Longtime broadcast journalist Adam Sessler and G4TV have parted ways. Many of you know Adam as the host of X-Play. The man is old school. He started on the show in the late ’90s when it was GameSpot TV on Ziff-Davis’ ZDTV network. He stayed with the show when it became Extended Play and the network was renamed Tech TV. Eventually the show was renamed X-Play and became part of the Comcastic G4TV giant.
In addition to being the biggest television personality in videogames, a wonderful editorialist, and a diligent critic, Adam is universally liked and respected throughout the business. If you have a problem with Adam Sessler from a work standpoint then the problem is almost definitely staring back at you in the mirror. Of course there are times when people disagree with him, but the vast majority of the people I know adore and respect Adam.
On a personal level, I just love the man. Obviously we can talk about games all day, but Adam is really passionate about boxing too. Both of us love watching boxing and spend time training in boxing gyms (neither of us are what you’d call dangerous). One of my favorite moments in our relationship was when I was tipsy (understatement) at a Sega event and ordered a Johnny Walker Blue with soda; Adam chided me for three minutes before making the bartender pour me a Blue on the rocks. He’s smart, he always adds something interesting to conversations, and he’s one of the most outstanding people in the world to drink with. That said, he was also responsible for me working at G4 and I’m going to hold that over his head for at least another decade (“First round is on you, right Adam? I mean, you got me the G4 gig and look how that turned out!”)
X-Play without Adam Sessler is going to be strange. How do you feel about the future endeavoring (WWE trademark) of Adam Sessler?
I never cared for Xplay but liked his show prior to that. Goodluck to him.
The guy speaks intelligently. I would love to have a drink with him and talk about games all day.
Speaking of which… I can't believe you put soda in Blue Label! You could get killed down here for doing that… or be accused of being a woman, which is probably worse.
-M
I've always liked Adam. I haven't had G4 in a few years though (thanks DirecTV), so I haven't really seen X-Play in a while. Hope everything works out for him in the future.
I always enjoy Adam's perspective and personality. He's definitely one of the good ones — both journalists and on-air peeps. I hope his next move is to something even more impactful on the industry.
I have not read this full post yet, but I had to skip down and say how disappointed I was that you would dream of drinking Blue label any way other than on the rocks (two cubes. not one. not three. two).
In my defense, I was hammered and surprised I could order anything.
Well I suppose that is one defense. I can't imagine such a fine scotch being tarnished in that way though.
Ah…the magnificence of being a beer guy cannot be a bad thing at a mixer :P
I've been drunk on beer at press events too. I treat most alcohol with equal respect.
I consider myself more of a "purist" when it comes to Scotch. No ice, no soda, no nothing. Just straight up. A cold glass tumbler is acceptable, though. Most people are OK with ice, but cola in Blue Label is just plain wrong.
-M
No, it wasn't cola. It was soda, as in club soda or seltzer. Even at my drunkest, I would not mix Blue and cola.
I prefer two cubes of ice because as it melts slowly into the scotch, the water helps bring out the flavors even more. More than two cubes and you are drowning the scotch though. Whiskey I will mix. Canadian whiskey and Kentucky bourbon I won't touch though.
It's going to be weird seeing xplay and no Adam. I've thought it was weird that's the past week I've heard Adam's voice for the segments but saw Blair doing all the work with Morgan. Blair is going to catch hell on the message boards. It's bad enough people think he's an ahole and that he married Jessica Chobot ( in some fanboys eyes is a gaming babe) but there's going to be some people who are going to say Adam leaving is Blair's fault. I'll miss Mr Sessler but I'm pretty sure he has something up his sleeve an I can't wait to see what it is.
That sucks. I started watching Adam back right at the extended play change over. I always enjoyed his reviews and the I loved when he teamed up with Morgan (soooo hot). But I havent got to watch the show in a while since CableOne doesn't carry G4. I hope he goes on to do something great
I love that G4 is absolutely destroying it's own brand. What the hell are they thinking??
This is like Fender guitars discontinuing the Strat model. Best of luck to you, Adam. Now, i can officially root for you again.
I always liked Sessler's Soapbox and thought that was a really good platform for him. I'm curious to see where he will go next. If he were a writer then I could see some possibilities, but it's not like other industries where other television shows/channels are all in existence. Not knowing what he wants to do next is the biggest problem in figuring out his next move. I see him as a personality now, so he could easily be picked up by some news channel/site to be a designated games editor/reviewer/consultant/all around games expert. If he chose to do more writing along with web videos (or a scheduled tv spot) similar to Sessler's Soapbox, then I could see him becoming very similar to what Roger Ebert is to movies. Sessler is obviously well liked and respected all over and has a strong presence and personality. Why not use that to his advantage? Personally I think that could be a great move for the video game industry as a whole. The video games industry could use a well known, and well liked, public critic to further validate video games as a medium to be more respected.
He did also write a good number of reviews on G4TV.com, so the idea of him getting picked up by another gaming site isn't ridiculous, especially when they can use his "soapbox" type editorial rants as part of their video features.
I know he has written stuff in the past, but I think people see him as a tv personality and broadcast journalist; not a writer. I'm sure it would be a smooth transition to a magazine, newspaper, or website, it's just not what I think he would be best suited for at this time.
I had a cigarette with him last year at PAX East, cool side and very down to earth.
@adamsessler is a STRANGE twitter feed.
Maybe this is wayyyyy naive here, but i never knew he was gay. (Not that this matters, of course)
So… he's not married to Jess Chobot?
-M
Blair + Chobot = Blobot
I apologize, but I have to "thumbs up" that one. It made my day and it was brilliant at the same time.
I think if everyone had a "Blobot" the world would be a better place.
-M
Credit for that goes to Cliffy B. He tweeted it first.
Ha. I'll have to tell his wife that the next time I see her.
I did think of Seinfeld for the last part and instead thought: "not that there's anything wrong with that." lol
Yeah, i need to figure out twitter. I could have sworn that Sessler said something about being "gay" yesterday. Maybe he was just replying to some jerkoff, or maybe he was being ironic.
Sorry, Sessler. I'm a big fan, and i certainly don't want to start any rumors :)