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''Xplay'' (previously ''GameSpot TV'' and ''Extended Play'') is a
TV program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
about
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s. The program, known for its reviews and comedy skits, airs on '' G4'' in the United States and had aired on ''
G4 Canada G4 was a Canadian English-language specialty television channel owned by Rogers Media. The name was licensed from NBCUniversal, whose parent company Comcast formerly owned a minority stake in the channel. Based on the U.S subscription networks T ...
'' in Canada (and briefly on YTV during its time as GameSpot TV),
FUEL TV Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century Ci ...
in Australia, Ego in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
GXT GXT was an Italian subscription-based comedy/entertainment television channel. History Jetix Europe launched GXT as a male teen channel in May 2005 on Mondo Sky. On June 1, 2008, a 1-hour-timeshift of GXT was launched on Sky Italia. Due to Dis ...
in Italy,
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&
Rambler TV Rambler TV (Russian: ''Рамблер ТВ'') was a private television channel based in Russia which started on January 1, 2003. The channel broadcast a specialty program consisting of documentaries, educational and entertainment programs of most ...
in Russia,
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in the
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, and
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
and
MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
in Latin America. The show in its previous incarnation was hosted by
Morgan Webb Morgan Ailis Webb (born October 5, 1978) is a former co-host and senior segment Television producer, producer of the G4 (U.S. TV channel), G4 show ''X-Play''. She was previously the host of the podcast ''WebbAlert'' and a monthly columnist for th ...
and
Blair Herter Blair Joseph Herter (born June 23, 1980) is an American television personality, known for his appearances on TV series such as '' Road Rules: The Quest'', '' Real World/Road Rules Challenge'', ''Attack of the Show!'', ''X-Play'' and ''American ...
, with
Kristin Adams Kristin Nicole Adams, née Holt, is a television personality, entertainment news correspondent, singer, and viral video creator. Adams first rose to public awareness on ''American Idol''. Between 2005 and 2008, Kristin served as the second host ...
(née Holt) and
Jessica Chobot Jessica Chobot (born Jessica Lynn Horn; July 7, 1977) is an American on-camera host and writer. She has hosted the IGN shows ''IGN Strategize'' and ''Weekly Wood'', which also runs on Xbox Live; she previously worked as presenter of the ''IGN D ...
serving as special correspondents/co-hosts (Tiffany Smith,
Alex Sim-Wise Alexandra "Alex" Emily Sim-Wise (born 11 November 1981) is an English model, writer and TV presenter. Modeling career Raised in Coventry, Sim-Wise started modeling after winning an ''FHM'' student competition while she was studying at universi ...
and Joel Gourdin have also served as correspondents during the show's run).
Adam Sessler Adam Sessler (born August 29, 1973) is an American video game journalist, television personality and consultant. He is best known as the host for the video game review series ''Xplay'' and the editor-in-chief for G4's video game section. Upon hi ...
was the original host of the program; he previously co-hosted with Lauren Fielder and
Kate Botello Kate Botello is a former American television personality best known for her work on the San Francisco, California-based ZDTV (later known as TechTV and then as G4). Career She began her television career in 1998 co-hosting the technology-orien ...
. ''Xplay'' began on ZDTV 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 Cutright (born July 20, 1974), is an American actor, rapper, comedian, and former model. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for '' What I Like About You'', starring in three films of the ''Scary Movie'' f ...
; however, when an agreement was reached with the makers of the newly created ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' 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 is a defunct 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, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...
' 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''. A new incarnation of the show was featured on the revived G4 network which operated from November 2021 to October 2022.


History

''GameSpot TV'', ''Extended Play'', and ''X-Play'' all originated in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. 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 Legends ''Gauntlet Legends'' is an arcade game released in 1998 by Atari Games and Midway Games. It is a fantasy themed hack and slash styled dungeon crawl game, a sequel to 1985's popular '' Gauntlet'' and 1986's '' Gauntlet II'' and marks the fin ...
'' and ''
Rival Schools ''Rival Schools: United by Fate'', known in Japan as is a fighting game produced by Capcom originally released as an arcade game in 1997 and ported to the PlayStation (console), PlayStation in 1998. On February 23, 2012, Capcom released ''Unit ...
'' 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. Botello became Sessler's new co-host on April 29, 2000, and towards the end, the 10-point grading system was changed to a 5-point system.


