How would you rate the new Giant Bomb at launch?

  • 87 results
  • 1
  • 2
Avatar image for truthtellah
TruthTellah

9827

Forum Posts

423

Wiki Points

185

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Poll How would you rate the new Giant Bomb at launch? (383 votes)

5 out of 5. 12%
4 out of 5. 32%
3 out of 5. 25%
2 out of 5. 13%
1 out of 5. 4%
Anyone. 3%
Need more time to decide. 11%

CBSi has just released the latest site in the long-running Giant Bomb series.

The developer, led by visionary programmer Dave Snider and video personality Jeff "The RAP Man" Gerstmann, took a big risk this time around and decided to build their own engine from the ground up, and now that it's out, how would you rate it? Do you see the potential or just the technical issues? Or do you need more time to decide?

I'm sure we will all be providing our own comprehensive reviews of the site in the days to come, but looking at the site in its current at-launch state, what do you say?

 • 
Avatar image for ghostiet
Ghostiet

5832

Forum Posts

160

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 3

#1  Edited By Ghostiet

A 3 out of 5. It has a lot of potential, but silly stuff like forum feed got the axe for some reason, the design IMO tries to be a bit too "slick" for its own good - everything is so packed, but barely separated from each other - and so far the new player, even though it's miles better than the terrible Gamespot one, is completely jacked for me.

Avatar image for warofart
artofwar420

6994

Forum Posts

290

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 7

I like it. Main issues are with the video player, but it's a serious improvement from the previous player. I can skip to times in videos finally. I can't complain. 5 out of 5.

Avatar image for egg
egg

1666

Forum Posts

23283

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 10

Forums are fixed, but I still think the forum section should be displayed on top of the topic title, not the other way around. But nonetheless 5 out of 5 stars for fixing it at all, and so quickly.

Some of my wiki pages have all my images removed, presumedly because my profile gallery has been wiped clean. I don't even know why images uploaded to a wiki were tied to my account in the first place. If I'm editing a wiki and upload an image, it should be obvious that the image is for the wiki entry, not my profile. 2 out of 5 stars.

Lastly I find I can't remove items from lists. I give it... a 3 stars out of 5.

Avatar image for joshthebear
joshthebear

2704

Forum Posts

726

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

I need to give it some more time, as judging it with first day issues isn't too fair.

Overall I enjoy it, but it'll take some time to adjust.

Avatar image for eccentrix
eccentrix

3250

Forum Posts

12459

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 15

Joke answer always.

Avatar image for theht
TheHT

15998

Forum Posts

1562

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 9

#6  Edited By TheHT

Pretty cool, but I miss having the most recent forum threads on the homepage.

Avatar image for alexpiercey
alexpiercey

746

Forum Posts

618

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

The only thing I don't like is the lack of forums on the front page.

At least, so far! Mwahahahaaaaa... . . .

Avatar image for toowalrus
toowalrus

13408

Forum Posts

29

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Well, if Jeff's philosophy of "don't ship broken pieces of shit" applies, 1/5 stars.

I'll be generous and give it two, though. Lots of potential, but crippling performance issues.

Avatar image for razielcuts
RazielCuts

3292

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#9  Edited By RazielCuts

I keep seeing this guy more often than not -

No Caption Provided

But I guess that's to be expected for now, I'll just be happy when the 500'ing stops and the bombcast itunes feed is back on its feet. Everything else like the newer features will come in time.

Avatar image for pr1mus
pr1mus

4158

Forum Posts

1018

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 4

#10  Edited By pr1mus

2/5

The potential is there and i love the new design. But if we're being honest it was too early. Lots of bugs left and very unstable still.

Avatar image for karkarov
Karkarov

3385

Forum Posts

3096

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Well when the site stops giving me a 404 error on a 50% chance I will let you know. For now all I see are bugs, the forum feed is gone (bad), the new color scheme sucks (but it back to black/dark grey please), and all and all I really feel like it was a downgrade from the old site.

2/5

Avatar image for cmblasko
cmblasko

2955

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#12  Edited By cmblasko

5/5, technical issues notwithstanding I really like the design and am particularly impressed by the dynamic resizing capabilities which are well-implemented and really forward-thinking.

Avatar image for boozak
BoOzak

2858

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

#13  Edited By BoOzak

I really liked the old design, maby the new one will grow on me, but so far i'm not feeling it. Everything's too damn big and the seperation between posts and it's alignment to the left bugs the shit out of me. Nit picking sure, but aside from it's looks and marginally improved video player (I just download them anyway) I cant find anything to complement sadly.

But I realise i've developed 'old man syndrome' of hating everything new and there's a high possibility that most my issues will be fixed since it seems i'm not the only one complaining about them. But as it is, 2/5.

Avatar image for canteu
Canteu

2967

Forum Posts

65

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#14  Edited By Canteu

Should have stayed in beta, while they fixed the reams of issues.

@karkarov Press the little black A in the top right.

