Your feeling about the aquisition of Giantbomb? (POLL)

I have FAITH

This whole journey has been like a fairy tail really, no joke. To me it's like the boys are going back HOME

I'm proud and so happy for them all.

The best days are a head of us

Happy and sad. Part of me wanted Whiskey all together forever, even Anime Vice. But if it growing apart means growing into something greater then cool for them.

B)

What, exactly, about Giant Bomb do you people think is going to change?

The appeal of the site has always been the personalities involved, and pretty much the entire creative team is going along for the ride.

Remember Jeff is the guy who lost his job because he stuck to his guns about this kind of stuff.

@Jimbo: The question someone else brought up in a different discussion is - since they're now part of this huge family are Premium Memberships going to continue costing the same amount? By all rights they shouldn't as that money went directly to them before to help finance this whole independent endeaouver. I don't think they can actually keep any content behind a money wall now because not only is it not the way Gamestop does it, but it would be completely unfair to the loyal fanbase to keep charging people $50 a year to watch Jartime when they no longer have to struggle financially. If anything I think Premium memberships should disappear completely - when GB was in need, the userbase paid and help support them. Now that they're in a favorable situation they can give back to the fans and eliminate any sort of paid-for content.

Way I see it is...Giant Bomb have got very popular because of the shenanigans that the very strong personalities of this website do. CBS would be shooting themselves in the foot if they regulate or remove any of that.

B. Although, I'm not sure if I'm expecting changes to the site. I do want to see what they'll do with the area they have in the GameSpot building.

Also I clicked A immediantly. Giant Bomb will never fail me and if it does...well by that time Jeff and crew would've left and created Mircoscopicmissle.com

Who the fuck gives a shit. I always follow Jeff. If they end up leaving GS in a few years, I'll follow them again. Till then, enjoy more content 

Don't care. When stuff actually changes, then I'll form an opinion.

@SeriouslyNow:

@SeriouslyNow said:

@Wandrecanada:

Well said. CBS is a machine designed to extract as much money as possible from those who enter into an intellectual relationship with it. It's a disgusting filthy thing by its very nature. Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. It hurts just to have to utter their empty dead names to illustrate a point: CBS makes this stuff and offers no apologies for it. In fact they crown themselves with laurels for spreading insanities like this.

"Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for, from this instant, There 's nothing serious in mortality: All is but toys: renown and grace is dead; The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of."

If you eat any kind of fast food or enjoy any kind of consumer driven experience or product you're a fucking hypocrite. Oh and Shakespeare was the CBS of his day. Social Commentary mixed with extremely baudy humour with localised context and a strong sense of current trends crafted to appeal to the broadest of audiences. Every performance was modified to match its surroundings and was laced with local flavour in terms of news and name drops. It's why something like Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet is more 'authentic' than Branagh's Twelfth Night. I hate people like you and I don't often hate anyone, but people like you know nothing and yet feel like they are above everything. You're the very definition of a philistine.

There is a world of difference between eating a corporate hamburger, which I won't lie I do enjoy on occasion, and sitting down in front of corporate TV and have it pretend to entertain while it in truth constantly condescends, insults, mocks and sells things while it pretends not to be a salesman. Fast Food is gone and forgotten about almost instantly but Corporation Enertainavision is a constant punch in the face for every second devoted to it. It's disgusting and it has had a good run at ruining the entire world. If you think Shakespeare was the CBS of his day you are not being honest with yourself. How many advertisements for Pizza Hut do you think Shakespeare included in the performance of his plays? Which Shakespeare Character had that nutty catchphrase BAZINGA that everyone just loves so much? Besides, I just threw that line from MacBeth in there because I had been reading it and it had been swimming around in my head for days. This change is not something I was entirely surprised at discovering. Video games are themselves becoming increasingly corporate and useless so it only makes sense that Giantbomb become more corporate too. Hate me? You don't know me in the least so you should probably calm down.

