And Now... The Rest Of The Story

happy for you guys!

I'm not worried about the integrity of GB. I've kept following Kevin Van Ord, Justin Calvert and the like on GS even if I don't visit the site much except for their reviews and listen to the podcast. What I'm worried about is that GB will loose its soul. Also that my sub money will go to some rich fuck at CBS rather than supporting GB. I don't typically pay for sites, GB is the only one. So I can't promise I will resub, but I promise I will keep visiting as long as the content is still good and as long as the GB crew are allowed to be themselves. Any sign of CBS tampering and I'm out, but I hope they are smart enough to know that they can only loose by making GB mainstream. GS will be their mainstream site and GB will be for a specific demographic.

Also I hope they they will overcompensate for this by being even more giantbomb than they have been in awhile. Knowing that they are the niche brand I hope they can be even more niche and just let GS cover Call of Duty while they cover Hyperdimension Neptunia or some other Japanese-ass-Japanese-game.

That handshake at the end of the video....

Just gave me a flash back to "Total Recall" when Doug Quaid is watching that video of himself as Hauser shaking hands with the Mars Administrator.

Lead us to the promised land.

I gotta say, things are exactly like I imagined but having it being confirmed is depressing. There really is a flawed incentive structure... reviewers being paid partly BY the publishers whose games they are reviewing? Now thats definitely something that makes me trust reviews less.

After listening to John off and on for so many years, it was weird to actually see him for the first time. Not sure why (maybe the accent) but I always imagined him wearing glasses, and having really close cropped hair.

As long as this works out well for you guys then I will dbe happy. You still have my sub.

This video helped clear a lot of things up, now I'm just looking forward to regular giant bomb content next week. That Vinny video sounds like it will be great

When things change it's natural to mourn what's been lost, what used to be. But change is a sign that you're alive, growing and learning from your experiences.

With this move, the nature of the content will probably change to some extent - that's impossible to avoid. With more money, and more power to do what they want, the content will improve in quality, the effects in videos will be better, and the amount of content will probably increase. Of course, with the increase in quality I expect the content will probably lose a little bit of its endearing shittyness, and the backyard "garage band" vibe will be lessened, to a degree. Even if everything stays the same as it was, the walls will be a different color in the new office which will make the videos look different, if that's a big deal to some of you (which I suspect it is).

But I'm pretty confident that Giant Bomb will maintain its unique feel, the sense of fun, the random video content, all of that crap will still be there. Sure it will be different, but that's something you're just going to have to accept. I'm on board, because I can't think of any reason to be against this other than a kind of selfish love of the way things were in the past.

@gamefreak9 said:

I gotta say, things are exactly like I imagined but having it being confirmed is depressing. There really is a flawed incentive structure... reviewers being paid partly BY the publishers whose games they are reviewing? Now thats definitely something that makes me trust reviews less.

That's why QLs have been great. At least I can see some dude just playing the game. Even if they are trying to show the best parts at least I get to see all the annoying cruft that goes along with it like loading times, bad mechanics, and many other little details that you just can't show in a review. The people who look at those numbers and go out an buy the games based on a number get what they deserve: a lesson for next time.

I was a little worried about this at first, but hearing that the content and hopefully the feel of the site won't be changing from Jeff, and knowing that John will be there (I've been a big fan of his since the old EGM/1up days), I am cautiously optimistic.

It happened exactly how I envisioned it.

Good job Jeff. I'm proud of all the things you have accomplished in your life. Building the greatest video game site of all time (pre-07), leaving, then doing it ALL OVER AGAIN.

You and the team you built are AMAZING!

@MmaFanQc said:

sooo.... Jeff Gerstmann was fired from Gamespot (CBS management) because they said he (Jeff) couldn't be trusted after he gave a poor score to a review....

now they go work for them again?

this wont end well.

