Rumored to be in the midst of a makeover towards trendy and chic, G4's dissolution of video-game television has reached its final stage.
Shortly following the departures of respective longtime hosts Adam Sessler and Kevin Pereira, X-Play and Attack of the Show -- programs seen as the final vanguards of gaming and technology coverage on the network - have now been cancelled.
As they often do, traces of impending big news appeared on Twitter earlier this morning when G4 staff members, like AOTS host Candace Bailey, had their feeds take a turn for the foreboding and sentimental:
Soon thereafter G4 made things final. Releasing an official statement through its website, the network has announced plans today to end X-Play and Attack of the Show at conclusion of the 2012. As their final episodes draw near, both programs plan to rotate in a cavalcade of celebrity guest stars to serve as co-hosts, looking back on favorite moments and easing the final farewells. Here's part of the obituary - whether it's for the two shows or all of G4 at this point, we'll let you be the judge:
With well over a thousand episodes each, Attack of the Show! and X-Play have defined gamer culture for a generation, serving as the launch pad for prominent personalities including Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn, Chris Hardwick and Adam Sessler. Attack of the Show! debuted March 28, 2005 and from the start was the ultimate guide to everything cool and new in the world of technology, web culture, gaming and pop culture. X-Play made its debut almost two years earlier, on April 28, 2003 (on G4’s previous incarnation: TechTV), and immediately became the go-to destination for young men seeking the latest video game news, honest reviews, hands-on demos and exclusive video game trailers and footage. The year-end celebration will take you back through highlights of these landmark shows' history, including its exclusive live-from-the-floor coverage of San Diego Comic-Con and E3.
While the news is hardly a shock - geek and gamer culture, the network's supposed staples, have been in decline long before Sessler's and Pereira's exits - it now, sadly, leaves an uncertain fate for the talent behind both shows on both sides of the camera. Some have no doubt been around since day one - X-Play having its inception in 2003 when G4 was known as TechTV, Attack of the Show making its first run in 2005 - where others were likely just beginning their induction into the network's milieu.
Seemingly aware of the announcement's sour nature, the aforementioned G4 departed were quick with their best wishes:
The greater issue, of course, becomes what's next for G4 with the cabler now devoid of original programming. As revealed back in September, parent company NBC Universal hopes to rebrand (and possibly rename) the network in early 2013 into a "modern male"-centric media outlet reflective of GQ Magazine. We have to wonder if gaming wouldn't still make an appearance from time to time, but only within the broader context of the average 18-34 target-male audience's lifestyle. In any case, though, there's no question that the network founded as TechTV in 2002 is cleaning house for a major facelift. So cherish those Cheaters and COPS marathons; they'll likely be gone, too.
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Source: G4