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[[File:x-play-show.jpg|frame|''"Now appearing on [[TV Tropes]], it's Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb!"'']]
'''''X-Play''''' is what happens when a [[Sketch Comedy]] [[X Meets Y|meets]] a video game review program. It
The show started in 1998 (on what was then called ZDTV) as ''GameSpot TV''; it was hosted by Adam Sessler and Lauren Fielder, the latter of which left in 1999 and was replaced by Kate Botello. In 2001, the show was renamed ''Extended Play'' (at around the same time ZDTV was renamed TechTV). Shortly after Botello left the show, it was hosted by Sessler alone, and it was filmed San Francisco's Metreon arcade until 2003 -- when the show was renamed ''X-Play'' and Morgan Webb came aboard. Along with Webb came a brand new studio and the beginning of the show's focus on game-related sketch comedy alongside its reviews. The show was retained by G4 after that network purchased TechTV in 2004, and even though it was basically left intact (a fate far better than other TechTV shows (and even most G4 shows) received), its focuses swung frequently for the next few years as G4 went through its frightening [[Network Decay]]. The show
On April 26, 2012, [http://kotaku.com/5905119/adam-sessler-out-at-g4 Sessler abruptly left G4 over what's believed to be a contract dispute],
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Badass Long Hair]]: The Golden Mullet Awards that they've been doing since 2004 to honor the worst games of the year. It was named in honor of ''Aquaman'' the standard in which all bad games were based on.
* [[Bias Steamroller]]: Against [[RPG|RPGs]], mostly [[Eastern RPG|JRPGs]], along with [[Anime]], [[World War II|World War II games]], [[The Problem with Licensed Games|licensed games]], [[Escort Mission|escort missions]], [[Mini Game|minigames]].... After a while, you might start to think that the people making this video game show don't really like video games all that much.
* [[Broke the Rating Scale]]: They refused to rate ''[[Big Rigs Over the Road Racing]]'' (because their rating scale didn't feature a 0), then gave the ''ET'' game a ceremonial zero.
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Blair Herter, the very self-aware third wheel.
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* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Both Sessler and Webb act in this manner, but tend to switch between it and sheer abstract goofball at times.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: On the episode where they reviewed the North American version of ''[[beatmania]]'', Webb claims that it is a ripoff of ''[[Guitar Hero]]''. ''[[Bemani]]'' fans did not take it well, since ''beatmania'' [[Older Than They Think|dates back to 1997]], while ''Guitar Hero'' started in 2005.
** Their review of ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]''. See also [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch]].
** Their criticism of the graphics of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', which were:
{{quote|
Squaresoft's first ever experiment with 3D graphics. }}
** More recently, their review of ''[[Resonance of Fate]]'' very conspicuously only shows footage from the first hour or two of gameplay. Also, they dismiss the characters as "whiny" when the game is filled with wisecracks and sex puns from practically all main characters, even in the first few hours of play.
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* [[Enforced Plug]]: [[Once an Episode]], after reviewing a 3-star game, Sessler and/or Webb would try to segue into a plug for GameFly.com's game rental service. Some of them were funny, but not all of them worked. Now they plug whatever the new show is on G4TV.
** Near the end of the [[Tech TV]] 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. 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 ago, on May 12, 2004, during that channel's E3 coverage.
* [[Every Episode Ending]]:
** '''1998-2001:''' "Until next time, bye-bye."
** '''2001-2003:''' "Until next time, game... over."
* [[Fan Disservice]]: Parodied in the "[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty|Naked Raiden]]" sketch...much to Sessler's dismay. "This is so uncomfortable.."
** [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Stop doing cartwheels...]] [[Screams Like a Little Girl|AHHHHHHHH!"]]
* [[Fanon Discontinuity]]: Referenced in the opening of one episode, where Webb says "We like to pretend ''[[Perfect Dark Zero]]'' doesn't exist."
* [[Fan Service]]: They frequently point out these instances during reviews to make a joke about them. They also occasionally do skits focused on it, such as one about the history of breast physics in video games.
* [[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.
* [[Four Point Scale]]: Averted -- Their review system is deliberately balanced to include all spectrum of games and to be as helpful as possible. They have 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 because they felt they were giving too many perfect scores.
** Sort of pointless, though, considering the show is famous for giving practically every single game they review, no matter how much they call it utter crap in their ranting about it, a "[[Memetic Mutation|3... out of 5]]".
* [[Gamer Chick]]: Morgan Webb; since the show's beginning she's been accused of being chosen just to be eye candy and not really a gaming fan, despite her never ending insistence to the contrary.
* [[A God Am I]]: Who is this "Bob" of which you speak. I am Thor-Axe the Impaler.
* [[The Great Video Game Crash of 1983]]: The topic of one episode, with Sessler and Webb going on a road trip to find the supposed burial site of the excess ''E.T.'' cartridges.
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* [[Reckless Gun Usage]]: Sessler went to a SWAT training session, and got chewed out for having his finger on the trigger.
* [[Running Gag]]: 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.
** [[Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome|TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES! TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES! TWO MEN ENTER! ONE MAN LEAVES!]]
* [[Self-Deprecation]]: [[Running Gag|Overused is putting it lightly.]] Sessler being shown as the butt of the joke used to be extremely frequent in the early years.
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* [[Show Within a Show]]: ''"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 it's own show within a show (within a show), Grabnar The Wanderer.
* [[The Scrappy]]: There's an in-universe example in their review of ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
* [[Small Name, Big Ego]]: 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 Adam's attack was to say, "Behold my celebrity," (which fails).
* [[Sour Prude]]: Webb can come off as this fairly often, despite her rather obvious role as [[Ms. Fanservice]]. She once called a game "softcore porn" because it featured the female main character in a bikini for awhile.
* [[Take That]]: [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=217| VG Cats does not approve of the show's new direction.]
* [[Take That, Audience!]]: The show's received [[Internet Backdraft|a lot of flak]] for blatant unprofessionalism with their reveal of the Viewer's Choice for 2011, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', implying they think it won due to the fanbase's anger at them not nominating ''Skyward Sword'' for Game of the Year. See the offender in all of its glory [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9x6mN7C3gU here.]
* [[This Is Sparta]] - Several examples, though far less [[Large Ham|hammy]] than the actual quote itself from ''[[300]]'':
** Webb: (about ''[[
** In the review for ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Force Unleashed]]'', "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.
** Averted, however, while reviewing the PSP game that is based on ''[[300]]''.
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* [[Video Game Movies Suck]]: Addressed in-universe. They've talked about this topic several times. They once had a segment called "[[Martin Luther King Jr|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.
''We give this [[
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