CBS had nothing to do with it. CNET was still its own company when all that went down. CBS bought CNET and all their properties in 2008. And I believe Josh Larson, the man speculated to have actually fired Jeff, was let go shortly before that.

I'M WITH 'EM!

Just cancelled my subscription. Reason..... I was supporting these guys because they where independent and did not belong to any controlling corporation. They say it wont change but I am not sure, if they prove me wrong and there is enough reasons to me to be a supporter, i will subcribe again... i will just give one example, CBS was a supporter of SOPA/PIPA I wonder if giant bomb would be willing to do a mockery of a bill their owners were supporting like they did in January. I hope i am proved wrong, but i doubt.....

@asantosbr:

They were under Whiskey Media. How is that independent?

@asantosbr: IDIOT. Have you ever listened to a CNET podcast? They are CBS interactive's largest tech website and they mocked the SHIT out of SOPA/PIPA

This is probably gonna suck, but Giantbomb's recent lull in activity and weird formspring discussions caused me to suspect that one of the staff had some huge personal problems or got ill or something, so hearing these shitty news is actually a relief.

I'll believe it when I see it.

@ttocs said:

@sarahsdad said:

After listening to John off and on for so many years, it was weird to actually see him for the first time. Not sure why (maybe the accent) but I always imagined him wearing glasses, and having really close cropped hair.

How have you never seen him before? You never watched any of their shows videos or what not? He's always showing his mug around the site somewhere.

I was pretty much an audio only guy until GB started, and even then it's been mostly for the quicklooks.

Good stuff.

I'm a 1UP community refugee. There was a site with an incredible sense of identity, great writers, great content, great design and community, that was murdered in fits and starts by the realities of business, indifferent parent company management, and resulted in increasingly manky editorial. I still post there and hang out on the boards, but they recently 'let go' another batch of writers (ides, beware), and if I fear anything for Giant Bomb is that these promises will eventually lead to the same outcome. It's not analogous -- GB isn't being gutted, just moved, and no one has jumped ship, which suggests it's not sinking -- but I'm still apprehensive because of what happened at 1UP.

This is a fantastic community lead by a great crew with a real sense of themselves and how they do what they do. I trust their commitment to that. At the same time it's hard to shake the trepidation.

It might help if John Davison cut his hair. He looks like a witch. An untrustworthy, sell-your-organs-from-his-jacket witch.

@Tidel: Good points and I agree. However, I feel that Jeff would be the last person to agree to Gamespot if he feared anything like that. CBS is FAR larger than CNET ever was, and they have the money to ride the advertising money ups and downs. Here's to hoping.

WE'RE GOING HOME!

I'm worried, but as someone who has listened to and respected John Davison for YEARS, starting with the 1UP Show and 1UP Yours in 2006, I know the GB guys are in good hands. And hey, if shit goes down, who's to stop them splintering off to form VIDEOGAME MOUNTAIN?

To the future, and beyond!

With you guys all the way.

OK, I'm on board.

Here's the problem people are making about the assumption that migrating to CBS will compromise their integrity...

GiantBomb has been led, not by Jeff or Ryan, but by Shelby Bonnie since it's inception. This guy actually co-founded CNET, the very company that used to own Gamespot. He started Whiskey Media with his own money, while also becoming the Director of Warner Music Group, one of the biggest media companies in America!!! So their principal guy for cash was himself a businessman with ties back to Gamespot.

Fast forward to where we are today, the previous managers of CBS that were in charge of Gamespot are gone, and Mr. Bonnie sells Whiskey Media. So where does that leave Jeff and the guys? They no longer have the capital behind them to pay for things like rent on a giant-ass basement to record in, not to mention supporting interns and trips to cover game conferences... They needed a new backer.

So in the middle of that they get involved in negotiations with the new management team over at CBS, who are more than happy to have this group of guys back. Mind you, these were rather happy employee's who left because of old management, but still liked Gamespot and the staff there.

