Content creators often live or die by the strength of their communities. The rise of social media and platforms such as YouTube and Twitch has been a particular boon for fans of video games, seen via the proliferation of people playing and dissecting games online. As that space continues to grow larger and more diverse, for example with Twitch adding numerous identity tags over the last few months thanks to user demands, it can be easy to forget the humble beginnings of mainstream gaming developed in-part by G4.
G4 Media was founded in 2000 by now-Otis College of Art and Design president Charles Hirschhorn, following a stint as the head of Walt Disney Television. A 24-hour cable channel was developed in partnership with Comcast, the media conglomerate which would go on to acquire NBC Universal. Hirschhorn told CNN in 2002 that it was a "unique opportunity" to offer a specialized outlet for the "fastest growing entertainment form." G4TV operated from 2002 to 2014, but a revival was confirmed in 2020. Game Rant spoke to Jirard Khalil and Gina Darling, who were announced as new G4 hosts this June, about building a new family with old and fresh talent who are driving the return of the iconic media network.
Fresh Faces on G4
Both Khalil and Darling have over ten years of experience on YouTube. Khalil's web show The Completionist; with a conceit of 100 percent completing a new game every week, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and has led to the creation of a small company. Darling has been streaming and hosting a variety of content on YouTube for 11 years, and has history as both a model and actress on projects like the 2013 reality show Roll Models. Her social media influence also extends to Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.
These ventures have earned them both sizable online followings, and while they'll be scaling back to accommodate working at G4, both say they want their audiences to know they aren't leaving. Darling said she tells her fans, "Our family is moving from our quaint town to this huge city that is G4," and their responses are largely pride in her success — which she says is "one of my favorite things to hear."
That city includes a variety of new hosts for the network's online content and soon-to-return televised offerings, with other names announced over the last year including esports commentator Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez, WWE Superstar Xavier Woods, and Twitch-based virtual streamer (VTuber) CodeMiko. Khalil talks about how ten years of being a content creator online has put him into contact with "a lot of intense people" who often have clashing personalities. However, he said there's more respect, trust, and love rather than ego or combativeness in the growing G4 family because everyone is coming in with unique backgrounds and expertise.
"We're all kind of like a pizza: Each of us are our own slice with a different topping or flavor. But we're slowly filling out this pie if you will, and I'm excited to see how big it gets and how diverse it can become."
Darling said she would fight anyone who tried to put her slice of pizza beside any that has pineapple as a topping.
The Old Guard
Khalil said his fuel for life and his online endeavors is passion: A love for video games, film, comics, and learning from people with specialties he has no idea about. Darling tried to research everyone she would be working with and was similarly "stoked" to meet her colleagues because, "G4 has done such a good job picking the right people."
However, new talent only make up part of the cast for G4's modern revival. Returning from the original network are Adam Sessler and Kevin Pereira, as well as their best-known programs X-Play and Attack of the Show. Both Khalil and Darling lauded these figures as legends from and beyond G4; ones whom they were massive fans of due to how the network's original run affected their future content and comfort identifying with a love of video games.
Sessler and Pereira met Khalil as a fan "before who I was," but Khalil said he also got into an elevator with Sessler at a convention a few years ago after they had both spent six hours signing autographs. Khalil felt he blew the interaction by telling Sessler "great work today," and then avoided him at all costs to avoid further embarrassment. Meanwhile, Darling said she similarly freaked out when her first G4 event was a livestream with Sessler. "I had to keep a bucket next to me because I was going to throw up from nervousness and excitement," she said. "Like that's the first thing you're getting me to do?"
Both have since come around, and while they say it still feels "surreal" to work with Sessler and Pereira, there's a strong sense the older hosts are just as excited to help their newer colleagues create content as the newcomers are to see X-Play and Attack of the Show succeed. Sessler and Pereira have also been accommodating to the rest of the G4 family interpersonally, with Khalil saying Pereira went out of his way to find Khalil's email so he could be invited on a trip to a Round One arcade following a training he missed. In fact, Khalil said he told Sessler their convention story during a live interview, and Sessler's response was to see if he'd said anything wrong.
A Family That Plays Together...
One of the best things both Khalil and Darling say they've experienced with G4 is being able to bond with their new family outside of work. Between outings like the aforementioned trip to Round One and hang-outs hosted by fellow G4 host Kassem Gharaibeh, non-corporate mandated events full of ping-pong and sushi, Khalil said there's a genuine interest in bringing the Avengers together to revive this network.
These gatherings have also been "a fun way to introduce us back into society" according to Darling, following months of lockdowns due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that, despite loosening in the United States, can still be felt in other parts of the world. The so-called Avengers Initiative of G4 isn't done yet either; Khalil said there's comfort knowing they have no idea how big their family will become given "we're building the ship as we fly it." Even so, Darling talked about how one of the beautiful parts of being with G4 so early on is looking forward to day she can reminisce about helping build such a strong ship.
"I can genuinely say there have been friends and family who have asked me how I've been, how G4 has been treating me, and the first two words that come out of my mouth from my heart are, 'I'm happy.'"