[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x-play-show.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:333:''"Now appearing on Website/TVTropes, it's Adam Sessler and Mooooooooooorgan Webb!"'']]

''X-Play'', the end result of what happens when a SketchComedy show meets a video game review program, became the only show to survive the [[Creator/TechTV [=TechTV=]]]/[[Creator/G4TV G4]] merger intact, one of the final original shows on the network (alongside ''Series/AttackOfTheShow'' and ''Series/AmericanNinjaWarrior'', the latter of which moved to Creator/{{NBC}}), and one of the highest-rated programs on G4 until its end.

The show started in 1998 on ZDTV as ''[=GameSpot=] TV''; Adam Sessler co-hosted the show with Lauren Fielder, then a year later in 1999 after Fielder left, he hosted solo before being paired up with Kate Botello in 2000. When ZDTV rebranded itself as [=TechTV=] in 2001, the show became ''Extended Play''; Botello left the show in 2002, Sessler returned to hosting solo. [=TechTV=] filmed much of the show at San Francisco's Metreon arcade until 2003, when the show became ''X-Play''. Morgan Webb came aboard to co-host, and the show received a brand new studio. The change to ''X-Play'' also marked the beginning of the show's focus on game-related sketch comedy alongside its reviews.

Originally, the show was a television version of [=GameSpot=], with the ratings for each of the games duplicating that of the website, and the person who wrote the review on the website equivalent. When ZDTV became [=TechTV=], and the show became ''Extended Play'', the game reviews and previews were written by the shows' staff and on-air talent. On top of that, the [=GameSpot=] rating system was replaced with a 1-5 rating system, with 1 = "Poor," 2 = "Fair," 3 = "Good," 4 = "Great," and 5 = "Perfect."

After G4 purchased [=TechTV=] in 2004, it retained ''X-Play'' on the newly-merged [=G4TechTV=] network. Even though G4 basically left the show intact (a fate far better than all of [=TechTV=]'s other shows and most of G4's shows received), the show's focus shifted on a frequent basis for the next few years as G4 began to go through a serious case of NetworkDecay. The show eventually ended up as a half-hour version of what G4 was before the [=TechTV=] merger: it ran down the latest gaming news stories, gained a third host in Blair Herter, and showed previews and reviews for the latest games, aired interviews with different industry personalities, and even ran a hints segment called "Cheat!" hosted by Kristen Adams[[note]]Pre-merger, ''Cheat!'' was the actual name of a half-hour G4 show that was a show dedicated to cheat codes and walkthroughs; Think Website/{{GameFAQs}} on TV. Full episodes can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoBvgILc1f5km4h6Y2MvvlxZZJ3lT5vJk here.]][[/note]] The sketch comedy also disappeared for the most part, but this had more to do with the show's former head comedy writer, comedienne/[[JustForFun/OneOfUs comic nerd]] Blair Butler, becoming an on-air personality for G4.

In April 2012, [[http://kotaku.com/5905119/adam-sessler-out-at-g4 Sessler abruptly left G4]]. Blair Herter took his place as host. Later that year in October, G4 announced that it would cancel both ''X-Play'' and ''Attack of the Show!'' at the end of the year before undergoing its Esquire Network makeover. The show ended on January 23, 2013 alongside ''Attack of the Show!'' with a finale that had been taped a month before. The first episode of ''X-Play'' was chosen to [[BookEnds end G4's final broadcasting day on December 31, 2014]], followed by a game of ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'' played to completion, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIaPvsrUG8w acting as the network's Game Over.]] As a nice little shout-out to the show though, Adam and Morgan reunited at E3 twice, in 2015 and again in 2016 to host the pre-show to the Bethesda press events. They also reunited with other G4 personalities in Thanksgiving 2020 for ''A Very Special G4 Reunion Special''.

In 2021, ''X-Play'' was relaunched (''without'' the dash, now just ''[=Xplay=]''), along with the entire G4 network. Adam Sessler returned as host, along with Indiana "Froskurinn" Black, Jirard Khalil of ''WebVideo/TheCompletionist'', Corey Smallwood aka WebVideo/TheBlackHokage, and esports commentator Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez. However, G4 ceased operations in October 2022, which ended this iteration of the show.

