340°

Adam Sessler on Game Reviews, New Games Media, and X-Play

On this week's episode, former co-host of G4’s X-Play and the current president of TheoryHead, Adam Sessler, joins host Josiah Renaudin to talk about the new games media landscape. They cover modern game reviews, how we talk about games, the importance of sites like Waypoint, how X-Play was done from episode to episode, the brilliance of Horizon: Zero Dawn's design, and what Adam's up to now.

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MONOLITHICIDE2572d ago

i prefer extended play and tech tv haha.

OldGuyStillGaming2572d ago

F this clown
He ruined God of War Acension because he's easily offended and sucked at playing it so they had to dumb it down for his sappy ass.

TheUndertaker852572d ago (Edited 2572d ago )

Uh...

Sony Santa Monica develops the game while Sony publishes.

If it was dumbed down it was by those two parties. Stating that they changed the game due to one individual is asinine as either

1) Sony Santa Monica and Sony then gave into the supposed demands of one individual and altered the game
2) Sony Santa Monica and Sony dumbed down the game based on their own opinion
Or 3) Sony Santa Monica and Sony wanted to push multiplayer with God of War Ascension then dumbed down the game to get individuals into the multiplayer with the micro transactions they introduced with the same title.

Either way it didn't come down to Sessler. He wasn't directly creating the game, publishing the game, or even involved outside of critique.🙂

Lionheart3772572d ago

That's not how video game development works, dude.

Fullmetalevolust2572d ago

I don't think his sphere of influence can impact a game and its development. However, he has made some statements I do not agree with but it doesn't take away that Xplay was fun to watch. They'd both shit on JRPG's almost every time and I'd shrug and still play them, lol.

dirkdady2571d ago

Actually if Adam did a mock review for Sony it could have heavily influenced aspects of the game.

Mock review for those that don't know is when a publisher hires a game critic to do a mock review for internal use/feedback only. It gives them a sense for how it will review upon release.

TheUndertaker852571d ago

@dirkdady: For them to want a mock review they'd had to have doubts with the product. Further for them to change aspects of the game comes down to Sony & Sony Santa Monica. They wouldn't do so unless they thought the feedback was valid.

Even still Sony & Sony Santa Monica would be involved in a green light. Not Sessler, again.

rainslacker2571d ago

Huh? Only thing I recall getting changed because of him was the name of a trophy.

Hardly something that would ruin the game as a whole. They didn't even remove the trophy....just renamed it.

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Pantz2572d ago

Hope they are together at E3 again. It warms my heart.

TheOttomatic912572d ago

I've never been a personal fan of Adam Sessler but hearing his insights about game industry (or specifically in being a gaming journalist) is quite interesting.

medman2572d ago

X-play and Aots all day every day.

fenome2572d ago

I used to watch both those shows all the freaking time. I lost a lot of respect for Sessler after some of his ridiculous rants though. God Of War was the first wtf seriously moment, and then the whole backing out of the industry because of the share button thing was just the icing on the cake.

OoglyBoogly2572d ago

His review of Bioshock Infinite did it for me. He talked about that mediocre game play experience like it was the greatest game he had ever played. Didn't make sense to me honestly.

TheUndertaker852572d ago

@OoglyBoogly: Yes, god forbid someone enjoys Bioshock while you don't.

fenome2572d ago

He literally just started contradicting himself and having little meltdowns toward the end, it would almost be funny if it wasn't kind of sad. Like I said, I used to watch X-Play all the time back in the day.

I'd post links just to show you what I'm talking about but my phone is ghetto and it's not worth the effort. Just look it up, it's not hard to find, he started slipping bad.

rainslacker2571d ago (Edited 2571d ago )

I lost complete respect for him the day he was at some E3 post conference show completely drunk off his ass, barely coherent, and just cynical as all hell. Claimed he had a cold, and was on cold medicine, even though he was fine early that day, and the next day seemed like he was not sick at all.

I've only enjoyed about half of the content he ever was a part of, and I did enjoy when he did interviews, because he was always fair, and even pushed hard on some questions at times, but his reviews either seemed shilled or extremely biased.

