"We currently do not have anything planned in conjunction with Microsoft for September 25," the rep added. "I can’t speak for Microsoft but can say we do not have anything planned."

Nothing planned, they say. Perhaps G4 is blissfully unaware of Microsoft's plans to hijack its broadcast, as Weird Al Yankovic was notorious for doing to MTV in the mid 1980s. Damn you, Weird Al! If you do this one more time even with the aid of Microsoft, there will be hell to pay, free games or not!

You can head over to the G-Phoria website to cast your vote, or they've got an option to vote via text message in case you don't have access to the internet or just really enjoy typing with your thumb. Hit the jump for the full list of award categories.

“X-PLAY” PRESENTS “G-PHORIA 2008,” WHERE VIEWERS TAKE CONTROL OF G4’S ANNUAL VIDEOGAME AWARDS SHOW

“G-Phoria,” the only videogame award show that puts the voting controllers in the hands of real gamers, returns to G4 with interactive features that make it the most engaging awards show on TV. Once again, G4’s experts put their personal opinions aside and allow the game-playing public to decide the winners in a wide variety of categories ranging from Best Party Game to Best New Character, with the ultimate victor being named Game of the Year.

“G-Phoria” gives gamers interactive voting options which include G4tv.com and Verizon Wireless phones. It’s television’s only awards show where real gamers choose the games they like best. The public’s choices for the year’s best games will be announced during the special “X-Play” presentation of “G-Phoria 2008” which premieres TONIGHT at 8 p.m. ET/PT, only on G4.

Winners in each “G-Phoria 2008” category, including Game of the Year, are determined by votes submitted online and via text message. “X-Play” hosts Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb are your hosts for this annual gaming celebration.

“G-Phoria 2008” award categories include:

Best Party Game

Best New Character

Best Shooter

Best Strategy Game

Best Sports Game

Best Action Game

Best Racing Game

Best Role-Playing Game

Best Handheld Game

Most Original Game

Best Multiplayer Game

Best Downloadable Content

Best Voiceover

Best Graphics

Best Soundtrack

Longest Lasting Game

Game Most Deserving of an Uwe Boll Movie Adaptation

Game of the Year

A complete listing of the 90 nominees in 18 categories, along with additional “X-Play” information, is available online at http://www.g4tv.com/xplay. Visitors can learn more about “G-Phoria 2008” and how to cast their votes, and can also find reviews of the latest games, participate in the show’s online forums and engage in some of the interactive features that make every episode of “X-Play” completely unique.

Sure it's a bit stupid, childish, hokey, and inane. Most of the time it isn't even particularly funny. What strikes me is how terrifying the thought of being chased around by Billy Mitchell with futuristic weapons actually is. I would be terrified, but practical, cutting off my own hands so the record could never come to pass. When a maniacal gaming hot sauce maker is ready to gun you down you have to think on your toes, people.

G4 said it's the first outing for its programming on a gaming console. Incidentally, G4 also said it's the "multi-media destination that feeds young guy’s addiction for the latest technology, web culture, animation and video games." So, young guys, are you addicted?

...Full release follows the jump.

Los Angeles, CA, May 27, 2008 – G4, the multi-media destination that feeds young guy’s addiction for the latest technology, web culture, animation and video games, announced today that the network has teamed up with Microsoft to offer a selection of its popular series on Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. Shows available for download immediately are animated comedy series “Code Monkeys,” including a free sneak preview of season two, snowboarder reality series “The Block” and a special weekly episode of “Attack of the Show.” The agreement marks the first time that G4’s content has been made available for download on a gaming console.

“G4 is a natural fit to be part of the Xbox LIVE community. Our young male audience spends more time interfacing with technology than any other network,” said Neal Tiles, President, G4. “This partnership underscores G4’s commitment to bringing relevant and authentic content to young guys in more ways than ever before.”

“G4 is one of the industry leaders for gaming and entertainment content and we are thrilled to offer its shows on the Xbox LIVE Video Store,” said Ross Honey, senior director of the media and entertainment group, Microsoft. “We’re sure the Xbox LIVE community is going to jump at the chance to download G4 shows, especially the never before seen free episode of Code Monkeys.”

