Remembering G4 Part Seven: Cheat!

By 2006-2007 most, if not all, of the original launch programs from G4’s 2002 launch had been canceled. However, there were a small amount that had survived. There was the adult version of Cinematech, the rebranded version of Icons, and the show I am here to reminisce about: Cheat. As the name implies, Cheat was the TV equivalent of a tips and tricks magazine that gave you cheat codes, walkthroughs, and more.

I will come right out and say that by the time I had started watching Cheat in 2005, I had no idea that there was a previous incarnation/style. It was only until the days I had started looking through a “loophole” to find old G4 clips from before the TechTV merger (or as I call it: “the disaster of 2004”), I learned that Cheat had been a different show than the one I was a fan of watching on G4. After watching the original version of Cheat: Pringles Gamers Guide I now regret not seeking out content from the previous iteration of Cheat.

When the G4TechTV merger was ultimately finished, in my opinion, things started going downhill as shows were changed either with new hosts or underwent format changes as I mentioned in the previous edition of Remembering G4 I did on Icons/Game Makers. (You can read it here)

After original host Cory Rouse was replaced by Kristen Holt (now Adams), things appeared to go off the rails. For the first season of the modified version of Cheat, each episode focused on one game only as opposed to the previous incarnation of Cheat which saw a wide array of games mentioned per episode.

Things would get back to some sense of normalcy as the following season saw the return of focusing on various games in favor of a single game for an entire episode. The thing that always had me confused, and to this day scratching my head, is why the second incarnation of Cheat would frequently go on hiatus. The final episode of Cheat would be in early 2009 as it would go on to be relegated to a special segment on X-Play.

Cory Rouse, in my opinion, was a better host as his style felt more believable when compared to Kristen Holt’s hosting. Rouse also “won” when it comes to success after G4 as he would go on to become an Imagineer for Disney and is the Creative Director for Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.