8-4 Play are joining the Giantbomb family.

http://8-4.jp/blog/?p=1125&lang=en(Mark MacDonald, John Riccardi, Justin Epperson, Hiroko Minamoto, Brendon Pritchard)

They mainly talk about japanese games and the show is AWESOME.

@Seb said:

They announced it during the latest episode. (1UP were the previous hosts)

I'm guessing it will appear on the podcast dropdown list from later on today.

@patrickklepek said:

Joining the "family" is a good way to put it. We aren't merging with them or anything. They cover and talk about some games that we don't, but more importantly, there was an opportunity to host the podcast (which will happen fully eventually) and join up on some cool projects down the road. I love those guys, and I basically listen to zero gaming podcasts. I'll have a post on the site later today about it.

Forgive my ignorance but, who?

EDIT: Much better post now. The original was a just a link with no explanation. I know who you're talking about now. I hear them occasionally when they drop in on the Weekend Confirmed show.

Forgive my ignorance but, who?

8-4 is a video game localization company based in Shibuya, Tokyo. When we’re not lovingly translating your favorite RPG or junior-high ballet trainer/dating sim, we enjoy hunting monsters, recording podcasts, and making our interns perform live re-enactments of scenes from Chaos Wars.

Explain.

I don't believe you.

They announced it during the latest episode. (1UP were the previous hosts)

I'm guessing it will appear on the podcast dropdown list from later on today.

Probably making fun of Giantbomb joining CBSi. I believe they are a localization team.

I don't believe you!

(Listens to intro music)

Oh. Well then.

Haven't listened to them for a while but I guess if they're part of the family now, all the reason to start up again!

They announced a new mysterious host for the podcast last episode but I haven't listened to this one yet. I hope you're not fucking with us because this would be absolutely exciting news. I really enjoy their podcast and when I think about it Giantbomb is an excellent fit for what they do since the developer's and creator's perspective gets a lot of attention alongside the gamer's viewpoints. On top of that Japanese games are somewhat under-represented so this makes a lot of sense. Can't wait to hopefully enjoy the "Gaming Jesus's" show here soon!

I don't know what any of this means.

Great podcast, especially the really in-depth episodes, like when they cover the history of Resident Evil.

Should be great exposure. Now if they could just become weekly.

I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU?

After listening to the last 8-4 Play episode (when they announced they would be move from 1UP to some place new) I was hoping that they would join Giantbomb.

The moment I heard that intro music I totally couldn't stop smiling, two of my favourite podcasts now on my favourite gaming site.

But what does it MEAN?!

What's so bad about foreplay?

Yet to listen to that podcast for some reason I need to start. Mark Macdonald is a pretty rad dude though, this is good news.

@TheSouthernDandy said:

Yet to listen to that podcast for some reason I need to start. Mark Macdonald is a pretty rad dude though, this is good news.

yeah i remember him and denis dyack falling out on the old 1up yours podcast

If you don't know about 8-4, they're responsible for the excellent Shadows of the Damned localization.

Btw, if you haven't seen it, they visited the 8-4 studio back in October 2008

http://www.giantbomb.com/giant-bomb-visits-8-4/17-77/

Called it 2 weeks ago. They were pissed at 1up for laying off basically everyone but Parish. They are big fans of the bombcast. Brad name drops 8-4 numerous times. They were on the E3 podcast. John Davison is a friend of both Mark Mac and Riccardi. So many clues.

As to what it means for GB. Costs them nothing to host the mp3 and both parties get a bump in traffic. Free cross-promotion.

Now GB has to go to Tokyo Game Show.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

Great, they join Patrick 'Trick Tricky Scoops' Klepek and decide to stop using nicknames at the start of the show. :(

Great news, exactly what i was hoping for when they said that they're parting ways with 1UP. It's a great podcast. I hope they get sweet TurboToaster art like the Bombcast page.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Parish is alone in a dark room somewhere, writing about Mega Man. Sobbing.

@alternate said:

Now GB has to go to Tokyo Game Show.

They dont need to go to TGS they just need to go to tokyo!

That's great. At the time I was betting the farm they were going to join up with Weekend Confirmed... Good thing I don't own a farm.

@Wikitoups said:

@alternate said:

Now GB has to go to Tokyo Game Show.

They dont need to go to TGS they just need to go to tokyo!

sure, but TGS is the excuse and 8-4 works it hard so they can line up some decent interviews, do the translating etc.

@Jimbo said:

What's so bad about foreplay?

It means less time spent fucking.

I don't have time for more podcasts. Good for them though.

so GB just hosts 8-4's podcast mp3? i'm confused.

@fRAWRst said:

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

It means that the 8-4 podcast will be published on Giant Bomb, which in turn means that people who actually know their shit about JRPGs will have a podcast on Giant Bomb. :P

Never heard of these guys before but will give it a listen. Seems awesome news though.

And only strengthens the rumour that State of the Game will be on Giant Bomb too

Edit: 10 minutes in and I can see these guys are awesome and fit right at home here.

This is a great fit for both parties.

I have never heard of this podcast before but I look forward to listening to it in the future. Well, and right now.

I like the fact that rather than trying to cover genres/games they don't really like, the GB crew seem to just be working with outside people who focus on these areas. This way we get the in-depth coverage without it feeling forced or being (understandably) riddled with factual inaccuracies. Good good very good.

I love this so much. So so so much.

I've listened to one episode of 8-4 (the Vita launch episode) and it was AWESOME. This is great news!

Wait, what? Why are they no longer being hosted by 1UP?

Mark MacDonald awesome guy. Put him John Davison, Garnnett Lee and Shane Bettenhausen in a room witha microphone and magic happens.

My 2nd favorite podcast joining the same network as my favorite one? Excellent.

@pornstorestiffi said:

Mark MacDonald awesome guy. Put him John Davison, Garnnett Lee and Shane Bettenhausen in a room witha microphone and magic happens.

God I miss the heyday of 1UP, back before Garnett forgot how to host a podcast well.

@iAmJohn: 1Up's parent company seems to be downsizing 1Up. I'd be surprised if it still exists in a year.

since 8-4 is the only other game podcast i listen to on a regular basis im pretty happy about this

@Baal_Sagoth said:

They announced a new mysterious host for the podcast last episode but I haven't listened to this one yet. I hope you're not fucking with us because this would be absolutely exciting news. I really enjoy their podcast and when I think about it Giantbomb is an excellent fit for what they do since the developer's and creator's perspective gets a lot of attention alongside the gamer's viewpoints. On top of that Japanese games are somewhat under-represented so this makes a lot of sense. Can't wait to hopefully enjoy the "Gaming Jesus's" show here soon!

I had a feeling it was gonna be either GB or Shacknews when they talked about that last time because they're all friends (didn't Ryan get his couch from Mark many years ago? ... and Patrick had it as well at some point?).

Finally some more Japanese-related content on GB. Though they're just hosting the podcast but still. Welcomed variety!

:)

This video is relevant and, somehow, it's the first time I see it:

So now we get real Monster Hunter coverage instead of 4 Americans just complaining because they don't understand the game? Yay!

Joining the "family" is a good way to put it. We aren't merging with them or anything. They cover and talk about some games that we don't, but more importantly, there was an opportunity to host the podcast (which will happen fully eventually) and join up on some cool projects down the road. I love those guys, and I basically listen to zero gaming podcasts. I'll have a post on the site later today about it.

Patrick just posted on twitter about it. Might give it a listen.

8-4 is the only other gaming podcast I listen to so this is pretty awesome news.

That's neat, I guess.