By Kris Graft
With the popularity of videogames continuing to explode, the long-running videogame cable TV show X-Play is ready to evolve, co-host Adam Sessler tells Next-Gen.
ImageThat evolution involves a new format that launches Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on G4 TV. X-Play will now be on five times a week for half-hour segments that will incorporate videogame news and interviews, as well as previews and reviews.
Co-host Adam Sessler said in a phone interview that the time was right to expand the scope of X-Play.
"There's much more interest in videogames in general, in addition to the fact that there's just enough happening in the games industry [to warrant this new format]," he said. "I don't think this format would be feasible five years ago.
"It was still too specialized of a hobby or pastime. There just weren't as many interesting things happening in the games industry back then."
Sessler said that the daily episodes would be sort of a nightly news broadcast for gamers, but it would still maintain a fun atmosphere.
X-Play has been around in some shape or form for nearly a decade. The program began as GameSpot TV in 1998 with Sessler on board. After that, the program's name was changed to Extended Play, and then to today's X-Play.
Tonight's first episode under the new format will include a live interview via satellite with Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim. A look at the upcoming Bourne Conspiracy game from High Moon Studios and Grasshopper's No More Heroes for Wii are also on the schedule.
While broadband has helped in the expansion of top-tier video-based and video-enhanced consumer gaming websites, Sessler said that X-Play can still offer something unique in the face of competition from the web.
"By virtue of [X-Play] being a television show, you do take a different presentational approach to a lot of the content," he said. "We have an audience that at times can be more hardcore, but can also be more of a casual group, and we're catering to both of them. You can see that in our attitude."
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You can find this on G4tv.
