So Polygon almost made me think us at GB were crazy BUT

So after the PS4 event, I went around looking at all of the post conference coverage and was shocked to find that Giant Bomb was one of the most up beat publications about it. Seems like most of our community - as is frequently the case - generally agree with the GB crew as to how great the thing was, and how much it exceeded what we expected from that event.

But, it almost seems like we were in the minority. I think perhaps the most shocking to me was the editorial team at Polygon, whom I generally like, having a 2 hour or so post-show special where they generally were down upon the whole conference for things such as not seeing the box, not announcing enough games, the conference being too long, etc.

After being worn away by all of that for so long, I started to think maybe I was crazy for loving the event - and maybe us here at GB were being a bit too optimisitic, UNTIL:

I'd just like to thank y'all for being awesome - and Justin McElroy for reminding me how awesome video games, and the people who love them, are.

Snark and cynicism gets more clicks.

So they complained about not seeing enough AND the meeting being too long?

Honestly? Some people just get off on bitching. It's sort of an epidemic on the Internet.

I fully agree with Brad Muir on the live show that just finished. It's lame how people want to constantly be so negative and snarky about all of this.

Polygon hates the PS4 now until they announce a JRPG for it. It'll then become the greatest game console ever made.

@selfconfessedcynic: Show me where you found snark. I love looking at angry and confused.

Was it the best press event ever? no. Did it suck as much as some are saying? no

I rather enjoyed it, and felt the guys were pretty spot on with their view of the event.

Even the giant bomb crew was being snarky as hell during the whole thing. I guess for whatever reason they can't help it. I mean, I laughed a bunch at some of the snark, but I still enjoyed the conference a lot and so did the crew. They were just having fun I guess.

And major major props to Justin McElroy in that video. Way to stand up to assholes even if they work with you.

I didn't say snark. I said that for a lot of their coverage they were down on the event, which made me almost think I was crazy for having liked it so much. If you're asking for an example of when they were down on the event, in J-Mac's segment posted above you can see the disparate reactions between him and Chris Grant.

Or, of course, there is the entire Nelay Patel segment - even though I usually love that guy's work, I strongly disagreed with much of what was said.

I will never understand this. They showed games being played for god sakes (granted not on the actual hardware but who cares). If you look back at the previous generation we had to wait for the E3 before the consoles shipped to see anything at all (except bullshit PS3 tech demos in 05). The 360 wasn't even officially announced until may 2005 at that MTV thing and I'm pretty sure no games were shown (I could be wrong).

Not seeing the box itself was weird but come on... people had unrealistic expectations for this meeting.

Oh um, The Verge is usually snarkier than Polygon is. But ahm, yea?

Yeah, I watched a bit of that, but couldn't stand it for too long and began scrubbing until Chris and Griffin came on, and Justin at the end was perfect, "Hey, guys, VIDEO GAMES." All the talk about what they didn't show was just frustrating. Guys, they just made the announcement and they made a pretty good show of what they had.

[If I wasn't lazy I'd put a .gif of Justin dancing here.]

Man these guys are just depressing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tgbzf3EevJE#t=6919s

Props to Justin in that video. Glad we have at least one person who is still optimistic about games. I liked the event overall and it makes me hopeful for the PS4.

I was so fucking ecstatic that they ACTUALLY SHOWED VIDEO GAMES. Like the idea that I have to be excited about that is kind of depressing in itself, but other than the first 5 minutes or so there was very little talk about social media cross pollinating your friends faces into your brain blah blah shit, they showed some kind of motion tracking device but it was just ancillary; the bulk of the conference was about the games and the passionate real living non PR mannequin developers who make them , and then people choose to bitch that they didn't show the console? How utterly fucking hypocritical.

Now it's time for me to take all my uninformed anger and direct it at The Verge instead of Polygon.

Bravo Justin, bravo.

@euandewar said:

Hah, yeah - we DO need a .gif of that.

J-Mac, keeping it real, the way I like it.

Erm, I just started watching the whole thing. This and chocolate cake soon and coffee, will maybe help my making scripts for class and a sales project CPM's..... Mah..... :o..

i was watching this last night and almost passed out from all the snark

I'm with Justin on this one.

I just want to be excited about video games man. That's all.
Is it really so much to ask for? Aren't we all supposed to love this stuff?

Ugh, the internet is dumb.

I don't go to polygon often but almost every time i bother to click a video or read a review they seemed super depressed about living. They're like old people that don't like movies and review movies for a living.

Now this could just be bad luck and i just happened to click only on the bad stuff and never saw the good stuff but it's not exactly helping me having a better image of that site.

I was stoked as soon as they started explaining the specs. Everything beyond that was just icing. Also, that's exactly why I don't visit Polygon.

It's not just Polygon, it's also Gametrailers on their latest Invisible Walls episode. It's brutal!

Their video has more dislikes than likes, because there's the same divide between us optimistic viewers and the cynical press.

Oh man, that's the J-Mac I used to love.

I agree with him though, especially the whole "SPOILERS IT'S PROBABLY BLACK AND FITS ON A SHELF" bit. Had me laughing pretty hard.

Justin is like Jeff's little brother. Just like videogames! Have fun, dammit!

@selfconfessedcynic: I just don't get it I saw the same coverage, I usually love the Verge and I understand were this criticism is coming from. However, console gaming is in the brink of bankruptcy as it is. We got it Smartphones and Tablets are big, and the'll keep growing, that doesn't mean there is no market for high-def living room gaming, It wont be as big but it still can be a profitable business.