''Extended Play''

When ''GameSpot TV'' converted to ''Extended Play'' on February 17, 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. 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 on March 29, 2002, 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, 2003 the show moved back to the TechTV studios, and Morgan Webb came on board as co-host, leaving her previous hosting duties on TechTV's ''
The Screen Savers ''The Screen Savers'' is an American TV show that aired on TechTV from 1998 to 2005.Fost, Dan (17 May 1999)A Day in the Life of ZDTV's `The Screen Savers' ''San Francisco Chronicle'' The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV (later k ...
'' 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 ''TechLive'' (formerly known as ''ZDTV News'' and ''TechTV News'') was an American live television program that aired from 1998 to 2004 on TechTV, a former television channel that specialized in technology Technology is the application of ...
''. 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 An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...
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 Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...
references to current events, along with viewer-submitted intros taken from the show's web forums). Unlike its predecessors, ''X-Play'' had more of an edge, containing some adult language and more mature (sometimes controversial) subject matter. As a result, it was paired in a programming block with the network's other new show, ''Unscrewed with Martin Sargent''. ''X-Play'' originally ran five nights a week at 11:30 p.m. EST, but it was moved up to 11:00 EST soon after. X-Play aired four brand new episodes for their first two weeks, but would ultimately air three new episodes a week for the majority of the show's remainder on TechTV. Many of the episodes created during this time period aired on the '' G4 Rewind'' block of retro programming in 2008; the first episode would end up being the last show on the channel itself before it officially shut down on December 31, 2014.


''X-Play'' Los Angeles

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
purchased TechTV in May 2004 and merged it with its gaming channel, G4, necessitating a move for ''X-Play's'' base of operations from San Francisco to G4's
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
studios. X-Play continued production at the TechTV studios in San Francisco until August 2004. The final episode to be produced in San Francisco aired on August 24, 2004. The first episode of X-Play to be filmed at the Los Angeles set aired on September 13, 2004. The new set designed for the show resembled a lounge—or
rumpus room A recreation room (also known as a rec room, rumpus room, play room, playroom, games room, or ruckus room) is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual activities. The term ''recreation room'' is c ...
- 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 an 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, new sets had to be 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 A recliner is an armchair or sofa that reclines when the occupant lowers the chair's back and raises its front. It has a backrest that can be tilted back, and often a footrest that may be extended by means of a lever on the side of the chair, ...
chairs as they debated over the issue at hand.


''X-Play'' Expands

On January 14, 2008, G4 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 Kristin Nicole Adams, née Holt, is a television personality, entertainment news correspondent, singer, and viral video creator. Adams first rose to public awareness on ''American Idol''. Between 2005 and 2008, Kristin served as the second host ...
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 milestone, G4 aired a six-hour marathon containing favorite episodes of the series, leading up to the premiere of the actual new episode.


Changes in 2012

In April 2012, it was announced that Sessler would no longer be part of G4. Blair Herter, previously a co-host on ''X-Play,'' would become the new co-host of the series. The ''X-Play'' set was once again redesigned, and debuted on the June 18, 2012 episode. The new set featured giant white-tinged flatscreen monitors (displaying two large orange-and-black "X" logos) positioned behind the hosts, as well as the addition of a studio audience (making the presentation of the program similar to that of ''
Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...
''). Also, there is an area of the studio with two large reclining chairs and a glass table, used as a place to interview featured guests (such as Mark Lamia from
Treyarch Treyarch Corporation ( ; formerly Treyarch Invention LLC) is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Doğan Köslü, it was acquired by Activision in 2001. The studio is known for ...
and
Ted Price Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is ...
from
Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is m ...
).


Original series finale

On October 26, 2012, it was reported that the show (along with ''
Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...
'') would cease production after 2012. The hour-long finale of the original iteration of ''X-Play'' aired on January 23, 2013. During the broadcast, the hosts announced that the network would be auctioning off ''X-Play'' memorabilia via
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
(the set was even designed to resemble a
telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
, with several people—Drunk Link, Canadian Guy,
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
, a pair of
Imperial Stormtroopers Stormtrooper are soldiers in the fictional ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Introduced in '' Star Wars: A New Hope'' (1977), the stormtroopers are the shock troops/ space marines of the autocratic Galactic Empire, under the ...
- manning phones), and that all proceeds from the winning bids would be donated to Child's Play at
childsplaycharity.org/xplay
'. The three items auctioned off were a seven-foot Dovahkiin statue, a signed copy of the script for the final episode, and a
Halo 4 ''Halo 4'' is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. ''Halo 4''s story follows a cybernetically enhanced human supersoldier, Master Chief, a ...
Limited Edition Xbox 360 console bundle signed by the ''X-Play'' staff. After a montage of scenes from the show's history to close out the broadcast (with the tagline "A show on television, April 2003 - January 2013"), the remaining cast and crew thanked the viewers, as well as the developers for making the games that made the show possible ("even
Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on p ...
, because ... taking a dump on ''Dynasty Warriors'' filled up a lotta time"). The
closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...
then ran in the style of a 1980s-era video game, with an 8-bit version of the logo and the phrase "CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have completed X-Play" written in an 8-bit font and set to
chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...
music. Once the credits were complete, the words " GAME OVER" appeared on screen along with an
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...
"Achievement Unlocked: 100G - Mission Complete" badge, with the G4 Media copyright box shown in the bottom left corner. When G4 ceased broadcasting on December 31, 2014, the last program broadcast at 11:30pm EST was the first episode of ''X-Play''. Webb and Sessler reunited for
Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its ...
' press conference at E3 in 2016.