@SeriouslyNow: Yo, both of you should get off your high-horse and shut the fuck up.

whether the site changes too much or not, overall i am glad this has happened, it means a lot more financial security for the crew/site, a lot of the guys are getting on in life, i cant imagine relying on subscriber money to run a business is the most stable environment to work in. the resources they have access to now will help the site expand in ways that we probably haven't even considered

i will miss the whiskey media upstart mentality of "us against the world" but it has leveraged GB and Tested in particular to expand and improve on the foundations they have already laid down. Jeff has been talking for years and years about his ideas of where and what he wants games journalism to go and be, and that was a long time before he formed GB, i doubt he would sacrifice his ambitions just because he has a new boss to answer to. How many times have these guys tried something new, only to blow the skeptics right out of the water? i think WM have been the only sites ever to roll out to a new site layout and have the community react positively, so hopefully Dave and Alexis' insight might go on to help Gamespot improve as well (because imo their site is a mess, and their video player is shite)

I, for one am along for the ride, because to quote Ryan Davis "what ever happens, it won't be boring!"

@Drebin_893: Does someone with a Bob Dylan avatar really have anything to say about high horses? That guy is like the supreme high horse douche bag.

@SeriouslyNow: I'm done with replying.

But anyway, I visited Gamespot and it's horrible so I've decided to hijack Giantbomb and make it better so here's my first review of a videogame.

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/knight244/blog/

I don't know the best way to link to my blog so I did it this way. Sorry and BAZINGAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

@Ragdrazi said:

D. Because I'm not stupid.

I don't think I really have an opinion about this (yet). I'm a relatively new member, and so far the only things I'm using here are the forums and the wiki. We'll see how things turn out.

i dont trust CBS. Also dont trust anyone in a board room.

B. I don't panic about new things happening like a vast majority of people on the internet.

CBS sees promise in Giant Bomb, which is why they spent REAL DOLLARS on it.

@Turbo_Toaster said:

CBS sees promise in Giant Bomb, which is why they spent REAL DOLLARS on it.

I'd imagine CBS also has some stellar ideas for changes they can make to Giant Bomb to milk a few more dollars out of it as well.

@Vinny_Says said:

Nothing says crazier, bigger and more insane like a giant corporation overwatching you.

I'm stealing this for use in other threads, just a heads up.

So long as people respond to quality personalities like Giant Bomb with fervor, the suits will continue to want to steer in their direction. It`ll succeed or fail based on what the providers of content do and what you the audience does. Jumping ship now because you think GB will fail makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Faith guys, a little goes a long way.

B, but also sad at the breaking up of the Whiskey Family, which I feel like they really shouldn't have done. It sucks that Will and Norm and Dave and Vinny won't be able to mingle on random live shows when there are games like Dark Souls that should be covered/shown off. I think looking at it as just GB or just Tested, it's awesome. I'm not worried much about who is paying the GB guys, because we all know they won't take bullshit and if they have to they'll leave again. That's what created GB in the first place. They aren't going to give that up. Still, I think they should have been more open about this being in the works and checked into what people felt about it, especially in regards to splitting things up. Am I really going to have to pay two fees for what used to be a single entity? To me, GB, Tested, Screened, Comic Vine, they will always be the Whiskey Family. It's a bummer to see them apart, even though Will and the boys at Tested did alleviate some of my worries saying pretty clearly that there will still be interactions with the two sites.

It has to be D. They need to know that we are expecting a lot from this news. And need to be coddled and comforted a little.

We GAVE them money directly to run this site. Can't say that about other for profit businesses.

B. Have a little faith guys. The duders at Giant Bomb have been doing cool shit for 4 years with the site, there's no way they'd want that to change now. If anything, given that it's the goofiness most people like, there'll be more of it.

@MuttersomeTaxicab: I don't really understand where you're getting that they're underpaid. The GB crew never go around showing their paychecks off, and instead actually give off tons of evidence that they're payed plenty considering what their job truly entails. Now, i am not saying that GB don't deserve the cash they earn, but they were hardly short on cash from what i gather. Just a couple of weeks ago ryan could be quoted as saying "50 dollars? that's like free." on the bombcast in conversation about the flight sticks. Not to mention that the GB crew have 1000 dollar computers, multiple HD televisions, and all kinds of other goodies. I mean, jeff spends hundreds of dollars on skylanders and is still going, all from his own pocket.

I get that you aren't worried about this merging of gamespot and GB, but don't go around throwing speculation about underpayment when, if anything, the evidence is to the contrary.