Avatar image for pr1mus
pr1mus

4158

Forum Posts

1018

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 4

@karkarov said:

Well when the site stops giving me a 404 error on a 50% chance I will let you know.For now all I see are bugs, the forum feed is gone (bad), the new color scheme sucks (but it back to black/dark grey please), and all and all I really feel like it was a downgrade from the old site.

2/5

No Caption Provided

Avatar image for meepasaurus
Meepasaurus

265

Forum Posts

4

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#16  Edited By Meepasaurus

All I can do is wish them good luck in getting it back up to speed. I'm mostly concerned about the live show chat since it was crashing all the time during the beta.

Avatar image for herbiebug
HerbieBug

4228

Forum Posts

43

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

It's fine. Design wise, I think the video thumbnails are too large, both on the video page and the main page.

Aside from launch server bugs, it seems perfectly functional so no problems there.

Avatar image for slax
slax

1229

Forum Posts

1281

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 8

#18  Edited By slax

There are things I really like about it, like the way threads are now displayed is pretty great. I also like that videos load properly for me now. But I'm also missing the front page schedule (Well color me embarrassed, it looks lovely as always. Was it there earlier? I feel like I couldn't find it yesterday.) and most recent forum threads out there too. But overall I think it has a lot of potential and waiting to see if some of that stuff gets added back in.

Avatar image for capum15
Capum15

6019

Forum Posts

411

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I'm sad that the Recent Activity forum feed thing on the front page is gone. Rest seems fine I guess, errors aside.

Avatar image for video_game_king
Video_Game_King

36563

Forum Posts

59080

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 54

User Lists: 14

2500/5.

Avatar image for grelik
Grelik

198

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

3/5 main site is good enough, but IMO they really took the mobile site backwards a few steps. Tries too hard to look nice while throwing functionality and speed out the window. Using that terrible pop up menu as the main form of navigation from the main page is just awful. It's not instant and occasionally takes a second press to open then I have to try and press the right link in a menu jammed with tiny text links.

Old mobile site looked fine, ran quick and was functional (forums were much much better and readable as well). This update wasn't needed and didn't improve anything unfortunately. (Ehhh I'm being a little harsh bit still. The mobile site is 75% of the reason I subscribed in the first place)

Avatar image for marzy
Marzy

689

Forum Posts

207

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

Like all redesigns, I'll probably get used to it over time. I'm so used to the old design though, so it alienates me a bit at the moment.

Avatar image for karkarov
Karkarov

3385

Forum Posts

3096

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@pr1mus: I know. Maybe I should of emphasized the site errors more. I tried to change it multiple times and it didn't work until after I made the initial post. In fact that post is the first time the site has let me stay on it long enough to actually post at all.

Still 2/5 still a step backwards from what it was last week.

Avatar image for mrfluke
mrfluke

6260

Forum Posts

-1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

not counting the technical issues as thats being patched as we speak.

id say 4/5 visually its a much bigger step up from the original. and then vinny and drew, have said that loading video into this site is easier (so 3 hour unprofessional fridays are possible now)

but i feel like the sequel doesnt carry over some stuff that the fans loved from the original, as as of right now wallposts and your followers status updates are pointless and are mashed into a overall activity feed, which is jarring considering there is a big empty space in the profile pages. and also u can't see if your friends are online anymore.

and then removing the forums from the front page in favor of the staff's tweets and a super-curated community showcase i found to be a disappointing move.

but im optimistic that after a few title updates that it will be the best design yet though.

Avatar image for grelik
Grelik

198

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I'm going to add one more thing (editing is kind of broken on mobile or I'd just edit my previous post).

When opening a forum topic that's related to a game, why does it have to show a full page of information about the game (or franchise) that is completely irrelevant that I then have to scroll past in order to read the forum post? Please move that stuff to the bottom of the page.

Avatar image for dillonwerner
dillonwerner

1617

Forum Posts

3674

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 1

#27  Edited By dillonwerner

It's chillin yeah.

I'll have to get used to it though, I'm used to the old one

Avatar image for dichemstys
dichemstys

3957

Forum Posts

16891

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 2

4/5. I'm warming up to the new look of the forums, but otherwise I really like it.

Avatar image for justin258
Justin258

16684

Forum Posts

26

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 8

When it's more stable it will be all right. And, really, it's miraculous that they managed to make it go from barely usable yesterday to mostly usable today. I wish that I could get one of the video players to work right, though. So far "Progressive" is the only one that is dependable but I can't skip time with it; the rest I can skip time with but they don't really seem to want to work.

However, I do have some issues with design. For one, whenever someone quotes me and I look at the quote tree, all the text is centered and it's hard to tell which block of text belongs to which user; on top of that, it no longer tells which thread the quote is in, I just have to click the link on the word "comment". I think the front page looks a little too busy. I think there are a lot of other little nitpicks here and there that are just bugging me. Most of this stuff I'll get used to, but they've really gotta fix that quote tree issue and the comment issue.