Revival

On July 24, 2020, G4 announced a revival of the network set for a 2021 launch. Later on November 24, 2020, G4 released ''A Very Special G4 Reunion Special'', which featured former X-Play hosts Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb, and Blair Herter (who is one of the key people behind the re-launch), as well as correspondent Kristin Adams. On January 28, 2021, G4 announced that ''X-Play'' (alongside ''
Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...
'') would return with it. On February 12, 2021, G4 announced that Adam Sessler would return to host. The revival premiered on November 19, 2021. The revival was broadcast live on G4's Twitch and YouTube channels. Unlike the previous iteration, the episodes were two hours long (they were later cut down to 30-minute episodes on G4's cable channel). Sessler, Froskurinn, The Completionist and The Black Hokage were co-hosts of this revival; Sessler mainly co-hosted the show remotely from his San Francisco home while the remaining co-hosts were based at G4’s studio in Los Angeles. Froskurinn was let go after G4 bought out the remainder of her contract in September 2022. The show was canceled in October 2022 with the closure of G4.


Reviews

There have been over 2,705 games reviewed on ''X-Play''; for most of the show's run, reviews were designated by a five-point rating scale, based on such factors as graphics, sound, gameplay, and ''playability'' (i.e. replay value).


Original ratings scale

On ''X-Play's'' original TechTV homepage, the ratings system was broken down in the following way: The first game to receive a perfect "5 out of 5" rating was ''
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell'' is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a ...
'' during the November 20th (2002) episode, while the first game to receive a "1 out of 5" rating was
Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Bec ...
' 2003 racer ''Humvee Assault'', during the May 29th (2003) episode.


2007 ratings primer

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, hroughthe full cooperation of an entire development team - level designers taking off early to attend their children's soccer games, animators getting so high during their lunchbreak that they can't operate their mouse, and of course money hungry execs who will release anything if they can dupe kids into begging their moms for it." :''Example Given: 50 Cent: Bulletproof'' * A score of 2 "is such a difficult score to give, because it requires a game that fundamentally fails, but has a barely redeeming charm which makes it untenable to give a 1; it's that ''
Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, ...
'' cocktail of technical competence floated atop a pile of dreck." :''Example Given: Genji: Days of the Blade'' * There are different levels to a score of 3 - "there's the 3 that's a mix of very good and very bad elements (like ''
Blood Will Tell ''Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo'', released as in Japan, is a 2004 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 ...
'') or 3's that have a great concept that's poorly executed (like '' Railroads!''), and then there's those 3's that are just churned out because they know people will buy them even though there's nothing original in it (like every
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
game ever)." :''Example Given:
Sid Meier's Railroads! ''Sid Meier's Railroads!'' is a business simulation game developed by Firaxis Games 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 Tycoo ...
'' * "There are really two kinds of games that get 4's regularly: these are great games with significant problems (like ''
Dead Rising is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise. As of March 31, 2022, the game series has sold 15 million units worldwide and is ...
'') and games that are amazing but just aren't suited for everyone (the '' Warhammer: Dark Crusade'' expansion or any of the ''
Sims Sims, sims or SIMS may refer to: Games * ''The Sims'', a life simulation video game series ** ''The Sims'' (video game), the first installment, released in 2000 ** ''The Sims 2'', the second installment, released in 2004 ** '' The Sims 3'', th ...
'' expansions are good examples)." :''Example Given:
Dead Rising is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise. As of March 31, 2022, the game series has sold 15 million units worldwide and is ...
'' * Titles that earn a perfect 5 out of 5 are "those magnificent games which, whatever minor flaws they may have, call out to us and say, 'Buy me, you must buy me' ... " :''Example Given:
Ōkami is an action-adventure video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom. It was released for PlayStation 2 in 2006 in Japan and North America, and in 2007 in Europe and Australia. After the closure of Clover Studio a few months a ...
'' During this episode, the hosts also explained why they use a 5-point ratings system, rather than a 10- or even 100-point scale:


2011 ratings primer

On the January 24, 2011 episode, Adam and Morgan gave an updated ratings primer in response to confusion spawned by aggregator review sites like
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. To that end, the ''X-Play'' review scale was broken down in the following manner: 1 out of 5 * Broken controls * Amateurish design * Less fun than a menu screen * Mainly shoddy licensed games ('' Clash of the Titans'') and shovelware ('' Tournament of Legends'') 2 out of 5 * Some fun to be had * Serious flaws in gameplay * Rental at best * Examples given were ''
Quantum Theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum ...
'' and '' Tron: Evolution'' 3 out of 5 * Not bad, not great (average) * Technically competent * Often lacking in ambition * Mainly rushed sequels (''
Front Mission Evolved is a third-person shooter video game developed by Double Helix Games and published by Square Enix. Unlike previous ''Front Mission'' titles which have a tactical role-playing game structure, players engage in combat in real time on 3D maps using ...
'') and functional licensed games ('' James Bond 007: Blood Stone'') 4 out of 5 * Good game with good ideas * Accomplishes most goals * Minor flaws hurt playability * Games that might not be for everyone (''
Heavy Rain ''Heavy Rain'' is a 2010 adventure game developed by Quantic Dream and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game features four protagonists involved with the mystery of the Origami Killer, a serial murderer who uses extended periods ...
'') 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 ''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's ''Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the ''Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Redempt ...
'' and ''
Mass Effect 2 ''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...
''


