When the video game and technology-focused cable network G4 began airing in 2002, the gaming industry was still in its infancy. Sony's PlayStation 2 was just two years old, and Microsoft's newcomer the Xbox only released the year prior. Social media was hardly a blip compared to its current ubiquity, even when G4 went off the air in 2014. Now that the network is coming back it has to adapt to a new age, and according to host Gina Darling it has done an "incredible job" incorporating modern trends and viewer interactivity into a classic model.
Darling, who has over a decade of experience producing content on YouTube and other social media platforms, was confirmed to be a host for the revived G4 network in June alongside Jirard Khalil; known by his moniker and popular show name The Completionist. Khalil said G4 was the godfather of content creation as it is done today, setting the standard in a bubble before YouTube. For those who are too young or couldn't afford cable to watch old G4, he said this version is available or everyone, and there's "not really an age, race, or gender gap." Game Rant spoke to Darling and Khalil about G4 in the modern age and what they want to contribute as hosts.
Bringing back G4 in 2021 is a balancing act, according to Khalil. The network wants to appease original fans who desire the "crisp, nostalgic" feeling of "opening a Coke" after a long day at work that is watching older talents such as Adam Sessler on the returning X-Play. However, it also acknowledges that times have changed, and Darling emphasizes the community-driven feedback loop that comes with a G4-branded Discord server, streaming on Twitch, and being present on social media.
From Fan to Host
Both YouTube creators harbor nostalgia for the network and how it shaped their lives. Khalil said he used to watch G4 in the breakroom at Best Buy prior to his now-ten-year-old Internet career beginning, which informed how he spoke about games with customers and later inspired him to try and validate gamers through The Completionist as G4 did him. Darling describes gaming as her escape from a hard childhood, but she only felt at home with that interest when watching G4 because she was the only one in her family - and one of the few girls at school - who played video games.
"Watching Morgan Webb up there it was like, 'Whoa there's another girl that loves video games, it's okay for me to be me.' That's what I want G4 to be now, what I would love to be a part of. To make people feel like they belong."
Being hosts for the network wasn't always a guarantee, even when they were late into the discussion stages. Both said the opportunity to join G4 was mediated through their managing representation, and Khalil described the experience like going on a first date over and over again, trying to prove they were "good enough" and grieving when it seemed a callback was never coming.
It felt like the network intentionally chose strange times to get back to them, according to Darling. She was on vacation with friends whom she had just told she was going to give up and "move to Vegas," only to receive an email that night and scream so loud "I swear I almost started an avalanche."
Khalil was getting out of surgery related to a lifelong health condition, blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome, amid a hiatus for The Completionist as his team figured out what they wanted to make of the show. He was "hopped up on drugs" at midnight, finding over 30 missed calls from his brother, agent, and manager; not sure whether he had died or been cancelled. However, after the long back-and-forth with G4, both creators described receiving the news like going to Disneyland for the first time.
A Bold, New Taste
Though they are excited to help with programs like X-Play, Attack of the Show, and Ninja Warrior, as well as structured group content like a Dungeons and Dragons series, Darling said producers and showrunners frequently pull hosts aside to ask what they care about and help create tailored content. For instance, during the weekly G4 Beach House Twitch stream on June 24, host Kassem Gharaibeh did a segment about his passion for UFOs alongside the celebration of Sonic the Hedgehog's 30th anniversary.
That freedom to be "organic" extends to the beginning of their stint with G4, as the team wanted each creator to announce they would be joining in a way which best represented them. For Darling, that meant leading on her fans by pretending she had a boyfriend for a week, playing off of a long-running gag that led to hardcore theorizing and even momentarily losing followers who didn't care anymore when they thought she was dating.
For Khalil, that meant recreating the September 2019 announcement video for SNK's Terry Bogard joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but not telling those he got to help what they were working on until the last minute. He would have mimicked an over-the-top wrestling organization if not for WWE superstar Xavier Woods joining G4, and said Smash Bros. was his equivalent because, "I love that company and what they've done for my career." Both received an outpouring of support after the fact, and Khalil said it was a good reminder of all the people in his corner.
"Announcing it wasn't just me being a part of G4, it was here are the friends I've made along the way. These are the people supporting me. To be in that moment was so special."
The two are "opposites" so far as what they want to personally contribute to G4. Darling said she is full chaos, here to "test the very limits of G4" with challenges and skits that push the outlandishness the network is known for. She describes herself as a top-tier random weapon from Gearbox' Borderlands franchise because, "Nobody knows what the flavor text means, but you throw me in a general direction and let me go off."
Meanwhile Khalil, whom Darling said is a "giant rock of information," wants "G4 to be about games again." This isn't a political statement; he hopes to infuse the network with gaming culture in the same way it once was, and tell the turbulent stories and histories behind games and their developers. He feels G4 not only validated gamers individually, but also helped set the stage for gaming to be taken seriously on a professional scale. Where once G4 and the Spike Video Game Awards existed, now events like Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards can thrive.
Regardless of what they can contribute or how long they will be able to do it, Khalil said this will also give them all an opportunity to make something outside the confides of what is expected by their usual audiences. Getting to be on G4 in the first place is a dream come true, according to Darling, and ultimately she hopes to make her colleagues and audience proud.