Xplay The Musical The Review

[GANNON] back in the before times people couldn’t 
watch game reviews on youtube; this was  
long before the days of people like the 
Angry Video Game Nerd or the   
Nostalgia Critic, long before the days of channels like 
Eggsnbaconbits (what the [ __ ] was that?)  
in these old archaic times a tv channel existed: G4
G4 was made by gamers, for gamers, and reported  
on all things video games. with great shows like 
Code Monkeys, American Ninja Warrior, Attack of  
the Show, and reruns of COPS, there existed a 
shining glittering gem of a series, and that  
series was called X-play. X-play would review video 
games that had just come out on systems like PS2 , 
Gamecube, Xbox and even the Dreamcast, and 
give them a score from 1 to 5 out  
of 5. These scores were what they gave us. 
These were the prototypical youtuber reviewers,  
except on cable tv in full half hour episodes.
And one episode was a full musical.
[Billy the Newsboy] Oh, thanks Mister!
Musical Episode! Xplay! Xplay!
[GANNON] when we talk about something like x-play 
the musical, you really have to understand  
the context it was made in to fully appreciate 
it, let’s use as a counter example the
Channel Awesome movies: If you tried to watch Kickassia
by itself with no knowledge of Nostalgia Critic,  
with no knowledge of any of the Channel Awesome 
video makers, this movie would make no sense at all  
(it probably doesn’t anyway) but i mean let’s

be
real, that movie is 10 years old and has aged like
milk. But still, it had an idea. The idea of taking
comedy internet reviews that sometimes included a
wacky skits in them, and stringing it along into a
two-hour adventure of a skit? that’s just wild and
unheard of for the year 2010.
x-play of the musical
came out in 2007.
The idea of taking a game review tv show and turning in into a half hour long opera with no real warning for this genre change
is in itself really hilarious. Let’s take a step back and
just acknowledge that on a fundamental level: They turned a game
review show into an opera and it
worked
They turned a game review show into an opera?
funniest shit i’ve ever seen.
i’m going to get into the specifics of why it worked in a second
but to do so let’s break it down into its actual plot:
after all just doing music for music’s sake and not having a message or story to tell is childish
pointless and could come off as just cringe
wait, the Nostalgia Critic did that in 2019? Why?
heh … “The Wall.”
no, okay, I don’t – I don’t care Brian, the “The Wall” is –
the is – is the peak peak performance of Doug Walker
okay? I don’t care what anyone says.
a game producer hears about x-play and offers a deal to the hosts to make a video game based on whatever they want
and they do it only to find out that the game is bad. Summarizing the entire plot in one sentence makes it sound bad, but imagine what
other movies and musicals are summed up as? Beauty
and the Beast? a girl develops stockholm syndrome
to keep her dad safe. Frozen? girl with ice powers
does … no that’s it, girl with ice powers. i just need
to explain the plots that people know what’s going
on here when you’re watching these songs. The songs
themselves are also way better than they have any
right to be. Okay, so unfortunately we don’t have
the names of the actual songs, but let’s go through
them as we go through the plot.
[BUISNESSMAN] what’s this x-play
you’re speaking of?
[BILLY] What’s x-play? why it’s only the best show on television!
[GANNON] “That’s x-play,” the opening
to the musical. This is when the game developer
finds out about x-play. This song needs to do a
lot to accomplish what it’s setting out to do –
This song has to establish what x-play is in
case a channel surfer just stumbled upon this show
for the first time, and with the gaming developer
overhearing and asking questions, it allows
us to info-dump a ton of exposit ion very quickly
[DEVELOPER] Well, tell me more about this
“Adam Sessler” and “Morgan Webb” …
[GANNON] this song also introduces Billy, a character created
for the musical. Billy is an old-timey news boy
crying out “extra extra,” but also becomes the
opening scene to each Act, this creates a running
theme to show us where we are in the story.
