G4TV to die by the end of the year

It won’t be completely dead, but once you remove the brain and the heart you can’t expect it to live for long.  As reported earlier today, X-Play and Attack of the Show will be canceled at the end of this year effectively killing G4 as we know it and allowing for the rumored “Modern Male”-centric channel to emerge (think GQ the Channel).  Why are we reporting this, you ask?  I have no idea why other than pure nostalgia and for some reason people still watch the channel.  All I know is that when DirecTV dropped the channel a while ago I didn’t even notice because I had stopped watching it.  X-Play had lost a lot of street cred in the game reviewing circles, AotS had turned in to a 5-day a week hour long fart joke, and the rest of the channel had pretty much become a joke.  I guess the bigger question would be: How did this not happen sooner?  I don’t know maybe I just outgrew the channel or maybe I got tired of having mediocre FPS thrown at me all the time.  What do you guys think?  Are you saddened by this or overjoyed?  Do you still watch the channel or ever even watch it in the first place?  Let us know your thoughts.  If you want to read the full statement from G4, click the READ MOAR.

• G4’s two longest-running and defining series, Attack of the Show! and X-Play, will be ending their run at the end of 2012. Both shows will include original episodes through the end of the year, and will look back at theirmost memorable moments as we lead up to their final episodes. A rotating lineup of guest co-hosts including John Barrowman, Michael Ian Black, Josh Myers, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel and Horatio Sanz will join AOTS hosts Candace Bailey and Sara Underwood, and X-Play hosts Morgan Webb and Blair Herter as part of the farewell shows.With well over a thousand episodes each, Attack of the Show! and X-Play have defined gamer culture for a generation, serving as the launch pad for prominent personalities including Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn, Chris Hardwick and Adam Sessler. Attack of the Show! debuted March 28, 2005 and from the start was the ultimate guide to everything cool and new in the world of technology, web culture, gaming and pop culture. X-Play made its debut almost two years earlier, on April 28, 2003 (on G4’s previous incarnation: TechTV), and immediately became the go-to destination for young men seeking the latest video game news, honest reviews, hands-on demos and exclusive video game trailers and footage. The year-end celebration will take you back through highlights of these landmark shows’ history, including its exclusive live-from-the-floor coverage of San Diego Comic-Con and E3.

  Both long-running shows helped define, as well as expand, the pop culture and gaming TV experience for a generation. We hope you’ve had as much fun watching them as we have had making them, and sincerely hope you join us in bidding a fond farewell to Attack of the Show and X-Play’s as we look back over the next two months and head towards each series’ finale.