts, our intrepid EIC, was once the producer of The Screen Savers, and Sessler's stint on Extended Play is what inspired me to start writing about videogames in the first place.)
Tune in to G4 on Monday, February 1 to check out the festivities. And congratulations to Adam, Morgan, and everyone who makes X-Play happen!
X-Play ended 300 episodes ago. A very tragic death, it was far better than seeing the show continue in some half-hearted shell of its former self.
Please, leave me alone in my happy world, not knowing one of the better pieces of nerd TV has shrivelled up and sucked for quite some time now. G4 had been trying to kill it for a long time, but they succeeded like two years ago.
Addendum: I'll explain why; Constant re-runs of E3 coverage, Blair Herter, the "info-tainment" format change, 2 minute reviews, and who can forget Blair Herter.
sunami88: X-Play ended 300 episodes ago. A very tragic death, it was far better than seeing the show continue in some half-hearted shell of its former self.
Please, leave me alone in my happy world, not knowing one of the better pieces of nerd TV has shrivelled up and sucked for quite some time now. G4 had been trying to kill it for a long time, but they succeeded like two years ago.
Addendum: I'll explain why; Constant re-runs of E3 coverage, Blair Herter, the "info-tainment" format change, 2 minute reviews, and who can forget Blair Herter.
This. Their reviews are incredibly annoying now, especially since they tell you whether or not they liked the game before the review even starts, and the format of the show just makes things horrible. Their interviews of people marketing their games is also quite unnecessary. I think they need to go back to sitting on a couch...
Adam Sessler is one of the few gaming personalities out there that I can actually give a crap about. His zeal is probably the reason why Xplay is still viewed as being actually a good show, though they shifted away from "funny joke review show" to a more "serious buizness news/reviews" outlet. The humor didn't leave, it just grew more subtle and restrained, and I can actually watch it now without my folks bellowing at me to turn it off.
does anyone actually care what they think? i mean once they stop making critical jokes about society and stupid skits and review a game for a whole three seconds while repeating something stupid they found in the game.
What happen to actual gamer shows? Arena, machima electric playground? Nooo, we only got X-play which have been slowly dying for the last four years. Hell, I'll take it around the back of the barn and put a bullet in it eyes.
Attack of the show dosen't even count as a show for gamers...it's a show about...nothing.
It's like G4 was attack by heartless and their hearts became Nobodies.
Wait...They made new episodes> Honestly, I didn't know. I thought they were canned because they kept doing reviews of games from like ten years ago. And doing re-runs over and over again...
Anyway, I stopped watching them like two years ago, but I hope them the best (and hope they actually get funnier)
sunami88: X-Play ended 300 episodes ago. A very tragic death, it was far better than seeing the show continue in some half-hearted shell of its former self.
Please, leave me alone in my happy world, not knowing one of the better pieces of nerd TV has shrivelled up and sucked for quite some time now. G4 had been trying to kill it for a long time, but they succeeded like two years ago.
Addendum: I'll explain why; Constant re-runs of E3 coverage, Blair Herter, the "info-tainment" format change, 2 minute reviews, and who can forget Blair Herter.
This. Their reviews are incredibly annoying now, especially since they tell you whether or not they liked the game before the review even starts, and the format of the show just makes things horrible. Their interviews of people marketing their games is also quite unnecessary. I think they need to go back to sitting on a couch...
I've seen their show... and as much as they may be gamers... they do tend to be pretty arrogant. For one thing, in nearly all of their ads/plugs... one of them (usually Webb) describes their show as "the center of the gaming universe"... right... I'm sure all other gamers bask in their glory and all developers and publishers adhere to THEIR wishes before anyone else's. And... I'm sorry... but if they're going to claim to be "brutally honest reviewers"... well... even when they do tear up a game, they're usually pretty gentle about it... as though they were afraid of hurting the developers' feelings. But then again... no one can really compare to Yahtzee when it comes to brutal reviews.
This. Their reviews are incredibly annoying now, especially since they tell you whether or not they liked the game before the review even starts, and the format of the show just makes things horrible. Their interviews of people marketing their games is also quite unnecessary. I think they need to go back to sitting on a couch...
Oh God yes. I'd forgotten slightly about the good 'ol couch days...
I should take this opportunity to say too, I think the Sess and Ms Webb have alot of gaming cred. I just think the show is a terrible shadow of it's former self.
Oh, and so far I have two free drinks coming my way... To Mana!