doesn’t he sceam x-play? is that a joke? i’m stupid but
he says x-play he doesn’t say extra
[GANNON] the song itself has fun energy includes
all the easter eggs and references from
the show in a colorful and silly way, having a
nefarious character get all the information he
needs from an over eager fan more than willing
to explain every facet of the topic. It’s also
no doubt how brian will end up
giving away all of our secrets >:(
[DEVELOPER] ♫ That boy’s devotion can only mean one thing:
There’s money to be made, wherever little boys are known to sing ♫
[GANNON] having the cheerful music continue into the
background of this nefarious soliloquy juxtaposes
the two viewpoints perfectly. Hey do you know what
“singing in canon” means? It’s when two singers sing
the same notes but in a roundabout way (sort
of like when people sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
but slightly out of sync with each other;
one person starts and then another person
starts) and that’s what these two characters are
doing at this point in the song! Except if you
listen closely Billy the Newsboy is just singing
nonsense words to show how silly the situation is
[BILLY] ♫ La la la la laaaa ♫
this is not only a solid technique used for
limited run time because it allows you to cram
as much into a short timeframe as possible, but it
also shows the acknowledgment that the creators
know this is stupid, something Nostalgia Critic does
not acknowledge! i’m going to try to stop comparing
this to Nostalgia Critic, that was the last time i
swear. Between the songs, the conceit of the show is
that they’re reviewing the best game soundtracks
of all time, and sadly this was a time made before
undertale came out or you know Megalovania would
be on the list. Doo doo doo doo.
[CAMERAMAN] Great job that’s a wrap
[DEVELOPER] pardon me, Adam, Morgan, could i have just
one second of your time?
[GANNON] “Dream of More” opens on a developer walking in on Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, the hosts of x-play, and here’s
where things take a drastic turn into both the symbolic and the
allegorical. Plus, epic devil backup dancers! Okay so
this silhouetted singing? pure Chiaroscuro. This
dramatic lighting effect on singers as seen in
film noir, or Corpse Bride i guess, plays on a lot
of different tropes but also having that cut back
and forth to him singing and dancing under the
giant x-play logo hung in their tv sets symbolizes
two different takes on his intents: In one sense
the chiaroscuro effect shows his intentions from
what they are: He is the man in the shadows; the
back alley dealer ready to strike a deal; but on
the other hand their name is already in lights, so
his deal seems almost ineffectual from their point
of view. This clashing perspective play with fancy
song and dance is intentional on behalf of the
writers to illustrate exactly what’s going through
adam and morgan’s minds as this is happening
[MORGAN] ♫ I don’t mean to flaunt, but we get paid to play video games ♫
[ADAM] ♫ What more could we want? ♫
[GANNON] at first reluctant but by the end becoming
hedonistic in their lofty dreams and goals
[EPIC DEVIL DANCERS] Don’t you ever dream?
[DEVELOPER] ♫ of more? ♫
[ADAM] ♫ I dream of more! ♫
[CHOIR] ♫ You dream of more! ♫
[MORGAN] ♫ I dream of more! ♫
[CHOIR] ♫ You dream of more! ♫
[GANNON] and hedonistic is definitely the word to use to
describe the two dressed and typically
roman attire requesting godlike powers
[MORGAN] ♫ Like laser beam eyes! ♫
[ Laser sound effect ]
[GANNON] at this point finding no need to hide his identity
the devil takes his hat off
to them revealing his horns
a deal with the devil usually ends in disaster
so everyone should know where this is going
[ DEVIL ] ♫ Sign your name ♫
♫ sign your name ♫
♫ sign your name ♫
[GANNON] the song is lulling,, it has a sort of
hypnotic tone to it, with the major
upbeats being suggestions from adam or morgan
showing their high hopes. Act 2 opens with Billy
the news boy’s cough getting worse and Adam
Morgan showing concern for him
[MORGAN] that doesn’t sound too good.
you should get that checked out
[GANNON] this is an important characterization for later
[DEVIL] Welcome to the Factory ♫
[GANNON] “The Factory” is an industrial workers song with a
strong company performance this song has strong
southern inspiration, large metallic metronome
beats to signify the factory and one of the
best choreographed scenes in the special.
Just following these workers as they pass
a metal pipe to one another is enough to
create the suspension of disbelief of an
actual factory setting – in musical theater,
showing small character work like this or
having a limited background budget is
not necessarily a bug – it’s a feature.
