Why does giantbomb post their reviews so late?

The only reason I travel to other sites at times is to find early reviews of games to aid in my decision making process to purchase a game or not. The problem is that other sites often post spoilers and they  are just simply not as good as giantbomb. What holds giantbomb back from posting their reviews earlier? 

A lot of times they don't get review copies as early as the bigger name guys(IGN, Gamespot, etc) or, sometimes, have to buy the games themselves on release day.

With it being a fairly small operation they don't always get early review copies and with the mound of new releases coming out recently its hard to play through the whole game, write a review, proofread it and get it up early. i sure as hell know i couldnt play every game given to me on a schedual

And Giantbomb reviews are the cream of the crop far better then some other reviews you can tell the giantbomb guys spent some good time with the games.

The staff of GiantBomb is markedly small in comparison to sites like IGN and 1UP.  If I recall, only four reviews are employed, each taking a week (if not longer) to complete each game at their leisure.  The pressure to complete a game and critique it on time simply isn't present as it was at GameSpot, especially under the leadership of Greg Kasavin.

I'm a bit surprised that they haven't put up an ME2 review yet because it came out in the US today and they said Brad had been playing it.

Because they're waiting for the mail to come to see how big the check is... (runs away).

" I'm a bit surprised that they haven't put up an ME2 review yet because it came out in the US today and they said Brad had been playing it. "

since i'm the kind of guys that takes some time to finish a game i can't ask to someone to finish quick and experience all a game :(  , and when a want to brought a game in day one i already know what is the game about.
 
but also i'm gonna quote Shaun McInnins's twitter 
 

 I wonder how many websites review MAG (online-only game with deep leveling system) before release tomorrow. So far: two!#notaraceguys    

because they hate you.

Doesn't bother me. It's good that they put alot of time and effort into their reviews, also I don't rely on review scores to decide on whether or not to buy a game.

I was actually a little surprised that Giant Bomb didn't post their Mass Effect 2 review at midnight. Pretty much every site, and I mean every site, posted their review at midnight.

Why do you ask stupid and obvious questions?

It takes time for perfection. = - P Hehe.

there is also relationships with developers and publishers and whatnot that might dictate when they receive a review copy - for example if Jeff gave a previous Eidos game a bad review, Eidos might not be so enthusiastic to get his opinion on their newest game. 
 
The focus of giantbomb isn't the reviews, it's the podcast and the wiki. I think as far as giantbomb is concerned there is already enough of that stuff in existence, if you want to read rushed early reviews there are plenty of decent places to do so elsewhere on the internet.

They're a group of dudes who play games. They don't always get early copies like IGN or GameSpot. They buy the game when it's released, and then play it until they can review it.

often times i find myself purchasing a game that i have a small interest in because i read a solid review for it.  but using giant bomb i plan my game purchases out a a little more strategically - and save myself some coin to boot! 
 
also their reviews are top notch. i don't like i have seen a "world exclusive first review" from them which is usually nothing but glad handing the publishers.

You shouldn't solely get your information from one site, I mean in reality GiantBomb is a small operation that doesn't always post releveant news. There are other good non "corporate" sites like Destructoid and Kotaku which provide relevant reviews. Hell I think I prefer Kotaku for reviews over GiantBomb because they dont give meaningless numbers. They state pros and cons, some details on the game and thats it. You can generally tell from the tone if they liked it or not but based on the pros and cons you can make your own decision.
 
Also Metacritic is a great way to see if the game is praised universally just because say Brad  gave something a 5/5 doesn't not everyone else gave it a 1 or 2 out of  5.

I think also you have to take into account the amount of video content and podcasts these guys are putting out. Quite honestly for a group of 4 -8 guys its staggering. And while I'm sure everyone agrees that the reviews are fantastic most people keep coming back to Giantbomb for the video content, podcasts and the community. At the least for me the reviews have become simply supplemental for the enjoyment of the site, while the quicklooks, features and podcasts have become the main course. And I say if we have to wait a few couple days for a review so we can keep on getting such great content, what is there to bitch about.

Also, with a fairly small staff they sometimes can't get a game finished in time. While a reviewer on another site may be completely assigned to a particular task until it's done, the reviewers on this site may have to do quick looks, news, bombcasts etc in between. 

It's also my understanding they don't go after exclusive reviews, unlike IGN which gets them like candy. Then again, GiantBomb (or any site) shouldn't be your only source for information. All sources have specific strengths and weaknesses, GiantBomb is no different.

well in the case of MAG, BIG kudos to them for waiting till the public servers are up and they've gotten sometime in with the community before reviewing the game. How can you tell what the experience is like on a mltiplayer game based solely on a beta?

" I'm a bit surprised that they haven't put up an ME2 review yet because it came out in the US today and they said Brad had been playing it. "

" well in the case of MAG, BIG kudos to them for waiting till the public servers are up and they've gotten sometime in with the community before reviewing the game. How can you tell what the experience is like on a mltiplayer game based solely on a beta? "

I actually like it better that way. They're experiencing the same stuff at the same time as the consumers. Just so we have something to talk about. Instead of saying "I wish I can play it now".

To cite everyone who's said it before they don't always get the games early, a good chunk of the time its on their own dime, since they are a review site they have a ton of games to get through and little time to do it in, and they actually play the games. I think one of the huge differences is that there's not a check neatly slipped in the case, so they give the honest review which takes an entire playthrough, maybe more to accomplish. 

If you are important people will wait.

I don't mind waiting a little longer for the qualitative reviews that we see here.

" @WilliamRLBaker: Cream of the crop indeed! That's why I like giantbomb so much you can tell they give games a good play through before writing a review. It's just too bad sometimes because this is the only site where I trust the reviews and when a game is already out and a review hasn't been posted it puts me in a tough situation because I'm not sure if I should pick up a game or not.  "

I think if you are in a situation where you're still unsure on whether to get a game on launch day, then obviously you're not too eager to get it. In which case, a day or two late is hardly going to cause you much hassle.

GiantBomb doesn't really post their reviews that late. Usually they are posted a few days before release, or a day or two after release. You have to remember that they are a relatively small group of people and their main concern is playing the game through, maybe playing a retail copy (if it warrants a reason), and getting a good, quality review before post.

Better late then never is my saying, i may have stolen that tag line.

" @JWawin said:

" @WilliamRLBaker: Cream of the crop indeed! That's why I like giantbomb so much you can tell they give games a good play through before writing a review. It's just too bad sometimes because this is the only site where I trust the reviews and when a game is already out and a review hasn't been posted it puts me in a tough situation because I'm not sure if I should pick up a game or not.  "

You know you don't have to pick up a game on release date. You can wait a week, it'll still be there. "

Giant Bomb is about quality, not quantity.  This is a small, tight run unit of seasoned professionals who work hard to keep us all entertained and informed.  They've been doing videos, writing news articles and other stuff we haven't even seen yet.  They do all this and have to make time to play games for review.  Oh, and then there is that little nagging thing about having an outside life.  They get to it and when they do, it is good.  There are plenty of other sites with larger staffs that will give you more timely reviews if that is what you're looking for.  Me, I can wait for something I will truly value when making game purchases.

i would say because they are not big to get copies like gamespot and other great review sites. they have to wait until the reviews come out.

Because it's freaking art, man.
 
You can't rush art. 
 
Ol' Leo Da Vinci didn't take no shit from anybody. No sir.

Because Brad sucks at video games.

" @JWawin: They do it to piss people off. "