This week is going to be awesome in Giant Bomb!!

First off, let's state the obvious. Mass Effect 3 is coming out and I really cannot wait for that Quick Look!

Yeah yeah "ME3 is not going to be good." ... People... Calm down... I'm tired of hearing that.

Say what you will but I am PSYCHED!!! to play that game!!

Second, STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN!!!!

Really looking forward to see this game's Quick Look and hopefully, even TNT!!! I really REALLY hope they do TNT for both PS3 and 360 so that I could join!!! Either way, HELL YEAH!!

Third, I Am Alive!!!

So far, I have been digging the trailers even though I don't know anything about this game. But it is definitely interesting looking. It kinda reminds of the Book of Eli...

We'll see. Looking forward to this game's Quick Look also.

Fourth, Bombcast!!

With all these games coming out, this week's Bombcast must be awesome!!

I feel like I pretty summarized this week's "I Love Monday".... Either way, it is finally "that time of the year" people!

Let's enjoy it and I hope you guys have a wonderful week too :)

No it won't. Jeff's gone, and so are his reviews, previews, and Quick Looks.

Way more interested in a Binary Domain quicklook than a Mass Effect 3 quicklook.

Even though I already said screw it and bought it anyway, I still want to watch a QL of it

There is GDC this week so probably no TNT I think.

Where's Jeff?

@Wrighteous86: @Appuh:

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Sarnecki: Jeff Gerstmann ‏ jeffgerstmann

I am currently attending to a family emergency and will be largely unavailable.

@Sarnecki: Family Emergency his twitter indicated that reviews/previews might be late or would be missing.

Yeah, unless Jeff happens to be available tomorrow to record the podcast and nothing else, at least one of the reviews is going to be late. That said, it'll still be a calendar week for Giant Bomb, as we'll all finally figure out what Mass Effect 3 really is.

@Wrighteous86: Oh crap... I hope it's not something serious

I hope that the shitload of embargoes that end tomorrow will still be covered fully even with Jeff's family problems

I too hope everything is OK for Jeff.

But GiantBomb should be interesting this week even if Jeff is absent. Lot's of stuff to cover, CDC coming up, ect. Can't wait!

GDC podcast should be fun , last years were amazing

Meh. Not really a fan of GDC podcasts as I prefer regular ones better. Also the sound quality is usually shit. I expect a lot of backlash with ME3 so I don't know if I'll like that. Jeff gone for most of the week also doesn't help. :(

@Little_Socrates said:

Yeah, unless Jeff happens to be available tomorrow to record the podcast and nothing else, at least one of the reviews is going to be late. That said, it'll still be a calendar week for Giant Bomb, as we'll all finally figure out what Mass Effect 3 really is.

it is the third installment in the popular Mass Effect series

My best wishes to Jeff. But as far as the site's content is concerned, I think that GB review or no review, the reaction to Mass Effect 3 is likely to cause an uproar around here and the week will be a memorable one for the site regardless.

@Animasta said:

@Little_Socrates said:

Yeah, unless Jeff happens to be available tomorrow to record the podcast and nothing else, at least one of the reviews is going to be late. That said, it'll still be a calendar week for Giant Bomb, as we'll all finally figure out what Mass Effect 3 really is.

it is the third installment in the popular Mass Effect series

Cute.

@Sarnecki said:

Where's Jeff?

You know you left it open to Wiggles jokes , right?

Oh man. I hope everything works out for Jeff and his.

@Slaker117 said:

Oh man. I hope everything works out for Jeff and his.

You know, I read that as "I hope Jeff gets his," for some reason. I also hope everything is ok with his family.

On the ME side, most of the people who are interested will be getting the game regardless, so we don't really need a review to tell us if it is good or not. Most will find out by ourselves and will only consult the review to feel justified for the purchase.

I wish Jeff the best in what's apparently going on with him. I'm excited to hear how the crew reacts to Mass Effect 3 though, as it should prove to be very interesting in how they inevitably compare it to the greatness of Mass Effect 2.

I am excited for GDC, but am excited to see how I am Alive turns out.

@Hailinel said:

My best wishes to Jeff. But as far as the site's content is concerned, I think that GB review or no review, the reaction to Mass Effect 3 is likely to cause an uproar around here and the week will be a memorable one for the site regardless.

