What was your first experience with Giant Bomb?

The Bombcast, which I discovered sometime late summer/early fall of 2008. It was a pleasant surprise to me, as I had assumed that I would never be able hear the old Hotspot crew podcast ever again.

I saw the Mario TANG video on GoNintendo (when I used to frequent that site more often). From there I started watching the rest of the videos on here and really enjoyed them.

P4 endurance run back in 08 never looked back.

Basically, people were just posting links to a bunch of "Let's Plays" in a topic on another forum, and one of them posted a link to the Persona 4 ER. I never watched lets plays, but since I had already completed and adored P4 I kinda wanted to see how other people saw it. After the first video, I was hooked on Giantbomb forever. I don't think I ever fell in love with a site quite as fast.

It's funny though, I was linked to Giantbomb numerous times before. But every time I hit the front page all I thought was, "Oh, it's just another videogame trailer site. Gametrailers.com already does that for me". Little did I know..

I never even knew who Jeff or the others were before that, and I had never visited Gamespot during his time there, but I wish I had.

Rebel FM mentioned the GB Portal 2 Spoilercast. I gave it a listen and didn't look back.

@fuzzybunny566 said:

@djames216 said:

@fuzzybunny566 said:

@kidman said:

Watching 'Points!' being recorded in Jeff's bedroom, then arrow pointing down podcast and so on. I really thought more people were here from day one, especially after the whole firing thing.

same here...i had been visiting Gamespot for years already, and was familiar with our crew, and then just followed Jeff's underground vids and now have been a proud Bomber since the beginning...still miss the drink tests

I'm currently going through old bombcasts. It made me realise that I really miss listening to the DSi and WiiWare shop music while Jeff or Ryan read those crazy game descriptions. That music is awesome.

i started doing the same thing last March, all the way from Arrow Pointing Down through the end of 2010, which i finished in November...took a few months off, and started 2011 back in January. I'm up to December, and i will stop once i get to the GOTY podcasts. It's so much fun listening to the old bits and jokes, the old discussions of upcoming games and knowing how they turned out. It's really neat to remember a gag or bit from 2 years ago and laugh like it was fresh again. I've spend the past 4 years listening to the crew every single week and I can't imagine life without their humour now. It's crazy.

Yeh that's pretty much been my experience. Laughing uncontrollably at the crazy humour they come out with that I had forgotten about from listening to the first time around.

I had been here before, but I only started using the site regularly about 2 years ago with the Harry Potter and The Deatly Hallows Quick Look. 

Been a member since May 2009, but lurked the site way before that. I remember following Jeff's activity after he left GS, but somehow "forgot about it" since not much happened until months later when he started the Arrow Pointing Down podcast with Ryan. I think I actively started visiting the site around September 2008, and finally registered after getting hooked on the Persona 4 Endurance Run because I wanted to comment on their episodes. Been absolutely hooked ever since, and it's very rare that a day goes by without me visiting Giant Bomb.

I was desperately searching for DA:O gameplay videos and I stumbled upon the quick look. I thought, holy crap this is freaking awesome.

@Canteu said:

The arrow pointing down podcast.

yep

Been here since the beginning. I love this site.

Endurance run episode 20ish?

Never followed gaming websites/podcasts because I found most of them to be shills/overly positive and mostly boring.

After watching that video I bought P4 played to get ahead of them and basically watched/read everything on the site to catch up even the old Jeff points blog videos.

Been following the crew since they were at Gamespot, but I remember being on vacation in the States at my then-girlfriend's house, reading up on the start of the super-old "blog" Giant Bomb that featured a big picture of Jeff on the front page. Start of something big, man.

Arrow pointing down and America the energy drink.

I've been watching Jeff Gerstmann on the internet for far too long to not consider it creepy now. I was glued to the internet drama back with Kane&Lynch.

I've been here since i heard Jeff was involved with another podcast after he was fired.

The first time the blog-site was up.

Near the beginning when it was still a blog.

I've been here since the start I guess, I was on gamespot before and when he got fired I kept looking at his blog and listened to the arrow pointing down podcast and I watched the how to build a bomb and watched some more videos but then I was finishing high school so I came here rarer and kind of missed the first ER and first QL, but since like 2010 I've been visiting every day.

Also in 2009 I played a lot of world of warcraft I kind of don't remember anything about that year it's weird like a great big hole in my memory 0.0

Ive been following Jeff for years so I followed through "Gerstmann Gate", ArrowPointingDown Podcast and the Giant Bomb blog.

Watching the Endurance Run as they were finishing the tail end of it. By the time I got caught up it was over, but I don't think I joined the site officially until they were about to do the Deadly Premonition Run.

I heard of Giant Bomb because I started watching On the Spot and I thought Brian Ekberg was funny at the time.  Some users started saying that he might pop up at Giant Bomb so I looked up the site and I watched the Red Dead Redemption zombie DLC quick look

Can I say Gamespot November 2004? I remember the post where someone asked Jeff to do a podcast and he said he'd think about.

Looked at the site because I remembered Jeff Gerstmann then checked out the Gemma Atkinson page since it was the most browsed person page here.

Sexual.

The blog that existed before the actual site did. I remember watching all the "How to Build a Bomb" videos as they came out. It was so cool to see these awesome dudes building the site. I think I was following them regularly before the first ever Giant Bombcast. It's been really cool to watch them grow and change.