TheDoctor455: I've seen their show... and as much as they may be gamers... they do tend to be pretty arrogant. For one thing, in nearly all of their ads/plugs... one of them (usually Webb) describes their show as "the center of the gaming universe"... right... I'm sure all other gamers bask in their glory and all developers and publishers adhere to THEIR wishes before anyone else's. And... I'm sorry... but if they're going to claim to be "brutally honest reviewers"... well... even when they do tear up a game, they're usually pretty gentle about it... as though they were afraid of hurting the developers' feelings. But then again... no one can really compare to Yahtzee when it comes to brutal reviews.
Don't confuse the people with the packaging. Adam and Morgan are actually both quite lovely in person.
Unless they bring back Johnny Extreme, Ratty, and proper reviews along with (actually) humourous skits, and get rid of all the unnecessary (and unwanted) bits (pretty much everything apart from reviews at this point) I could care less about their 1000th Episode.
I haven't cared about them since G4 went straight to hell when they let Cops and Cheaters take over their schedule.
This....OH the Horror!!! I can't turn it to G4 anymore without seeing in the lineup 4 episodes of cops followed by an hour of cheater than the ISLS (International Sexy Ladies Show...) it isn't a "gamers" channel anymore...X-play and AOTS are the only ones left and even they suck now...
I miss EP, arena and the like...
Edit: Ooh...I miss "Cinematic" as well...I think I misspelled it though...
sunami88: X-Play ended 300 episodes ago. A very tragic death, it was far better than seeing the show continue in some half-hearted shell of its former self.
Please, leave me alone in my happy world, not knowing one of the better pieces of nerd TV has shrivelled up and sucked for quite some time now. G4 had been trying to kill it for a long time, but they succeeded like two years ago.
Addendum: I'll explain why; Constant re-runs of E3 coverage, Blair Herter, the "info-tainment" format change, 2 minute reviews, and who can forget Blair Herter.
I haven't cared about them since G4 went straight to hell when they let Cops and Cheaters take over their schedule.
This....OH the Horror!!! I can't turn it to G4 anymore without seeing in the lineup 4 episodes of cops followed by an hour of cheater than the ISLS (International Sexy Ladies Show...) it isn't a "gamers" channel anymore...X-play and AOTS are the only ones left and even they suck now...
I miss EP, arena and the like...
It really is a tragedy.
And what the fuck is that ISLS bullshit!? G4 has just turned into an even lamer version of Spike.
They got rid of all the great shows, X-Play became unfunny and biased and AOTS.... well I never liked AOTS anyway. Olivia Munn pisses me the fuck off.
sunami88: X-Play ended 300 episodes ago. A very tragic death, it was far better than seeing the show continue in some half-hearted shell of its former self.
Please, leave me alone in my happy world, not knowing one of the better pieces of nerd TV has shrivelled up and sucked for quite some time now. G4 had been trying to kill it for a long time, but they succeeded like two years ago.
Addendum: I'll explain why; Constant re-runs of E3 coverage, Blair Herter, the "info-tainment" format change, 2 minute reviews, and who can forget Blair Herter.
It's so nice to know I'm not the only one who can't stand Blair Herter. X-Play was going downhill before he signed on, but he increased that slope immensely. He's like that one annoying little child in school who tries to act cool around the older kids but ends up making an ass of himself.
I stopped watching the show a while ago. Just got so lame. Less funny, more buisnessy. Adam and Morgan are fine, I got no problems with them, its just everything else seems to be crap now.
BakaSmurf: Unless they bring back Johnny Extreme, Ratty, and proper reviews along with (actually) humourous skits, and get rid of all the unnecessary (and unwanted) bits (pretty much everything apart from reviews at this point) I could care less about their 1000th Episode.
I loved Ratty Toupee. Stupidest damn joke in the world, and it killed me every single time.
I haven't cared about them since G4 went straight to hell when they let Cops and Cheaters take over their schedule.
This....OH the Horror!!! I can't turn it to G4 anymore without seeing in the lineup 4 episodes of cops followed by an hour of cheater than the ISLS (International Sexy Ladies Show...) it isn't a "gamers" channel anymore...X-play and AOTS are the only ones left and even they suck now...
I miss EP, arena and the like...
It really is a tragedy.
And what the fuck is that ISLS bullshit!? G4 has just turned into an even lamer version of Spike.
They got rid of all the great shows, X-Play became unfunny and biased and AOTS.... well I never liked AOTS anyway. Olivia Munn pisses me the fuck off.
Same here...they seem to have based the show off of her now and she is annoying beyond belief and seems to be more of a "bimbo" than an actual intelligent host...
BTW...never flip to G4 without knowing what is on...having the ISLS come on when your parents walk by is something you do not want to explain...trust me...
