G4 Cancels Videogame Programming

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I always thought the 'G' in 'G4' was for 'gaming'. I never thought about what the 4 meant, but I guess it doesn't really matter any more.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Ok I have to ask, WTF is G4? I know they were a channel but all I ever heard about them was that they played all that ninja stuff, I never knew they did anything with videogames.

This, please. I know G4 was a videogame related channel or something like that. But honestly, that's all I know. Where do they transmit it? Is it online only? Is it like HBO where you have to pay extra to get it?

I wouldn't mind checking it out at least for a while to either confirm how much it sucks or contradict people's opinions. I mean, all I have videogame related on my TV is...Spike TV. And it shouldn't even count!

If you don't have Comcast or DirectTV, you don't get G4. It is one of the most unpopular channels, and every other station has removed it from their lineup. The only reason Comcast hasn't dropped it is because they have a controlling share of NBCUniversal, the company that owns G4.

Edit: Actually, DirectTV dropped G4 a couple of years ago, so Comcast is the only one that still has it.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Saw this coming for a while now, but that doesn't mean I'm not sad to see them go.

I liked X-Play than I did AOTS, and it's gonna be weird not seeing them around since I've watched them for years.

Lets be honest here: who actually continued to watch X-Play (and G4 in extension) after Sessler left?

I guess G4 needed more space for the Cops and Cheaters re-runs.

I watched one or two episodes, but it was never the same. I also stopped watching Attack of the Show when Kevin left (what? He wasn't THAT bad of a guy).

I liked both of those shows and I am incredibly sad to see them go (X-Play more so). I grew up watching X-Play and am now kind of depressed, even if I stopped watching it.


Oh well, fuck you G4.



Also, anyone have any idea what Sessler is up to now? I was hoping he would go somewhere else for Video Games and stuff, but I haven't heard word of it yet.

If I remember right, he's going to be involved with that TV show Kevin is working on, so he's going to be on TV again.

 

[Razor of Discord]

Rubbish like this is why I gave up on TV Network programing ages ago. I mean it's just turning all into a mess of reality TV, re-runs, and utter crap that anyone with more than THREE brain cells would never watch. I mean sure a FEW gems pop up but they just keep getting so few and far between it's not even funny...RIP G4.

 

[hentropy]

I dunno, it's a bit bittersweet for me. I don't really know entirely why, though. I just remember being much younger and watching G4 in its first year or so of existence. Back when they showed nothing but very simple by original greenscreen style shows like Filter, a show about ranking games in different genres and ways, Portal, a show about MMOs before WoW like EverQuest and Asheron's Call, a show where two guys rate a variety of games, Cinematech, which did nothing but play cutscenes from video games, and a few others... I used to watch in the summer days when there was little else to do. Much of the programming was boring and they often played the same damn episodes repeatedly, but I still loved it because it was an entire television network dedicated to video games. And that was really cool.

I stopped watching G4 after a while, not because of any perceived drop in quality, but simply because I found other channels to watch as I got older, and of course the Internet. I can't say I was someone who watched it forever and got increasingly fed up with Cops and Ninja Warrior marathons, so my picture of the network was always a bit rosy. But for whatever entertainment it gave me way back in those days, I do feel a little appreciative and nostalgic.

 

[uncanny474]

If you don't have Comcast or DirectTV, you don't get G4. It is one of the most unpopular channels, and every other station has removed it from their lineup. The only reason Comcast hasn't dropped it is because they have a controlling share of NBCUniversal, the company that owns G4.

Edit: Actually, DirectTV dropped G4 a couple of years ago, so Comcast is the only one that still has it.

My family has Verizon, and we get it.

OT: I always wondered when they were gonna stop showing endless reruns of COPS and Cheaters that no-one watched and show some actual video game shows. I mean, why not show re-runs of X-Play and save some money? Your target audience would actually WATCH that.

No, that'd be too smart, nvm.

I will miss the Heroes reruns, though, that show was awesome.