Introduction of the half star

During the 2012 season premiere (January 17), the "half star" was introduced to the ''X-Play'' ratings system, with the hosts explaining that they felt a change towards a "more granular ratings scale will help distinguish the great games from the really great games from the really really great games." They also believed that over the years it had gotten "a little too easy to score the coveted 5 out of 5," and that the change will make such an accomplishment "more of a rarity"; it also means that the lowest score a game can achieve is now a " point-5 out of 5." In addition, the review scale was again broken down to make the show's criteria clear to the viewing audience: 5 stars * Exceptional game * A true must-play * Example Given: ''
Gears of War 3 ''Gears of War 3'' is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the third installment of the Gears of War, ''Gears of War'' series. Originally due for re ...
'' 4 stars * Great game with minor issues * Lacks that "certain something" * Example Given: '' The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword'' 3 stars * Decent game * Nothing special, nothing awful * Example Given: ''
Dead Island ''Dead Island'' is a 2011 action role-playing game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver. Released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game is centered on the challenge of surviving a zombie-infeste ...
'' 2 stars * Severely flawed * Not recommended * Example Given: '' The Lord of the Rings: War in the North'' 1 star * Truly awful * No redeeming qualities * Example Given: '' Thor: God of Thunder'' The hosts concluded this explanation with the following caveat: The first game to receive a half-star in its rating was '' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning''
two and a half stars
during the February 13th (2012) episode. The first game to receive the lowest possible rating was '' Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor''
0.5 stars
during the July 2nd (2012) episode. During the April 8 (2013) edition of '
Sessler's ... Something
'', Adam (then an employee of
Revision3 Revision3 was a San Francisco-based multi-channel television network that created, produced and distributed streaming television shows on niche topics. Founded in 2005, it operated as a subsidiary of Discovery Digital Networks since 2012. The ...
) implied that the introduction of the half-star rating was actually pushed through by G4 executives without his knowledge; he stated that he "came back in 2013 to find out that we had moved to a half-star system as well, ndit was all at the behest of one very very large publisher who said that
he show He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
wouldn't be taken seriously unless we were listed on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
."


2021 relaunch

With the relaunch of the show, the rating system has been simplified back down to its original "out of 5" format. In opting to get rid of half points, Adam Sessler stated that half points "are for cowards" and that "score are not reviews." In fact, Adam says that he prefers to not give scores at all, but that the system was an integral part of the old show that they wanted to carry over to the new iteration; the score reflects the hosts' thoughts on the game. During the November 19, 2021 episod
broadcast live on Twitch
Adam and new Xplay hosts TheBlackHokage, Froskurinn, and Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil broke down the revised Xplay rating scale as follows: 1 out of 5 - Broken, Unfinished, or Worthless * Rarely "awarded". * We're embarrassed FOR this game. * A waste of a player's money and time. * No fun to be had except to watch this game be roasted by Xplay. Examples Given: ''
Cyberpunk 2077 ''Cyberpunk 2077'' is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Set in Night City, an open world set in the ''Cyberpunk'' universe, players assume the role of a customisable mercenary know ...
'' for PlayStation 4, ''
Shadow the Hedgehog (video game) is a 2005 platform game developed by Sega Studios USA (the former United States division of Sonic Team) and published by Sega as part of the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. The game follows Shadow the Hedgehog, a creation of Doctor Eggman's gr ...
'' 2 out of 5 - This is a bad game * Aggressively poor design decisions were made. * It makes you angry to keep playing. * The bad overwhelms the good. Examples Given: '' Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII'', ''
Apex Legends ''Apex Legends'' is a free-to-play Battle royale game, battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in February 2019, for Nintendo ...
'' for Nintendo Switch. 3 out of 5 - This is a fine game * A "good" game. * Enjoyable, but lacks that special something. * Forgettable, but technically competent. Example Given: '' Aliens: Fireteam Elite'' 4 out of 5 - This is a great game * Top of the "normal" review scale. * Technically perfect title that lacks some sort of spark. * Top-level game that never truly surprises the player. Examples Given: ''
Halo Wars ''Halo Wars'' is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Australia on February 26, 2009; in Europe on February 27; and i ...
'', ''
Persona 4 released outside of Japan as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4'', is a 2008 role-playing video game by Atlus. It is chronologically the fifth installment in the ''Persona'' series, itself a part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise, and was ...
'', ''
Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...
''. 5 out of 5 - Highest Score Possible * Rarely awarded. * More than the sum of its parts. * Creates a lasting, unique experience for the player. * A must-play! * Major contender for Game of the Year. Examples Given: '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'', ''
Bully (video game) ''Bully'' (released in the PAL region as ''Canis Canem Edit''; Latin for " dog eat dog") is an action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar Vancouver and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 October 2006 for the PlayStation 2. ...
'', ''
No More Heroes (video game) is a 2007 action-adventure video game for the Wii. It was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Marvelous Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Rising Star Games. The game was directed, designed, and written by Goichi Suda, also known by ...
'', ''
Psychonauts 2 ''Psychonauts 2'' is a platform game developed by Double Fine and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2015 ceremony, and released on August 25, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and ...
''. During the breakdown, Froskurinn tells viewers to think of the scale "less as a 5 point scale and more of a 4 point scale, with the 5 as a bonus that is very, very hard to reach."