Full episodes of the show from its original run can be found now by clicking the [[https://archive.org/details/g4-xplay links]] [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoBvgILc1f5lN0QLAaqPm1oQXpBXpHN_c here.]]
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!! "It's Game Time!"

* BrokeTheRatingScale:
** They refused to rate ''VideoGame/BigRigsOverTheRoadRacing'' among others, because their rating scale didn't feature a 0, though they gave the ''[[VideoGame/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T. the Extra Terrestrial]]'' game a ceremonial zero.
** ''[[VideoGame/SteelBattalion Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor]]'' was the first game to get a 0.5 out of 5.
* ButtMonkey:
** Blair Herter, the very self-aware third wheel.
** Sessler (before the 2008 retool) was this since the show's inception. And so are the interns.
** "Roger: the Stan Lee Experience" uses Bob Kane as one. Even more so Jack Kirby, whom Roger repeatedly claims to have cuckolded (when not outright physically assaulting him).
* CatchPhrase:
** "Brutally honest review." They used it almost once an episode. Usually, but not always, a heads-up that whatever game they're going to review was going to be panned.
** "We ''hate'' escort missions!"
** "Dik-Dik!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A character named Dik Dik Van Dik from one of the ''Kinnikuman'' games called ''Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle''.[[/labelnote]]
** "And we here at ''X-Play'' give (insert game's name here) a (insert number here)... out of 5."
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Crazy Adam, owner of the used games emporium. ''Crazy crazy crazy crazy CRAAAA-ZY ADAM!!!'' [[BaitAndSwitchComparison His character is pretty crazy, too.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Both Sessler and Webb acted in this manner, but tend to switch between it and sheer abstract goofball at times.
* DisposableIntern: During numerous skits/reviews, the hosts and staff would abuse, torment, and subject the "interns" to various punishments and horrors for the sake of comedy. Some of these "interns" weren't actually interns at all, though, and were actually other staff and producers of the show portraying a character.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The ''Extended Play'' episodes back in the [=TechTV=] days had a computer-generated version of Sessler voiced by himself.
* TheEighties:
** Parodied in an episode reviewing compilations of OlderThanTheNES games.
** Also used as a form of StylisticSuck for the intern training video which has clearly not been updated since "Like a Virgin" was a number one hit.
* EnforcedPlug: OnceAnEpisode, after reviewing a 3-star game, Sessler and/or Webb would try to segue into a plug for [=GameFly=]'s game rental service. Some of them were funny, but not all of them worked. Later, the segment plugged a future program for [=G4=] which would invariably bomb. Near the end of the [=TechTV=] era, they were forced to plug G4's award show, ''G-Phoria'' on occasion, and mention that it's brought to you by EB Games and Jeep, even though they hadn't moved to Los Angeles to be with them yet (''G-Phoria'' would eventually be merged into ''X-Play''[='=]s editorial control and fade away quietly into their year-in-review by 2009). In addition, Sessler and Webb's appearance at ''G-Phoria'' on July 31, 2004, was their first time as G4 employees, just two weeks after the final San Francisco episode was filmed. Their first appearance ever on G4 was two months prior, on May 12, 2004, during that channel's E3 coverage.
* EveryEpisodeEnding:
** '''1998-2001:''' "Until next time, bye-bye."
** '''2001-2003:''' "Until next time, game... over."
* {{Fanboy}}: Both Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb have been accused of being fanboys/fangirls of Microsoft and Xbox. They deny it, despite giving most Xbox and PC exclusives a 5 out of 5.
** They have also denied being Sony and/or [=PlayStation=] haters and have even given some of their exclusive games a 5 out of 5. It would become even more obvious with the new series, where Adam Sessler has given many [=PlayStation=] exclusive games a 5 out of 5.
* FanDisservice: Parodied in the "[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Naked Raiden]]" sketch, much to Sessler's dismay:
--> "This is so uncomfortable... [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Stop doing cartwheels...]] [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl AHHHHHHHH!"]]
