The 2000s were a simpler time. While kids picked on you at school, you could turn on G4—an extended cable television channel dedicated to video games, technology, and the Internet—and feel right at home. Unfortunately, due to terrible management and huge amounts of syndicated programming, G4 is no more.
One of the shining lights at G4 was a show called X-Play. It was one of the only places to consume video game content outside of the Internet. Now its hosts, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, are reuniting. This time the two will be live at Bethesda’s E3 press conference on June 14, hosting pre- and postgame shows. It’s expected that the much-anticipated Fallout 4 will be shown.
https://twitter.com/bethesda/status/605437603727343616
X-Play was ahead of its time. It offered insightful, yet concise, video game reviews, previews, and interviews that were far ahead of just about any other video content online. But as Internet speeds started to increase, and broadband became all the more prevalent, G4’s audience started shifting away from watching television in favor of online video content.
In 2012, Sessler was fired from G4. He had gotten his start making video content with Gamespot TV, which then became Extended Play under Tech TV, and when Tech TV was bought by G4, it was turned into X-Play. Morgan Webb still continued making episodes of X-Play until its cancellation in December 2012. G4 was rebranded as the Esquire Network and ceased its programming on Dec. 31, 2014.
While Sessler had a small, memorable stint on Rev3Games, part of Discovery Digital Networks, he eventually left to start his own consulting firm, TheoryHead Inc.
Although having both Sessler and Webb reunite does not entail a new venture of any kind, it’s still a nice dose of nostalgia.
Correction: Sessler and Webb will host E3 coverage, but not the actual press conference.
Photo via Richard Cabrera/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)