And Now... The Rest Of The Story

just remember to stay suckafree man, i'll follow you wherever

This is gross.
 
Glad to hear your dad is on the mend though.

Is Dave trying to emulate dry Brit humour or does he really not care?

I know it's dumb as hell that this needed to be done, but it does make me feel better to know that A. They finally got an English guy on Gamespot and B. They were willing to finally talk about this and it not censor that the management team did something pretty messed up. I had heard the story before today, but hearing it released publicly is a very nice show of goodwill and faith on their part to everyone. Sorry it cost you your privacy but it sounds like this is a story you wanted to tell anyways but just couldn't.

@ZombiePie said:

Spooky...

@SuperSambo said:

@AxleFGK said:

@artgarcrunkle said:

@Deusx said:

I just wished you guys would actually do some kind of video to explain EVERYTHING. The answers to many questions have been all over the place. For example what is going to happen to screened and anime vice? What are the new offices like? Why didn't you guys make a goodbye video? What do you guys get from all this? Money and tech? New editorial staff? Is someone going to join Vinny and Drew on the editing side of things? Why exactly did you do this? What do WE get from this? What do the Gamespot guys get from all this besides a way of making more ads money? What do Gamespot users and community gain from all of this? What is going to happen to Rorie? Aren't you sad the Whiskey Media family is splitting up? Are you actually happy to be on cubicles again? I can keep going...

• Rorie is going to create a post once everything has died down, so that will answer quite a bit. His twitter makes it seem that he has no idea about the future, but he hopes to carry on working at Screened.
• What are the new offices like? They've been there a day. Let them settle in first.
• Why do you want a goodbye video? Anyway, it happened very quickly so I doubt that would be feasible.
• The guys get more money from this, as has been said many times. More crazy antics, better event coverage etc.
• The Vinny and Drew issue is not something that needs to be addressed immediately.
• Why did they do it? They have said that they needed business people to help them further advance.
• What do we get? A better website
• What do the GS guys get? What better incentive do you need than more money? Also, it has been mentioned that they will work together so coverage can be targeted to the correct audience.
• They have said that they are sad about the crew splitting up, but they will make efforts to see each other.

All of these questions seemed like things that just don't need to be addressed, will be addressed in due time or are the concern of a crazy man.

Will has mentioned on "This Is Only A Test" that if they need to have game talk that they could invite one of the GB guys during the podcast if the schedule allows or hopefully (if it pushes through) guest during the April-OCTOBERKAST.

How awesome must Jeff and the gang feel right now? They head out on their own, take some risks, and prove with cold hard $$$ that they were doing it right all along.

@djhicks1 said:

I feel better about Gamespot now.

I've been feeling a lot better about them in the months and years since. If anything, they've become one of the harshest sites on the net. Obviously I have my worries, but things look OK so far.

Feels a little bit like going home, doesn't it? Almost.

@tourgen said:

How awesome must Jeff and the gang feel right now? They head out on their own, take some risks, and prove with cold hard $$$ that they were doing it right all along.

Indeed. This whole thing vindicates Jeff, and serves as a reminder to anyone in the future about the dangers of buckling under publisher pressure.

I feel a whole lot better after watching that.

@artgarcrunkle said:

@Deusx said:

I just wished you guys would actually do some kind of video to explain EVERYTHING. The answers to many questions have been all over the place. For example what is going to happen to screened and anime vice? What are the new offices like? Why didn't you guys make a goodbye video? What do you guys get from all this? Money and tech? New editorial staff? Is someone going to join Vinny and Drew on the editing side of things? Why exactly did you do this? What do WE get from this? What do the Gamespot guys get from all this besides a way of making more ads money? What do Gamespot users and community gain from all of this? What is going to happen to Rorie? Aren't you sad the Whiskey Media family is splitting up? Are you actually happy to be on cubicles again? I can keep going...