@BPRJCTX said:

@OneManX said:

I dont think the GBDuders forgot how to be Giant Bomb. When they rolled out subscriptions people lost their minds, and we still got a ton of free content and enough Subscriber content to make the sub worth-while. This seems like a choice they put a lot of thought into it, and I'm sure thy wouldn't dot his, if they weren't allowed to be themselves. GB/CV already gets a ton of hits already and now they are getting paid what they are worth.

Yeah, about that, i think ppl payed the subscription because they loved the site, and wanted to support the guys, but...

Now that they're with CBS, will you guys still renew your subscriptions?

Cos you'll just be dumping even more money into CBS's large pockets, and all you'll be getting out of it would be an add free website.

It's not like if nobody paid a subscription, they would just close 'hem down, cos they wouldn't, they would just have adds, and everything would be free for everybody.

I'm new here, and i was considering getting a subscription, but now that this happened, no fuckin' way.

Love Giant Bomb, but i'm not giving any money to CBS, cos that's who'll be getting the money, the guys at Giant Bomb will just have a salary like everyone else, and a bigger one at that.

If it's worth keeping, I dont know why not, I'm subbed until 2013...

Subscriptions be it here or XBL or even Cable are completely optional and are worth it, if you think it is.

The only thing I don't like about this is the fact that we won't see Whiskey Media creeping in and out of all of the content on the sites. I'd love for them to remain under Whiskey, but this is the way the world works and I'm excited that everyone is getting to move on to bigger and better things. Other than that, B all the way!

I voted D, but also a heavy dose on the "i'm 12 years old and what is this?". I hope to god they are fine, but I don't get the logic in any of this at the time being. I am not sure if I am missing a key piece of information here or something, but even if all the higher-ups are gone from GS from the days of Gerstmann-gate, it would be next to impossible for me personally to even walk on 2nd street anymore even to go by those offices... :\

@pandorasbox said:

@MuttersomeTaxicab: I don't really understand where you're getting that they're underpaid. The GB crew never go around showing their paychecks off, and instead actually give off tons of evidence that they're payed plenty considering what their job truly entails. Now, i am not saying that GB don't deserve the cash they earn, but they were hardly short on cash from what i gather. Just a couple of weeks ago ryan could be quoted as saying "50 dollars? that's like free." on the bombcast in conversation about the flight sticks. Not to mention that the GB crew have 1000 dollar computers, multiple HD televisions, and all kinds of other goodies. I mean, jeff spends hundreds of dollars on skylanders and is still going, all from his own pocket.

I get that you aren't worried about this merging of gamespot and GB, but don't go around throwing speculation about underpayment when, if anything, the evidence is to the contrary.

I don't recall saying anything along the lines of the crew having to live hand-to-mouth, or even saying they're being underpaid. They're still part of a pretty well-known site, which shields them from a lot of the instability of the industry. Freelance video game writers either have to work like dogs to make ends meet or have something on the side.

My point was more along the lines of the guys probably taking the long view of their personal lives. I imagine Ryan and Jeff in particular do pretty well. Given Brad and Vinny's experience, they're probably paid a reasonable wage, but there will eventually come a point where their salaries are effectively capped by the ability of the site to pull in premium subscriptions and advertising revenue. As I said before, it's not the only rationale for them to make the change, but what did you expect them to do? Keep doing the same thing? They've already noted that they've more or less hit the ceiling for what they can do, which isn't near what they want to do. Having that extra mobility works on a lot of levels: One, it'll offer them the chance to do more crazy shit, on the other, it will allow them to retain the editorial staff that is so central to the Giant Bomb "brand" - essentially by staying competitive in terms of salary as well as offering a workplace that seems to be genuinely engaging for all the members of the crew. Kids are expensive. Houses are expensive. Weddings/significant others are expensive. I don't believe for a second that these guys would pick "staying small and keeping it street" over being able to take better care of themselves and their families in the years to come. And who knows? Maybe they'll find a way to keep it street while being "medium".

@Shimmy said:

@PrivateIronTFU said:

It's just a website, and I'm an adult with real-world problems.

And yet you had time to post in this thread. How do you do it?

I, for one, welcome our giant insect overlords.

I said I have real-world problems. I didn't say I have no time post comments on a website. Do you see how these things are different?