So yes new guys at the top, but all that happened was a replacement of the principal investing group, from Warner Music Group to CBS, not a terribly big shift.

As someone who followed the whole debacle and has been around here since Arrow Pointing Down and the original beta memberships I was nervous when I first heard about this. After watching all the video content I am cool with it and excited. You have to remember these guys left over all the issues with the old management who is now gone. They wouldn't go running back if they didn't feel that those issues have been resolved in some form or another. And besides they aren't even running back in the first place. They are remaining a separate entity in terms of sites and as a previous poster stated, they aren't listed as GameSpot staff. I have faith in these guys because they have clearly thought all of this through and were careful to state that nothing is changing in terms of the content they drive out, but the only thing that is changing is the volume and level of craziness they can afford to put out now. Good things in my opinion.

@Jumanji said:

@Undiddley said:

You know... I believe in these guys. I can almost say, they can't do wrong. It's like that thing Allen Ginsberg said about William Burroughs, regarding his appearance on a Nike comercial: Bill Burroughs is not endorsing Nike-- Nike is endorsing Bill Burroughs.

Heh this is nice.

hah... a beat movement comment on my fav gaming site, even if ironically appropriate given their location. coupled with the evident fact that its an entirely different management team at GS from the one in '07 has softened the blow. subscription continued for now, thanks for the video guys

I imposed an irrational hatred of GameSpot upon myself to help support Jeff. Now you're telling me that I have to support Jeff again by liking GameSpot? Torn. I'm so torn. Cold. Also a little afraid.

Whether or not scheming corporate suits are firing people for honest reviews doesn't make GameSpot any less bad. Their output has become shallow and boring.

All of my hatred is gone for Gamespot. If the Giant Bomb crew thinks that this is a good thing then im with them 100%

man i kinda wanted the nWo opening, lol.

Gamespot temp banned me for typing out "Bitch" in a forum post. Was already following Gerstmann Gate and everything about the blog's tone was so very delicious. I was hooked right away.

This convo seems a bit tense, but I don't know the English guy, yet. This is all crazy and awesome and I can't wait to see where it goes! Hope this isn't Gamespot's way of dealing with the competition...

I have a question: He says that there isn't a problem with Gamespot and that is why he is coming back but there is. He got fired. Has something changed?

Everybody should head over to tested.com and se what they are up too, it's awesome :D

@flacracker The knuckleheads who fired him are gone.

@Flacracker said:

I have a question: He says that there isn't a problem with Gamespot and that is why he is coming back but there is. He got fired. Has something changed?

Watch the video dude

@vince20100:

I did listen to the video and he said that everything there is good. But is it?

Can you feel it?

Can you feel it?

I CAN FEEL IT!!!

@Flacracker said:

@vince20100:

I did listen to the video and he said that everything there is good. But is it?

The reason Jeff was fired in 2007 and the cause of the mass exodus of editors was a new management team that caved to pressures from advertisers. That management team is gone and has been for some time. I don't think Jeff and company would return if things weren't good.

@Flacracker said:

@vince20100:

I did listen to the video and he said that everything there is good. But is it?

YES. Christ!

So long as the sites continue to do their own thing and you kidnap Will Smith once a year to force him to play Disney Kinect games I will be happy.

SO VERY HAPPY!

After seeing this I know we are good hands. I trust Jeff, I have for years. If he says Gamespot is OK, then it is. After all back in 2006 he told me that you should have more than one console.

Still weird but also real exciting.

So he did get fired for writing  bad reviews it was  business  men making    business  men decisions on all sides.  
 
That doesn't sound much better then what I thought it was it was still some money men on top firing a guy for being honest and pissing off their advertisers. This was basically what I thought happened turns out it was what happened sure it took longer to happen then I thought doesn't make it any less fucked. 

Here's to hoping that CBS forces everyone on staff into growing mustaches to cross promote Tom Selleck, and the Friday night hit show, "Blue Bloods".