You are right...it does seem to be trying to emulate Spike...and failing...
I haven't cared about them since G4 went straight to hell when they let Cops and Cheaters take over their schedule.
This....OH the Horror!!! I can't turn it to G4 anymore without seeing in the lineup 4 episodes of cops followed by an hour of cheater than the ISLS (International Sexy Ladies Show...) it isn't a "gamers" channel anymore...X-play and AOTS are the only ones left and even they suck now...
I miss EP, arena and the like...
It really is a tragedy.
And what the fuck is that ISLS bullshit!? G4 has just turned into an even lamer version of Spike.
They got rid of all the great shows, X-Play became unfunny and biased and AOTS.... well I never liked AOTS anyway. Olivia Munn pisses me the fuck off.
Same here...they seem to have based the show off of her now and she is annoying beyond belief and seems to be more of a "bimbo" than an actual intelligent host...
BTW...never flip to G4 without knowing what is on...having the ISLS come on when your parents walk by is something you do not want to explain...trust me...
You are right...it does seem to be trying to emulate Spike...and failing...
When has it ever not revolved around Olivia Munn? She's always been the main character and a terrible one at that. She's not funny and I'm almost positive they just got her for eye candy, very similar to this girl:
Spoiler: Click to View
And btw, Spike fails already. So G4 fails at failing now.
I haven't cared about them since G4 went straight to hell when they let Cops and Cheaters take over their schedule.
This....OH the Horror!!! I can't turn it to G4 anymore without seeing in the lineup 4 episodes of cops followed by an hour of cheater than the ISLS (International Sexy Ladies Show...) it isn't a "gamers" channel anymore...X-play and AOTS are the only ones left and even they suck now...
I miss EP, arena and the like...
Edit: Ooh...I miss "Cinematic" as well...I think I misspelled it though...
It's spelled CinemaTech. And it was roughly half an hour of cutscenes and previews from old and (kinda) new games. It was glorious.
I stopped watching G4 a while ago, then I just kept to the X-play podcast, and now I do neither and take my reviews specifically from the magazines. G4 turned into Spike TV with more Cops, which shouldn't even be possible. Ninja Warrior (quite impossible to screw up) got screwed up by the network. There's nothing left on G4 besides reruns of Code Monkeys (which come on about once a year). At this point it's really not worth saving. Don't bring back Tech TV, just nuke the network and start over.
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Diablo 3 Review
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Name Game
X-Play Celebrates 1000th Episode
I blew the interview with Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, hosts of X-Play, which celebrates its 1000th episode this coming Monday, February 1. I had plenty of questions prepared - how long an episode takes to make, how the duo has seen the industry change over the nearly seven years since the show's inception, their thoughts on the current state of game journalism - but I never got around to asking them because we were too busy talking about Mega Man, Lara Croft, and whether or not Too Human sucked. I thought I was going to be interviewing Important TV People, but I ended up chatting with gamers instead. I'm pretty ok with that.
Sessler, for example, was just as blown away by Deus Ex ("I just didn't think you could do that") and Ico ("everyone knew it was artsy, but it was fun, too") as you were. "Those were some of those revelatory moments [in gaming]," he says.
When Webb tells you that "Tomb Raider destroyed any authenticity it had," you know she's not talking as some kind of elitist critic, but rather as a fan who's sick of the franchise making promises that it can't keep. You know, just like you.
That genuine gamer passion is a big part of why X-Play has made it to four digits' worth of episodes. When Sessler gushes about how much he enjoyed Uncharted 2, he doesn't pick it apart like it's a specimen to be analyzed, he talks about how it reminds him of seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark with his dad. It's really hard not to feel Webb's pain at getting stuck reviewing Mega Man X for the GameCube, and when they both make fun of people for still being upset that Aeris died...well, it's not the sort of reaction you expect from supposedly objective journalists, but rather from gamers who are tired of hearing people whine.
G4 is planning a six-hour extravaganza to pat Sessler, Webb, and the rest of the X-Play family on the back for their milestone achievement. The shindig begins at 1pm ET/PT, with a "Best of X-Play" marathon, leading into the special one-hour X-Play 1000th special at 6pm ET/PT. Highlights from the special include X-Play's most brutal reviews, Webb's first appearance on Tech TV's The Screen Savers, and Sessler's first appearance on Extended Play. (Fun facts: Russ Pitts, our intrepid EIC, was once the producer of The Screen Savers, and Sessler's stint on Extended Play is what inspired me to start writing about videogames in the first place.)
Tune in to G4 on Monday, February 1 to check out the festivities. And congratulations to Adam, Morgan, and everyone who makes X-Play happen!
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