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58-544: The show in its previous incarnation was hosted by Morgan Webb and Blair Herter , with Kristin Adams (née Holt) and Jessica Chobot serving as special correspondents/co-hosts (Tiffany Smith, Alex Sim-Wise and Joel Gourdin have also served as correspondents during the show's run). Adam Sessler was the original host of the program; he previously co-hosted with Lauren Fielder and Kate Botello . Xplay began on ZDTV in 1998 as GameSpot TV , where Sessler co-hosted with Fielder for

116-591: A bachelor's degree in rhetoric (with a minor in Italian) in 2000. On August 19, 2006, Webb married Rob Reid in a service at City Hall in San Francisco, California . Webb has joined the web-series Acquisitions Incorporated in playing several Dungeons & Dragons games at live events like PAX West . Throughout 2004 and beyond, Webb was featured in numerous issues of print publications. Maxim magazine spotlighted her in their July 2004 issue. FHM featured

174-464: A bachelor's degree in communications, broadcasting, or journalism. Some announcers cross "fields" by working in multiple media, such as television, radio, and commercials. For example, Bob Eubanks was in radio then became a television game show host, occasionally doing both jobs at the same time, and Townsend Coleman III started in radio then became a free-lance voice-over announcer and went on to voice cartoons. In some radio stations (mainly news),

232-482: A dot-com company as a website administrator. After the company went under during the dot-com bubble burst of 2000, her friend Catherine Schwartz got her hired at TechTV in 2001, and Webb became employed as the associate producer and web researcher for The Screen Savers . Throughout 2002 and 2003, she also regularly co-hosted TechTV's Call for Help with Chris Pirillo . In April 2003, Webb left The Screen Savers to co-host X-Play with Adam Sessler . Webb

290-646: A "Patch 5.4 Developer Round Table" discussion with Blizzard Entertainment employees J. Allen Brack, Ion Hazzikostas, and Tom Chilton. Webb played a minor role as Neely Lamm on the CBS TV Drama series Bull on an episode titled, "The Fall" which aired on February 7, 2017. Announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking , usually providing narrations , news updates, station identification , or an introduction of

348-474: A consultant and creative advisor for Activision Blizzard , where she also produced and hosted Blizzard's now-defunct monthly World of Warcraft discussion program WoW Source . In September 2017, Morgan announced her employment at Bonfire Studios where she helps organize the community and other various functions. As an infant and small child, Webb appeared in advertisements for Gerber baby food, Kenner Toys, and an ad for McDonald's, where she recited

406-747: A daily basis concurrently with her hosting duties on X-Play . On February 25, 2009, G4 announced that Webb would be the host of their new show G4 Underground , a weekly series that profiles a wide range of people and topics that are of interest to the "internet generation". It premiered March 29, 2009. After airing more than 1300 episodes, X-Play aired its final episode on January 23, 2013. From June 11, 2013, through June 13, 2013, Morgan co-anchored Microsoft's nightly Xbox @ E3 Live streaming event coverage on Xbox Live, reuniting her with former G4 personalities Kevin Pereira , Blair Herter , Jessica Chobot , Blair Butler and Tina Summerford . Morgan worked as

464-550: A five-page article in their November 2004 issue, and also had her listed in three consecutive years for their annual The 100 Sexiest Women in the World article: #73 in 2005, #62 in 2006, and #51 in 2007. Other magazines have featured her as well, voted "Hottest Woman of the Year" in RTD's 2006 Top 10 countdown and in an article in the fall 2006 edition of Colleges.com U Magazine . In April 2004, Webb

522-503: A guide. On the January 24, 2011 episode, Adam and Morgan gave an updated ratings primer in response to confusion spawned by aggregator review sites like Metacritic . To that end, the X-Play review scale was broken down in the following manner: 1 out of 5 2 out of 5 3 out of 5 4 out of 5 5 out of 5 During the 2012 season premiere (January 17), the "half star" was introduced to

580-521: A larger scale than that of Extended Play , but it still maintained an extremely simple and spartan style. Filming was done in TechTV's Studio A, home to the sets of Call For Help , Fresh Gear , and TechLive . The filming setup was increased to three cameras; a main floor camera, a Jibcam for high angle shots, and a black-and-white handheld DV camera, which would be cut to suddenly and intermittently throughout episodes. X-Play's primary set consisted of

638-641: A monthly columnist for the United States edition of FHM , where she contributed a monthly video game column titled "Tips from the Gaming Goddess". She began working at independent game studio Bonfire Studios in March 2017 in a production role. Raised in Los Angeles, Webb attended UC Berkeley from 1996 to 2000. She developed computer skills in her free time there, and after graduating from college worked for