Sketches and segments

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


''Gaming Update/The Feed: Gaming Edition''

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


''Video Viewer Mail/X-Play Inbox''

Adam and Morgan would often read selected correspondence from the program's viewers at the end of every episode. These messages from the fans could be questions about the current state of the videogame industry, requests for recommendations on the best games to buy, or (especially during the TechTV era)
hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwise ...
from viewers who felt that X-Play did not give certain games a "fair" rating. On November 6, 2006, X-Play gave their Viewer Mail segment a high-tech face-lift, by renaming it Video Viewer Mail. While previous correspondence was held via the written word or e-mail, the producers added the ability for viewers to also record short clips of themselves asking questions with a webcam or video recorder; people who had their viewer mail appear on air often would receive a free gift, such as a game or T-shirt provided by Jinx.com. In early 2011, this segment was again rebranded as simply The X-Play Inbox, with the practice of featuring video clips sent in from viewers seemingly dropped altogether.


''Face Time''

This segment featured the hosts conducting an
interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
with a personality from the gaming community (programmers, directors, company CEOs, etc.) either in studio or via satellite. It continued the ''X-Play'' tradition of having famous names on their show, including non-gaming celebrities such as Adam West,
David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as write ...
,
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
,
Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...
,
Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
,
Carmen Electra Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), known professionally as Carmen Electra, is an American actress, model, singer, and media personality. She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis, where she met Prince, who produced h ...
,
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
,
Andrew W.K. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual performance artist, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michigan, Wilkes-Krier began his m ...
,
Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
,
Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...
,
Quentin Richardson Quentin Lamar Richardson (born April 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who was formerly the director of player development for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Q-Rich", he p ...
,
Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
,
Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Diesel began audition ...
,
Janina Gavankar Janina Zione Gavankar (; born November 29, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She is trained as a pianist, vocalist, orchestral percussionist and majored in theatre at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her roles include Shiva on ''The ...
, and
Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wr ...
.


''X-List''

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


''Cheat!''

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


''Spoiler Theater''

In this segment, Adam and Morgan showcased and spoiled the endings of current-generation games that had been on the market for some time (their reasoning was that the game had been available to the home viewers for such a length of time that if they have not yet purchased/beaten said game by this point, they never will). Past games that have been given the Spoiler Theater treatment include ''
Metroid Prime ''Metroid Prime'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. ''Metroid Prime'' is the fifth main installment in the '' Metroid'' franchise and the first game in the series to use 3D c ...
'', ''
Resident Evil 4 ''Resident Evil 4'' is a 2005 survival horror third-person shooter game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the GameCube on January 11, 2005. Players control U.S. government special ...
'', ''
Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square (video game company), Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya ...
'', ''
Kingdom Hearts II is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ''Kingdom Hearts (video game), King ...
'', ''
Devil May Cry is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya. It is primarily developed and published by Capcom. The series centers on the demon hunter Dante and his efforts to thwart various demon invasions of Earth. Its gameplay consists o ...
'', ''
Conker's Bad Fur Day ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'' is a 2001 platform game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game follows Conker, a greedy, hard-drinking red squirrel who must return home to his girlfriend. Most of the game requires the player ...
'', and ''
Metal Gear Solid 2 is a 2001 action-adventure stealth video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2. Originally released on November 13, 2001, it is the fourth ''Metal Gear'' game produced by Hideo Koji ...
''. There was also an occasional segment called ''Insignificant Spoiler Theater'' (alternately identified as ''Not-So-Spoiler Theater'' and ''Irrelevant Spoiler Theater'' on G4's website), which featured the endings of games that either exhibited very little in the way of plot (such as ''
Katamari Damacy () is a third-person puzzle-action video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in March 2004 and in North America in September 2004. Designer Keita Takahashi struggled to pitch the game to Namc ...
'' and '' Left Behind: Eternal Forces'') or were based on movies where the storylines are already well-known (like ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...
'', ''
Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunke ...
'', and '' Pirates of the Caribbean'').


''X-Play Investigates''

This segment began during the TechTV era as a parody of investigative news programs; X-Play would delve into such "hard-hitting" issues as the effects of E-rated games on America's youth, just what the "cool" people (such as then-TechLive anchor Chris Leary) were into, the horrors of
animal testing Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...
for video-game quality control, and why certain
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
- like the TV show ''
American Chopper ''American Chopper'' is an American reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul Sr. (frequently called ''Senior''), and his son Paul Teutul Jr. (also kno ...
'' - deserved to have their own video games (in the cleverly titled "''How'd They Get a Game''?"). However, this segment has recently taken on a more serious tone, with the show tackling subjects without the sole intent of creating comedy skits. Examples include a look at the portrayal of sex in video games, the prevalence of "achievement whores", and an inspection of the life of competitive gamer Steve Wiebe.


