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[Prince of Space]

Make no mistake, Tommy Tallarico is still an annoying douche, but at least he knows how to review a game.

Who the hell thinks this is a good review show? When they aren't reviewing the cream of the crap, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb just can't stop making the lamest gaming jokes this side of a GameFAQS thread. Seriously, who picks the games they review? Every time I catch the beginning of their show, they promise one "big" game review, and 3-4 "filler" reviews, usually obscure PC titles no one gives a shit about.
They recently did a "Games to Watch Out For" feature. Instead of showcasing games that people might actually get tricked into buying, we're treated to clips of a couple games you wouldn't touch even if you had heard of them.
On the off chance that they DO review a game people will care about, said review consists of about 2 minutes of informative content, and 5 minutes of jokes that would make half the cast of MadTV cringe. Judgment Day has Lucas and Tallarico debating about a game's strengths and weaknesses; XPlay has tit jokes. Someone should either cancel this drek and make room for more Icons, or seriously overhaul the show.

And yes, XPlay was always this bad -- even in the TechTV days.

Oh, and because no thread is complete without it:

 

[Wario64]

Make no mistake, Tommy Tallarico is still an annoying douche, but at least he knows how to review a game.

'Viewtiful Joe has a stupid name, 7.5'

I agree, good review system to me

 

[Bog]

'Viewtiful Joe has a stupid name, 7.5'

I agree, good review system to me

Well, it does have a pretty stupid name.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

I'm actually inclined to agree with you. Sure, Tommy's greasy, annoying, and gives off an odour you can spell several thousand miles away, but at least he has a personality. I was initially turned off by the nonsensical reasons he gave for despising certain games, but I've since come to appreciate his fickleness for what it is and take it in stride. Now, whenever he knocks a game deserving of praise, I just laugh. Victor counteracts Tommy's complete lack of professionalism at times, making them a great duo for such a show.

I rarely watch either, but given the choice, I'll take douchebag over complete annoyance. Morgan Webb constantly making expressions as Adam/announcer talks is reason enough for me to flip the channel. So. Annoying.

 

[Sp3eD]

Tommy rocks. He has some weird quirks sometimes, but at least he is entertaining to watch. This Xplay / Morgan Webb crap is retarded. Just another brain dead fake game girl puppet that the networks (and game stores now it seems) use to attract the nerd gamer guy nitche.

Elecronic Playground (When they were a canadian underground show) from the mid 90's >>>>>> Xplay has ever been.

All the game girls on TV seem so fake and coached. I don't understand why you guys drool over a corperate puppet :-|

 

[MattKeil]

Bzzt. Sorry, the X-Play haters are way in the minority. X gets the square.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=9245&section=media&email=

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

I don't hate X-Play...it's just boring, annoying, and useless. As was already pointed out, X-Play's humour's about as fresh as the bastard child of MadTV and The Tonight Show. I can deal with bad jokes and horrible puns, but when everything else is just so bland and uninformative...meh.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Tommy rocks. He has some weird quirks sometimes, but at least he is entertaining to watch. This Xplay / Morgan Webb crap is retarded. Just another brain dead fake game girl puppet that the networks (and game stores now it seems) use to attract the nerd gamer guy nitche.
|

I noticed that recently. My local Babbage's manager has a thing for blondes, so he hires them on the spot, if they are pretty. This dumbass knows next to nothing about games

 

[PanopticBlue]

Extended Play with Kate Botello was so much better, Xplay seems like a cruel joke in comparison. I just plum don't watch the show anymore, it's horrible. Haven't watched in probably 3 months now. Worst thing about Xplay though is that it's fucking embarrasing, I can't even watch it by myself and not be embarrased.

 

[lexy]

Xplay was funny for 2 or 3 episodes but then it completely went off the deep end. Their Soul Calibur outtakes are not funny (come on, fart jokes?) and Chad Grimgravey is the dumbest thing I've ever witnessed on television.

Worst thing about Xplay though is that it's fucking embarrasing, I can't even watch it by myself and not be embarrased.

Exactly.

 

[Chiggs]

While X-Play certainly has it's fair share of lameness, Judgement Day is far worse. Tommy Tallarico alone should be enough to convince you of that. Jesus, the guy refers to his critics as "Tommyknockers".

Anyone remember how Gamefan used to suck his knob every issue? "What a rockin' Tallarico soundtrack!"