Episodes from the following G4 series are available for download now at the Xbox LIVE Video Store:

“Code Monkeys” – G4’s hit animated comedy of 8-bit proportions centers around GameAvision, a 1980’s videogame company, and the misadventures of its staff whose crazy antics ascend any of their own video creations. Creator Adam de la Peña (“The Man Show,” “Crank Yankers”) sends the rowdy staff on side-splitting adventures that parody the golden age of videogames, including cameos of industry icons who help them along the way. Season two of “Code Monkey” debuts June 1 on G4 but a new episode is available for download now at the Xbox LIVE Video Store.

“The Block” – This reality series, currently in its second season, gives viewers a free lift ticket inside the world of hard-core snowboarders. The series is filmed at the world’s only hotels run by and for snowboarders and offers a candid look at the insanity of “The Block,” where the action behind the front desk is only topped by what happens on the slopes. It’s up to the hotel’s owners, pro-snowboarding icon Marc Frank Montoya and hotel entrepreneur Liko Smith, to balance the company and the craziness to make sure guests live in true rock-star style. Season one of the series takes place in Lake Tahoe and season two goes to the hotel’s branch in Big Bear, CA.

“Attack of the Show” – G4 brings viewers an irreverent interactive daily live trip to the digital water cooler with reports on the latest hot topics and breaking news, including non-mainstream guests and in-depth coverage of events such as CES, E3, GDC, SXSW and Comic-Con. Hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn, “Attack of the Show” takes viewers inside, underneath, around and behind tech, games, Internet culture, comic books, sports, gadgets and more. A special weekly episode, created exclusively for Xbox users, will be made available for download each week.

Ah the Wiimote. An elegant weapon, not as clumsy or as random like a blaster. Paired with the Nunchuk, it's pretty awesome too, according to this video from G4, which got an exclusive hands-on with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Wii's duel mode. (Man that was a mouthful).

G4's reporter went as Luke Skywalker, duking it out in a TIE Fighter bay with Asajj Ventress There's saber-slashing and Force-choking galore, all arising from a pretty shrewd use of combinations and reverse moves in both controllers. It's not all lightning bolts and throws, either. Check out that old-school kick to the grill Luke delivers at the end.

The video says you'll get 9 different arenas and 27 characters to choose from, classics to the expanded universe. I know that LucasArts is promising exclusive gameplay for all consoles. But I had the two Jedi Knight games on Xbox, where lightsaber combat was a lot of button mashing and getting lucky. Honestly, if the purpose of this is to at last swing a lightsaber in 1:1 combat, then this is your baseline version.

It's probably going to make me buy a Wii. The question, will it make others do the same?

X-Play Exclusive: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Wii [G4]

He regurgitated the standard anti-Take-Two spiel—albeit a bit more alliteratively, saying the company is "mentally molesting minors for money"—and threatening that he was working with unspecified law enforcement agencies to bring criminal charges against the publisher and Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick. That would be for claims of "graphic sex", not for the purported vandalizing of his Miami-area home.

Conan asks if Jack has actually played the game. The answer won't surprise you. The segment is worth a listen, as is NPR's previous coverage of GTA IV. And do stick around for Jack's sign off!

Grand Theft Auto Steals The Spotlight [NPR]

Was Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopoulos spot on when he said that Rock Band would be "training an army of a million drummers"? Maybe. It, at the very least, helped train one, Attack of the Show's Kevin Periera. He recently applied his 89% expert-level skills on Coheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home" to some real life Coheed and Cambria. How's he do? Well, I won't spoil it.

Okay, I will. He nails it. I have no idea how much real life drum experience Mr. Pereira's had, but if it's strictly limited to Rock Band, I'm impressed. If not, at least Kev got to rub elbows with the C&C music factory. Next time some internet d-bag asks why you don't just play a real instrument, fire back that maybe, just maybe, you will. Clip via FakePlasticRock.

Not only is this the first developer-powered award show to make it to mainstream television, but everyone who attended was entertained by some extremely funny acceptance speeches. Tune in and enjoy.