''Best Of Awards''

''X-Play'' would dedicate an entire show to the best games released over the preceding twelve months; awards were handed out in several categories, such as "Most Original Game" and "Best Handheld Game", but the most prestigious - and most hotly debated - is "Game of the Year": * 2021 winner - ''
Psychonauts 2 ''Psychonauts 2'' is a platform game developed by Double Fine and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2015 ceremony, and released on August 25, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and ...
'' * 2012 winner - ''
Borderlands 2 ''Borderlands 2'' is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. Taking place five years following the events of ''Borderlands'' (2009), the game is again set on the planet of Pandora. T ...
'' * 2011 winner - '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' * 2010 winner - ''
Mass Effect 2 ''Mass Effect 2'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in 2010 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. It is the second installment in the ''Mass Effect'' series and a ...
'' * 2009 winner - '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' * 2008 winner - '' Fable II'' * 2007 winner - ''
BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. The first game in the ''BioShock'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 pla ...
'' * 2006 winner - '' The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'' * 2005 winner - ''
Resident Evil 4 ''Resident Evil 4'' is a 2005 survival horror third-person shooter game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the GameCube on January 11, 2005. Players control U.S. government special ...
'' * 2004 winner - ''
Halo 2 ''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed '' ...
'' * 2003 winner - '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''


''Golden Mullet Awards''

The polar opposite of X-Play's yearly "Best Of" special, The Golden Mullet Awards were used to showcase the reviewers' picks for worst video games of the past year. The name is a twisted "homage" to the
Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially ...
character from the poorly reviewed 2003 game '' Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis'', who sported a blonde polygonal mullet hairstyle.


''The X-Play Challenge''

In this segment, the hosts would have a celebrity guest conduct a
speedrun Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and can exploit glit ...
through "
World 1-1 World 1-1 is the first level of ''Super Mario Bros.'', Nintendo's 1985 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The level was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto to be a tutorial for new players, orienting them to platform jumping and to the ...
" of the original ''
Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...
'' for the NES. Their times were then placed on the leaderboard (i.e. a cardboard facsimile of the flagpole found at the end of the level): *
Randy Pitchford Randy Pitchford is an American businessman. He co-founded the video game development studio Gearbox Software in 1999 and was president and CEO for the company until 2021, upon which he became CEO and president of Gearbox's parent company, The G ...
: 21.1 seconds *
Ted Price Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is ...
: 23.6 seconds *
Cliff Bleszinski Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work in the development of the ''Unreal'' and '' Gears of War'' series. After working at Epic Games from 1992 to 2012, he ...
: 24.0 seconds *
Game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
: 25.3 seconds *
Scott Porter Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...
: 26.3 seconds *
Kiki Wolfkill Kiki Wolfkill (born July 7, 1969) is an American video game developer. Wolfkill grew up in Pennsylvania and studied journalism and art at the University of Washington, racing competitively on the side. At Microsoft, she transitioned from develo ...
: 27.5 seconds * Ken Levine: 31.6 seconds *
Andrew W.K. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual performance artist, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michigan, Wilkes-Krier began his m ...
: 33.1 seconds *
Ernest Cline Ernest Christy Cline (born March 29, 1972) is an American science fiction novelist, slam poet, and screenwriter. He wrote the novels '' Ready Player One'', '' Armada'', and '' Ready Player Two'' and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation ...
: 38.5 seconds *
Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Deep Blue Sea (1999 film), Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), ''The Punisher ...
: 39.7 seconds *
Todd Stashwick Todd Stashwick is an American actor and writer. He is known for his roles as Dale Malloy on '' The Riches'' and Deacon on '' 12 Monkeys''. Early life and career After performing at several local improvisational theaters, he was hired to tour wi ...
: 42.7 seconds


Non-Denominational Holiday Buyer's Guide

For the holiday season, X-Play aired gift guide episodes that recommends video games to viewers for Christmas.


Themes


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 ''
intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...
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 G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...
''), Gene Yraola (now a part of G4's Games Editorial Department, the liaison between the shows and the actual software/hardware companies), Eric Acasio (a production assistant for ''X-Play'') and Emily Mollenkopf (hired as a production assistant on ''Attack of the Show'' in 2006). A near-complete list of interns who have worked on the show follows: * From
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
: ''Leticia Caparaz'', ''Jason Frankovitz'', ''Scott Humphrey'', ''Chris Ivarson'', ''Matt Ketterer'', ''Robert Padbury'', ''Desiree Peel'', ''Jana Suverkropp'', ''Kevin Theobald'', ''Blake Yoshiura'', and ''Kevin Yuen''. * From
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
:, ''Eric Acasio'', ''Russ Brock'', ''Steve Dutzy'', ''Brian Flores'', ''Gil Garcia'', ''Albert Iskander'', ''Isaac Gelman'', ''Kenny'', ''Megan'', ''Erik Merlin'', ''Emily Mollenkopf'', ''Geoff Pinkus'', ''Stephan'', ''Alex Villegas'', ''Chuck Wilkerson'', ''Chris Wilson'', ''Gene Yraola'', ''Rob Yeager'', ''Daniel Powley'', Michael "Sully" Sullivan, and ''Thomas McBeath'' The ''Screaming Intern'' (played by Robert Manuel) was actually not a true intern, but instead was an editorial coordinator for the show.