Nice to finally hear the full story.....I'm excited for the future, hopefully the site gets a nice redesign.

Not gonna lie, I threw a bit of a fit reading that there announcement. But I think y'all have your priorities secure. Giantbomb is awesome, and as long as it's awesome, I'm with ya.

Just promise me you'll stay away from Kotaku. Yeah? Ok we good.

Good to see all that getting cleared out.

I'm coming along for the ride, and I hope it's going to get even crazier!

I can't believe they use that chintzy virtual set non-ironically over there. It's like from a T&E bit or something.

@Grimluck343 said:

I was ready to be angry and call them sellouts. Then I saw the hardcore Dave t-shirt. All is forgiven. Good luck.

They aren't sellouts anyway, they made a very good decision.

@Zatoichi_Sanjuro said:

Who needs two gaming websites? IGN and 1UP, that turned out well didn't it?

Indeed. Anyone who thinks that Giantbomb will remain an independent part of Gamespot is deluded! All that CBS are doing is removing a more innovative competitor!

This was so awkward and depressing to watch :(

I am totally panicking right now. Mostly because I thought Whiskey was doing really well.

@Alazoral said:

I can't believe they use that chintzy virtual set non-ironically over there. It's like from a T&E bit or something.

I'm waiting for this to all turn out to be one big Cinco ad.

I'm with you every step of the way Jeff

Great business move. This will give Giantbomb more to work with... however... Im scared of GB eventually fading away in the Gamespot clutch... im not saying it WILL happen, Im just nervous... cuz I love these guys

Baller. Jeff gets fired by some bastards, goes and makes an even better site, and then returns victorious four years later. The bastards are gone, Jeff is back, and Gamespot has to kiss the ring! I guess now we know who IS in charge, and who IS NOT in charge.

Jeff even took the high road about the crap that they put him through back in 2007. Classy. That's how it's done, kids.

I thinks thats a bunch of bs but it is what it is i just hope things stay the same and dont go crappy like gamespot.

"the rest of the story" didn't really add much of anything, despite it being a 25+ minute video. Everybody already knew everything that was revealed here, I guess actually confirming it is SOMETHING at least. Still, I was hoping to get more details behind the events. Jeff really glossed over being called into meetings by just saying "heated words were exchanged". I realize that Gamespot now either owns or as at least partners with your boss, but if the people responsible for your firing don't work for Gamespot anymore, why not say what was said? If they told you to change your tone in the reviews, or god forbid increase your review scores, now is the time to say so. Conversation details should be listed if you are going to say that this video was meant to reveal anything, or provide closure. Things must have been pretty damned bad if Brad, Vinny, Alex(even though he had a Harmonix job before joining WM), Rory, all left. There were also several GS employess that quit that didn't join WM. Hell, didn't Ryan announce his girlfriend had given birth very close to his leaving? He left a steady paycheck with a new child for a reason, right? Details as to what was said would be really nice. I know we aren't entitled to anything, but if you are going to make a long ass video claiming to spill the beans, I wish it wasn't full of Jeff talking to someone who wasn't even at Gamespot during any of the time Jeff worked there, and nearly the entire length of the conversation is Jeff saying how great Gamespot is and they aren't bad people. I mean if Dave wanted to sell out to the highest bidder, and that bidder was a company that didn't want Jeff around, and nearly every other GB member flat out didn't want to work there, that's his business, and that's the risk you take when you let Whiskey take control, but to pretend this video provides any closure on anything is disingenuous. But hey, if all the membership money, donations, huge increase in ads, and store merch isn't paying the bills for uploading videos to Youtube, I guess the operating income has to come from somewhere. At least Kevin VanOrd won't be alone as the only good Gamespot staffer anymore. *Im sure this will all be a huge wall of text, as usual when I post in multiple paragraphs here. Not my fault, I spaced it correctly, Giantbomb's post system always does this to me.