 

[schmulki]

I thought this was announced a while ago. At any rate, the station has been effectively dead, only death-twitching and releasing gasses (metaphorically, of course) for quite some time, basically since they decided the channel should be filled most of the time by Cops and Cheaters. Then cable companies started dropping them. Then Sessler, followed by Pereira started to jump ship.

I really always hoped the people who were really passionate about gaming and "nerd culture" at that channel (of which, there are/were definitely a few) would take their talents online, following the Nerdist's example. There's definitely an audience for the programming they're putting on, just maybe not enough of one for a 24 hr/day schedule or the bloated budgets and required revenues to keep a TV station going, even a 3rd-rate cable one.

 

[Worgen]

I guess they had to make more room for cops reruns.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

The channel's been going down this road for awhile. Honestly, the reality is that if you want reviews and news about gaming/tech, you're probably already in front of a device that gives you truckloads of that with more choice, and without the sterilization that being on television and a subsidiary of NBC gives you.

It didn't help that actual gaming information has always played second fiddle to old shows, reality TV and completely unrelated programming. The channel lacked a core identity and you knew if there was something about gaming on then you actually got lucky. The devolving of public interest in E3 to "meh, that's happening" was the last punch of the Sessler/Periera exit combo as well.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

This is like watching Russel Crowe fight cancer.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

X-Play has been done since Adam Sessler left

Oh G4 was dead long before Sessler left. The last 2 years of him on G4 you could see it in his face in every episode of X-Play. They neutered his show and he kept on it for a while. Sessler's soapbox was great, but it was on G4's website so it was hardly a help for the channel itself.

Adam Sessler leaving didn't kill this channel. Adam Sessler leaving was the last bit of electricity in a dead body phasing out.

 

[Xathos]

A shame this is happening. I actually liked G4, although I can admit it had been getting worse (despite the fact I never saw the TechTV days, came in much after that), but I don't loathe it. I used to watch Attack of the Show and X-Play a lot...until I started getting most of my information from the good old internet. After that I felt G4 became...I wouldn't use the word "obsolete", but I definitely stopped tuning in.

I think I feel worse for the people there. They had some genuine people who were really into games and tv and whatnot. Heck, the hosts of Attack of the Show at least always had good chemistry (at least back when Kevin and Olivia were there. Didn't watch too much when Candace came on the screen, but Allison Haslip was really good I think), even the guys who did the filming behind the cameras. I thoroughly enjoyed going on their website and listening to Feedback for almost an hour, or hearing Adam on his soapbox, making me appreciate what kind of person he really was. Heck, their Comic-con and E3 coverage were really good too!

I suppose we all knew this was coming once Adam and Kevin left (probably moreso for Adam than Kevin for most people, but I loved Kevin). G4 had a lot of potential, along with quite a lot of people willing to bring it out, but all things come to an end I guess. Hopefully whatever is coming next at least proves to be entertaining.

 

[GenericAmerican]

It's official, G4 is no even attempting to act like they are not the Cops and Cheaters network.

Oh well, I stopped watching after Olivia left AoTs.

 

[koroem]

X Play was always complete trash. Complete and utter trash. Adam is so opinionated he is hard to stomach. He can form good arguments, but I feel like his reporting/commentating was plagued by Movie Bob type "Agree with me or you are a dumb ass" mentality. Morgan Webb just made me want to punch myself in the throat. I found the whole show campy and more opinionated than informative.

Attack of the Show on the other hand was occasionally funny in that Kevin is creepy but pervy funny way. Oliva Munn annoyed me with her "LOOK AT ME" personality. Sara and Candice were nice to look at without being too annoying. Candice at times was funny but out of place being so girly and "non-nerdy."

Oh well shows that won't be missed by me. Good thing G4 has so much more going for it right?

 

[ASan83]

I'd care, but honestly I've barely even thought about G4 since they cancelled Code Monkeys.