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 Laporte Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...
, Yoshi DeHerrera, and ''Unscrewed's'' Martin Sargent and Laura Swisher). This continued after the merger with G4, with names like
Kevin Pereira Kevin Elder Pereira (born December 28, 1982) is an American television personality and host. Early life While he was 14, Pereira hosted ''Pointless Audio'' under the pseudonym Captain Immy.Stephen A. Johnson (April 15, 2006)AOTS hosts Kevin Pere ...
,
Tina Wood Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places * Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomo ...
, and Julie Stoffer. ''X-Play'' has also had pseudo-celebrities who are not affiliated with G4 (such as
Tony Little Tony Little (born September 16, 1956) is an American television fitness personality and businessman, who is best known for his fitness infomercial products. Little is a certified personal trainer and identifies himself as "America's Personal T ...
, Kato Kaelin,
Michael Winslow Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven '' ...
, and
Rip Taylor Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor Jr. (January 13, 1931 – October 6, 2019) was an American actor and comedian, known for his exuberance and flamboyant personality, including his wild moustache, toupee, and his habit of showering himself (and others ...
) appear on the show.


Hatred

There have been several gaming titles/genres/trends over the years which the hosts have displayed an exaggerated sense of "hatred" towards (often playing up their dislike for the cameras in order to make for humorous television). These include: * Card battle games such as ''
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...
''. * Games based on
anime series is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
(particularly ''
Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
'', ''
Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'', ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...
'', and ''
Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology magazine ''Gangan Comics#Monthly Shōnen Gangan, Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' between July 20 ...
''). * "Ungodly boob physics", where female video-game characters are rendered with impossibly large
breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...
s that bounce and sway unnaturally and independently from the rest of their bodies (this phenomenon is particularly prevalent in Japanese dating simulation games like ''Sexy Beach 2''). * Game series which continue to produce titles despite a lack of quality and/or innovation (such as ''
Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...
'', ''
Mega Man ''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...
'', ''
Leisure Suit Larry ''Leisure Suit Larry'' is an adult-themed sexual video game series created by Al Lowe. It was published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009, then by Codemasters starting in 2009. The first six ''Leisure Suit Larry'' titles, along with ''Magna Cum Lau ...
'', ''
Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...
'', and 3D iterations of ''
Sonic The Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
''). * The proliferation of
WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
games on the market (during their review of
Moscow to Berlin: Red Siege
', Morgan remarked "That's it! No more World War II games! According to my contract, I only have to review 75 World War II games per year, and I already hit my quota in March!"). * Video games based on existing
IPs IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle * Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells * Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique * Intraparietal sulcus, ...
(like current movies or TV shows), since they are usually rushed to the market to cash in on the latest craze and end up being painful to actually play (such as the ''
Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
'' or ''Da Vinci Code'' video games). * 3D water levels in games, since the show's writers feel that game developers almost never capture the feeling of
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
in an enjoyable manner ("Instead of making us awkwardly pilot our character through zero-gravity space, why don't you just come to our house and punch us in the face? It's exactly the same amount of fun!"). * ''Escort missions'', where the player is forced to keep an NPC character (who has its own health meter) from dying; this often proves difficult when the NPC's
A.I. Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...
is so insufficient that they continuously place themselves in harm's way (leaving the player with little or no chance to save them). However, ''
Resident Evil 4 ''Resident Evil 4'' is a 2005 survival horror third-person shooter game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the GameCube on January 11, 2005. Players control U.S. government special ...
'' is an exception of this. * '' Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue'' (Morgan has often called this the worst game ever made). * Jonny Moseley and the ridiculous comments made in his video game ''Jonny Moseley Mad Trix'' (including the classic line "What if it snowed in San Francisco?"). *
Dane Cook Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released six comedy albums: ''Harmful If Swallowed''; ''Retaliation''; '' Vicious Circle''; '' Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garde ...
and his brand of comedy. *
Uwe Boll Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises which often starred international stars like Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Christian Slater, E ...
and his film adaptions of video games. *
Shovelware Shovelware is a term for individual video games or software bundles known more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness. The metaphor implies that the creators showed little care for the quality of the original soft ...
for the Nintendo
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
, like '' All Star Cheer Squad'' and ''" Crappy Minigame Collection No. 272"''. * Developers who feel the need to take a perfectly acceptable single-player game and tack on a multiplayer mode. * Sixaxis controls in PS3 games. * 3D ''
Castlevania ''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...
'' games. * Level grinding in
role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...
. * Japanese RPGs. This was considered to be Adam's pet peeve where people would tell Adam that Japanese RPGs, such as ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'', are the best RPGs. Adam however believes that ''Final Fantasy'' is not the best RPG. * ''
Devil May Cry is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya. It is primarily developed and published by Capcom. The series centers on the demon hunter Dante and his efforts to thwart various demon invasions of Earth. Its gameplay consists o ...
'', claiming that it is a "last-gen" game. * The animated series ''
Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...
''.