You really think people will flip out once they've finished it? I read the leaked info and I flipped out, but do you think the masses will?

@Arker101 said:

I am excited for GDC, but am excited to see how I am Alive turns out.

@Hailinel said:

My best wishes to Jeff. But as far as the site's content is concerned, I think that GB review or no review, the reaction to Mass Effect 3 is likely to cause an uproar around here and the week will be a memorable one for the site regardless.

You really think people will flip out once they've finished it? I read the leaked info and I flipped out, but do you think the masses will?

At this point I think it's inevitable. Half the internet is unhappy about Bioware and want to see them fall, and the second half is becoming increasingly defensive because they desperatly want ME3 to be good. If the reviews are good the first half is going to lose their shit, if they're bad the second half will cry bitter tears.

It's going to be absolutely hilarious in both cases.

First, sad to read the tweet from Jeff, all the best to him and his family. 
Second, I had no idea Jeff was doing the Mass Effect 3 review

Arrrgh.... going to pick up my copy of Mass Effect 3 in around 12 hours. The wait is going to be torturous, I don't think I will be able to sleep.

I would not be surprised if there was no Bombcast this Tuesday out of respect for Jeff and his family. Nor would I be upset.

Yes, it should be a great time for gaming. Now if only my wallet didn't have such a huge gap.

Yes, it should be a great time for gaming. Now if only my wallet didn't have such a huge gap.

Jeff's gone, Brad's leaving... no it won't.

No content on Giantbomb this week

Oh, on topic:

The Sims 3 Showtime is out this week! Got the Katy Perry special edition preordered. So pumped for that game! :3

I hope everything is all right with Jeff and his family. If anyone's sick I pray they get well soon.

@benson said:

@Arker101 said:

I am excited for GDC, but am excited to see how I am Alive turns out.

@Hailinel said:

My best wishes to Jeff. But as far as the site's content is concerned, I think that GB review or no review, the reaction to Mass Effect 3 is likely to cause an uproar around here and the week will be a memorable one for the site regardless.

You really think people will flip out once they've finished it? I read the leaked info and I flipped out, but do you think the masses will?

At this point I think it's inevitable. Half the internet is unhappy about Bioware and want to see them fall, and the second half is becoming increasingly defensive because they desperatly want ME3 to be good. If the reviews are good the first half is going to lose their shit, if they're bad the second half will cry bitter tears.

It's going to be absolutely hilarious in both cases.

The problem is that ME3 is still a high budget AAA game. Either way it is still going to be a well made game overall, it's not going to get anywhere below a 85% on metacritic. The writing of the story is the center point of the controversy. DA2 was the same, combat and cinematics were pretty good, it was the story (which is what I care about most in BioWare games) which was lacking.

I predict we'll see anger from the extreme sides of both. Those with uninformed hate of ME3 will be upset about the good reviews, and those with unchecked hype for ME3 will be upset about the way Bioware handled the story.

Also it only seems like half the internet hates BioWare, I know that I'm definitely in a vocal minority.

GDC is happening folks.

I'm predicting Journey's review causing riots and bloodshed, no matter what the score ends up being.

Is Ryan still away? Wondering about I Love Mondays...

@xite said:

Is Ryan still away? Wondering about I Love Mondays...

They film ILM on Friday. Besides, GDC basically suns it up for the week.

My best wishes to your family Jeff! I will be remembering y'all in my prayers.

And remember, we need more Gertsmann!!!

@alternate said:

@xite said:

Is Ryan still away? Wondering about I Love Mondays...

They film ILM on Friday. Besides, GDC basically suns it up for the week.

Oh, well thanks for the clarification!

Why is Brad not reviewing Mass Effect 3?

@Bocam said:

Why is Brad not reviewing Mass Effect 3?

Because Jeff wanted to? Maybe Brad will review SFXT, just to keep you on your toes. Maybe Jeff will review both.

Back on topic; We don't know if anything the OP mentioned will actually happen this week. Seems like it's going to be a busy one for the crew. I'm just hoping for some podcasts.