[WORKER] ♫ Please Mr. Sessler, we need a break ♫
[ADAM] ♫ Sorry, no can do, we’ve got a game to make. ♫
[GANNON] it’s not always about the graphics,
as long as it has soul. The whine of
the factory workers juxtaposing Adam and
Morgan’s ridiculous commands shows two
things; their power trip corrupting
them and losing all their empathy, as
well as the workers saying the game can’t
take too much more of these lofty ideas
[BOTH] ♫ These are the things that we want in our game! ♫
[ADAM] ♫ Throw in another cutscene! ♫
[WORKER] ♫ But we already have one hundred eighty four! ♫
[MORGAN] ♫ A regenerating Health Bar! ♫
[WORKER] ♫ This game can’t take much more! ♫
*cough* No Man’s Sky *cough*
[GANNON] still though the industrial crescendo leading
towards the end is done masterfully and ends with a religious allegory
[WORKER] ♫ The game is … Finished. ♫
[GANNON] brian’s not here to ruin it by talking about care bears so what’s this say when the x-play game shows up
in the manger nativity scene looking like baby jesus
on christmas, it um, something something
Evangelion. i don’t know – look it’s not a
Tidepool Orchestra video if you don’t talk about how something
has a bible reference okay?
[ADAM] this is weird.
[GANNON] Before we get into act three we need to talk about
how three act plays generally work. Generally
speaking to make a good three act structure Act
one is all set up Act two is when stuff starts to
get real serious and Act three is when you have a
crisis and then have to resolve everything i know
i said i wouldn’t compare this to Nostalgia Critic anymore,
so i won’t, but let’s just say
This musical GOOD, and him BAD. Act 3 begins with
Billy the news boy collapsing on the ground with
clumps of hair missing and adam and morgan acting
above it all asking why no one is cleaning up the
garbage around here
[ADAM] when are they going to pick up the trash around here?
[MORGAN] don’t they know who we are?
this contrasts how they act in the beginning of
act two and demonstrates how far they’ve changed.
without the scene in act 2 showing their concern
for billy this new over-the-top diva role might not have been so obvious
and that’s why it was good characterization. finally adam and morgan get to see the game they develop
and even the creators
of the game wore them that they might not like it
[ADAM] well hold on don’t you want to play the game?
[WORKER] No, i’ve played enough already. Do yourselves a favor
destroy it before it’s too late. Oh and your game
only works for Dreamcast
[GANNON] They mention it can only be played on Dreamcast which
is a running jab at Sega that the show had for a while
at this point but it’s a subtle joke and
it’s aged pretty well all things considered
the game itself is … well it wouldn’t be too out
of place if it was on the Mayday_Maniac channel
by the way did i ever introduce myself? (i did in
the Sans video if you don’t [ __ ] remember it )
[ARCHIVE GANNON] but how strong really is he
♫ CALLING OUT MAYDAY ♫
uh oops uh wrong channel
[GANNON] this Tidepool video is being narrated by Gannon the creator of
Mayday_Maniac, so if you like the things like a screaming
red baby asking why his parents don’t love him
[XPLAY GAME] ♫ WHY ♫
♫ LOVE ♫
♫ Me ♫
[GANNON] then you’ll love my life. It’s great, i just love
when my dad beats me. Anyway Adam and Morgan are
terrified of what their game has become
and we get this cool song, “What Have We Done?”
a classical lament archetype which segues into
a soliloquy from the game itself singing love
me love me why don’t you love me what’s like
Same.