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696-428: A product in television commercials or a guest on a talk show . Music television announcers were also called video jockeys (VJ). Announcers are often voice actors who read prepared scripts, but in some cases, they have to ad-lib commentary on the air when presenting news, sports, weather , time, and television commercials . Occasionally, announcers are also involved in writing the screenplay or scripts when one

754-478: A recap of popular technology news of the day. On occasion, Webb departed from the regular news format in favor of an episode on one particular topic of interest. Examples included a recap of the annual TED Conference , a viral video special showcasing "future ' Darwin Award ' winners", and tech-centric "Holiday Buyer's Guides". In January 2009, Webb suspended WebbAlert indefinitely due to issues with maintaining it on

812-453: A result, it was paired in a programming block with the network's other new show, Unscrewed with Martin Sargent . X-Play originally ran five nights a week at 11:30 p.m. EST, but it was moved up to 11:00 EST soon after. X-Play aired four brand new episodes for their first two weeks, but would ultimately air three new episodes a week for the majority of the show's remainder on TechTV. Many of

870-627: A revival of the network set for a 2021 launch. Later on November 24, 2020, G4 released A Very Special G4 Reunion Special , which featured former X-Play hosts Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb, and Blair Herter (who is one of the key people behind the re-launch), as well as correspondent Kristin Adams. On January 28, 2021, G4 announced that X-Play (alongside Attack of the Show! ) would return with it. On February 12, 2021, G4 announced that Adam Sessler would return to host. The revival premiered on November 19, 2021, broadcast live on G4's Twitch and YouTube channels. Unlike

928-660: A single couch, coffee table and television (with working game consoles) positioned in the middle of the large studio floor, but hosts Sessler and Webb would migrate around various areas of the studio, normally not even going to their actual set until the end of the program. Each episode would typically conclude with Sessler and Webb playing one of the consoles on the TV. The show's format consisted primarily of game reviews and previews (with some previews being conducted as live in-studio demos by Morgan and Adam), with an occasional game-related sketch thrown in for comedic value. The Disembodied Voice

986-578: Is one of the six TechTV personalities to survive the massive layoffs resulting from the May 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV. Only Adam Sessler and Webb remained with the network after G4's change in format . After Sessler's employment was terminated in April 2012, Webb was the only original TechTV personality remaining on the network. In August 2005, Webb became a contributing game columnist for FHM , alongside her regular hosting duties on X-Play . Her monthly column

1044-620: Is required. Sometimes announcers also interview guests and moderate panels or discussions. Some provide commentary for the audience during sporting events (known as sports announcers ), parades , and other events. Announcers perform a variety of tasks including presenting news, sports, weather, traffic, and music. Other duties include interviewing guests, making public appearances at promotional events, announcing station programming information. Announcers are also sometimes responsible for operating studio equipment and producing/selling advertisements. Television and radio announcers generally have

1102-835: The Sony Metreon arcade, and numerous game conventions such as the Classic Gaming Expo and E3. Each episode would start off with Game News , where Sessler or Fielder would give a brief overview of top news stories featured on the GameSpot website. Game reviews were run in a segment known as The Grill (games were graded on GameSpot's official 0.1-10.0 system), Spotlight showcased special content such as interviews with industry leaders, and Game Breakers featured strategy guides and hints for recently released games. New episodes would debut on weekend mornings at 10:00 a.m. EST. Botello became Sessler's new co-host on April 29, 2000, and towards

1160-418: The X-Play ratings system, with the hosts explaining that they felt a change towards a "more granular ratings scale will help distinguish the great games from the really great games from the really really great games." They also believed that over the years it had gotten "a little too easy to score the coveted 5 out of 5," and that the change will make such an accomplishment "more of a rarity"; it also means that

1218-438: The Show! ) would cease production after 2012. The hour-long finale of the original iteration of X-Play aired on January 23, 2013. During the broadcast, the hosts announced that the network would be auctioning off X-Play memorabilia via eBay (the set was even designed to resemble a telethon , with several people—Drunk Link, Canadian Guy, Superman , a pair of Imperial Stormtroopers —manning phones), and that all proceeds from

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1276-517: The TechTV studios in San Francisco until August 2004. The final episode to be produced in San Francisco aired on August 24, 2004. The first episode of X-Play to be filmed at the Los Angeles set aired on September 13, 2004. The new set designed for the show resembled a lounge—or rumpus room —where the hosts could sit around while discussing their latest reviews (during the 400th episode, which originally aired on May 8, 2006, all chairs were removed from