 

[DarkSoldier84]

When I first got digital cable, I wanted TechTV. I watched it a lot as a nerdling. Almost from the moment G4 took it over, I stopped. I read more about it and learned it was a near-textbook hostile takeover and the post-TechTV network was doomed to fail from the beginning.

The network execs treated TechTV's audience and on-screen figures like garbage. I'm glad providers are dropping G4 from their packages. The real tech guys (LaPorte, Norton et al) moved on to better things (though I'm sad that Martin Sargent has moved to advertising; Unscrewed was my favourite late-era TechTV show).

Goodbye G4 and may the hoary hosts of gadget Hell never tire of beating your maggot-riddled carcass.

 

[Shiro No Uma]

I remember when Adam Sessler did the show "Extended Play" at Metreon in San Francisco before it became X-play. I want to say that he did everything himself for the show as well, i.e. camera, editing, writing etc. I'm not at all surprised they are canceling the shows. I get almost all of my gaming information online and haven't watched G4 in years. I can't think of anyone I know who watches G4 either because on the whole most of my friends have internet connections without cable TV services (because broadcast TV is a dead market even with a DVR as almost everything has gone to streaming or first day digital download). Strangely though G4 has had a sizable presence at the bigger trade shows, but as a whole they have seamed a bit disinterested in the gaming industry lately.

 

[MorganL4]

G4 stopped being about video games long ago. When Sessler left that was just the nail in the coffin because Sessler's Soapbox was an amazing thing. I stopped watching it after I saw more reruns of Cheaters and Cops than actual video game news.

I quit watching G4 right around the time I started frequenting this site (which was about 3 months before I finally decided to become a member.) Naming Fable 2 game of the year really threw me..... Decent game, but in comparison to Fallout 3? Umm NO. Now this wouldn't have been such a big deal except that that channel ( and their website marketed that game like it was the 2nd coming of Christ.) So, to me it appeared a sell out.


At this point, G4 has kind of fallen out of memory..... It is odd to watch Olivia Munn doing an actual acting job in The Newsroom though ( yes she can actually act, and well by the way )

Farewell TV For Gamers ( oh wait, you dropped that tagline 5 years ago) Farewell...... Cops/Cheaters reruns.... I'd say you'll be missed but we will probably see you on another channel in a week or 2.

 

[Quazimofo]

Oh come on, we all know this is just a formality. G4 stopped being a tech/videogame related channel a long long time ago.

pretty much yeah. thank god they finally made it official, it was a death that took far to long to conclude, and in the interim G4 lost nearly all of its reputation. such a shame that it died slowly and now will not even be remembered fondly by most.

 

[Roxas1359]

G4 stopped being about video games long ago. When Sessler left that was just the nail in the coffin because Sessler's Soapbox was an amazing thing. I stopped watching it after I saw more reruns of Cheaters and Cops than actual video game news.

I quit watching G4 right around the time I started frequenting this site (which was about 3 months before I finally decided to become a member.) Naming Fable 2 game of the year really threw me..... Decent game, but in comparison to Fallout 3? Umm NO. Now this wouldn't have been such a big deal except that that channel ( and their website marketed that game like it was the 2nd coming of Christ.) So, to me it appeared a sell out.


At this point, G4 has kind of fallen out of memory..... It is odd to watch Olivia Munn doing an actual acting job in The Newsroom though ( yes she can actually act, and well by the way )

Farewell TV For Gamers ( oh wait, you dropped that tagline 5 years ago) Farewell...... Cops/Cheaters reruns.... I'd say you'll be missed but we will probably see you on another channel in a week or 2.

I remember that. That's around the same time for me as well. I came to the site in 08, but waited a year as I was still on G4.TV. I left there because they banned people who never caused problems and kept the worst trolls there. I also almost got banned by a mod because I didn't agree with him on something about Rare. The mod quit G4 and made his own site I remember because he was power mad. That's when I came here and I regret nothing about my decision at all.