Support NeoGAF

[Mitsurux]

They were on the right path, the channel was just ran and decisons made by really horrible people. Loved cinematech, Xplay and AoTS predecessor. Electric playground. They should have partnered with GTTV, kept shows up to date, expanded their programming and maybe run the occasional video game related movie. Instead it was made a dumping ground.

Agreed, i think that in the right hands a true Video Game/Industry covering network could work...

but with this news the G4 saga comes to a bitter end....

 

[EightBitNate]

Trying to compete with Spike?

 

[Something Wicked]

Well, it looks like it's back to TGI Fridays for you, Kevin Pereira.

 

[Bgamer90]

There's a big audience for just about anything from fly fishing to bird watching. This doesn't guarantee that bird watchers around the world are going to watch a channel dedicated to their favorite hobby.

Just about every young male in America is into tech/games in some way though. The video game industry is huge and constantly growing. You can't say the same about fly fishing and bird watching.

The simple fact that TechTV/G4 were almost constantly shifting their format should be more than enough to suggest that a purely gaming network isn't viable at this time. Remember when G4-TechTV was just started out and it had shows on cheat codes, Top 10 countdowns, review shows (<3 Judgement Day), documentaries on gaming companies and individual devs?

They were constantly shifting their format during the early years (when the channel was actually good) since what they were doing was new and has never been done before. MTV was basically the same way during the early '80s.

15-20 years ago I'm sure that would have been HUGELY successful, and every gamer with cable would have been watching.

But video gaming is far more mainstream than it was back 15-20 years ago.

But now when the same exact content is being released with just as nice (if not nicer) production value on various YouTube channels and sites like GameTrailers, it detracts from the viewerbase and subsequent market value of the network.

The same is true when it comes to just about all channels on cable. You have internet sites as well as people online with their own YouTube shows dealing with the same topics that many cable channels focus on. However, some cable channels are still doing well since many of them have effectively combined internet content/social media with traditional programming. Many channels have also put their content online for people to watch/interact with as well.

 

[distantmantra]

I'll miss their E3 coverage, thought they did a great job.

Well, it looks like it's back to TGI Fridays for you, Kevin Pereira.

He left earlier this year.

 

[VeryGooster]

I would be interested a tech/gaming channel that followed the same model as ESPN. Quick news updates every so often combined shows that have solid formats.

A video game/tech news version of "Around the Horn" would be entertaining (at least to me). Heck, that's pretty much what G4TV.com was.

Could you imagine a videogame equivalent of First Take?

"Wii U being 2,000 units shy of sales expectations is the biggest collapse of a superstar powerhouse in the industry!"

"Let me tell you something: I know Iwata, we're best friends, you're my BROTHER, and Nintendo is going to bounce back and win it all!"

 

[Nokagi]

Adam and Kevin are doing some kinda" viral video competition" show on Syfy next week, it sounds sorta lame but I liked both of those guys so I'll check it out for their sakes.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Ive seen those G4 icon vids on youtube before. Man fans of the old g4 have to be mad as hell at this poor mans spike tv its turned into.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Adam Sessler &#8207;@AdamSessler
Kevin Pereira &#8207;@kpereira

...

Coincidentally, they left just months prior to this. Of course they did not know about this before hand at all, none at all!

 

[Wickwire]

I know there a lot of haters of g4 on this place but I enjoyed AoTs as mindless tv watching while on my pc. Candace Bailey is super sexy too.

 

[CrashPrime]

Ive seen those G4 icon vids on youtube before. Man fans of the old g4 have to be mad as hell at this poor mans spike tv its turned into.

Sadly most of us have gotten mad, and have been over it for years now. That's how long this network has been circling the drain.

 

[xJavonta]

I hope they all get together and do a video podcast. Feedback was my favorite podcast and they cancelled that too.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Lol I didn't catch that.

I didn't either and I wrote it.

 

[legacyzero]

Don't we have Spike TV for that??

 

[Bgamer90]

Well, it looks like it's back to TGI Fridays for you, Kevin Pereira.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkuv...RIsxwV7T3VyiEP94pd&index=2&feature=plpp_video

 

[Curufinwe]

Coincidentally, they left just months prior to this. Of course they did not know about this before hand at all, none at all!

Kevin left after a very cool farewell episode, Adam got the boot.

 

[xJavonta]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkuv...RIsxwV7T3VyiEP94pd&index=2&feature=plpp_video

Yeah his show is pretty damn good

Edit: He also runs www.supercreative.tv

Kevin left after a very cool farewell episode, Adam got the boot.

