How Did You Discover Giant Bomb? Tell Your Story

Hey duders! Whether you're a veteran or a newcomer, I want to hear your story.

Here is my story.

It was near the end of 2009 when I actually found Giant Bomb. The game Rogue Warrior came out in early December that year. I remember the buzz surrounding that game. The consensus was the game was terrible. Like 1/10 terrible. Who approved this game? I was amazed to discover that Bethesda was the publisher. Bethesda was a respected publisher of the Elder Scrolls games. How could they put something like this out? I had to see the game in action. I searched for videos of Rogue Warrior gameplay and after watching some reviews on other sites, I somehow found my way on to GiantBomb.com. The video was a so called "quick look" of the game "Rogue Warrior". That sounded like what I was looking for. Then I watched what would be my first quick look. And 23 minutes later, I was enthralled with Giant Bomb. I was blown away at how funny the video was. The video features Jeff and Ryan playing Rogue Warrior and, along with Mickey Rourke, cussing their god damn mother f***ing hearts out. And it was glorious! Watch it if you haven't seen it yet, or haven't seen it in awhile:

Link to Quick Look: Rogue Warrior

I watched other videos on Giant Bomb. I discovered that these guys weren't just funny. They were also intelligent journalists. They had incredible insight into video games. Hell, they were professionals (ex-GameSpot guys, like top guys, senior editors) but also comedians (in the general sense) running an independent video game website (technically owned by Whiskey Media). They had funding and put that to good use honestly, just doing whatever the hell they wanted. By this time I think they had found what Giant Bomb was going to be and the spirit of the site has remained. I started consuming all their content. I read reviews which were extremely well written (turns out they'd been doing it for years). All the content on the site was unique and fresh and funny and insightful. These guys at Giant Bomb appealed to my sense of humor. They were mature about video games but also out of their minds. They were wise about games and the history of games, especially Jeff. Ryan had this charisma and radio show host quality voice that made videos all the more entertaining. Brad was a southern boy but spoke very intelligent about games and totally seemed to fit in with Ryan and Jeff. And Vinny of course did what Vinny does best: Be Vinny.

Around this time, I saw that GiantBomb had a podcast and ever since listening to my first Bombcast I've held a special place in my heart for Tuesdays lol. These guys spoke about video games like mature adults but would pound energy drinks like teenage boys. The podcast sealed the deal for me. In 2010 we got the Persona 4 endurance run which was one of the greatest things to be apart of on this website. It was so entertaining. And most of you here know the rest. The ups and downs of the years to come. The addition of new staff members who have and continue to bring so much personality to the site. To this day I think Giant Bomb staff members are seen as respected, intelligent, mature, yet funny and irreverent game journalists. It's been an awesome ride over the years and I continue to visit Giant Bomb daily and consume all the content they put out.

How did you find Giant Bomb and what is your story?

Danny

The day after Mass Effect 2 came out my Xbox red ringed for the second time in two months. In desperation for anything related to the game, I started looking at gaming podcasts. Lo and behold, some nerds had a gaming podcast that featured talk of Mass Effect 2.

The Persona 4 Endurance run and a friend.

I heard this was the illest place to describe vaping culture.

2008 I started listening to the bombcast, and in 09 I realized that there was a whole website of shenanigans. Actually. I can tell you the exact date I made my account because it was the day the last episode of the Persona 4 endurance run went up, Sept 18th, 2009.

I'd heard about Gerstmann getting fired and found this site some time after that, but ended up forgetting about it for a while. Somehow I ended up here again during the Endurance Run and obviously came back everyday while that was happening, but I didn't make a username until a long while after that was over.

Not really specifics that i can recall, just wanted to find a meaty gaming podcast to dip my toes in and came across the Bombcast, first time around 2010 or thereabouts. Didn't really listen to it in earnest until tail end of 2011. Slowly got into the site proper afterwards. The premium folk seemed all hoity tpity and upper class to me then, haha.

Kinda funny how it changed my perspective though; patrick has always been a core member to me as a result of when i got into the site.

I follow Jeff everywhere he goes. Hes just too cool of a guy. Ryan was hilarious. Also, that how to build a bomb thing they started was pretty great when this website was just getting going.

I listened to the podcast off and on for a while, eventually starting from the beginning and coming to love the site without ever visiting it. After a while I started to wonder what the staff looked like. I came here, watched some videos, and I stuck around.

Used to follow Gamespot a long time back (2003 I think would be the start of that), watched "Button Mashing" and listened to the Hotspot regularly - then Rich left.