** And then there was the Viewer's Choice Episode, in which fans voted to see Adam get spanked by [[Videogame/FinalFantasyX Yuna]]. Adam is totally on board until it's revealed that the one who's going to be doing the spanking is actually a large, fat, bearded man in a Yuna costume.
* FanHater:
** Do you like anything Japanese? Do you like ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' (particularly past the sixth installment) in particular? How about any of the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' games? Then it's highly likely that Adam and Morgan thought you were the scum of the earth and had not been enlightened to the games they find better. Shown especially when they reviewed the first ''DBZ Budokai'' game. They basically said that they didn't care what the ''DBZ'' fans think.
** [[invoked]] They did occasionally play an anime-based game that's actually decent. Sometimes they spend the entire review mocking the game but still gave it 3 or 4 stars. In one episode, they said, "We don't actually hate anime games. We just hate games that suck, and it just so happens [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames that most anime games do suck]]."
** [=PlayStation=] exclusive games, especially when compared to Nintendo, Xbox and/or PC exclusives almost never got a 5 out of 5. This was even before the [=PS3=] era, with [=PlayStation=] often being the ButtMonkey of most of their jokes. It's mostly averted with the newer series, but it did turn off a lot of [=PlayStation=]-centric gamers and fans from Xplay.
* FanonDiscontinuity: Referenced in the opening of one episode, where Webb said, "We like to pretend ''[[VideoGame/PerfectDark Perfect Dark Zero]]'' doesn't exist." [[invoked]]
* {{Fanservice}}: They frequently pointed these instances out during reviews to make a joke about them. They also occasionally did skits focused on it, such as one about the history of breast physics in video games.
* FashionDissonance: Sessler's loud striped shirts early on, which he admitted made him look like a worker at a hard candy shop in response to a letter where the writer said they were so ugly they made his genitals run away.
* {{Flanderization}}: Sessler on ''Extended Play'' was a perfectly reasonable man. When ''X-Play'' started up, he turned into a complete buffoon with a near psychotic hatred of anything anime related. He has shifted right back in the 2008 retool.
* FourPointScale: Averted. Their review system was deliberately balanced to include all spectrum of games and to be as helpful as possible. They had condemned the use of most other scales because of the tendency for most games to fall into the same ranking. Near the end of Sessler's tenure on the show, they introduced half-star ratings under the reasoning that they felt they were giving too many perfect scores. However, after going to [=Revision3=], Sessler stated that the half-star ratings were [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqeiN4pqTjo introduced out of the control of the hosts and review staff]] after the 2011 holiday break by network management looking to pacify a certain game company and to get the show [[ReviewsAreTheGospel more influence]] on Metacritic, a site Sessler has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QsXrswJ-yM criticized strongly]] for being used as a metric by gaming companies to withhold bonuses and pay to workers for games which didn't meet an arbitrary number.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The review of ''Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home'' that aired on November 12, 2003 [[https://i.imgur.com/jp8Xemu.png featured the G4TV logo on the top-right corner at one point.]] Comcast would buy out TechTV six months later. Some copies of the game came with a bonus "Backyard Wrestling Music & Mayhem DVD". It's possible that G4 produced some content for it. G4 produced content for other games of the era as well.
* TheGamblingAddict:
** Webb during the 2003 episode about Japanese gaming culture in Tokyo. She even ''thought'' about trading her airplane ticket back to San Francisco for more Pachinko balls.
** In 2004, the show did a segment about gaming addiction, with a fictional organization called NAIII.
* GamerChick: Webb; from the very beginning, she'd been accused of being nothing more than eye candy and not really a gaming fan, despite her never ending insistence to the contrary. From 2001 to 2003, prior to her tenure as ''X-Play'' co-host, Webb was seen as an on-air Correspondent on another [=TechTV=] show in ''The Screen Savers''. Among other things, she would often compete in the shows' weekly LAN Party every Thursday, playing ''Unreal Tournament'', and was one of that game's top players.
* AGodAmI: "Who is this 'Bob' of which you speak. I am Thor-Axe the Impaler" in ''Splinter Cell: Co-op Theater''.