Also:

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Just can the whole channel and start over. Just fire everybody. A video game channel is a great idea with a lot of potential, but G4 has executed it in some of the worst possible ways. It's filled with terrible puns and XXXTREME garbage. It has it's moments, but they're buried so far down under the pile of shit, they're few and far between.

 

[ManaByte]

Bzzt. Sorry, the X-Play haters are way in the minority. X gets the square.

Says one of the people responsible for the retarded jokes on X-Play.

 

[Prince of Space]

Bzzt. Sorry, the X-Play haters are way in the minority. X gets the square.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=9245&section=media&email=

Doesn't make them any less right.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

X-Play was better before Morgan. I liked that chick that left the show for New York. The one that worked with Leo on the Screensavers. Adam tries a whee bit too hard for laughs.

I personally think Judgement Day is alright. They have TWO opinions on games and both guys give their reasons for why they give a grade on a score. And while Tommy isn't nearly as good of a professional reviewer as the other guy is. He nails the casual gamer crowd.

 

[ManaByte]

X-Play was better before Morgan. I liked that chick that left the show for New York. The one that worked with Leo on the Screensavers. Adam tries a whee bit too hard for laughs.

I personally think Judgement Day is alright. They have TWO opinions on games and both guys give their reasons for why they give a grade on a score. And while Tommy isn't nearly as good of a professional reviewer as the other guy is. He nails the casual gamer crowd.

Yup. They should just ditch X-Play and focus on Judgement Day. The only reason X-Play is still on is because of the rabid 12-year-old Morgan Webb fans who don't even pay attention to what they're saying on the show.

 

[Ironclad]

Yup. They should just ditch X-Play and focus on Judgement Day. The only reason X-Play is still on is because of the rabid 12-year-old Morgan Webb fans who don't even pay attention to what they're saying on the show.

I am almost sure that their writers know this as well because all of the dialogue on the show seems to cater to that demographic. Everything about the show seems dumbed-down. Judgement Day is great when Tommy and Vic get in arguements over various games and Vic isn't half bad at reviewing the games either.

 

[Chiggs]

I noticed that recently. My local Babbage's manager has a thing for blondes, so he hires them on the spot, if they are pretty. This dumbass knows next to nothing about games

Oh no! Who will help assist me in my next games-related purchase, if not those that work behind the counter at EB Games and Gamestop?!

 

[ManaByte]

I am almost sure that their writers know this as well because all of the dialogue on the show seems to cater to that demographic. Everything about the show seems dumbed-down. Judgement Day is great when Tommy and Vic get in arguements over various games and Vic isn't half bad at reviewing the games either.

And Judgement Day is about the GAMES and if they are good or not. X-Play is about using a military game to deliver an anti-war statement 20 times in the same review.

 

[binary]

I used to watch X-Play. It tries too hard to be funny nowadays. Feels forced and I don't like it. Just review the damn game already and don't crack a joke every other sentence.

 

[teruterubozu]

Actually I really liked it when it was just Adam himself (after Kate was gone and before Morgan came in). There were no stupid jokes and Adam just blasted through the games. They also showed way more game footage before they had to start giving Morgan screen time.

Judgement Day's biggest plus is Victor. G4 needs more hosts like Victor.


Wow, lots of G4 hate today for some reason...

 

[ManaByte]

They started a new ad campaign for X-Play calling it Brutally Honest.

Well the brutally honest truth is that the show is insulting with its humor and doesn't provide half the service to a gamer that Judgement Day does. The brutally honest truth is the only people who watch the show are twelve year olds and they only watch it for Morgan. There is no need for a fluff show such as X-Play when they have a good review show in the form of Judgement Day. They already killed off the other TechTV shows, it's time to kill off X-Play.

 

[Chiggs]

1. Judgement Day's biggest plus is Victor. G4 needs more hosts like Victor.


2. Wow, lots of G4 hate today for some reason...

1. Agreed.

2. Because it's fucking horrible?

 

[Ironclad]

They started a new ad campaign for X-Play calling it Brutally Honest.

Well the brutally honest truth is that the show is insulting with its humor and doesn't provide half the service to a gamer that Judgement Day does. The brutally honest truth is the only people who watch the show are twelve year olds and they only watch it for Morgan. There is no need for a fluff show such as X-Play when they have a good review show in the form of Judgement Day. They already killed off the other TechTV shows, it's time to kill off X-Play.

