Giant Bomb needs a JRPG guy

I don't think GB needs to cater to every audience. There are other sites that focus on specific genres.

@phrali said:

they just did an endurance run of chrono trigger

AND MODERN JRPGS ARE FUCKING HORRIBLE, HAVE YOU SEEN THE TV COMMERCIALS FOR FFXIII 2 IT IS FUCKING EMBARASSING

FF is not the gold standard for JRPGs, it's just the most popular franchise and when FF sucks people like to think that's representative of all games in that field which is simply not true.

You know what? I don't care. I don't need justification from anyone about my love of JRPG's. I just got done doing a 100% run on FFXIII-2 and enjoyed all 77hours. I guarantee you it will be in my GOTY shorlist. Fucking loved it. I've said this numerous times. JRPG's are fine the thing that changed isn't the quality of JRPG's its the fact that things come in waves and JRPG's are a niche genre again. The general audience has changed what it expects out of a game.

So ya know... whatever. Keep making sweeping generalizations of a genre that you don't understand.

I don't care. I don't need justification from anyone about my love of JRPG's. 

@Zenaxzd: No not really. If your not going to give a rational argument for your hatred of something its not worth my time to try to argue my point. Obviously the people who have some bias against JRPG's aren't going to listen and don't care too even though there are tons of good examples of good games in the genre in the last 5-6 years.

@Zenaxzd said:

As absolutely 100% true as this is, doesn't it bother you in the slightest when people post things that aren't even true? I mean honestly it makes me cringe a bit when I see some of the posts coming from people who seem to have some crazy-ass (and wrong) view of what the genre is. Sometimes it's to the point where I am confused as to how those people can function in the real world on a daily basis.

That's kind of what the internet does with everything all the time.

@MechaKirby said:

Just hire Kessler already and make him the JRPG guy and ONLY let him out of his cage when a new JRPG rolls around. He's been an intern like twice as long as Drew was by now hasn't he? ( Remember when was Drew was an intern? Jeez.)

@Duffyside: Shane is awesome, but he's moved on from journalism and works for Ignition now. I don't know if he'd go back.

Shane has left Ignition and works for Sony now. Back in SF too, if I'm not mistaken. I think someone might have had a chance of luring Shane away from development and back into the press when he was at Ignition, but now that he's home and working for the mothership, I don't know if Mila Kunis wearing nothing but million dollar bills could entice him away.

The Giant Bomb guys might play more JRPGs if there were block puzzles involved. I feel like Patrick has become the defacto guy when it comes to JRPG references though he clearly gravitates towards the crazier side of video games. I've been done with the genre myself so I could care less if they get someone to cover them more deeply or not.

If you want a lot of views of posts in your thread, just type JRPG or anime in the title. You'll end up with droves of users who can't wait to tell you how much they hate it all because of that one time where they played a JRPG that sucked or had perverse elements. Yup. Lost Odyssey? Totally perverse and only for pedophiles. Western audiences will never understand such a shitty plot. Persona 3 and 4, Devil Survivor, Valkyria Chronicles, Resonance of Fate, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Disgaea, and Xenolade? They're ALL shitty and perverse.

@MordeaniisChaos said:

@pyrodactyl: Go somewhere else for that coverage. They don't care about JRPGs for a reason. They aren't about to drop cash on something most of their audience doesn't give two shits about. Brad gave FFXIII and XIII-2 a fair chance, and even admitted to really liking FXIII in the end, despite it being DEEPLY FLAWED. Which he didn't say because he hadn't played a FF game or a JRPG since FF6, but instead because it was totally true.

They play JRPGs more than you might think. It's just that a lot of JRPGs are ACTUALLY stuck in the past, or significantly flawed in some way.

@pw2566ch said:

@GorillaMoPena said:

So you say they need someone for a genre because they don't respect it then just immediately insult sports games as a genre?

I didn't see an insult towards the sports genre in his topic.

He said that the game in question was just a roster update, essentially.

WHICH COULD BE SAID ABOUT CERTAIN JRPGs BY THE WAY.

And also apparently wasn't true for the game being linked as an example, considering the review.

That being said, anime and sports games are for jerks.

Brad is into Final Fantasy while Jeff likes covering Japanese games and Star Ocean. They don't need to hire anybody

Saw this thread on the main page yesterday, but as someone who’s seen his fair share of JRPG related threads on this site, I didn’t open it because I thought I knew what to expect; a bunch of smart-ass bandwagon assholes making broad stereotypes and unfair judgements, ruining any kind of constructive discussion on the topic of the genre. But then I thought I’d have a look today, thinking that I might be wrong...