@djames216 said:

I used to follow Jeff and the guys on Gamespot (since 2002). I loved tuning into On The Spot (The video show hosted by Rich Gallup alongwith co-hosts Jeff & Ryan) every week and listening to the Hotspot podcast, watching video reviews etc. Jeff being fired and a whole dirge of other staffers leaving left, right and centre...I felt like the heart and soul of Gamespot had been torn asunder. I never felt bitter towards Gamespot itself, it was the fault of the clueless management at the time. Anyway, Jeff then took to doing occassional "Achievement update" videos. He would talk about what games he was playing in relation to achievement points and what his current total was. This, of course, then led to the Arrow Pointing Down podcast and I think you know the rest. I love this site. More so than when I used to regularly visit Gamespot (and I did love doing so). I think this new episode in Giant Bomb's journey will be awesome.

Yup. That. Loved on the spot and the hotspot. Followed the crew after the crazy shit. Been a die hard every sense. Looking forward to more expensive stupid.

Quick Look: Game Room for 10/27/2010, released on 11/02/2010.

The emotion behind, "NOTHING STOPS THE GAME ROOM QUICK LOOK", made me stay.

I became aware of Giantbomb after hearing Jeff and Brad espouse the virtues of GTAIV during the GOTY podcast of whatever site Garnett Lee was working for at the time... 1up? I immediately hated them (because I hate GTAIV) and thought that Brad sounded like a lumberjack.

Arrow Pointing Down.

This is extremely personal for me, I am also a poor writer so bare with me.

I had know about the gamespot thing, who most the guys were, and that jeff was moving on I had seen a clip on G4's attack of the show shortly after the hole firing thing went down but, couldn't for the life of me remember what the damn site was called or if it was even up. I had a job at the time that didn't allow me the greatest free time. My father had also passed around that time so it was a shitty time, I had other things on my mind.

Flash forward to 2009,

I started getting sick from what I would later find out was my gallbladder throwing a fit and needing removed. For the most part, I was sickly and house bound. I was also taking care of my mom who was also old but, sickly and house bound as well. I think in the ESA newsletter I had seen a "Up Coming Events" List that had "California Extreme" on it. I Looked around the net for anybody covering it and, came up with goose egg. I found a few youtube videos with people filming random machines there. I am a old arcade head, and love this sort of thing. So I kept poking and coming up dry, My search finally yielded this story.

I read it, Watched the videos, Looked at the pictures, Then seen there was a podcast, and hoped they would talk about it in there. Which they did.

Extra points behind the spoiler if you care.

That about sums everything up ... It's long I know, But that's the story and, This site means a great deal to me. That's about all.

The launch.

When the Giantbomb blog first went up. I was following the whole situation with Jeff and Gamespot back in 2007 and found out about Giantbomb.com from his personal blog and the Arrow Pointing Down podcast.

Since that old blog Jeff made before it became Giant Bomb. Basically since the beginning. But I was a lurker for years before making an account.

The first episode of the podcast after it changed it's name

A friend always mentioned the podcast and when I got a new job that required a lot of menial data input I felt like I needed something to get me through the day. This was around the time of E3 so I thought I'd check out this site , which I thought looked pretty standard at first glance but I came to listen to the Podcast - and they turned out to be awesome. Each day I just listened to the E3 Bombcasts and when that finished I just started listening to older one day after day and eventually got hooked on the Bomb.

I think one of my Tumblr friends linked me to the site.

It was the Worms 2: Armageddon Quick Look. I bought it anyway, and didn't like it. That's how I came to trust Jeff and Ryan.

GameSpot -> Arrow Pointing Down-> GB

I casually visited GameSpot for a while before but, I think I really only got deep into it less than a year before it all went down over there, so I don't go as far back as some people, but ya.... that a long time duders.

Whole lotta Jeff & crew

Edit: Logged into my old account. Member at GameSpot in August 06.

Since the site was announced on the Arrow Pointing Down podcast.

The Quick Look of Africa. And ofc they pulled the good old QL spell on me making me really interested in the game. Fortunately I didn't end up buying it though :P

How to Build a Bomb: Episode 1. Back before the site fully launched and it was just a word press blog with Jeff and Ryan. I remember on tuesday nights there would always be 15 or 20 of us who would chat in the comments, waiting for the bombcast to upload (which came up around 6 or 7 hours later than it does now.) That's how I got this username which I hate. When I signed up for the blog I used it because I had Just finished playing the Bourne game. After the site fully launched I planned to change it but I decided to keep it so it would be easier for people to find me.

The StarCraft II Beta, and then the Red Dead Redemption TNT

@Hailinel said:

Reading the blog that was established prior to the official site launch.

This.

After reading someone blog post on Gamespot I was pump up to see want they are doing.

My first experience with GB was the podcast when they talked about the Gears of War energy drink and giant gummy bears, I have no clue how I found out about these guys but I'm glad I did.

I looked at Gamespot sporadically, and when I started looking up old reviews there, I noticed that Jeff had done a bunch. I found out about the controversy and this site when I looked him up. Coming here, the Mega Man 9 failure video was what got me thinking this would be a great site, though I was just a lurker until some months later when I would make an account here.

I have been following since the day I heard Gerstmann was fired and they released the Arrow Pointing Down podcast.

@Hailinel said:

Reading the blog that was established prior to the official site launch.

The tour round the new office, thats when I started watching there videos.