Does Gamespot actually own Giantbomb now? The reason I ask is that I imagine there could be some pretty intense conflicts arising in the future. For example,if the GB gang will be considered Gamespot staff, I suppose that Ryan will have to surrender his "largest man-tits in the office" trophy to Carolyn Petit. Unless they consider surgery to be a disqualification. Regardless of this possible technicality, I bet Alex's "man with the biggest vagina" belt will remain safe either way.

Great video, although it was still really surreal to see Jeff shaking Davison's hand. Very happy to hear Jeff say they want to not change GB but make it better, great to hear him praising the community, and good to finally get closure on the whole "Gerstmann-gate" thing. In all honesty I thought we'd probably never quite know that story, especially not this soon.

@DayOneAdvantage said:

Does Gamespot actually own Giantbomb now? The reason I ask is that I imagine there could be some pretty intense conflicts arising in the future. For example,if the GB gang will be considered Gamespot staff, I suppose that Ryan will have to surrender his "largest man-tits in the office" trophy to Carolyn Petit. Unless they consider surgery to be a disqualification. Regardless of this possible technicality, I bet Alex's "man with the biggest vagina" belt will remain safe either way.

No, GameSpot does not own Giant Bomb. They are separate entities that both share a common owner, CBS Interactive. Neither answers to the other.

@Hailinel said:

@DayOneAdvantage said:

Does Gamespot actually own Giantbomb now? The reason I ask is that I imagine there could be some pretty intense conflicts arising in the future. For example,if the GB gang will be considered Gamespot staff, I suppose that Ryan will have to surrender his "largest man-tits in the office" trophy to Carolyn Petit. Unless they consider surgery to be a disqualification. Regardless of this possible technicality, I bet Alex's "man with the biggest vagina" belt will remain safe either way.

No, GameSpot does not own Giant Bomb. They are separate entities that both share a common owner, CBS Interactive. Neither answers to the other.

Pretty much. CBS isn't dumb, either. They probably wanted the extra manpower, to say nothing of any possible site tech CBS can use in other places.

And CBS has been a lot more hands-off than Gamespot's previous management. They'll be fine.

You can count me in guys. I was surprised to hear about this at first. However, after listening to the reasoning behind all of this, it sounds like a wise decision.

Wow. This is so strange that Gamespot will effectively own two separate video game websites. I know that the creative content of Giant Bomb will supposedly not be influenced by Gamespot but I still find it very strange that there will be two separate sites owned by Gamespot which are both reviewing games and most likely be posting different scores for the same games. Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope that Giantbomb remains as great as it has always been, but I'm just curious what Gamespot's long term motives are for acquiring Giantbomb.

I am glad that Jeff can finally tell the story of what actually happened with his dismissal from Gamespot. Now we can all put it to rest and the speculation can end.

Wow. This is so strange that Gamespot will effectively own two separate video game websites. I know that the creative content of Giant Bomb will supposedly not be influenced by Gamespot but I still find it very strange that there will be two separate sites owned by Gamespot which are both reviewing games and most likely be posting different scores for the same games. Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope that Giantbomb remains as great as it has always been, but I'm just curious what Gamespot's long term motives are for acquiring Giantbomb.

I am glad that Jeff can finally tell the story of what actually happened with his dismissal from Gamespot. Now we can all put it to rest and the speculation can end.

That Gamespot green screen set is terrible. I wish they would go back to a real set. Nice to see the story being told as it gives some perspective of how the site worked back then.

This sounds promising! I trust the Giantbomb guys, even with this big decision :) Wish them all the best!

I just have a bad feeling about this whole move. I guess we will see how it goes in the future.

Very very nice to actually get that whole story straight out like that, I pretty much knew everything already but like you said Jeff, it was blown way out of proportion! Always more to it, isn't it... Glad you guys made this move! Congrats!