G4 To Show Game Developers Choice Awards Tonight [Gamasutra]

UPDATE: Blasted RSS! This aired last night (in the US at least).
Lead game designer Rory McGuire to demo never-before-seen level [gamesradar]

If you happened to miss yesterday's episode of Attack of the Show on G4, featuring Wired Game|Life's Chris Kohler and yours truly chatting about the Jeff Gerstmann-GameSpot situation, now's your chance. Notice that it's Kohler representing with a bird shirt this time, not a Kotaku editor. Now that we've had ample time to process, with tempers cooled, we rapped about the long term effects of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Score-gate. I know, that doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

MTV Multiplayer sat down with Webb, part of its week-long series of interviews with women in gaming, to ask the host of WebbAlert questions about her job, the influx of women in games, and the industry's double standards. First thing you should know about Morgan, she doesn't read her fan mail. She also avoids internet message boards. Why? Probably too many judgments on the sharpness of her knees from sexless trolls, I'm guessing.

Morgan explains, in her own words, why she's not a fan of reading reviews of herself from internet studs.

Here's the thing: 99.9 percent of people are awesome and cool and fine and normal, and there's the .01 percent of people who are morons and chicken-s-t a-holes, and they ruin it for everybody. And that sucks because I do not read fan e-mail because .01 percent of people ruin it for everybody, and I don't read forums because .01 percent of people ruin it for everybody. And it would be really great if I could go on a forum and talk to people who like the show and talk about games, but I can't because there's some 14 year-old jerk somewhere who just wants to be an idiot and try and get attention. And then you can't engage them because if you give them attention, then they win. And it's really unfortunate, and I wish that weren't true but that's the nature of the Internet; everybody gets a voice whether or not they deserve one, and I think it'd be great to get some sort of verification system so people could take ownership of their names and reputations. I think that situation, there could be some really interesting conversations. Until that day, I stay away.

I guess we won't be approving Morgan's commenting privileges any time soon, sadly. It's too bad, as she's swell in person and a treat at parties. Webb also touches on the attention paid to fellow prominent female gamers, like Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond.

Because boys like girls, straight up. Because Nerd #14 getting hired at Kotaku; not a story. Hot chick? Story. You talk to her about why they're a woman in the gaming industry. Guys all think, "Wow, wouldn't it be great if there were more? Even though she'd veto my triple-X busted woman that I want to put in this video game.

More of Morgan's thoughts on being cute, her decision to pose in her skivvies for print and her role in influencing girl gamers at MTV.

Women Working in Games: G4's Morgan Webb Talks 'X-Play' and Being a Pin-Up [MTV Multiplayer]

Don't forget, X-Play's annual G-Phoria awards is airing tonight on G4. The show announced winners in a ton of different categories, but the twist is that the winners are selected by viewers, or at least the people who hit up the poll on their site.

Categories include:
• Best System
• Best New Character
• Hottest Videogame Babe
• Best Strategy Game
• Best Sports Game
• Best Action Game
• Best RPG
• Best Handheld Game
• Most Original Game
• Best Multiplayer Game
• Best Downloadable Content
• Best Voiceover
• Best Graphics
• Best Soundtrack
• Longest Lasting Game
• Game Most Deserving of an Uwe Boll Movie Adaptation
• Game of the Year

The show will be hosted by Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT tonight on G4. Hit the link to vote...early and often.

Gphoria [G4]

In other words, this video isn't what is left on the Bioshock cutting floor, it's actually got some meat to it. Kim Phu

New Bioshock Video [Blue's News]

If you weren't glued to the television yesterday, drooling over my appearance on G4's Attack of the Show, here's your chance to salivate like a mad dog over manly discussion on console exclusivity. The Loop segment features me, EGM's Shane Bettenhausen and host Kevin Periera talking about the PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, Final Fantasy XIII, Devil May Cry 4 and Ace Combat 6. 386 points worth of console debate!

Highlights to watch out for include me nervously flip-flopping about whether timed exclusives matter and me saying there are "10 to 20 Xboxes out there." Oops! Meant millions! I supposed Kevin's jokes and Shane's crazy-eyed, level-headed logic are worth it, but the fun part is watching me panic on live television. Now, make with the ban-worthy comments! Michael McWhertor

Is Sony doomed? Does anyone care about Ace Combat? What's up with Final Fantasy XIII? Has Olivia Munn's temporary restraining order against me been lifted? These questions may be answered tonight!