Physical comedy

For comedic purposes, the ''X-Play'' writers have portrayed the show as an exceedingly violent working environment; interns are often depicted as suffering from
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
and
physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or wo ...
at the hands of the hosts (such as being forced to use a bucket to relieve themselves - instead of the bathroom - or retrieving items suspended over the "''X-Play'' snake pit"). This violent dynamic has also manifested itself within the interactions between the hosts themselves (like when Morgan Webb continuously struck Adam Sessler with a baseball bat during ''X-Play's''
mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...
on the history of violence in video games).


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''

The show's hosts have often been the subject of numerous negative comments (including "Morgan's not really a gamer!" and "Sessler doesn't know gaming because he hates ''Final Fantasy''!") through the show's official
message board 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 often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
. 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 chat Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real-time text, real-time transmission of text-based, text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participa ...
every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. EST. After the merger with G4, ''X-Play's'' official
IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...
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), G4 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 Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. The show's producers now present ''X-Play'' viewers with a question relevant to the day's news/reviews via thei
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 13, 2011, the show began the practice of having their on-air personalities 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
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
game created by the
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
-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 is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. In texture, this crystalline cand ...
zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...
s and stealthy
ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...
s and drunken
pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
and
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...
Dik-dik A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. 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 consist of the
arrow keys Arrow keys or cursor movement keys are buttons on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor (computers), cursor in a specified direction. The term "cursor movement key" is distinct from "arrow key" in that ...
for movement, the "A" key to punch, and the "S" key to kick. The game is no longer available o
G4's website
but a mirror site can be found via Orange Design'


''Hyperactive''

Culled from the theory that many viewers of TechTV both watched the network while using the internet,

'' was launched in 2004. Designed to be used as a combination trivia game and chat room which would run concurrently with the 11 PM weeknight block of ''X-Play'' and ''Unscrewed with Martin Sargent'', participants could compete against one another by answering questions relating to, and revolving around, video games, pop-culture and host references from episodes that were currently airing. Leaderboards were synchronized with the episodes as they aired, often showcasing the names of the 10 highest scoring contestants as the show came back from each commercial break. After the merger of TechTV and G4, ''Hyperactive'' continued until late 2004. During this time, participants could win an iPod mini by playing the game.


''Daily Video Podcast''

On November 11, 2005, G4 started offering ''X-Play'' segments (reviews, skits, etc.) for free in
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
form via thei
website
and the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
, giving viewers the opportunity to watch segments on-demand with their computers and portable devices. These podcasts have since become available through other
podcatcher A podcast client, or podcatcher, is a computer program used to stream or download podcasts, usually via an RSS or XML feed. While podcast clients are best known for streaming and downloading podcasts, many are also capable of downloading video ...
software (such as the
Zune Marketplace Zune is a discontinued media management software for Microsoft Windows that functions as a full media player application with a library, an interface to the Zune Marketplace, and as a media streaming server. The software is used to sync with all ...
) as well.


''X-Play Weekly''

On August 14, 2008, a special weekly wrap-up show called ''X-Play Weekly'' was made available for download on th
Xbox LIVE Video Store
allowing
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
owners to view highlights from the previous week's episodes for 160
Microsoft Points Microsoft Points, introduced in November 2005 as Xbox Live Points, were a digital currency issued by Microsoft for use on its Xbox and Zune product lines. Points could be used to purchase video games and downloadable content from Xbox Live Mark ...
( $2 US). Beginning the week of June 15, 2009, ''X-Play Weekly'' was also made available for download through the
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
, also at $2 per weekly program.


''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 titl
''Feedback''
. This weekly segment was hosted by Adam Sessler (before Blair Herter took over official hosting duties with th
October 19th 2011 episode
and features a rotating panel of co-hosts drawn from ''X-Play's'' editorial staff with the occasional guest from the gaming industry (such as
Tim Schafer Timothy John Schafer (born July 26, 1967) is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games '' ...
and
Cliff Bleszinski Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work in the development of the ''Unreal'' and '' Gears of War'' series. After working at Epic Games from 1992 to 2012, he ...
). 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 nationwide book-signing tour to help promote their literary endeavor. Copies of the book can be found everywhere from the
Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...
to the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
.


References


External links

*
''X-Play'' microsite to celebrate show re-launch

''X-Play'' Reviewed Games Database
*
ZDTV - Gamespot TV (ARCHIVED)
{{G4 Original Broadcast Line-up 1990s American television series 1998 American television series debuts 2000s American television series 2010s American television series 2013 American television series endings 2020s American television series 2021 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows Television shows filmed in Los Angeles G4 (American TV network) original programming Infotainment TechTV original programming Television shows about video games Video game culture Video game journalism X-Play