G4 Rewind got an a chance to interview team X-Play thanks to executive producer Wade Beckett. Below are our questions (including some thought up by G4 Rewind forum posters) and the answers from Wade, Adam and Morgan.

Adam Sessler

G4 Rewind: Congrats on your latest promotion to editor-in-chief, how much does the new title change your work load?

Adam Sessler: There’s a point at which you’re working hard enough that any increase seems nominal in its burden Pretty much I’m still overseeing the content on the show and website but, as ambitious as we always are, we’ll find ways to make it more challenging.

G4R: You’ve been with X-Play since its inception, 10 years now, which is quite a long time especially in the revolving door business that is television. Have you ever been tempted to move onto other projects?

Adam: I don’t want to sound coy, but not really. Some of the joy of the show and how it’s evolved is that many of my interests, be it comedy, game industry news and demos have been incorporated into X-Play. In addition, back in the ZDTV days I always assumed that the only reason I still had the job is that no one was paying attention so I’ve sublimated that attitude into a pleasantly sedentary existence.

G4R: If you had unlimited resources and time, what would be your ideal next step for X-Play?

Adam: World Domination. I want bureaus in Japan, Korea and all over Europe. While I still think that U.S. developers are the current leaders in quality and innovation, there’s so such interesting experimentation and culture in games around the world that would be great to cover, not just when we go and visit. Other than that, we could also just host from the Sony Metreon.

G4R: Do you ever get time to read the X-Play boards or chat?
Adam: I do read the boards but I rarely jump on except when we caused multiple brain aneurisms over our GOTY choice for 2008. I used to go on a lot more but the etiquette has devolved into such mindless posturing that it seems that a post from me would only legitimize some appalling behavior and thought.

G4R: What’s the one thing you’ve wanted to do on the show that you couldn’t do (because it was too expensive, too controversial, whatever)?

Adam: I’ve always wanted to do a “Special Episode” based around John Hinkley’s shooting of President Regan where I’m shot and we release a photo of me in a hospital bed holding a DS and a stylus in my hands to reassure viewers that I’m still in command of game review. Then I come back on the show playing Al Haig saying the constitution dictates that I’m next in line to host. I have no idea why no one went for it.

Morgan Webb

G4 Rewind: What are you interests outside of gaming?
Morgan Webb: I am very interested in science, specifically biology. I am especially fascinated by insects, arachnids and the concept of the super-organism.

G4R: Of all the X-Play sets, which was your favorite?
Morgan: The current set is my favorite! We’re really happy with it.
G4R: You created your own tech news web cast called “Webb Alert.” Can you talk about where the idea was born?
Morgan: I spend a lot of time reading blogs every day, and when I missed a day it would take forever to catch up. I wanted to create something that would help people keep up with everything that happened in the blogosphere in about 5 minutes a day.
G4R: Will we ever see any more special episodes such as the Halloween shows or the musical?
Morgan: I sure hope so! They’re a lot of work to create, so it’s a little harder to do while we’re shooting a brand new show everyday. We love doing them so hopefully we’ll be able to bring some more to our fans.
G4R: Would you ever consider consulting or contributing to a real game?
Morgan: I think it would be fun, but we’re critics first. If we’re taking money from game developers, we couldn’t claim impartiality in our reviews.
G4R: Is there anything outside the world of gaming that you’d like to do on television?
Morgan: I hope one day I’ll get the opportunity to do some science television, but for now I am happy teaching people about games on X-Play.