I've always loved Giant Bomb because it's just 2 or 3 or 4 dudes sitting in a room playing a game (hopefully it's a terrible one, more entertaining!) and just hanging out. The star wars galaxies and matrix quick looks are awesome. It never struck me as their 'job' to do this, just that they are hanging out with some friends playing some games.. and that's awesome.

If gamespot/cbs ruins that feeling i'll be very disappointed.

No surprise, it's what we all thought. It's nice to have confirmation. I did think for awhile that there may have been more to the story, but it turns out not to be the case. Just a mix of inexperienced management not knowing what to do about standard industry complaints. I'm just glad it worked out all for the best with the GiantBomb team, and expect that things will only get better from here on out.

um..so a game review/news site....is now part of a game review/news site.

and this is a good thing? talk about overkill.

whatever...bets on how long it takes for giant bomb to be completely absorbed into Gamespot.

This video made me a little less queasy to the move. It took some days for me to finally watch it, life got in the way, but it was pleasing to see Jeff talk about what's happened, and is happening. I mean, I know he has to smile and grin for the things that are going on, but I am sure at least he is alright with what's happening. I wonder what bodega thinks about all this, not that his opinion matters.

To be honest I was also a little curious why Ryan left Gamespot. No real surprise form this interview. I can't wait to see how much improve the site will be ... Jeff looks real exited to do this.

@Norusdog said:

um..so a game review/news site....is now part of a game review/news site.

and this is a good thing? talk about overkill.

whatever...bets on how long it takes for giant bomb to be completely absorbed into Gamespot.

You really need to understand the difference between CBSi and Gamespot. Hint: one is a large company that owns the other.

All I have to say is I can't WAIT to see the crazy house the Giant Bomb crew rent out for E3 with CBSi money! :)

Seriously guys bigger bar, bigger interview area, more couches! :)

@GozerTC said:

All I have to say is I can't WAIT to see the crazy house the Giant Bomb crew rent out for E3 with CBSi money! :)

Seriously guys bigger bar, bigger interview area, more couches! :)

You're joking, right? CBS is a tightwad. Drop in to your local CBS-owned radio station or television news room.

I don't like CBS. I don't like GameSpot (they're the poster child for shitty ad-oriented, unfocused, backwards design). And even if GB gets fucked (which I hope it won't), I'll continue to be a Gerstmann fan.

@Branthog said:

@UnrealDP said:

Yay for change! Duders, you've got my full confidence 'n all that! It's not like some corporation's gonna change my faith in your guys's judgment. Hell, If I had any doubts, I probably would've bailed a while ago. In it to win it, amigos!

Their judgement? You ralize Shelby Bonnie owned Whiskey Media, right? Even though some of them may have had a small stake in it, it's not like it was their decision as to it being sold and in the face of one of the largest corporations on the planet, there is nothing they can do if things start to turn for the worse, except quit (which would be silly in an industry where, you know, jobs are precious).

You sound burned as hell, mate. The guys have been saying it's not like that, so I believe them. It's hard to keep skepticism at bay and what not, but that doesn't mean we should just turn our backs on what the GB guys have been saying this whole time and write off their judgment and opinions. These are the guys that've been keeping this site awesome for years now and I got nothing but respect for them like the most of us, so why does everyone suddenly distrust them and assign their word with null meaning? At least pretend to have some trust in GB, duder.

@UnrealDP said:

@Branthog said:

@UnrealDP said:

Yay for change! Duders, you've got my full confidence 'n all that! It's not like some corporation's gonna change my faith in your guys's judgment. Hell, If I had any doubts, I probably would've bailed a while ago. In it to win it, amigos!

Their judgement? You ralize Shelby Bonnie owned Whiskey Media, right? Even though some of them may have had a small stake in it, it's not like it was their decision as to it being sold and in the face of one of the largest corporations on the planet, there is nothing they can do if things start to turn for the worse, except quit (which would be silly in an industry where, you know, jobs are precious).