Yeah, I agree. Either they reform X-Play or they take it off the air. The humor is absolutely pathetic and the skits that they do are absolutely assanine in an offending manner.

 

[pj]

They started a new ad campaign for X-Play calling it Brutally Honest.

Well the brutally honest truth is that the show is insulting with its humor and doesn't provide half the service to a gamer that Judgement Day does. The brutally honest truth is the only people who watch the show are twelve year olds and they only watch it for Morgan. There is no need for a fluff show such as X-Play when they have a good review show in the form of Judgement Day. They already killed off the other TechTV shows, it's time to kill off X-Play.

Maybe they could have the hardware chicks play the game while tommy and vic argue about it.. The 12 year olds would be happy and people who cringe whenever morgan webb speaks will be happy. EVERYBODY WINS

 

[Porridge]

There are places for in-depth, masturbatory game "reviews" and thank God you don't find them on G4.

Because I personally don't find that entertaining and I don't think I'm the only one. People get so worked up over the things Tommy or the X-Play crew says, but what about this very message board? You have people bitching that the PSP wasn't successful because it didn't sell out. Who cares? Why is that important?

You're either entertained by these shows or not. If not, stop watching.

I can't believe what I'm reading here. Offended by a video game review show? Because of... humor?

 

[ManaByte]

I can't believe what I'm reading here. Offended by a video game review show? Because of... humor?

No, it's because the humor is so retarded it's insulting and there's more humor than actual game reviews to the point where they are making fun of the games they "review". Hell, the X-Play hosts don't even review the games. Adam was on The Screen Savers a couple months ago and LIVE ON G4 admitted that they send the games out to a freelance reviewer who then returns the text to the show where they add in their retarded humor and political statements to the review before it airs.

 

[teruterubozu]

I can't believe what I'm reading here. Offended by a video game review show? Because of... humor?

I think people WANT a good video game review show on TV - that's why everyone's getting worked up.

 

[Uno Ill Nino]

I like X-Play. I think its G4's best show. Its certainly not that penis-envy having Tommy Tallarico or those gabby bitches on G4TV.com. Christ they talk too fucking fast on that show. Its just yap yap yap yap yap...... Slow down and talk about an issue for more than 1 minute for fuck's sake.

X-Play is enjoyable to me. Today they even revelled in the low-quality of the episode. They reviewed a couple of anime games, a digimon game, and some other lameass game and even said "Fasten your seatbelt, this is going to suck." when referring to the episode itself. What show does that? Its funny. Then the announcer said, "Now available for appearances at children's birthday parties, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb!"

C'mon. That's funny. X-Play isn't so bad. You watch it to be entertained, not to decide whether or not to Hot Game X.

 

[ManaByte]

C'mon. That's funny.

No. It's not.

 

[pj]

No, it's because the humor is so retarded it's insulting and there's more humor than actual game reviews to the point where they are making fun of the games they "review". Hell, the X-Play hosts don't even review the games. Adam was on The Screen Savers a couple months ago and LIVE ON G4 admitted that they send the games out to a freelance reviewer who then returns the text to the show where they add in their retarded humor and political statements to the review before it airs.

It's no secret, the reviews on their website credit the real author.. always have

 

[AeroGod]

X-PLay does have a handful of funny skits they have done. When they took the Dino Crisis 3 camera and put it into the real world I laughed my ass off. Adam kept trying to get into a bathroom stall but kept hitting the door. :lol I guess you would have to see it, but I htought it was really funny. When X-Play trashes really bad games they do it really well with great humor, most of the time. Thats when they are at their best and why I watch it, the other stuff is usually pretty retarded.

 

[Dreamfixx]

Extended Play was an excellent review show on the wonderful Tech TV hosted by an intelligent and relatively sedate Adam Sessler. X-Play is an unfunny sack of monkey shit on G4, a shitty network that serves the unecessary purpose of showing crap programs about games, all fucking day.

 

[CO_Andy]

I think X-Play iz great, except nowadays they try a little too hard to put humor into their reviews and everything.

Some of us here hav a little bit too high of expectations of what a female gamer should be. Morgan Webb suits me just fine, cause all the others in the network seem like ditzs. I agree that the Extended Play period was the best. Definitely miss Kate

 

[BigBoss]

Heres that "bad camera angles" skit. :lol

http://www.g4tv.com/mediaplayer/index.aspx?video_key=7560

 

[Dr_Cogent]

The show was best when it was Adam and Kate, or just plain Adam. Adam also had some other gamer girl that I can't remember when the show first started.