* {{Gonk}}: Sessler very reluctantly reviewed some sort of Franchise/DisneyPrincess activity "game," where you could not only make a bloated prepubescent princess, but slap your own face on it. When he did so, the results earned some OminousLatinChanting.
* GroinAttack: Sessler had plenty of this happen to him, including the famous stapling of his own crotch. Most people don't remember the game in question, but it was during the review of a motorcross game called ''SX Superstar'', which got a 2 out of 5.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: The Disembodied Voice, known for his witty host introductions during each segment, who was eventually eliminated. In episodes from 2003 to 2005, he was played by the shows' former Production Assistant, Jason Frankovitz.
* HilarityEnsues: For some reason, one of the swag items advertisting ''[[VideoGame/{{Crysis}} Crysis 2]]'' to the media was the infamous Shake Weight with the game's logo screened onto the handle. The hosts decided to use it on one episode for any prompter read they did and Herter ''really'' seemed to love it.
* HomemadeSweaterFromHell: Gives the quote at the top of the trope's page.
* HypocriticalHumor: When talking about ''Marvel: Ultimate Alliance'' in his Best and Worst Comic Book Video Games segment from 2007, Roger the Stan Lee Experience said:
--> ''"Look at all my little creations running around learning to work as a team. It's just like Creator/JackKirby and I envisioned all those years ago. And when I say Jack and I envisioned, I mean '''I''' envisioned."''
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: May 2006-December 2007 episodes were titled "The *Insert Random Name Here* Episode".
* IfIHadANickel: "But first, we start with World War II; oh, if I had a nickel for every time I said that, I could finally afford to buy myself a pony."
* InherentlyFunnyWords: The show had so much fun with the Kha'ak, the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X2: The Threat]]''. They also very much enjoyed "dik dik."
* InsaneProprietor: Crazy Adam, who is about to murder one of his employees on camera, is making himself a "woman suit", and in his last appearance has relocated to Mexico due to violating every law California has.
* {{Irony}}: The fact that most Xbox and PC exclusive reviews get a 5 out 5 from Xplay (regardless of the actual quality of the games) have given them a reputation (fairly or unfairly) of being "bought out" and/or being "bribed" and "payed" by Microsoft. This accusation has largely been averted with the newer series, as many [=PlayStation=] exclusives have been given a 5 out of 5.
** Nintendo was never hated on at Xplay as much as [=PlayStation=] was. Even during the [=PS2=]/Xbox/Gamecube era, [=PlayStation=] was often the main one being picked on, with their exclusive games rarely (if ever) getting a 5 out of 5 rating. This led to many Sony and [=PlayStation=] fans outright hating and boycotting Xplay altogether.
** It doesn't help that both the [=PS1=] and [=PS2=] and to a lesser extent the [=PS3=] had a lot of anime themed/Japanese made/JRPG games as exclusives as well as the Dynasty Warriors game series. Those are the types of games that got the most hate from Xplay.
* MsFanservice: Webb. She'd been accused of being solely this, and not really a gamer, since the show's inception, even as she did an independent tech news video podcast during the course of the series. Parodied in one episode where Sessler wore the outfit she wore in her ''Maxim'' shoot.
* MurderSimulators: Addressed from time to time, usually when a controversial game was released that that MoralGuardians were claiming was one. The show's position, of course, was to either parody or deconstruct these claims.
* MusicalEpisode: Two actually. The first was a tribute to the viewers of the show called ''On the X-Play Board...'' which made fun of viewer reaction to the scores certain games receive and their responses on the G4 message boards. The second was a full episode musical about Sessler and Webb [[DealWithTheDevil getting an offer]] to make their own video game which of course turned out to be a disaster. It's actually pretty funny. The irony is that they ''already'' had their own video game on the ''X-Play'' page. It was a side scrolling beat 'em up where Webb uses her fists as a weapon, Sessler uses Slippy the Fish as his weapon.
* PoliticalOvercorrectness: ''X-Play'' wished all of its viewers a "Happy Non-Denominational Winter Season".