[XPLAY GAME] ♫ L̵̞̄o̷̱̒v̷̫͊e̷͈̽ ̴̥̊ṁ̶̺e̵̢͐ ♫
♫ L̴o̴v̴e̴ ̶m̵e̷ ♫
♫ W̷̼͊h̷̻͒y̴͍͊ ̶͔̾d̶̘͒õ̴̰n̸̲̈́’̷̲̃t̵̥́ ̴̗̄ỹ̷̬ö̵͇ú̵͔ ̵̦̃l̸̙̓o̷̞͐v̴̘͝ẻ̸̩ ̸̙͠m̵̼̉e̷͓͝ ♫
Ĺ̶͓Ȏ̵̼V̶̢͋E̴̞͘ ̸͎͒M̵̥̋E̷̬̓ ̸̠̓ ̸̮̄ ̷̊ͅ ̴̢̂ ̵̫́L̵̡̀O̸̟̾V̸̱̿Ẽ̷̤ ̴̭̍M̸̯̔ È̸̼
W̵̧̉H̸͎̀Ý̶̼ ̴̠͌ ̷̩͊ ̵͉̈́ ̴̻̀D̸̜̉O̷̓ͅŅ̸͠T̶̳͊ ̷̱͗ ̷͖͝ ̶̩̇ ̴̦́Y̵̯̿O̶͎̊U̴̥̿ ̵̛̰ ̸̱̈ ̵̦̐ ̵͕̅L̷̝̑O̸̟̿V̴̩̆E̴̙̍ ̶̹͘ ̸̄ͅ ̷̯̒ ̸̭̽M̶̗̈́E̶̪̚
[GANNON] adam and morgan then kill the game,
pulling the plug on a toilet’s peak
also literally they they pulled
is this an abortion reference?
the final act shows adam and morgan
returning to their old selves by
billy the news boy’s hospital
bed to find him dying of cancer
[DOCTOR] young billy was on his way to a
full recovery until he played this
[ADAM] oh billy
[MORGAN] we’re sorry we didn’t mean to scare you
[ADAM] or give you cancer
[MORGAN] adam we didn’t give  him cancer
[ADAM] we didn’t?
[MORGAN] did we?
[GANNON] the doctor insinuates that they gave him cancer with
their terrible video game but he was coughing
back in the overture so i don’t think that’s
quite true the devil ends up getting a
ton of money through a legal loophole
and adam and morgan have no choice but
to review their game a one out of five
[BOTH] ♫ ONE … OUT OF FIVE ♫
♫ To the X-play game ♫
♫ a shame it came one hell contrived ♫
[GANNON] one out of five is the finale to the musical
and shows the two of them rating every aspect
of the musical from the backup dancers to the
camera crew on their classic one to five scale
which ties back to us in the beginning of their
character arc you know what that means right ?
hero’s journey. damn it. X-play the musical
actually follows the hero’s journey really
well or at least a simplified “Dan Harmon” eight
part structure – 1. adam and morgan are in a game
review show as we see in the opening song as
well as them on stage in their first scene
they review games. 2. the devil tempts them
with a game facing their likenesses creating
a new desire that wasn’t there before this moves
them to 3. an unfamiliar situation where they
start making the game and demanding more and more
until 4. they changed entirely into superstar
divas who no longer care about billy’s health
or well-being 5. they get the game made but
6. the game turned out to be a Mayday_Maniac video
please subscribe. 7.they destroy
the game and return to their old selves but 8.
now they’re better people for their experience
fact this musical follows the hero’s journey
the three-act structure model and the songs are
all pretty good it’s a testament to the talent
and craft that went into this. It’s just a shame
that even though all that and a million dollar
budget didn’t get this episode any more views
or praise than any other episode of the show,
now X-play the musical is just a footnote of a
footnote of a time before internet reviewers made
it big and it came out when i was two years old
[ADAM] ♫ Well I give our Audience a 5 out of 5 for Obedience
for sitting through this entire episode ♫
that’s impressive
♫ sitting through this entire episode ♫
[GANNON] we here at Tidepool Orchestra
give x-play musical four out of five thanks for
watching i don’t know you could just put these
[ __ ] anywhere in but um he actually did too
sorry doug walker did two musicals he did one
um with the nostalgia critic before it was
like his first like movie i think i don’t
know it might been but that was the reason
why he wanted to quit was because he i can’t
oh yeah i’d look it up but um he made he made
one before the wall like really early on like
like the like before the 2010s i don’t
think probably not but you know whatever um
and it was the reason he wanted to quit
because it was because he thought that he
yes les miserables maybe i um no
it was moulin rouge yes wait what
i i do okay never mind um but i came over
what it was but he actually wanted to quit um
doing the nostalgia critic because of that
because he was like oh i’m never going to
be able to top this so i’ll just stop now it might
have been moulin rouge i could be wrong about that
but anyway um yeah just put that in whenever
and make it not as bad as what i’m saying