1334-729: The announcer pauses, and has to speed up the reading rhythm to finish on the exact minute. In fact Mauricio Lomonte , an announcer for this station, said: It's hard work, because other than knowing the extent of this radio station, you have to talk for an entire hour, reading the news at first sight, without some preparation first, it takes a lot from the announcers, that's why it needs a lot of experience, focus and interpretation when being on air. Radio announcers are often known as disc jockeys (DJs). While some read from scripts, others completely ad-lib. These DJs' tasks consist of on-air interviewing, taking/responding to listener requests, running contests, and making remarks about various subjects like

1392-449: The announcers must have special skill, dexterity and agility when transmitting information. An example of this is the news station Radio Reloj , where the pages of two voices must have between 15 and 16 lines written, and those of one voice, between 13 and 15. If the information meets that requirement and the announcer from the beginning reads at an appropriate pace, must conclude at the exact minute. However, it may happen that some minutes

1450-425: The attendees information about performing acts, speakers, players, score (such as a goal or touchdown), infractions, or the results of the event. Announcers may be specialized according to sport; for instance, a horse race announcer provides a rapid-fire second-by-second account of the race (as well as introducing the entries before the race), while a horse show announcer is the "voice of management" and helps keep

1508-414: The course of the show's history, it has gone through numerous changes, in more than just name. In the days of GameSpot TV , the show was filmed on a simple ZDTV studio set consisting of faux-brick walls, randomly positioned TV monitors, and functioning Gauntlet Legends and Rival Schools arcade game cabinets. For the occasional special episode, filming would move off-site to another location, such as

1566-516: The credits were complete, the words " GAME OVER " appeared on screen along with an Xbox Live "Achievement Unlocked: 100G - Mission Complete" badge, with the G4 Media copyright box shown in the bottom left corner. When G4 ceased broadcasting on December 31, 2014, the last program broadcast at 11:30pm EST was the first episode of X-Play . Webb and Sessler reunited for Bethesda Softworks ' press conference at E3 in 2016 . On July 24, 2020, G4 announced

1624-464: The editors leave them a little long. Faced with this situation, the speaker accelerates the pace of his reading, in order to finish the text on time. Sometimes when the news is short, the announcer completes it with the so-called queues, which are important ephemeris, curious facts, congratulations to personalities. It may also be the case that information has the lines, in correspondence with its format, but has several points and followed. This implies that

1682-686: The end of the video alongside other fellow TechTV personalities, including Catherine Schwartz, Sarah Lane, Laura Swisher, Chi-Lan Lieu, and Sumi Das. In addition to appearing in Low Water's music video, Webb is featured in the artwork of the band's album Hard Words in a Speakeasy . She additionally provided her own vocals for X-Play: The Musical , which aired in February 2007. She is a frequent guest on various talk shows, including The Tyra Banks Show (in February 2008), Chelsea Lately (in early 2009), and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (on April 15, 2009). She

1740-557: The end, the 10-point grading system was changed to a 5-point system. When GameSpot TV converted to Extended Play on February 17, 2001, the show moved entirely to the Metreon, and took on a very simple style and format. Filming consisted of co-hosts Sessler and Botello and a small single camera crew; the show featured strictly game reviews and game hints. New episodes debuted once a week at 9:00 p.m. EST. Like GameSpot TV , certain special episodes would be filmed elsewhere. In August 2002,

1798-510: The episodes created during this time period aired on the G4 Rewind block of retro programming in 2008; the first episode would end up being the last show on the channel itself before it officially shut down on December 31, 2014. Comcast purchased TechTV in May 2004 and merged it with its gaming channel, G4, necessitating a move for X-Play ' s base of operations from San Francisco to G4's Santa Monica studios. X-Play continued production at

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1856-404: The floor (Adam and Morgan would often joke of their fear that they would trip over one of these balls and hurt themselves). During video-game analysis and viewer mail segments, Sessler and Webb would sit in orange recliner chairs as they debated over the issue at hand. On January 14, 2008, G4 commenced with a complete overhaul to the show's entire format, branding the move as X-Play "jumping to

1914-411: The future where new segments were incorporated to see if X-Play could "go deeper than the current half hour show allows." Tiles also stated that the writers will be looking to add "more comedy" back into the program "as requested." On February 1, 2010, X-Play aired its 1,000th episode. To commemorate this milestone, G4 aired a six-hour marathon containing favorite episodes of the series, leading up to

1972-400: The hosts also explained why they use a 5-point ratings system, rather than a 10- or even 100-point scale: Morgan : Our system is better because it recognizes that scores are broad generalizations. Adam : For example, a popular web site gave Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire a score of 3.0 out of 10. They gave Torino 2006 a 3.9. What is the difference? Morgan : Both games suck, all