Wade Beckett

G4 Rewind: X-Play sort of went through an evolution in January; we went from a rather laid back Adam-&-Morgan-on-a-couch-cracking-jokes X-Play to more grown up, in-depth, serious-business X-Play. Can you talk about the changeover, what worked, what didn’t and what’s next?
Wade Beckett: The big push last January was essentially to relaunch X-Play as a daily topical videogame show. Game reviews have always been at the heart of the show but since the shows were pre-taped (sometimes weeks in advanced) we never had the opportunity to be very timely. Also, the air scheduled was a bit hit or miss. We’d roll out new episodes Monday-Wednesday with repeats Thursday and Friday making it difficult to get the word out in a timely manner. Comcast and G4 really believed in the show and greenlit the new daily format. One of or favorite aspects of the new daily X-Play are the hands-on demos. We offer up the opportunity for game developers to show off their games beyond screenshots and cinematic trailers. Want to show gamers ‘real’ gameplay–bring it on X-Play. As you’ve seen over the past 12 months it’s really working. Everyone has really come through and the audience at home is the real winner. As the show continues to evolve we’ll definitely be incorporating elements of the X-Play XL episodes from December 08 in to the show. We experimented with one hour eps last month to see how it would feel on a daily basis and the response from viewers was overwhelming. It was also a blast for us–albeit pretty crazy production-wise. I think the freedom that a one hour episode afforded in a more open and freewheelin’ showdown rundown was most evident in Adam, Morgan, and the day’s in-studio guests on the show. We gave them quite a bit more time each day to just talk about what they know and love–videogames. No teleprompter or forced agenda… just people talking games. It looked great and really played well on TV. We’ve received a ton of viewer feedback and people really just missed them ‘hanging out’.
G4R: Some fans miss the skits that were once a pillar of X-Play, did they compromise the professionalism of the new format or did time just not allow for them?
Wade: We get this question a lot. The funny thing is we are doing more comedy these days than ever before. I think the biggest distinction is that we made a conscious effort to remove live action and animated comedy sketches/skits (for the most part) from within game reviews in favor of leaning on our writers and producer’s razor sharp wit for added humor and punch in our reviews. Newer comedy franchises like Marvin the Game Dreamer and Gamertag!, coupled with favorites like Crazy Adam’s Imports, Morgan’s Home Swag Network, Drunk Link, The Canadian guy and Ratty make for a pretty diverse mix of humor. Comedy is big for us. On that note…look for the return of Ratty next month. Don’t get on that guys bad side.
G4R: How hard (or easy) is it to get gaming industry insiders (developers, designers, etc.) on X-Play?
Wade: The response from the industry has been tremendous. Once they saw what X-Play was taking on– TV’s daily primetime show about videogames–they saw the potential. We can’t make the show without the games and the publishers and developers have really come through in a big way. We’ve also really enjoyed the likes of Ted Price, Will Wright and Kyle Schubel dropping by to hang out on set. Look for more opportunities like this in the not-so-distant future.
G4R: Have you checked out X-Play’s (televised) competition (The Electric Playground, GameTrailers TV) and if so, how do you think your show compares?
Wade: Yep. I know Victor (EP) and Geoff (GT TV) well. Both are talented guys and competition is a good thing for the industry. G4 has a deal with Electric Playground and distributes the show on our website in HD and Geoff used to work for G4 as well on the show G4TV.com with Laura Foy and Tina Wood. While both are shows that cover videogames, I really think we stand out from the pack. We are a daily show that is timely and topical, plus we really cover the entire videogame space. With reviews, demos, news, strategies, comedy, viewer interaction and segments like Will Work for Games, I think we do a fantastic job of covering the entire gaming space. There’s room for multiple videogame shows on TV, but I’m definitely pleased that X-Play’s the most watched and most respected. We are approaching our 1000th episode this year. No small feat for a TV show these days–whether it’s about videogames or anything else. We’re very happy.
G4R: In the past, X-Play has had several smaller award shows (G-Phoria, End of Year Awards, Golden Mullets, etc.), is there any plan to compete with Spike TV’s own rather grandiose Video Game Awards?
Wade: I don’t see G4 ever competing with Spike’s VGAs on that type of scale–just doesn’t make business sense for us. The VGA’s most likely cost upwards of nearly double the annual budget of a daily X-Play. In March, X-Play will be broadcasting the Games Developers Awards from San Francisco in a primetime special. For the gaming audience at large, this type of thing makes much more sense for us. And to be honest, I really think extended speeches from Will Wright, Todd Howard and Cliff Bliszenski resonate with our audience more than to performances by the likes of the All American Rejects. We are also pretty pleased with X-Play’s Annual ‘Best of the Year’ awards. They are simple and to the point. For us, it’s all about the games.

G4R: Any plans for new or updated interactive bits of X-Play?

Wade: Of course–this is G4! We are continually trying to tap in to new ways to reach out and involve our fans. We’ll be adding more iteration with the X-Play Nation through additional video viewer mails and virtual audience segments. Many days Blair Herter is also chatting on our site with the fans as we tape the show each morning. We’re also looking at new ways to add twitter functionality as well. Plus Scott Robison, aka MR SARK is always down to battle with folks online in the X-Play Gamers challenges. X-Play’s fans are a great bunch and we wouldn’t be around if it wasn’t for them. I’ve worked at ZDTV, TechTV, G4TechTV, G4, and now Comcast CEG (which includes G4, E! Television and Style). We’ve had a lot of die hard fans with us the whole time and we continue grow and reach a whole new audience each day. I’ve never worked with a more talented, creative and passionate team and we are looking forward to another great year of bigger and better things!

Big, huge, mega-thanks to Wade for hooking us up with the interview and to Adam/Morgan/Wade for taking time out to answer our questions!

-KnuxSonic