I used to love X-play. In fact, I would never buy a game without first checking to see how Morgan and Adam rated it on a scale from 1-5. I'd even TiVo the thing everyday so I wouldn't miss the newest reviews. That was.... before.Today, we live in a post-x-play world of hate. And it sucks (for 5 reasons).
5. They be disrespecting their fans
Remember the stupid skits with the interns? Yea, I didn't like them that much either. But thats not the point! The point is, those stupid sketches between reviews where what made the show X-play. The new X-play has taken the characters of Adam and Morgan and just made them into announcers. I loved X-play because its hosts loved video games, too!
Still, occasionally Adam and Morgan's passion for games comes out in their monologues between segments, but the show has still been robbed of its very essence. I miss you, X-play...
4. Interviews suck
Ok, so not everyone will agree with me on this one, but I think interviews suck. Why would I want to hear about how a game was created before I've even had time to play it and appreciate it? I say this to the interviews done with creators of games that haven't been released yet (cof cof SPORE cof coff).
Now, I'll admit that the segment on joining the video game Industry is pretty interesting, but again, thats not why I watch X-play. I love me some video games, but I don't want to create them -- I just want to play them.
3. I never liked "Cheat"Now that "Cheat" has been combined into the show, I have even less respect for X-play. For one, "Cheat" doesn't actually show cheats anymore. Instead, its more like tips. Here's a good example...
I own Super Mario Galaxy. I've gotten about 103 stars of the 120. The game isn't all that hard, but its a ton of fun. On yesterday's X-play, they showed a "cheat" for Mario Galaxy, but the cheat was actually a tutorial on how to beat the SECOND BOSS in the game. Honestly, if you can't beat the mole man level, then its not going to do you much good to get past this level. It only goes uphill from there.
2. It has become "Attack of the Show II"
Let me first say that I like Attack of the Show. But I also liked the first "Land Before Time." My point is, we don't need another "Attack of the Show." I realize that X-play is still more gaming focused that AotS, but it doesn't change the fact that it is very suddenly merging toward the same goal. I actually now like AotS MORE than X-play, because at least it has Gadget Pr0n and more realistic hosts. X-play makes me sad now. :-(
1. They don't review video games anymore
This is my biggest complaint. Each show has maybe one game preview and one review. Once again, I'm not a big fan of game previews, but for a video game reviewing show, I've seen a couple of the new episodes with out a SINGLE REVIEW. That is just wrong.Now, I hear that they have recently decided to start pre-releasing Zero Punctuation's reviews on the show, but thats kind of cheap. I went to Zero Punctuation after I lost all hope in X-play. In fact, X-play sucking made me a huge fan of Zero Punctuation. I just hope X-play doesn't drag ZP down with them....
So...
As much as I criticize the new X-play, I would like to give kudos to their new website design. Its simply easier to navigate and I can find reviews quicker. Also, Zero Punctuation has stolen my heart, so it's too late, X-play.... I just can't believe you're having an affair with ZP... I'm not quite sure how to feel about that.
~jw