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Several examples, though far less [[LargeHam hammy]] than the actual quote itself from ''Film/ThreeHundred'':
** Webb: (about ''Music/FiftyCent: Bulletproof'') So why was this game even made? Cash, my friends. '''Cold. Hard. Cash.'''
** In the review for ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', "In what should be the most badass moment of the entire game, you're reduced to ''slowly'' rotating a faraway ship into some arbitrary position so you could ''slowly'' pull it a couple of feet down before fending off a wave of TIE Fighters. Then you do it '''all. Over. Again.''' This isn't even interesting, let alone awesome."
** Sessler (about ''Will Rock''): "And it just gets '''harder. And harder. And harder. And harder.''' Just like in all the other ''Serious Sam'' games".
** Sessler (about ''Aquaman''): "You '''swim. And you fight. You swim some more. And you fight.''' That's it. And it still barely works. Reminds me of another superhero game, the infamous ''Superman 64'' on the N64. Looks like the Man of Steel's got a buddy."
** Averted, however, while reviewing the PSP game that is based on ''300''.
* PutOnABus: Many of the recurring sketch characters, most notably Ratty and Roger the Stan Lee Experience. Lampshaded when Sessler was forced to get some of the characters to help co-host an episode when Hertsr and Web were unavailable. [[HilarityEnsues Guess what happens when the characters help out during the episode.]]
* PutTheirHeadsTogether: In the segment "Kung Fu [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Master Chief]]", the title VideoGame character did this to a pair of ninja.
* RecklessGunUsage: Sessler went to a SWAT training session, and got chewed out for having his finger on the trigger.
* RunningGag:
** Plenty, but one of the earliest ones from a particularly bad snowboarding game: "What if it snowed in San Fransisco?"
** Early episodes of ''X-Play'' had jokes based on Sessler's obsession with fudge.
** [[Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES! TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES! TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES!]]
* SelfDeprecation: [[RunningGag Overused is putting it lightly.]] Sessler being shown as the butt of the joke used to be extremely frequent in the early years.
* ShoutOut: Numerous.
* ShowWithinAShow:
** ''Splinter Cell: Co-op Theater''. ''"When America needs a hero...when freedom stands alone...when justice needs to be upheld, there's only one place to turn. Through the cover of night, America's top agents will defend our liberty from those who wish us harm. Let us join Special Agent Bob and Secret Agent Steve: two of the finest official unofficial Splinter Cells."''
** And within ''Splinter Cell: Co-op Theater'' is its own show within a show (within a show), ''Grabnar the Wanderer''.
* TheScrappy: There's an in-universe example in their review of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'': they said the game was like "Scrappy-Doo getting his own TV Show."
* SmallNameBigEgo: Parodied in-universe. A skit had Sessler tackling problems in the form of an RPG random encounter, in one of which the enemy was a bouncer at a club, and Sessler's attack was to say, "Behold my celebrity," which fails.
* TakeThatAudience:
** In the 2008 April Fools' Day episode, they did a "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek_v3BX0RPc re-review]]" of ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''. They basically took the original review and dubbed over their criticisms with a StrawFan blindly praising it and giving it a [[BrokeTheRatingScale 6 out of 5]].
** The show received a lot of flak for its blatant unprofessionalism with their reveal of the Viewer's Choice for 2011, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', implying they thought it won due to the fanbase's anger at them not nominating ''Skyward Sword'' for Game of the Year. See the offender [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9x6mN7C3gU here.]]
* {{Troll}}: Certainly, they did seem to got caught up in the flame wars they so heartily made fun of sometimes. At some points, it seemed they forgot that they were at least ideally supposed to avoid bias in their reviews, which tended to fuel the problems with the fanbase even more.
* ValleyGirl: Webb in TheEighties flashback episode.
* VideoGameMoviesSuck: Addressed in-universe. They've talked about this topic several times. They once had a segment called "[[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement I Have a Dreamcast]]", in which they describe how they would ideally like films based on games to be but then describe the ways the ways they will inevitably end up sucking.
* WhoWritesThisCrap: At the outset of one episode, the disembodied voice breaks off from his introduction of the hosts to ask what the hell he just said.
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