Now it's just Adam and Morgans Boobs.

And Adam is the clown, and Morgan just drones. Nice tits though.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Only other video game review show I've seen was on that short-lived TBS 'Burly TV'..god that was worse than X-Play's cheesiest. Can't remember the show's name, though.

 

[stewy]

No, it's because the humor is so retarded it's insulting and there's more humor than actual game reviews to the point where they are making fun of the games they "review". Hell, the X-Play hosts don't even review the games. Adam was on The Screen Savers a couple months ago and LIVE ON G4 admitted that they send the games out to a freelance reviewer who then returns the text to the show where they add in their retarded humor and political statements to the review before it airs.

Jesus, you're acting like using freelance reviewers was some big secret. Point out where it says Adam and Morgan review every game, and you might have the right to be so offended.

And bottom line, if you're offended, don't watch it. Find something else to do with your time. Play some Matrix Online, perhaps.

 

[satterfield]

First I want to preface this by saying that I love this board. It's as good as it gets for video game information and a lot of the people on here are personal friends of mine. But if you want the truth, the show you guys want would tank and tank hard. All the people in this thread complaining about how Extended Play was better and all that junk. Well, guess what? The show was going to be cancelled if it wasn't changed. No one watched. Why? Because 90 percent of the people who buys games could give two squirts about pixel shaders and developer interviews.

Successful video game TV isn't about a few hundred hardcore gaming dudes on a message board. The expectations are much higher because producing it is much more expensive than typing up an article and snapping a few screenshots for the Web. It takes over 50 man hours and thousands of dollars to produce one three-minute review/preview segment. If your show isn't entertaining and informative, it's going to get crap ratings, and it's going to get cancelled. A cable TV show has to be mass market. It's as simple as that.

We know some people aren't going "get" the show. Especially hardcore gamers who take their hobby extremely seriously. To them, we're blasphemous. We get it. As for our humor. Some people think Napoleon Dynamite is the dumbest movie ever. I happen to think it's genius. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who do like the show. And who do think it's funny. Downright hilarious, even. The bottom line is that ratings rule television. You and I haven't decided what a successful video game show is. The viewers have.

In other words, despite all the "constructive" criticism in this here thread, we'd prefer to keep our jobs and keep the ship on course.

 

[satterfield]

And bottom line, if you're offended, don't watch it. Find something else to do with your time. Play some Matrix Online, perhaps.

He got you there, ManaByte. Also, would you actually trust the opinion of someone who's reviewing/previewing 15 games a week? How much time could they actually spend with each one?

 

[_Angelus_]

The show was best when it was Adam and Kate, or just plain Adam. Adam also had some other gamer girl that I can't remember when the show first started.

Now it's just Adam and Morgans Boobs.

And Adam is the clown, and Morgan just drones. Nice tits though.

If it weren't for sessler I wouldn't even watch this show. I mean c'mon,who else dresses up in a skin tight Robin the boy wonder outfit and runs down the streets of San Francisco during an Adam West/worst Batman games ever special? The guy is outright funny and its nice to see he doesn't take the hobby so serously that the show becomes boring.

Btw,the other lady that teamed with him? Youre thinking of Loren Fielder,she also use to work for GameSpot and EGM,I dunno what happend to her nowdays though. She was pretty cool for that show. Kate Botello was pretty neat too,Morgan Web,she has a man's face but a really good body,her humor is ok but doesn't come off naturaly.

Adam Sessler is like a gamer and a funny ass geek that can make one laugh when he's got his A game going (the batman special,getting his ass kicked at a Dungeons and Dragons convention,everytime he goes into one of his animated anti rpg rants,the mullet awards for worst games ever,and the retro 80's gaming special where he and Morgan are dressed as hairband gamers and drool over the stick like Atari sprite graphics that were popular in that era.)

The Tommy Telawhats his name guy from Judgement Dayis funny. In the sense that as a viewever you watch with anticipation because you know-that he knows,someof the more irrational Nintendo fans are out there listening to his every comment he makes. So when he goes flying over the edge with the controversial stuff it makes for colorful viewing. and You can tell he enjoys the stuff he spews. Its like the host Victor is an unbias straight across the board gamer while Tommy is like this short, evil, Nintendo hating bastard that is there for laughs if you ask me.

