Something Awful on G4TV

Reader Mantorp wrote in to mention an article over on Something Awful (reader beware) discussing the good and bad points of everyone's favorite video gaming channel, G4. Except for not mentioning Icons (which I view as a variable but generally good program), they nail the channels pros and cons dead on. From the article: "I almost wrote an update like this when the merger first happened, but it would have been purely reactionary. The resulting channel needed time to ferment for better or worse, and luckily for you it got much worse because my only backup article idea was a fake guide to an NES game based on the Herman Melville book Bartleby The Scrivener."

Comments

Hmmm

[Otter]

In the absence of goatse.cx, I wonder where Rich is going to be directing his Slashdot referrals this time...?

Pretty much agree..

[Momoru]

I used to have something to watch on TV (TechTV), now there is nothing....I dont agree with his opinions of the personalities: Adam Sessler is the fucking man. Who the hell likes Adam Sessler? He is the most annoying person ever to be on TV, ever. Kevin Rose and Sarah are alright, I'd grant him that they can be cheesy and may not be the most techy people, but I can take them compared to Leo and Patrick, with Leo being annoying, old, and plugging books non-stop and Patrick knowing more about fixing old hotrods then the latest in computer trends. I feel like at least the ages of Kevin, Sarah etc are more suitable for the content and viewers of the show.

Re:Can't get enough of those catch-phrases

[Draigon]

My favorite line "His funnier moments go so far over the other hosts' heads that they violate federal airspace regulations and occasionally graze God's testicles." oh my.

Honestly, if you want tv for nerds you watch discovery or history channels. If you want tv for gamers you turn your gaming console on. If you have a few hours to sit around and you want something moving in front of your eyes but not making you think, anything from Fox News to Mtv to G4 will apply. TV as a whole is just not that worth it. There's far more content on gaming blogs or even the often shallow gaming network sites.

What is TV useful for again?

I have no pre-G4 bias...but here is my .02

[pnice]

I didn't have access to the channel back when it was TechTV and I've only had the chance to view what is now G4. That being said, I like the channel enough to watch (at least Attack of the Show) on a daily basis. Sometimes what I see is a repeat of things I've already read about that day online, but it is still presented in an entertaining way and I can relate to the humor/personalities of the cast (Kevin Rose, Kevin Pereira, Sarah Lane, Brendan Moran). I like Icons and even Formula D is starting to become interesting to me.

Cheat pains me. That Kristin Holt is not the person for the job. I think the execs feel that all geek/gamers need is some decent looking girl repeating what was written down on a piece of paper to host the show and it'll work great. I'm 26 and that formula doesn't cut it for me anymore. I wish I could have seen Adam Sessler back when he was supposed to be good at what he does, but I missed the boat on that one. When it's him and Morgan Webb talking in those damn monotone voices doing reviews I can't imagine either of them play a crucial role in keeping X-Play alive. I need something with more personality.

The worst part of G4 is the repeat shows. I'm not talking about just reruns from the night before...or even the week before. Just today at lunch I was flipping through the channels and heard the voice of Adam Sessler talking about the future PSP...before they even knew when it would come out or how much it would cost. I know every show can't be brand new but at least keep it within a relative time range. Replaying a show that is so extremely dated doesn't work well when your dealing with something that has to stay up to date. It would be like watching reruns of the news from 5 months ago.