So get your VCRs ready and watch for the secret message I'll deliver to awaken the Kotaku sleeper cells who regularly watch basic cable. Michael McWhertor

Attack of the Show [G4]

While I find this philosophical look at life as a Mii amusing, it would have been way better if it featured Kevin with a porn stache. Brian Crecente

I don't know which is better about this satirical clip, the basic premise which has two clueless guys trying to pitch a stream of MMOs about things like auctioning, Excel and cats or the fact that one of the guys is Kevin Pereira with a porn stache. I'm gonna have to go with the porn stache.

Come on Kevin, get on board, all the cool game writers have facial hair. Do it. DO IT. DO IT! Brian Crecente

Here's piping hot and nasty video of me and Robert Summa waxing about the state of the current handheld market. See how nice I am to the PSP? Notice how bizarre my hair looks? I should wash it more than once a week.

I do believe that Sony can squeeze a little more success out of the PSP, if they take a different approach to their handheld and make a clear distinction between it and their dominant console. Does anyone agree? Can PSP and PS3 connectivity have any useful impact? Am I drinking the PSP Kool-Aid? (Answer to that last one is "no" as I have approximately three times the games for the DS.) Michael McWhertor

I, along with Destructoid's Robert Summa, will be hitting the airwaves in just a few short hours to rap about the Nintendo DS and the PSP. He'll probably go off on how great the DS is, while I sing the praises of the PlayStation Portable and further wear out my welcome. Hey, it's not easy being a Sony cheerleader, especially when I'm doing triple duty as Nintendo fanboy and Xbox slut on top of that thankless job.

I'll highlight a few things about which you can make fun: my annoying nasal intonation, my delicate lisp, my baseless reasoning for why the PSP will ultimately be a success and Robert Summa's shifty eyeballs. Go nuts! Michael McWhertor

Attack of the Show [G4]

That's the 501st Legion, a group of cosplaying Stormtroopers, visited the G4 studios, where they held an inprompto LAN party. Those costumes sure look great, but aren't those guys a little short for Stormtroopers? Brian Ashcraft

Storm Troop Here [The Last Boss]

I was invited to speak on G4's Attack of the Show yesterday to discuss the current mini-backlash the Wii is receiving from spoiled gamers. Originally, I was going to offer a contradictory opinion, one a little harsher on the Wii.

Due to technical difficulties my blogger competition on The Loop was nixed mere seconds before airtime, forcing me to go solo against lovely host and stand up guy Kevin Pereira (He hates the Wii! Get him!). Watch me radically change my position from Nintendo critic to Nintendo apologist in an instant. Oh, and do stick around for the lame jokes. Michael McWhertor

Here's how it works. Watch for me and my spectacular beard growth on The Loop, live on G4 this afternoon arounf 4:15 PM PST. Then, come back to the comments on this post, ridicule my fashion sense and haircut choice while taking me to task for being unnecessarily harsh on the Wii. Get banned. Re-up for commenting access. Wait for the impending YouTube video. Provide further sassy comments. Repeat if necessary.

And don't forget to have fun! Michael McWhertor

Chris Grant, from Joystiq, and I will be on today's Attack of the Show during The Loop segment. I'm told we will be talking about the year to come in gaming for the five or six minutes we get on air.

The show airs at 7 p.m. EST, though I'm not exactly sure when the segment is.

Although I've been on ABC World News, Fox Nation News, CNN and MSNBC to name a few, I've never received a dress code. Check it out:

DRESS CODE? Casual dress is great for the show, as we pride ourselves on being somewhat hip. In other words... suits and ties are seriously frowned upon. In terms of specifics, please avoid any clothing with a company logo, avoid wearing solid black or white, bright reds, or small, repeating patterns such as checks or intricate plaids, which can distort on television. Think casual, fun and hip!

OK, so I'll be wearing the bright red suit with the checkered bow tie. Got it! ;) Brian Crecente

In the coolest move they've ever made, gaming network G4's Attack of the Show has posted a very sincere, very well-worded apology to our darling Aeropause.

G4's slight, as mentioned earlier today, was using Aeropause's instructional Dead Rising video on Attack of the Show without giving credit for the fantastic clip, which demonstrated how to attain the coveted Megaman blaster by destroying nigh unto 60,000 zombies.