Weird because Kevin and Adam were among the best. The only other great people G4 had was Morgan Webb, Blair Herter, and Nicole Zilvalich. Candace Bailey and Sara Underwood are hot, that's about it.

 

[Bgamer90]

Could you imagine a videogame equivalent of First Take?

"Wii U being 2,000 units shy of sales expectations is the biggest collapse of a superstar powerhouse in the industry!"

"Let me tell you something: I know Iwata, we're best friends, you're my BROTHER, and Nintendo is going to bounce back and win it all!"

lol

Ive seen those G4 icon vids on youtube before. Man fans of the old g4 have to be mad as hell at this poor mans spike tv its turned into.

G4's Icons was like a video game news version of ESPN's 30 for 30.

It was a great show.

 

[Nakazato]

Adam and Kevin are doing some kinda" viral video competition" show on Syfy next week, it sounds sorta lame but I liked both of those guys so I'll check it out for their sakes.

Yep i worked with a producer that worked on it she said the show is going to be good and she also said Adam is amazing on it.

 

[CrashPrime]

Yep i worked with a producer that worked on it she said the show is going to be good and she also said Adam is amazing on it.

Adam was his best in the internet only "soap box" shorts. When you get full on 'Ses and not the safe for mid-day TV 'Ses, it's a pretty damn awesome thing to behold. Classic case of letting someone be themself, rolling the camera, and watching the magic happen.

 

[eznark]

How has this not happened already? I feel like I read about these shows being cancelled once a month.

 

[antitrop]

How has this not happened already? I feel like I read about these shows being cancelled once a month.

The shows were essentially cancelled once Adam Sessler left X-Play and Olivia Munn left AOTS. No disrespect to Kevin, I like him a lot and he's the only reason the show was watchable to myself, but let's not kid ourselves here, almost any viewership success that AOTS had can be mostly directly correlated to the attractiveness of Olivia Munn. X-Play had a bit of that factor, but I feel like Adam Sessler would be fine hosting a show by himself (as he did with Extended Play, after Kate Botello left GameSpot TV and before Webb joined rebranded X-Play), while I don't feel the same about Kevin.

 

[bonesquad]

I haven't really watched much Attack of the Show/Screensavers since the days of Kevin Rose and Alex, but I'm sad about X-play. The moment Sessler left the show died, but I remember watching Sessler and his camera record out of an arcade way back in the day. Was it even called Extended Play at that point? I think my penis just fell off and walked out the door

 

[NaughtyCalibur]

Just about every young male in America is into tech/games in some way though. The video game industry is huge and constantly growing. You can't say the same about fly fishing and bird watching.

This is true, but it seems that even networks that once focused on technology and science have ran into the same situation, forcing them to shift their format significantly despite technology and science being an even bigger topic and industry of discussion. Remember when The Discovery Channel and TLC didn't have reality and game shows and was truly informative information 24/7? The Internet ushered in the information era we're now living in where people will typically do a Google search on the information they want in order to get it instantly and succinctly before taking an hour out of their day to watch the same information delivered to them with pretty graphics broken up by 3-4 minute long commercial breaks.

They were constantly shifting their format during the early years (when the channel was actually good) since what they were doing was new and has never been done before. MTV was basically the same way during the early '80s.

MTV is a good example of what I'm talking about. Music television became less and less viable over the years, so it began to have original programming. Then it practically invented the reality TV genre (perhaps the most successful format for TV given how many people watch them and how cheap they are to produce) as we know it today, and now it's anything but music. Music is a huge entertainment medium as well, but it became clear that a purely music network just wasn't feasible. It's sub networks dealing more in music is supported by the money MTV gets from its other ventures.

This is why I'd imagine shows like Icons, Judgement Day, Cheat!, Cinematech, etc, etc were canned. If they were successful, they would have been left on the air in favor of shit like The Man Show, Cops and other shows better suited for a network like Spike.

Networks don't change their format around just because they want to experiment with what works and what doesn't -- that's a lot of wasted money. They do it because they realize something isn't working, for whatever reason.

But video gaming is far more mainstream than it was back 15-20 years ago.

True, but is unfortunately offset by many of the things I mentioned above. 15-20 years ago I'd go out on a limb and say that a solid 75% of gamers everywhere who had access to such a channel would watch it. Gaming magazines were at the height of their success, and due to sites like GameFAQs and GameTrailers not existing, shows like Cheat!, Cinematech and Icons would have been a big deal to most gamers.

Now a 24/7 gaming/tech network has to compete with the ubiquitous nature of the Internet. And yes, this goes for practically any network, but when you take into consideration that most of the truly successful networks produce and air reality TV shows and serialized dramas that the Internet has yet to successfully corner (mainly due to it being out of the indie budget range), you realize that those are completely different situations.