Yeah, no. You people are seriously the shittiest part about this community.

Brad is into Final Fantasy while Jeff likes covering Japanese games and Star Ocean. They don't need to hire anybody

Just as a general observation, GB I don't believe has a staff member specializing in pure Western RPG. Or East Euro/Russian RPG's. Though there are definitely preferences, I think games are games to them, gender or locality besides.. That doesn't mean the coverage is all good, or that things are covered to my own satisfaction.. For example I would love to see how a Dawn of War, or even a Warhammer multi-player match works on TNT. Never happen, starcraft 2, CoD or Battlefield 3 will repeat first. Though to be fair, I have seen them do interesting older Japanese games..and on TNT even, so I understand there is some balance .I think wanting someone to be hired for just covering JRPG's exclusively of anything else even Japanese well, that doesn't sound right. Kind of oddly narrow, really. Japanese games in general, and I mean besides Gal Gun or even the later FF's do get some exposure and effort of awareness. Catherine, anyone? This besides their walks down memory lane with older Japanese games.

This thread is just appalling.

Hiring one guy to do a genre or just someone who has knowledge on it is kinda a expensive thing to go for but i do like the idea of the Interns (if they haven't already) doing some sort of video or blogs or just something on that and other things.

@Yanngc33 said:

Brad is into Final Fantasy while Jeff likes covering Japanese games and Star Ocean. They don't need to hire anybody

Do you mean Phantasy Star? I don't remember Jeff ever saying anything about Star Ocean.

Saw this thread on the main page yesterday, but as someone who’s seen his fair share of JRPG related threads on this site, I didn’t open it because I thought I knew what to expect; a bunch of smart-ass bandwagon assholes making broad stereotypes and unfair judgements, ruining any kind of constructive discussion on the topic of the genre. But then I thought I’d have a look today, thinking that I might be wrong...

Yeah, no. You people are seriously the shittiest part about this community.

Shame the genre isnt well liked by much of the Bombcrew, but hiring a guy just for one genre is ridiculous.

@Sayishere said:

Shame the genre isnt well liked by much of the Bombcrew, but hiring a guy just for one genre is ridiculous.

I wouldn't say the genre isn't well-liked by the bombcrew, I think it just depends on the game for them.

@Cloudenvy said:

@FluxWaveZ said:

Kessler?

Is dead.

long live Kessler!

@Simulacrum said:

@Cloudenvy said:

@FluxWaveZ said:

Kessler?

Is dead.

long live Kessler!

If you play the Community Song backwards, you can hear "I buried Kessler, I buried Kessler, Ryan killed him". Pretty creepy.

A creepy weaboo would be a damn funny addition to the crew.

Nope.

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that they all dropped JRPGs after Final Fantasy 6. I've heard them discuss the PSX Final Fantasy games multiple times, and Ryan has even talked about how he ended up enjoying FFX-2 more than FFX.

I share all of those opinions. But when a JRPG comes out that people outside of a cult following care about, I'm sure it'll get coverage. They had many lengthy discussions on FFXIII.

I feel like Patrick, Brad and Vinny are willing to play them, and if they're good they'll speak positively of it. I'd rather that then they just blindly praise a game of a specific genre.

AS a JRPG fan myself I don't feel the need for them to have one person that loves JRPG to review them JRPGS are to long of a game to get a proper review done in my opinion. but they should give a review for Tales of the Abyss 3ds as its out today :D

I would cling more to a japanophile. Someone who really likes and is into all things japanese, as in video games Japan is one, if not, the most important market for games.

@pyrodactyl: They really, really, don't need a "JRPG guy". Just like they don't need a "sports guy". They'll keep doing what they've been doing, which is why the site is so popular.

If you want to listen to people talk about JRPG's specifically, that go beyond the interests and knowledge of the Giant Bomb crew, there are a number of sites out there where you can find it.

I find this topic a little confusing. Isn't Jeff a JRPG / Japanophile guy?

It's not like there is no Japanese coverage on the site. It seems like there is a proportional amount to the number of team members they have. I'm sure if tons of people subbed and the site grew, they would hire more reviewers, and we would get more niche items reviewed.

I don't really think so. They don't have any one person who just does one genre of games and to have a JRPG guy would be trying to introduce a new personality with the site when they'd really only be able to say something relevant or produce relevant content for the site on a relatively uncommon basis.