After that though he just started thinking his own opinion on how the industry should behave made him intolerable. Particularly his rant about not getting free stuff from the console markers. It's like the guy went off his meds, and all you ended up seeing what the bat-sh*t crazy side that just makes you uncomfortable to watch or be around.

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Segata2572d ago

Aos was trash. Screen Savers was better. Extended Play stomps X-plays crappy skits with interns and lame jokes.

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60°

XCOM's Jake Solomon Q&A - Building a Narrative-Driven Life Sim Game at Midsummer Studios

XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon has founded a new studio to make a life sim game. Here's a new interview with him.

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40°

The Big Inworld AI Q&A - 'Everyone in Gaming Sees the Potential of Generative AI'

Wccftech interviewed Nathan Yu from Inworld AI to discuss the dynamic NPC tech's applications to games as well as potential issues like costs.

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160°

Xbox President Sarah Bond's Bloomberg Interview Is Corporate Fakery At Its Best

Saad from eXputer: "After Arkane Austin & Tango were shutdown, Xbox President Sarah Bond spoke with Bloomberg in what I believe to be utter corporate fakery."

gold_drake3d ago

im not really surprised by that, shes always been more a "let me talk about something else than what u want to know" kinda gal

Cacabunga3d ago

If what they are doing is that good, what’s the point of hiding the true story?

anast3d ago

She's a caricature of the shareholders.

PRIMORDUS3d ago

"Shareholders" I call them cancer, they are already rich to begin with but need more and more. It's like a disease, with no cure.

__y2jb2d ago

If you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder in these big tech companies yourself. To demonize them as 'heartless rich people' shows you have no idea what you're talking about.

anast2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@Y2

Of course, it isn't about that. You are attempting to set up a self-righteous strawman to stir up some kind of ignorant mob mentality.

And by the way, most everyone is a touch heartless or we wouldn't be able to consume the products we do knowing very well how they are made. People have to be this way because of self-preservation and convenience.

__y2jb2d ago

@anast please explain to me how what i said is self righteous or a strawman. I simply pointed out that categorizing all shareholders as cancer is ridiculous.

Leeroyw3d ago

I own shares in game companies. I'm not anything near a major share holder. I just want them to make good games and be successful because of that. I think it's the senior management that's the problem. They are the ones that should be making it clear to the shareholders what creates growth and ensures a future of their business. Not this weasle words garbage that she did on the interview. It was horrific. I don't know a shareholder that would be happy with any of them for this.

Profchaos3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Same and I'm not rich by any stretch like most people's I'm just trying to keep my head above water these days most company's shareholders are made up of everyday people it's amazing how companies think we want something but the reality is we don't.

Disney are probably the worse at the moment it's shareholders voted on ending a lot of the crap and outing the current execs the execs turned around and said no we disagree with the shareholder vote

PRIMORDUS2d ago

I meant at the rich fucks who have millions in the bank already. They are making so much per year, that if they don't make what they are expecting they go into a panic, when in reality it will not even hurt them at all. Those are greedy assholes.

anast2d ago

"you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder"

Pensioners don't make any decisions about anything. Obviously that is not what this is about.

CrimsonWing693d ago

Yea, it was and it’s insulting that they think we’re dumb enough to fall for this. Look, the truth was you took a gamble on these studios and while they released some games to critical praise and great reception they just aren’t bringing in a ROI. Be transparent, you’re not a politician.

Just tell everyone you spend money on projects big and small and when money isn’t being made you go over the potential of revenue a studio can bring in vs those that can’t and make the hard decision to chop them.

She says this whole thing about “success” doesn’t fit one meaning for each studio. Well yea, a small budget production isn’t going to expect to sell the same as a large budget production.

One thing I wish they did though was let Tango be an independent studio.

TheGamingHounds3d ago

disheartening to see no regard for the human cost of business anymore
the bad decisions and judgements of these CEOs severely impact the frontliners
these fake responses are just salt on wounds

RoadRacer3d ago

imagine havin the audacity to say "we need more games like hifi rush" right after closing the studio that made it lol
followin up with this show of "deflecting every question" was in poor taste

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