You sound burned as hell, mate. The guys have been saying it's not like that, so I believe them. It's hard to keep skepticism at bay and what not, but that doesn't mean we should just turn our backs on what the GB guys have been saying this whole time and write off their judgment and opinions. These are the guys that've been keeping this site awesome for years now and I got nothing but respect for them like the most of us, so why does everyone suddenly distrust them and assign their word with null meaning? At least pretend to have some trust in GB, duder.

Do you know what the talent at one FM radio station said when CBS took them over?

Hurrah! We have more resources, now! And more stability! And health insurance! And more money! And more advertising dollars! And we'll eventually get a better studio! And we'll get an even larger audience! This is what we've been working so hard for so many years for and our effort is finally being rewarded!

Less than one year later, every single on-air talent was exhausted and beaten down and betrayed and eventually fired and most of the off-air staff were fired and the station underwent a new imaging campaign and really douchey (like, would repulse Howard Stern) radio guys from across the country were brought in to replace everyone. Less than a year after *that*, those people were fired, almost all of the staff remaining was fired, the station became an FM simulcast for the AM sister-station's right-wing blow-hards, and the radio station's building was bulldozed. (This was a thirty-year old power-house of a station with a huge reputation broadcasting out of one of the top markets).

So, the lesson to learn here is that the talent has less input than you think, the talent often is kept more in the dark than you think, and just because employees buy into the "hey guys, stuff is gonna be thuper awethome over here!" pitch from the new parent company doesn't make it true. Are you going to badmouth your new employer? Are you going to tell the employees from your new acquisition the truth, when you might not have everything planned out just yet and you might still need them in some capacity? Of course not.

This might be a unique situation. This might be on the up-and-up. However, that is almost never the case in these situations. The audience is almost never told the truth and the talent is often mislead and lied to.

I'm hoping this is one of those exceptions, though, because I'm a huge fan of Jeff (and the others, for that matter) and I don't know where else I would call "home" gaming-wise on the internet.

I'm a bit late, but. We'll follow you through the gates of hell my lord!

@Branthog said:

Do you know what the talent at one FM radio station said when CBS took them over?

Hurrah! We have more resources, now! And more stability! And health insurance! And more money! And more advertising dollars! And we'll eventually get a better studio! And we'll get an even larger audience! This is what we've been working so hard for so many years for and our effort is finally being rewarded!

Less than one year later, every single on-air talent was exhausted and beaten down and betrayed and eventually fired and most of the off-air staff were fired and the station underwent a new imaging campaign and really douchey (like, would repulse Howard Stern) radio guys from across the country were brought in to replace everyone. Less than a year after *that*, those people were fired, almost all of the staff remaining was fired, the station became an FM simulcast for the AM sister-station's right-wing blow-hards, and the radio station's building was bulldozed. (This was a thirty-year old power-house of a station with a huge reputation broadcasting out of one of the top markets).

So, the lesson to learn here is that the talent has less input than you think, the talent often is kept more in the dark than you think, and just because employees buy into the "hey guys, stuff is gonna be thuper awethome over here!" pitch from the new parent company doesn't make it true. Are you going to badmouth your new employer? Are you going to tell the employees from your new acquisition the truth, when you might not have everything planned out just yet and you might still need them in some capacity? Of course not.

See "Burned" for more... Mate, it's looking like you've already made up your mind, but don't be like this. Look at how GameSpot was before any of this even happened. Everything was great and they were honest with the community and given lots of freedom. There was a mistake, but now they're back and here you are being as negative as possible about how this could turn out. It could go totally bad and the GB guys could just be lying to our faces to try and herd us into their new evil overlords, but hey, I'm not gonna try and see that. The GB guys are saying it's not like that and seem genuinely happy. They've always been super honest with the community and they haven't betrayed our trust before. You can be this way and try to put everyone around you down, or you can maybe try to support the GB guys and the community instead of trying to spread the hate.