GiantBomb doesn't need a JRPG guy. It needs less of the "All JRPGs are trash, fuck you" guys on the forums, though.

@DonChipotle said:

GiantBomb doesn't need a JRPG guy. It needs less of the "All JRPGs are trash, fuck you" guys on the forums, though.

It seems like JRPG's are like the Call of Duty of Japanese games. Based on so much vitriol towards the genre from so many GB users I mean.

Im sure theyd have a JRPG dedicated staff if JRPGs were worth a shit to cover in the first place.

Brad seems to be somewhat interested in the big names of the genre that come out. The thing is he just misses the few good ones that aren't part of mainstream series.

I know there is such a huge deluge of quality JRPGs in today's game market. So many are released every week that needs not just one man but an entire team just to cover just the more popular ones.

The one thing I appreciate most about G-Bomb, is that the staff is FUNNY and INTERESTING to listen to.

I don't give a shit about 95% of games that come out, but they make it entertaining to hear about them anyway.

If you look at a site like Gametrailers, they have a "JRPG Guy" but he is a personality-less drip. All the guys on that site are unbearable to listen to, except for the Welshman Grumpy McGrump. I gave up on that site's editorial content, because it became apparent that there is no entertainment value there, just more assholes with boring opinions.

1. Giantbomb should focus on CLEVER and INSIGHTFULL and most of all HUMOROUS people to fill out it's roster.

2. I don't like any of Jeff's favorite game genres, (racing, console FPS, wrestling) but I go to Giantbomb.com for my gaming news exclusively because Jeff is so fucking funny and cool.

3. There is no such thing as a "Japanese Role Playing Game". Making choices and being creative are antithetical to the Japanese game design aesthetic. JRPG is an oxymoron.

The genre has done nothing especially new since the 90s. The way they try to make changes is by making more complicated mechanics (resonance of fate is great but really they don't need the combat to be that convoluted to be interesting). I still play JRPGs from time to time, and all their feelings on it are spot on.

They are falling behind because they haven't really done anything new or interesting game play wise. I mean, ya a lot of them are gorgeous games and some have decent stories, but the fundamentals have always been very much the same.

This makes it a niche market in America, I guess. Giantbomb is not ignoring JRPGs, they give them their due, but for the most part there is nothing special about them at the moment.

While JRPGs are generally reviewed very poorly, a JRPG reviewer isn't really necessary. It's just a different gaming genre, it isn't rocket science.

I disagree. If I want to know about JRPGs, I can get that elsewhere. I haven't been on there for a while, but Jeremy Parish from 1UP was really good about covering RPGs I would've missed otherwise.

If they start having guys specifically for a certain genre, which I hope they don't do, I'd personally rather see a driving/sports guy first before a jrpg guy.

@Sooty said:

No they don't, they loved Persona 4, if you make a good JRPG (something Square Enix can't do) then they'll give it a fair shot.

They really do. They quick looked my 2008 goty Valkryria Chronicles and they even quick looked my 2010 goty Nier. Sure they could cover the better jrpgs of this gen. The problem with that is that most of the "good" jrpgs are on PSP and DS, and let's be honest, the whole GB crew aren't akin to handheld gaming. They want everything on xbla (that was a joke on their preferences).

NEW revised point at the end of the first post

waaaaaaaaaaay up there

I agree, it would just make GB more well rounded. And while i dont care that much for JRPGs, I would like to know of good ones, or JRPGs that i would like. And right now, the only way i know if im going to like a JRPG is going to another site, and looking at their coverage of games.

@ShadowConqueror said:

Sure, when JRPGs stop being terrible again.

OH snap.

I doubt they will hire a guy just for JRPGs but i would be fine if then next guy they hired was a counterbalance to the JRPG "hate"

@Galiant said:

@pyrodactyl: They really, really, don't need a "JRPG guy". Just like they don't need a "sports guy". They'll keep doing what they've been doing, which is why the site is so popular.

If you want to listen to people talk about JRPG's specifically, that go beyond the interests and knowledge of the Giant Bomb crew, there are a number of sites out there where you can find it.

I don't really understand this view.

What's wrong with adding people, with interests (like JRPG or sports) which are different from theirs, so they are a little more well rounded with their coverage? It's not like they are going to stop covering what they are covering now.

@FluxWaveZ said:

Kessler?

Is dead.