2030-427: The hosts, as well as the addition of a studio audience (making the presentation of the program similar to that of Attack of the Show! ). Also, there is an area of the studio with two large reclining chairs and a glass table, used as a place to interview featured guests (such as Mark Lamia from Treyarch and Ted Price from Insomniac Games ). On October 26, 2012, it was reported that the show (along with Attack of

2088-476: The ingredients of the Big Mac to a game of Pat-a-cake . Though Webb's parents refused to let her watch television, she made up for it by playing video games. She began with an Atari , primarily the game Combat , but as technology progressed, The Legend of Zelda and Phantasy Star became two of her favorite games. After Webb graduated from high school, she left home to attend UC Berkeley. There, she earned

2146-456: The lowest score a game can achieve is now a " point-5 out of 5." In addition, the review scale was again broken down to make the show's criteria clear to the viewing audience: 5 stars 4 stars Morgan Webb Morgan Ailis Webb (born October 5, 1978) is a former co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play . She was previously the host of the podcast WebbAlert and

2204-404: The next level". Both Adam and Morgan have stated that this new format represents "the type of show that they've always wanted X-Play to be", whereby a strict focus on game reviews was replaced with a broader range of topics relating to the video-game field (including more in-depth gaming news, first looks at game demos, and game cheat-codes/strategies with Kristin Adams twice a week). The set

2262-470: The premiere of the actual new episode. In April 2012, it was announced that Sessler would no longer be part of G4. Blair Herter, previously a co-host on X-Play, would become the new co-host of the series. The X-Play set was once again redesigned, and debuted on the June 18, 2012 episode. The new set featured giant white-tinged flatscreen monitors (displaying two large orange-and-black "X" logos) positioned behind

2320-495: The previous iteration, the episodes were two hours long (they were later cut down to 30-minute episodes on G4's cable channel). Sessler, Froskurinn, The Completionist and The Black Hokage co-hosted the revival; Sessler mainly co-hosted the show remotely from his San Francisco home while the others were based at G4’s studio in Los Angeles. Froskurinn was let go after G4 bought out the remainder of her contract in September 2022. The show

2378-524: The ratings system was broken down in the following way: The first game to receive a perfect "5 out of 5" rating was Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell during the November 20th (2002) episode, while the first game to receive a "1 out of 5" rating was Infogrames ' 2003 racer Humvee Assault , during the May 29th (2003) episode. In a 2007 episode billed as a "primer on our scoring system", Adam and Morgan further elaborated on their ratings scale: During this episode,

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2436-438: The remaining cast and crew thanked the viewers, as well as the developers for making the games that made the show possible ("even Koei , because ... taking a dump on Dynasty Warriors filled up a lotta time"). The closing credits then ran in the style of a 1980s-era video game, with an 8-bit version of the logo and the phrase "CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have completed X-Play" written in an 8-bit font and set to chiptune music. Once

2494-579: The same year, to an 8:00 p.m. EST timeslot. On March 4, 2007, it was announced that the G4 Studios in Santa Monica would close on April 15. Production of G4 programs was relocated to the Studios of the E! Television Network situated elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. As a consequence, new sets had to be designed for X-Play , and many G4 employees involved in production were laid off. The E! Building's set

2552-441: The score is gonna be able to communicate to you is that the game is bad . If you want more nuance on the suckage, you have to actually go and read the review. See, in a 10-point scale, everything under 5 just means 'this game ain't worth buying', so there's no real difference. Adam : And there's no real nuance to a score difference of two- or three-tenths of a point. Our scores at least give sweeping generalizations for you to use as

2610-563: The series became a daily program with a mix of repeats and first-run episodes airing Monday-Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST, with Friday episodes remaining in the 9:00 p.m. timeslot. After the departure of Botello on March 29, 2002, Sessler continued to host at the Metreon by himself, until the change to X-Play in April 2003. When X-Play debuted on April 28, 2003 the show moved back to the TechTV studios, and Morgan Webb came on board as co-host, leaving her previous hosting duties on TechTV's The Screen Savers and Call for Help . X-Play had

2668-413: The set so that Adam and Morgan had to stand throughout the duration of each episode). While originally maintaining its late-night time slot, new episodes were eventually moved to 4:00 p.m. EST in the afternoons (usually airing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) starting on April 10, 2006. This changed to 3:00 p.m. EST on September 5, 2006, before X-Play returned to prime-time on November 6 of