I'm not going to say that a gaming/tech network cannot work at all in today's market, but it would take a smarter man than I (and those behind G4 apparently) to figure it out.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

When G4 first started it was awesome.

 

[SparksterMeta0]

They might as well just pull the plug on the channel instead of rebranding it.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

RIP X-play

 

[kmg90]

As little as I watch G4 before this announcement, I have NO reason to even glance at what's on the network, my guess at this moment cops, cheaters, campus pd or some terrible movie is on...

 

[Mudkips]

I can't find that gif of Leo Laporte doing a radio show, listening to a caller or someone else, and then bursting into laughter.

I think it would be appropriate for this thread.

 

[antitrop]

I can't find that gif of Leo Laporte doing a radio show, listening to a caller or someone else, and then bursting into laughter.

I think it would be appropriate for this thread.

How about the clip from Call for Help where the guest drops an expensive artifact on live TV and exclaims "Oh, shit".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4GYg-5AdRw

I have such fond memories of watching TechTV when I was a kid, that's how this makes me feel. G4 is the old guy, and the black object in his hands is TechTV.

 

[ThaGuy]

Cinematech was my fav show. I never forgave them for cancelling that show.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

What they did to TechTV was and still is unforgivable. But the silver lining in it all is that the talented folk that got fired after the merge or left soon after the move to LA are doing much better things on the Internet. They had perseverance and what they're doing now is beyond what was possible on a cable TV channel.

 

[NineH]

I still miss Chris Pirillo and Cat Schwartz so much. Call for Help was the best.

 

[BlackJace]

GAF needs its own Gaming channel. Would be entertaining.

Cinematech was my fav show. I never forgave them for cancelling that show.

100% felt the same way.

 

[ii Stryker]

Other than the gaming programs, G4 is pretty much white trash TV.

I miss Tech TV. =(

 

[SRTtoZ]

No big deal IMO. Gametrailers has the best E3 coverage anyways.

 

[Yopis]

That channel died the second they cancelled G4tv.com for me.

I miss Laura Foy ;_;

Tina wood and will wheaton leaving g4 killed it for me. Diane mizota was great also.

 

[Devilgunman]

She's a classy lady. She'll do what ever she wants, but please don't try for cheap Laughes by debasing women.

We've already seen Olivia Munn's tits so it's a matter of time for Morgan.

 

[bryehn]

Electric Playground and Judgement Day... :'(

Both produced by CityTV (Rogers) here in Canada, basically never had anything to do with G4. Though Judgement Day is called Reviews on the Run.

 

[Lulubop]

Tech TV was great channel, very PC focused (Games/Tech).

RiP.

 

[xir]

Do you think a long format (~20 minutes) show like Cinematech (non narrative, no voice over, etc) could still work today in the age of youtube and being able to cherry pick what you want to watch?

 

[Infinite Justice]

Make sense since their main stars for each show left


i guess the tech tv fans finally got their revenge

 

[antitrop]

What they did to TechTV was and still is unforgivable. But the silver lining in it all is that the talented folk that got fired after the merge or left soon after the move to LA are doing much better things on the Internet. They had perseverance and what they're doing now is beyond what was possible on a cable TV channel.

Isn't Adam Sessler still unemployed?

 

[BassForever]

Was inevitable, g4 used to be such an amazing channel it's sad to see it fall so far

 

[ElRenoRaven]

NOOOO!!! What will I do for my Morgan Webb fix?

 

[Liquidsnake]

What is Morgan Webb going to do?

E3 will kinda suck next year without them ungh?

 

[antitrop]

What is Morgan Webb going to do?

E3 will kinda suck next year without them ungh?

I have DirecTV so I haven't watched G4/X-Play in quite a long time.

I watched Gametrailers online coverage of E3, with Geoff Keighley and Daniel Keyser and that insufferable YouTube girl, iJustine. Justine was terrible, but Geoff and Dan did a good enough job.
Gametrailers also introduced this "Live Feedback" poll, where you can rate what you're currently watching on a scale of like 1-5 or whatever and it was interesting to see what made people drop the average opinion down to a flatline 0 (almost everything) or what announcements/games made the gauge jump up.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

What is Morgan Webb going to do?

E3 will kinda suck next year without them ungh?

It will but won't because that means all the conferences will end up on Spike in all their HD glory.

 

[Liquidsnake]

It will but won't because that means all the conferences will end up on Spike in all their HD glory.

True. That's true.

What will Morgan do now?

Her best days looks wise are behind her, but there is still interest.

 

[Apath]

All Cops, all the time.

And a good marathon of Cheaters from 12 - 6.