I just hate this shareholder mentality "It wont be the biggest thing so it's worthless" Let the shareholders have their smartphone money, let us have good video games.

PD. Justin Mac ending was epic! Must see.

That was perfect. I was having a similar issue with my friend about how he found it amazing there was no box for it shown. SO much content and ideas were shown in the conference its amazing, as Justin said who really gives an eff about what it looks like. I only watched the GB stream which had nothing but praise for it so this is the first ive noticed people are actually bitching (which seems crazy to me)

Justin McElroy will always be one of my favorite people. He's just awesome.

@donpixel: I couldn't agree more. It's video games, yo! The industry is down but not out! Get excited!

It's funny because I think sometimes the GB community perceives itself as being pessimistic, when in my experience we're more optimistic than most other places. I totally agree with Justin on this one. Also those three hosts came off like smug assholes.

Man, I love the McElroy brothers so much.

Polygon: Parade of Assholes

I'm with Justin and pretty much everyone else in this thread. Those guys are cynical assholes and there's nothing that would have made them happy.

And since the Playstation store currently has a Free to Play section, and they specifically acknowledged Free to Play games in the PS4 press conference, I'd argue that the PS4 does pass "The Minecraft Test" that that moron was complaining about. They also stated that it was going to be incredibly easy to self publish so that roadblock is gone for small studios and indie games. Sony has been down with oddball indie shit this entire generation. Calling them out on that is ridiculous.

I'm really torn now. That video made me love Justin McElroy so I want to see more of his stuff, but it also made me never want to have anything to do with Polygon.

i generally like the verge, but i wouldn't take their perspective too seriously. they're coming to it from a strictly device and consumer electronics perspective. listening to the vergecast today, they were disappointed because the presentation was games and developers-centric. to us (the enthusiast crowd)- that's aces. to them, it was all promises of the cloud and a lack of hardware. when they're used to apple events and the like, where it's all HERE IS THE DEVICE and ITS AVAILABLE NEXT WEEK- you can see where their perspective is somewhat different than the videogame crowd. they're interested in how the device will "integrate into your life and livingroom." they're not wrong, they're just coming at it from a very different place.

and christ. justin mcelroy is a prince!

The GB crew should hire that Justin guy ... geez I hated that guy with the bullsiht "minecraft test" let developers release an unfinished game and let the people decide? Hell no! release a complete game and then let people decide, what a bunch of jaded pricks considering that covering games is a really fun job this is just frustrating to see.

Hah, glad Justin put them in their place, 'cause as far as I'm concerned Justin and Griffin are all the Polygon I care about.

As someone who has been frequenting Polygon this has destroyed the credibility of a lot of their editors for me.

I'm okay with editors being honest and giving their opinions, but when you're being an asshole about it your credibility has been flushed away.

I followed polygon for three reasons Brian Crecente Justin McElroy, and Arthur Gies. Arthur gave Dead Space 3 a 9 and I don't agree, but that's okay I still enjoy his writing and personality.

These guys being cynical assholes for two hours and at the end trying to make Justin look like someone without credibility because he enjoyed games that a majority of people didn't ruins their credibility more than it did his.

Ugh typing this on an iPad was a chore. These text boxes don't work very well atm.

Justin McElroy is awesome and made me smile in that video. Seriously, it's a new console! New games! Come on, people!

Exactly!

I never actually knew who Justin McElroy was until now, and he made me a fan instantly

Man Polygon has gone down hill since their launch, save Justin, Griffin and even Plante to a degree. Everything else about the site and people are repulsive. Pass the Minecraft test? What is he talking about? Minecraft on PS4 at some point I'm sure

I'm going to do you an enormous favor then. Others here can vouch for this. Go and download Justin's and his brother's podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me. One of the very best, funniest podcasts in the world.

Everyone at Polygon kind of sucks except for the McElroy brothers. Those two others on the Besties podcast (when they actually do it) are so fucking lame.
They do all the shit that the OP is talking about here. They constantly shit all over great stuff and are just all around annoying and unfunny.

People just love to tear shit apart and that has only gotten worse and worse and crazy fucking worse in the internet age. So Thanks Justin!!! He's completely correct, everything in that press event was nothing but good news for gamers and the industry as a whole.

What asses. I never knew any of the people at Polygon. I just heard about their site and started using it because they post lots of news but what assholes. That Justin dude is cool though and I'm happy he loved the conference and didn't decide to cry about not seeing a console people will not care about looking at again after 3 days. I'm going to go follow him on Twitter since I sometimes see some people retweet him. Forget all the whiny people who say this event wasn't good because Sony didn't show the actual console.

Alright, I just saw the rest of the video, or listened to it, anyway. Um, Nilay is usually the politics commentator, on The Verge. He had strong opinions during the SOPA meetings, while Pierce is paid to stand there and look pretty in the 90 second videos. Pawl. ~ @mcghee: Justin and Griffin's podcast, "Muh-Bim-Bam" is definitely one of my favorite podcasts to go back to. Never not funny. :)

Sounds like Jeff. I like it Justin. Good job duder.

Justin McElroy: Savior of the soul of video gaming.

But seriously, I like how they tried to turn his reaction into a joke when he was clearly pretty serious about it. He was calling them out and you could tell they were a little uncomfortable about it.

I don't visit Polygon. That video has convinced me that I've made the right choice. Way too formal and downer for my tastes.

Whoa. Are you guys telling me people can disagree with Giant Bomb? What the fuck is up with that shit?