There's nothing wrong with being on a website and enjoying it, and commenting on it, but to pretend that I'm deeply disturbed by this news would just be dishonest.

OP asked for my opinion, and I gave it.

@PrivateIronTFU said:

@Shimmy said:

@PrivateIronTFU said:

It's just a website, and I'm an adult with real-world problems.

And yet you had time to post in this thread. How do you do it?

I, for one, welcome our giant insect overlords.

I said I have real-world problems. I didn't say I have no time post comments on a website. Do you see how these things are different?

There's nothing wrong with being on a website and enjoying it, and commenting on it, but to pretend that I'm deeply disturbed by this news would just be dishonest.

OP asked for my opinion, and I gave it.

Oh I understand what you mean, but here are a bunch of people who are legitimately bothered by this sudden turn of events and your comment came across as kind of patronizing and shitty. You will forgive me if that was not your intention.

I've been here too long to quit now!  And I think everyone needs to calm down, shit will be fine.

Ultimately, it seems that the rest of the internet has seen what Giant Bomb and Whiskey Media as a whole has done to construct this fantastic culture, it gives me faith in how this transition will be good for nearly everyone involved. A.

@Ragdrazi: I disagree, but I sure as hell won't call a fellow duder any of that other crap you got called. While for-profit companies do truly want more profit, one aspect is being able to adapt to a market. This is where Giant Bomb and Whiskey got noticed the most: it became a community. A honest, gosh-darned, community of like-minded individuals and it maintained as such for 4 whole years. I can guarantee you, next to no website that gets the traffic and attention that our beloved sites get maintains such a culture, much less for as long as it has. Any the only way to maintain this? To keep the community alive and blooming as it has and will continue to be.

Plus, I'm sure maintaining a niche site that has strong values is more than a smidgen cheaper and with a higher return ratio than running a giant site that is trying to appeal to as many people as possible, leading me to believe that, while Giant Bomb may have a much lower roof as Gamespot has and will keep, there's damn good reason to keep what CBS has bought as-is.

If it means more money for them to crazier things then hell yeah!!! I just don't want things to change.

@Ragdrazi said:

D. Because I'm not stupid.

I'm not 12, damnit ... I always wanna choose that option :(

This whole thing has gotten way out of hand. Unless I see an actual dip in the quality of the content or significant changes to GB formula that are against my liking, I have no reason to hate on this.

People have a distorted view of what big businesses actually do, they are million of big corporation around the world that are not corrupt and do the right things that we never hear about (because it is the norm), while all we hear is how corrupt business is. Since CBSi bought GS in 2008 (AFTER 2007 when Jeff was fired and after a management change) they have not shown any inclination to corrupt and "business" up their operations.

Sure people are entitle to be concerned (specially about premium membership and the fate of screened.com + some concerns about future of Tested but it seems fine to me). These guys have provided quality content to me over the last 10 year, both under GS ( under the watchful eye of big corporation) and GB. Unless I see evidence to the contrary, I will wait patiently and see how the implication of WM sale develops.

We have imperfect information about the details of the sale, about the management at CBSi + most crucial information needed to make an educated and probable guess of the possible outcomes of this incident. It takes time for shit to develop, so lets just see what happens.

I have not seen anyone here give any concrete example or reasoning on why this will be bad deal. Your personal ideology about big business is not a substitute for actual information and evidence of corruption and bad management under CBSi, and for sure not enough to conclude that GB is doomed at this point.

@Mdk5631: It's called, "The moderators are doing their jobs." And they're working overtime with all of the insane bullshit that they've had to wade through in the past few days.

I'll stick with GB to the bitter end, and i really hope everything works out great, but mergers are rarely ever a good thing in the long run. I guess it's all just wild speculation at this point. I'll wait and see.

A

Yeah I knew there was changes when they sent me an email about it.

E, because unfortunately I don't want to support Gamespot or CBS, so even if they DID manage to stay even remotely the same over time (which I highly HIGHLY doubt) I wouldn't be able to do so without backing those companies on some level which I don't care to do.

I'm pretty excited. Jeff's reputation is ALL ABOUT not giving in to pressure, so Giant Bomb will be what it will be and it'll be a lot of fun.