The Attack of the Sorry:

What happened was awful, embarrassing and it doesn't matter why it happened, it was wrong. We're a corporation (although we have Space Invaders on the carpeting) and we take copyright law extremely seriously. We get pissed off when people show our stuff and don't give us credit; I wouldn't expect anyone out there to feel differently.

Like I said before, we take our role as citizens on the information superhighway very seriously. However, unlike a lot of people out there in the universe of the worldwide web, we aren't afraid to fess up to our mistakes and say we're sorry.

And so on. But they don't stop there! Not only do they fill a page with gracious explanation and apology, they go above and beyond and actually compose a little I'm Sorry song to Aeropause, complete with acoustic guitar and stylish hat.

Let this be a lesson to all tubedwellers: eating humble pie earns you a high score. As a bonus lesson, let it be known that a slick little grandpa hat and some nice glasses can dress up your jeans n' teeshirt geek uniform something fierce. Eliza "I wish I had a grandpa hat. And a song." Gauger

This post goes without a photo because our uploader is broken.

Attack of the Show apologizes as great length [G4]

Aeropause's Richard is dignified but disappointed after receiving the game media equivalent of "you're not on the list" on TV game network G4.

I was at my desk today when all of a sudden I hear Kevin Pereira mention something about a video showing how to get 60,000 kills in Dead Rising. I immediately perked up because if you are a loyal Aeropausian you will remember that we made a video on just that subject a few days back. To my surprise they were showing the video that I created. I was happy to see something I did on TV, but then I noticed that they gave absolutely no credit to our humble website. I posted the video on Youtube so I expected that it would be used on some other blogs, which did happen, but unlike those blogs G4 decided not to give any credit whatsoever.

For shame, G4. Considering how rapidly that video spread, how instructive it is and how many people are probably using the advice therein at this very moment, credit was a pretty crappy thing to omit. Eliza Gauger

G4 Disses Aeropause [Aeropause]

Ironically, if Eliza were to replace the go-go girl, the PS3 girl would become the svelte Wii. Thanks, Nick! Florian Eckhardt

In this vaguely unsettling clip from G4, Attack of the Show host Kevin Pereira exorcises his desperate frustrations at being constantly mocked by the entirety of the gaming establishment by beating the everloving snot out of a defenseless DS Lite.

The segment is framed as a sarcastic attack on the large number of people who are having hinge-cracking issues. Thanks for the plug, G4, but I'm completely at a loss as to what Pereira's point is.

That the Lite is flimsy? I don't think so...he really used some force on that thing. That Lite owners are whiny? I'm not seeing it. The hinges are definitely cracking; this isn't just some made-up FUD. That he's so rich and macho he can destroy neat toys like that and laugh his cruel laugh? Could be...maybe his female co-host got so flustered by his silverback display that she showed him what the Touch Generation was all about. Maybe he just thought it would be funny. But I don't get it.

Did anyone see the rest of this episode? Can you shed any light on what the hell was going on here? It's okay...we won't tell anyone you watch G4. Thanks, Joe and Eric. Eliza Gauger

Comcast's G4, a cable network aimed at young men, has hired Howard SternHoward Stern's longtime girlfriend, actress Beth Ostrosky, to host irreverent countdown series "Filter" and recruited Fox Sports correspondent Olivia Munn to co-host pop culture news show "Attack of the Show."

Hires are part of the channel's evolution away from videogames into broader-based fare for guys.

...

In addition, both "Filter" and "Attack of the Show" will be relaunched in June with a scaled-back focus on technology. Heavier emphasis will be on attitude, humor and a broader range of male-oriented topics.

Now they just need to add some wrestling and host their own crappy video game awards show.

Cabler G4 invites new hosts [Variety]

As part of their Xbox 360 bonanza, G4 is showing world exclusive footage of Prey. From the creators of the Duke Nuke 'Em games, with the Doom 3 engine, viewers will see 60 new seconds of teasing footage from the adventure. Allegedly, the game takes place inside a living ship which reacts to the main character's actions. Sounds intense. It sounds like the story of Jonah gone gaming.

Morgan Webb, of G4's X-Play sorta fame, has a new monthly column in FHM. She'll be answering questions about gaming in a two-piece swimsuit. Thank God they didn't get Kevin Pereira to answer the questions and wear the two-piece.

Morgan's New FHM Section [I Heart Morgan Webb]