Its entertainment and I read plenty of reviews on the web anyways so when I watch all these shows I want to see them from a different angle. Entertain me because i don't wanna know why this game had 2 points taken off for some hint of slowdown,that shit is old news and I read it daily over the net anyways.

 

[VALIS]

I like X-Play myself. Yeah, sometimes they try way too hard to make every other sentence humorous, and Morgan couldn't act if someone was holding a gun to her head, but it's usually funny. The obvious concept seems to elude a lot of people. It's comedy, not a serious review show like Judgement Day. Sometimes the humor doesn't work but plenty of times it does. Sessler is a pretty good actor and is genuinely funny.

 

[drohne]

i watch it while i eat lunch. if spongebob isn't on. have adam and morgan's mannerisms gotten really shrill lately, or am i just noticing it now? it can be uncomfortable to watch. morgan is still cute, though.

 

[Ironclad]

i watch it while i eat lunch. if spongebob isn't on. have adam and morgan's mannerisms gotten really shrill lately, or am i just noticing it now? it can be uncomfortable to watch. morgan is still cute, though.

They've been getting progressively worse over time. The show is embarasshing to watch, especially their skits or when they review a rhythm game.

 

[Yusaku]

This is like debating your preferred method of torture. You're fucked either way.

 

[lyburnum]

The only thing I hate, absolutely hate about X-Play is Morgan's reviews, no matter how good the game is she always has the shittiest things to say about it. I just saw one for Phantom Dust(A game that I have not played yet, but I heard it was good..somewhere) and through the entire thing I was thinking, "Maybe they're wrong and the game sucks? No, it's just Morgan's shitty reviewing" At the end they gave it a 4 out of 5 and she said it's probably going to end up being a sleeper hit or something, but I honestly thought it was going to get a 2 or 3 out of five. And it's every game she reviews, even really, really good games, she always makes them sound like shit. Other than that, it's a decent show, the lame humor is embarassing and I do change the channle when someone else walks into the room, but it's still watchable.

Judgement Day is pretty good too, Tommy is retarded, but Victor balances it out completely. I just wish they'd stop airing episodes from a year or two ago.

 

[impirius]

X-Play is a silly show about video games. It tries too hard sometimes, but it's good if you take it for what it is and not for what you wish it would be. I, like most of you guys, liked Extended Play more. But c'mon... having an in-depth show on G4 would be kinda like printing a Shakespeare play in Maxim. The core audience just wouldn't care. G4 is squarely aimed at the short attention span set. They'd stop jumping on the couch (or gnawing on their own arms or whatever they normally do) just long enough to change the channel.

Is it pandering? Yeah, probably. But it's either that or get canned in favor of a new show on "The Whip Set". And that's good for no one.

 

[SickBoy]

I don't get G4 any more, and I haven't seen TV programming about games in quite some time...

But from what I recall of Judgment Day (similar to Electric Playground's "Reviews on the Run," right?) I'd hardly call it a serious review show...

...and I feel like I'm in a bizarro universe with people not minding Tommy. I think some of his opinions are asinine, but I think he's amusing to watch.

Anyhow, I think "Extended Play" was far better, before they pumped Sessler full of Jolt cola and made it "XTREME". I don't know if "XTREME" sells, but if it does, I'm not sure why (thinks back to Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle).

Down to the comparison, the reason I think Judgment Day is a better show -- always have -- is because they get down to discussing the game, its faults and their opinions almost immediately. It's two guys having a conversation, and that's why it works.

X Play, it's often about explaining the game, saying a few trite comments that you'd read in a review on Generic Website X and adding in some cheesy humor.

The Judgment Day format still, when all is said and done, tells you what the game is about through the Vic/Tommy chatter.

 

[Flynn]

Says one of the people responsible for the retarded jokes on X-Play.

Wait. Did a writer of X-Play just defend X-Play by utilizing a lame joke straight from the X-Play playbook?

I think that somewhere buried beneath a couple layers of irony there might be something genuinely funny about what has just transpired.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

dont mind Manabyte the man has possibly the worse taste in Entertainment i have ever seen.


Cmon the guy loved the starwars prequels. Franky i am happy with whatever videogame shows we get. You guys dont remember how crap video game shows were before extended play.