Game Rant recently got the chance to sit down and have a chat with Adam Sessler and Keven Pereira, former hosts of the long-dormant gaming-focused TV channel G4. The news is now out that the channel will soon be returning, while Sessler, Pereira, and other hosts are creating online content as part of the B4G4 initiative to get fan feedback and keep people hyped before the channel's full, triumphant return. We were able to cover a range of topics, from why the hosts have chosen to come back to how it feels to work with new cast members and how gaming culture has changed.
However, because of how enjoyable all of G4's preliminary YouTube and Twitch content has been, we also wanted to ask if they would continue making content for online platforms even after the TV channel goes live. This question goes hand in hand with the knowledge that platforms like YouTube and Twitch now dominate the world of gaming content. To start out, one of our first questions was how exactly G4 plans to fit in with the current landscape of let's plays, esports, comedy, content, and commentary.
Pereira began his answer with feigned indignation: "I'll speak for Adam and say that it's insulting to say that we fit into it like that. We dominate that landscape. We're going for a giant Dome. It's going to land on that landscape and make you go: Twitch who? YouTube, what? Excuse me?" However, he quickly pivoted into a more serious discussion, and reminded us that back in the day, G4 was an early supporter of gaming content hosted by online platforms, even when others weren't behind the idea.
On Attack of the Show, there was a point in time where we were... putting videos from a little website called YouTube into our show, and people were like, 'What are you doing? Who wants to see the internet on their television?'... They were just flat out wrong, and when we tilted the television sideways and put Twitter on it, people thought we were crazy, but we were interacting with the audience. At the time, these nascent technologies were coming about people thought we were crazy for integrating them. Now, to your point, they're everywhere. So how does G4 integrate into that? I think hopefully, easily.
It was difficult for us at the time.... [Now,] everybody is walking around with a supercomputer in their pocket that can stream live 4K video. We'd better integrate incredibly well, and then we need to innovate just like we did back in the day. I'm excited to take these technologies and really just run with them, and figure out how we can put them into our discussions, into our big stunts that we do, into every aspect of the network. I want these new platforms to be permeating everything we do, I think we have to.
For the time being, G4 has been inserting itself into the online content space with YouTube channels for G4TV, X-Play, Attack of the Show!, and The BLEEP Esports Show rolling out early content. This is partly to get a grasp on what fans want to see, and partly to raise awareness online that the network is returning. However, it would be strange to abandon YouTube content even when the actual channel goes live. We asked the two hosts if they would keep using YouTube and Twitch as part of their content delivery, but didn't expect much confirmation- much of the details of G4's future production and content is still very much under wraps.
Adam Sessler: In terms of the G4 content being on Twitch and YouTube as it is right now? Well, I think the most politik way I can put it is: just by the mere fact that we're on there right now, it demonstrates that the powers that be are very well aware of the fact that the delivery landscape has changed significantly. To be in denial of that would probably be counterproductive.
We wouldn't want to jump the gun, but that certainly sounds promising. Especially for younger audiences, the concept of gaming content on a traditional TV network might seem downright strange, so adopting YouTube and Twitch as ways to get content to the masses may be in everyone's best interests. While the early 2000's of G4's glory days aren't that far behind us, those few short years have been an eternity of change in gaming culture. It seems safe to say that G4 will try to keep up with the times, while still holding on to what made the network great in the first place.
Early B4G4 content is currently live on YouTube and Twitch, with the network's return planned for this year. Fans can check out their YouTube channel here.