A while after "Gerstmann-gate" (Seriously, adding "gate" to the end of controversies is stupid) happened, and I followed Jeff to his blog. Not long after Ryan left Gamespot. Then Ryan and Jeff started "Arrow Pointing Down" podcast and blog, so I followed that.

Then GB started as a blog and I continued to follow. Brad and Vinny left Gamespot so I stopped going there and followed here regularly.

Feels fun to have been part of this site from its beginnings. Weird how quickly that time has gone.

I remember my uncle telling me about Gamespot in like 2004, I've been following Jeff & Co. since then I suppose.

Followed Jeff from GameSpot

Total Biscuit said he stole the idea for his videos from Quick Looks, and that Giant Bomb is better than him.

Turns out he was right.

I heard about the Persona 4 ER from a Destructoid post. It was probably the worst of my teenage years and I had a lot of time on my hands, being stuck in a hotel with nothing to do, in a place I didn't want to be(teenagers amirite?). I remember catching up in a startling amount of time. Of course once I finally caught up I checked out their other stuff.

I don't actually entirely remember how I stumbled upon the site, to be honest. I ended up finding it out when they were in a much more 'blog' format, before whisky media or any of that.

It probably was just due to all of the drama surrounding Jeff after his leave from Gamespot. Either way, I checked the site out and liked it -- so I stuck around. Eventually I started to watch the quick looks and the later half of the persona 4 ER and never really looked back.

edit: I just looked, and holy shit I've been here nearly 6 years? That's insane.

I followed Jeff and Alex off and on when they were videogames.com(I think they were there at that time, not sure) and then Gamespot. I was on Gamespot pretty regularly by the time the Kane & Lynch fiasco happened and then lost track of both of the guys for several years as I tailed back my game playing a lot. Back in 2009-2010 I think, something reminded me of Jeff and found he and Alex on Giant Bomb but when I checked out the site I was little confused. There was a lot of video features including stuff about movies and other various topics. At that point I was still into reading regular reviews, maybe a video review here or there so I just kinda left pretty quickly and just forgot about them again. Fast forward to 2013, yet again something reminded me of Alex and Jeff again. So I gave the site another chance looking for E3 info and was instantly hooked to the quick looks, spookin' with scoops and all around funny video features that I was now getting into. Unfortunately a few months later after I joined, Ryan passed away so I didn't get too much time watching and listening to him but from the little bit I did, he seemed like an awesome guy. I've been enjoying the site ever since. I'm a little bummed Patrick left but still quite happy to be here.

I always feel bad because I only found out with the passing of Ryan. As someone who can listen to podcasts at work all day I started listening to the Bombcast and just fell in love with the guys. Now i go here more than any other video game site.

One fateful day in the dead of winter, the year of 20 and 10. Twas during Christmas festivities that my brother walked up and told me "Yo dude there's this really funny Harry Potter video game thing I have to show you". And lo, the computer monitor began to glow and the words 'Quick Look: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1' filled my vision. The moment I heard the word 'SUPERFLY' come out of the Nachoboss' mouth, and the bald man in the black shirt told me about the ape-like nature of virtual Rupert Grint I knew my life had changed. Giant Bomb was where I got my video game news from then on.

was recovering from my first back surgery in early 2011 and started listening because i was getting into podcasts for the first time so i downloaded a ton of different ones to find something i liked. This and The BS Report are the first podcasts that I really liked. it was months before i realized that most of them were former GS guys(a site i have spent way too much time on over the last decade). finally started visiting the site in late 2011 and became a premium member after getting more and more into the videos.

I used to watch On The Spot and occasionally listen to the hotspot in 06-ish, when I was about 14-15. I came back enough to recognize the frequent faces and I definitely remember the controversy when Jeff got fired (Mega64 and Penny Arcade talked about it, back when I avidly followed both those websites). Lost track of the crew until sometime in probably early 2010-ish. I'm just going back through the video library trying to figure out what some of my first videos I would have watched, it was a bit before Tested and Screened got added to the mix. Eventually I started watching the backlog of the P4 endurance run and that's what sealed my obsesion. I got a premium membership within the first few days it launched and this place has been a fixture for me since.

I have followed Jeff and the Gang since the old gamespot days and through the whole firing event so I kept an eye out.

In short I have followed this site when it was still a Jeff's blog site. Took me a year until I became a member of the community. Sometimes I miss those days. People really knew each other. There are still a lot of members I miss that either got banned or just left the site.