2726-423: The show's first year, then co-hosted with Botello up through 2002 (the producers of ZDTV originally had plans to air a video-game program when the channel launched called Extended Play that would be hosted by Simon Rex ; however, when an agreement was reached with the makers of the newly created GameSpot website, plans for the original show's format were scrapped in favor of a GameSpot -branded program, and Rex

2784-421: The show's timeslot was moved out of prime-time to 6:30 p.m. EST (although reruns still air at 8 o'clock) and a number of X-Play staff members were laid off. In December 2008, the show aired X-Large one-hour episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. According to G4 television president Neil Tiles, this was an experimental change with the possibility of having all episodes run 60 minutes long sometime in

2842-523: The weather, traffic, sports, and other news. Most radio announcers announce the artists and titles of songs, but don't necessarily choose what song airs on the radio. Many stations have a management teams who select the songs ahead of time. Today radio stations have DJs update the station's website with music, guest interviews, show schedules, and photos. Radio announcers are also known radio jockeys (RJ). Public address (PA) announcers work in physical locations, including sporting venues . They will give

2900-407: The winning bids would be donated to Child's Play . The three items auctioned off were a seven-foot Dovahkiin statue, a signed copy of the script for the final episode, and a Halo 4 Limited Edition Xbox 360 console bundle signed by the X-Play staff. After a montage of scenes from the show's history to close out the broadcast (with the tagline "A show on television, April 2003 - January 2013"),

2958-411: Was also a frequent co-host on G4's Attack of the Show! . On June 17, 2009, Webb appeared on KCRW Radio, as part of the station's Guest DJ Project . On June 21, 2008, Webb along with her X-Play co-host Adam Sessler, participated in the 50th annual Hollywood Stars Celebrity Softball game at Dodger Stadium . A YouTube video was posted on October 7, 2013, with Webb as the well-versed host of

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3016-543: Was also introduced to the show at this phase in its history. This unseen announcer would begin each episode with an often over-the-top introduction to which the hosts usually responded or commented (these comments varied widely, ranging from total non-sequiturs to Gilbert and Sullivan references to current events , along with viewer-submitted intros taken from the show's web forums). Unlike its predecessors, X-Play had more of an edge, containing some adult language and more mature (sometimes controversial) subject matter. As

3074-473: Was canceled in October 2022 when it was announced that month that G4 would shut down for the second time, with its final episode airing on October 20. There have been over 2,705 games reviewed on X-Play ; for most of the show's run, reviews were designated by a five-point rating scale, based on such factors as graphics, sound, gameplay, and playability (i.e. replay value). On X-Play's original TechTV homepage,

3132-560: Was dropped as host). The show assumed the previously rejected Extended Play moniker in 2001 after ZDTV changed to TechTV and the partnership with Ziff Davis ' GameSpot ended. Botello left in early 2002, and Sessler hosted the show by himself up until April 2003, when Webb joined the cast and the show was renamed X-Play . A new incarnation of the show was featured on the revived G4 network which operated from November 2021 to October 2022. GameSpot TV , Extended Play , and X-Play all originated in San Francisco , California . Throughout

3190-487: Was in "TechTV's Sexiest Techie" poll sponsored by Playboy magazine. TechTV viewers could vote for their favorite girl via the Playboy website. Webb won the poll and was offered a nude photo shoot, but she refused, despite being "very flattered", citing her own personal reasons and her parents' objection to the idea. Webb appeared in the music video "Strange New Element" from the band Low Water. She makes her appearance near

3248-536: Was once again refurbished to coincide with the change, as the studio now has blue-tinged walls covered with several flat-screen monitors, and a giant orange X-Play logo (also newly redesigned for the relaunch) covering the floor. In addition, G4 took advantage of the new set and show format by expanding X-Play's schedule in order to air new episodes five days a week. However, economic factors forced G4 to contract X-Play's schedule back down to only three original episodes per week, starting on March 2, 2009; in addition,

3306-426: Was smaller than the Santa Monica studio, thus some aspects of the studio had to be shrunk down. The X-Play logo was retro-fitted to sit above the stage on the right-hand side of the set, with curtains surrounding the entirety of the space to create a sense of intimacy; a large flat-screen monitor was also placed in the background, and several small decorative glass balls were strategically placed around various spots on

3364-506: Was titled "Tips from the Gaming Goddess". Readers were encouraged to email Webb their video-game-related inquiries; she would then answer one question each month. In February 2007, Webb wrote her final column for the magazine, which discontinued its U.S. publication in March. She also hosted the short-lived Free Stuff on G4. From August 2, 2007, to January 25, 2009, Webb had a daily video blogging initiative called WebbAlert . These videos were 5 to 6 minutes in length, and each consisted of

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