@Arker101: Personally I think basing your opinion (not yours specifically) on a leaked information is dumb, if someone told me the big twist in Bioshock like just showed to me a big wall of text I would think the twist is poorly made and bad or not interesting, when you do not get the context of the game your experience, the time you have spend playing it and getting to know the characters everything about the story is going to be "atrocious" like some people has exaggeratedly put it, I have not read any leak info because what would I gain out of spoiling a the story? I think people are going to enjoy the game regardless of what the internet is saying . That little banter in the demo with Garrus,Liara, and Wrex just showed to me that ME3 is still Mass Effect the story may not be great but is gonna shine where the series has always shined in character developement , the setting and the overall personal experience. And hell even if turs out to be a Dissapoiting I don't think is going to be a bad experience and that's a nicely way to put it compared to what some people has said , I mean sure EA handling of Bioware hasn't been the best but sometimes it's like Bioware killed people kittens when they talk about how much they hate them now it's ridiculous.

@AngelN7: It's not just the spoilers though, it's the way Bioware handles the players' decisions. I won't tell you what they do, but they do not handle them well, in my opinion. Someone else has posted what is essentially "You can't have a third act of a series, that is focused on meaningful story and Player choice, be friendly to people who haven't played the first two and still have those meaningful things matter to the people who did."

That's pretty much what the leaks proved to me, BioWare couldn't finish the series without compromise.

@Arker101: Well I think that's something for people who have played the first 2 games to decide when they finish the game as of this point people are basing their opinion on a leak not really on the final game so maybe it does change , besides as I said Mass Effect strong was in it's writting and characters the overall story is very simple and there's not really much room for you to really change it with your actions and decisions and even if they can't accomplish what they set out to do I can appreciate Bioware for trying to do something different with storytelling, hell I say they have accomplish some of that my Shepard and my experience in Mass Effect 2 was vaslty different from what a friend had.

@Phatmac said:

Meh. Not really a fan of GDC podcasts as I prefer regular ones better. Also the sound quality is usually shit. I expect a lot of backlash with ME3 so I don't know if I'll like that. Jeff gone for most of the week also doesn't help. :(

You expect it? The games not even out and it's already here.

Don't care about a damn thing coming out this week. SSX and Twisted Metal are all I need. Fuck that Mass Effect 3 and SFxT noise son.

@AngelN7: The "leaks" ARE the final game. Thats what everyone is saying they have SEEN the retail game in action. The same thing everyone is talking about is the same thing your going to pop into your 360/Ps3 tomorrow.

@AngelN7: It's been shown that nothing from those leaks has changed. ME3 is still a good game, and the characters are still good. I'm not saying they aren't, and I'm not saying this a travesty against mankind. It's just that Bioware wants to make a game that is geared towards a wider, more general audience, and by choosing that direction for the series they lost some fans, such as myself.

The quality of the story is a subjective thing, but the way it's written along with the way it deals with player choice comes off as being a secondary thought in the game to me. Bioware improves it's sequels (DA2, ME2, now ME3) in ways that seem to make them appeal to larger groups instead of improving upon the ideas and structures of the originals(ME and DA). That's my reason Bioware is getting vocal angst on the internet, and as to why I'm no longer interested in their products.

They've gained far more people then they've lost for sure, and some people who did play ME1 and ME2 are fine with all of this, and that's perfectly acceptable, I'm just not one of them.

@Demoskinos: They have seen the story leak not the game, playing Mass Effect ( using your class in combat ,talking to crew mates, customize your weapon/armor loadouts reading the codex, the side missions) is a much part of the experience as it is to watch the custenes and the story unfold, someone spoiled to me the "ending" of L.A Noire but I will still like to play the game regardless of me knowing how it ends.

@Demoskinos: They have seen the story leak not the game, playing Mass Effect ( using your class in combat ,talking to crew mates, customize your weapon/armor loadouts reading the codex, the side missions) is a much part of the experience as it is to watch the custenes and the story unfold, someone spoiled to me the "ending" of L.A Noire but I will still like to play the game regardless of me knowing how it ends.

@Arker101: Well I can't argue with that if you don't like the game for reasons you feel make the experience not as good as before that's totally fine but it's kind of a bummer that you found out about that because of leak material rather than your own experience, I mean I know Dragon Age 2 was a dissapointing game for a lot of people (I'm not a fan of Dragon Age myself I haven't play any of them yet) but I can't predict what my experience with with Mass Effect 3 is going to be because of that other game they're both different games made by different teams on the same company, the Mass Effect 3 demo did it for me in that sense.