I was lurking /v/ and someone made a thread about the Bombcast where they mentioned 4chan (it was the batmanbatmanbatman.com one) and for no real reason (I never really took podcast reccomendations at all) I went and started listening to the Bombcast. A few months later I first visited the site and watched the Test Drive Unlimited 2 quick look. Fast forward 4 years and bam!

Watched an LP duo on YouTube called Run Button, they'd frequently mention Giant Bomb in their podcasts/videos. Started watching some Quick Looks and the rest is history.

I feel like we've been here before, have we been here before?

I was a fan of Jeff from the Gamespot days and was well aware of the whole "Kane and Lynch" debacle, after which I lost track of our Mr. Gerstmann until, one day while on vacation I decided to Google what he was up to, if anything. The search led me to a blog crawl that had one of the greatest podcasts about MGS4 that I had ever heard (and still have ever heard) that also featured a bunch of my Gamespot favorites, and...well here I am years upon years later.

I've been visiting the site since around Dec. 2011. I had a lot of personal stuff going on and this place helped keep me balanced.

Saw the name pop up on reddit in review threads. Then i saw the news on reddit when Ryan Davis passed away. That made me see some of the footage Giantbomb did on their site. Got 2 months of giantbomb premium with a reddit gold promotion and the rest is history.

My story involves Red Faction. I'd routinely see the site when Googling video game reviews at my old job. Giant Bomb kept popping up, but I was hesitant to click on the site due to being at work and all. At the time, I was more of an IGN guy to Gamespot and didn't even know the connection with GB. (Mid-to-late 2000's IGN had a hell of a staff)

But I was really excited for Red Faction: Guerilla so I had to click on that review. I then found the Quick Look of the demo. Then one day I saw Jeff on Keighley's Bonus Round and thought he was informed and likeable. Then I found the TANG of Mortal Kombat, watched all of that and thought Ryan was super great. Then watched everything else.

Now I have over 10,000 posts.

I don't remember the specifics, but I think it was in '09 when I gave into my curiosity and embraced the duderdom. I had of course been following the Kane and Lynch hoopla when that was going down, and I really liked the cut of this "Fred Durstmann" guy's jib. I think it was a Quick Look that won me over, but I'm not certain.

Then in 2011 I finally joined the forums. It always takes me a while before I grow comfortable enough with a forum to actually participate.

Watched the P4 ER in two weeks around 2009 and I've been here since.

I don't know. I just Googled "Windjammers" this one time and here I am.

I found Giant Bomb from the death of Ryan.

I used to browse /r/games of Reddit and one day saw a lot stories about Ryan Davis passing and had no idea who that was. I started watching best of marathons on YouTube and realized I had missed the work of a great man.

After that I starting watching Giant Bomb daily and eventually signed up for premium.

It is always a bit sad for me that finding Giant Bomb is tied so such a sad event.

I'm just old. I'm pretty sure been following Jeff, Brad and Ryan (RIP) for around 15 plus years.

You "new" guys should check out some of the Arrow Pointing Down stuff and of course the old videos, if you really care about how this site started. Giant Bomb is still fun (mostly) (sometimes) but this place was fucking bat shit insane back in the day.

Let me get you started on your journey...

I got my own computer around 2006 when I was like 15, and discovered Gamespot not long after. I would listen to The Hotspot while I played Runescape, and that's how I was introduced to the original crew. All my favorite dudes left to make Giantbomb, and I followed them over. So I guess I've been following them for like 9 years at this point. Never missed a Bombcast either, so that's gotta be at least a thousand hours right there.

Mine is underwhelming, in 2009 I was looking for gameplay videos of MAG and ended up finding the "MAG thing" videos Jeff and Ryan did, not only did I get handsomely informed about the game but it was also a pretty fun time, been checking daily ever since..

The 1UPocalypse happened. Looked around for sites to frequent for awhile. Around 08 found GB. Been here since.

Heard about the P4 Endurance run (long after it ended, hell they'd at LEAST done the DP endurance runs by that point, but not CT yet and certainly pre CBSi) from another nerdy forum and ended up sticking around.

Random chance. I was looking for something to watch on Sunday November 18th 2012 on Twitch and it happened to be the Wii U launch day (which I didn't know at the time). I never saw so many people on a channel before so I click on it and saw Ryan and thats that. I've been hooked since.

Mines not actually that exciting. I happened across a link to the first Borderlands quick look while I was anxiously waiting for the game to release. I enjoyed the video and thought the four guys playing were entertaining, so why not check out the rest of the site. And here I am today.

I've been a fan of the guys since the Gamespot days. Started in about 2004, I think. When Jeff was fired, I followed them over to Arrow Pointing Down, then Giant Bomb. Been here since the beginning.

