This is not Morgan Webb. This is not Adam Sessler.

X-play is the gold standard. Its still the most popular show on G4 and was one of the most popular on its previous home TechTV. Why not? When gamers turn off their boxes, they often turn to game news in magazines and on the internet, so its only appropriate they be able to see games on TV too.

But its hardly without competition, and it many cases its surpassed. If you’re still watching X-Play religiously because you think its the only show on TV talking about games (G4’s clusterhump “Attack Of The Show” does not count), you’d be missing out on more informative, more balanced, and in some cases, funnier shows. Allow me to focus on some of X-Play’s direct competitors, shows with similar production values and connections to the industry.
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This is actually the second game in what is know in Japan as the “Rushing Beat” series. It’s the sequel to what is known over here as “Rival Turf” and the predecessor to what is known over here as the Peacekeepers. Lousy names aside, the Rushing Beat games added their own small but innovative spin to the side-scrolling brawler formula popularized in games such as Final Fight. Rival Turf featured a secret code that allowed players to rename the game’s characters and enemies while Peacekeepers would feature exploration elements. Brawl Brothers little quirk was that at the start of the game, you selected two characters to start with. The main villain Dieter would kidnap the other three, clone them, and force you to rescue them throughout the game’s 4 levels. They tried to work in some exploration elements, but players would find themselves stuck if they didn’t follow the right path. Other than that, nothing stood out in the game, but there was no glaring weakness either. Just a nice game which you can play with a friend. their is also a one on one versus mode for when players wanted a diversion from the main game.

Oh yeah, as an added bonus, the original Japanese version is hidden on the cart as well, accessible by a code (repeatedly press BAXY in that order before the Jaleco logo appears) It removes the exploration elements, changes the character names, and adds in a new Time Attack multiplayer mode. This is probably one of the nicer easter eggs hidden in the game.

In 1996, Midway released Mortal Kombat Trilogy, a “special edition” version of Mortal Kombat 3 for Playstation and Nintendo 64 which included all the characters and most of the backgrounds from all of the games up to that point. It was to serve as the final chapter of the current storyline before the series received an overhaul of sorts with MK 4. Since then, the series experienced a fair share of ups and downs, until 2002’s MK Deadly Alliance completely revitalized the series. The franchise continued right along with 2004’s MK Deception, which included a plethora of new gaming modes, including an expanded version of conquest, puzzle kombat, and what was a first for 3-d fighting games, online play. Last fall, Midway re-upped again with Armageddon, which serves as the last game of the current storyline and the last game on current generation systems.
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This video (leaked from GameSpot) shows off some of the new features coming our way, and even mentions a date of May 7th. Marketplace will get its own blade, integrating Friend lists with Windows Live Messenger, and new download options are on the way.