Avatar image for cutyoface
cutyoface

582

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

It feels overly designed but not very functional. I really think this is a step down from the previous design. 2/5

Avatar image for kinapuff
kinapuff

277

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

A strong 4/5. I'm in love with the site aesthetically and, with some hiccups and performance issues aside, I can only see this website being refined into something I absolutely love visiting daily.

Avatar image for fobwashed
fobwashed

2818

Forum Posts

388

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 15

User Lists: 16

I miss the latest forum posts being on the front page. Also, I'm not quite sure whether we're supposed to take the connectivity issues into consideration. If so, I'd drop it to 3/5 solely due to my only being able to connect roughly 50% of the time. Otherwise, I'd say a 4/5. Possibly higher once I get a chance to write a few blogs and check out what's happening in the forums a bit to get a feel for the new site.

All in all though, great work.

Avatar image for grimluck343
Grimluck343

1384

Forum Posts

20

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Avatar image for nekusakuraba
NekuSakuraba

7810

Forum Posts

1670

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

4/5, great design. Really good job with this one, guys.

Avatar image for boatdrinks
BoatDrinks

478

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Buggy has hell, they should have beta tested it

Avatar image for egg
egg

1666

Forum Posts

23283

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 10

I found a new thing to rate. When I am about to submit a wiki edit, it says my edits will have to be approved before going live, if I have under 1000 wiki points.

I don't know what that means, since I had well over 5000 wiki points on the old site. I don't know whether the new site wiped everyone's points back to 0. I don't know whether all wiki updates have to be approved now no matter how many points you have. I don't know whether my updates go live right away, and if maybe the message simply doesn't apply to me since I have more than 1000 points. I just.. don't know!

1.75 stars out of 5

Avatar image for sathingtonwaltz
SathingtonWaltz

2167

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

#37  Edited By SathingtonWaltz

2/5 for me. I really just prefer the old site. The forums are pretty terrible now too. It's kinda the exact same feeling I had for when Ars Technica had their site redesigned. I thought the old one was perfect, and the same goes for Giantbomb. I have to question why the redesign was necessary at all as well, and the functionality of the new layouts just reeks of "overdesigned".

Edit: Basically what this guy said:

It feels overly designed but not very functional. I really think this is a step down from the previous design. 2/5

Avatar image for hailinel
Hailinel

25785

Forum Posts

219681

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 28

I'm still getting used to it, but I'm liking it so far, aside from the fact that I trip over error pages pretty frequently.

Avatar image for rpgee
rpgee

777

Forum Posts

17

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

4/5. Although there are issues, I recommend that people should experience the new Giantbombdotcom.

I was trying to look for the FAQ where they lay out what all their review scores mean, but I can't find it anywhere. Am I just being thick here?

Avatar image for mellotronrules
mellotronrules

3606

Forum Posts

26

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

's okay i guess?

Avatar image for mylifeforaiur
mylifeforAiur

3594

Forum Posts

46902

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

#41  Edited By mylifeforAiur

I don't feel that I've spent enough time using the site to respectfully appreciate it. .

Avatar image for zajtalan
Zajtalan

1261

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#43  Edited By Zajtalan

2/5. beautiful site but damn so many connection problems

Avatar image for pillclinton
PillClinton

3604

Forum Posts

210

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

3/5 just because there's some basic functionality stuff that's simply not working (e.g. set-top box apps, RSS feeds, page loads). It looks absolutely fantastic, though. There's really not even that much to get used to; everything's in place and has the potential to be great, but it's just a matter of waiting on functionality to get back to normal.

Avatar image for eirikr
eirikr

1083

Forum Posts

91739

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 9

I really like it so far, aside from the problems that will go away soon enough. Makes me really excited to get back to doing more wiki editing (even though I never stopped).

Avatar image for probablytuna
probablytuna

5010

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Just like with MMOs, there are no perfect launches but while that may be so, server crashings and bugs can't just be written off. There are also design issues I have, namely the lack of a forums section on the homepage. It was a vital part of why I visited Giant Bomb every single day and the absence of it, replaced by a Twitter feed that is rarely updated puzzles me. No doubt in days or weeks to come the site will fun superbly but right now it's been quite an unstable ride. 3/5.

Avatar image for myke_tuna
myke_tuna

2050

Forum Posts

101

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

I love it. I think it's a 5/5 considering these type of things never go smoothly. I also really like the new font(s). Everything just feels crisp. For the most part, the crew and engineering team did a great job.

Avatar image for mandude
mandude

2835

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#48  Edited By mandude

Everything I initially felt was wrong with it has since been fixed. The ONLY problem I have with it now is that the forums are pushed way to the left, seemingly unconcerned the flow initiated by the navbar.

The font they use, might just be the sexiest font I have ever seen, though.

Avatar image for arbitrarywater
ArbitraryWater

16104

Forum Posts

5585

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 66

Overall, Giant Bomb website ver. 2013 is a mixed bag, but fans of the previous websites should check it out all the same. If you can deal with some 500 errors then you will probably have a good time. 3/5

Avatar image for starfoxa
StarFoxA

5262

Forum Posts

260822

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 12

User Lists: 12

5/5, because of the return of Luchadeer.