Been on Gamefaqs for a while and obviously knew about the crew from GS days and was around when Jeff got canned. I then eagerly awaited his glorious return but eventually moved on and by the time the site launched I had forgotten about it.

The thing that made find the site though was Persona 4 and I then lurked on and off watching random stuff but Ryan's death was the catalyst for me to basically watch everything from that day onward. I didn't realize how much I would miss a random person from a random site until he was gone. That's when I decided I should enjoy this place as much as possible.

During my cash strapped years I always felt like an ass when I would subvert "stuff" and watch premium content as a non subscriber. Though I would try and balance the scales by donating whenever possible during charity events like extra life.

I now consider this subscription just as important as my isp and don't expect to ever not be a premium subscriber. Super excited for the next big live show and still hoping TNT comes back but I know it's rough to get it setup.

This is the best site on the net to me.

I wanted more podcasts to listen to in 2009 and my coworker recommended the Bombcast.

The end.

I searched "Modern Warfare 2 review" on youtube and found Jeff going off about shooting down UAVs.

The Gametrailers forums aren't what they used to be. It's mostly a few old regulars posting now. I looked for an alternative and found Giantbomb.

@wrect said:

This goes for me too. Can't remember the exact year I found Gamespot but it was somewhere around 2004.

But how did I find Gamespot? Hmm. I think it was one of Greg Kasavins lengthy video reviews that lured me in. That guy could review the crap out of a game.

I used to listen to 1Up Yours and as it was falling apart I heard rumor that there was a new most popular gaming podcast. It was the Giant Bombcast and so I started listening to it.

I visited the site a little bit but didn't pay much attention. It was only in 2009 when they did the Tony Hawk's Ride quicklook that I really viewed any of the content on the site. With that game, it was so lousy that the publisher (EA) didn't send out copies to mags/sites ahead of time. Giantbomb simply bought a copy of the game at the local store and filmed themselves playing it. Other gaming sites were addicted to getting their games free and so they didn't take the step of simply buying a copy. GB was thus the first with any real content evaluating the game. This brought them a lot of attention and not just from me.

After watching that video I started to watch more content on the site, liked the idea of a site which wasn't beholden to the game companies (for advertising) and it all went from there.

Before I listened to the Bombcast I did know of Jeff and Gerstmanngate but I didn't follow Jeff or the other guys back at Gamespot.

I've loved podcasts in general basically since their inception so I was amazed that my brother had found funnier stuff than I was listening to when he turned me on to the Brodeo, he had been posting on the bigger gaming sites since about '97, though. After the heartbreak of the 1UP diaspora he started listening to the bombcast because I think he knew who Jeff was. Took me a little while to get all the voices and personalities straight (had trouble differentiating between Jeff and Ryan early on).

I think the moment I was hooked was late '09 when they were kicking dirt on Tony Hawk Ride and I couldn't get enough of it. At that point I had no idea that the game industry could be such an imperfect apparatus that could totally turn it's back on a product that no one (except Tony Hawk, apparently) had any faith in. Before then I just assumed bad games just congealed out of the ether or something, so the guys opened my eyes to more about the game industry's failings.

Also around that time they answered an email from someone named Pablo, or something (something Spanish) from an oil rig off the coast of China, or somewhere in Asia (something dumbfounding to me at the time). It was at that point, when it dawned on me that if they could be inspiring emailers from such far off and diverse places that I knew the site was something special and I was totally drawn in.

Back in the fall of 2007, my niece was very sick and was pretty much living in hospital, as a result I was living there too. I'm from the UK so the time difference meant that i was awake in that hospital around the time that 'On the Spot' was airing on Gamespot. Its around that time that all the stuff with Jeff leaving Gamespot happened , so I would try and follow what Jeff and Ryan were up to since they had made me laugh so much on that live show in what was a really rotten time for me.

From there i listened to the arrow pointing down podcast when it started and signed up to Giantbomb on day one.

I was really waiting for Dragon Age: Origins when a friend linked me to the quicklook. Loved that, discovered the podcast and never left after that.

I followed Jeff and Co from Gamespot.

It's crazy to think that I've been visiting this website regularly for almost 7 years now.

Another one of the "old" guys.

Been following Jeff and the crew since the early 00's and followed them to Giant Bomb. That said, not being into all the social media stuff of the time, I did miss the Arrow Pointing Down days of the site. I hadn't realised that Jeff and Ryan had resurfaced until it was mentioned elsewhere.

Another follow from Gamespot, Jeff got fired, Ryan and co resigned, arrow pointing down and now we're here.