[Annelies]

As most of you know, X-Play and Attack of the Show have both been cancelled indefinitely. This comes as no surprise because as many of us could have already guessed, nobody watched G4 in the first place. It is true that G4 used to be all about gaming but in recent years the network has been heavily criticized for televising "non-gaming" oriented shows such as Cops, Cheaters and Maury. It is a common understanding by many gamers that G4 turned their back on their viewers when they cancelled shows like Cheat!, Judgement Day, Electric Playground, Cinematech and others. However, contrary to popular belief, the situation is backwards: It's the gamers who turned their backs on G4.

Obviously, G4 was not receiving the viewership needed to keep these shows on the air. This is because of the convenience of the Internet. The Internet rendered programs like Cheat! irrelevant. First of all, Cheat! was a thirty-minute program and when you tuned into Cheat! you were not guaranteed any information regarding the games that you as the viewer owned. Even if Kristin Holt was talking about a game that you owned, searching for it online reduced her show to ashes because the same information (and more) was made available in a matter of seconds online. There was no reason to watch Cheat!.

Cinematech was a televised program all about video game trailers, gameplay and music. Unfortunately, Cinematech shared the same fate as Cheat!. Video game trailers were also made available online and accessible in a matter of minutes. Also, you were not guaranteed that games catering to your interests would be put on display. All in all, especially in today's day in age, Cinematech was/is a useless program. Nobody has any reason to tune into it. If you want to watch a random video game trailer/gameplay, find a playlist on YouTube and put it on shuffle.

Judgement Day and Electric Playground were virtually the same show, except Electric Playground talked a little more about technology in general. Electric Playground was a useful show, I will admit that, but it obviously wasn't receiving enough viewership and Tommy and Victor also had other agendas. Judgement Day was a good show. Sometimes it was better than X-Play in my opinion, but with two shows that both review games, that is a problem because you have two shows competing with each other on the same network, dividing the viewers. G4 should have only had one show reviewing games to begin with. G4 killed Judgement Day themselves.

Basically, the convenience of the Internet killed G4. Maybe if the gamers that actually cared about G4, REALLY cared about G4, you'd have watched the shows while they were on instead of complaining when they're cancelled...

I can't really blame people for using the Internet for convenience though... but still... Gamers killed G4 in the end.

[baargle]

In the UK, tv programs based on purely on video games stopped being made 10 years ago, because of the internet. G4 is lucky they managed to keep those shows going as long as they did.

[Annelies]

Yup.

I think G4 is a network that would have really benefited in the mid-to-late '90s and early 2000s. That's it.

[Gorgatron]

I turned my back on G4 when they ruined my favorite shows like the Screensavers and Extended Play by turning them into "nerd"-culture advertising variety programs.

[tjhooker73]

I liked Xplay like 4 years ago...

[Mastahg]

It all went down hill when it used to TechTv, and got transformed into the trash that it is today. I remember one of my favorite shows was "call for help!" or something along those lines.

[bigo93]

Is it really the gamers' fault?

I am a sci-fi fan, and we know the real reason shows get cancelled are because teh networks are too old fashioned.

We are gamers and technophiles, a TV isnt just a TV, a PC isnt just for word processing, a smartphone is jsut for making video calls and taking photos.
We use all sorts of technology to view things, we use torrents, streaming, and catchup sites, so the old nielson rating is even worse to use with programmes we like.

So is it our fault for using new technologies, or is it the networks' fault for being so old fashioned?

[fanboysarestupid]

tl;dr

The only 'TV' game shows that I see available is on YouTube and Xbox 360, I gave up on PS3's free weekly episodes of games because the narrator had an annoying voice (it's not that she had an English accent but her vocal/tone) and they were biased.

This month's game news video on the 360 was about Medal of Honour Warfighter, Most Wanted and some other game. It's a cool show and it only lasts 14 mins.