Brad
Brad's last update: Feeling strangely liberated since I quit using QuickSilver. Plugins didn't work worth spit in Snow Leopard anyway. Spotlight for life?
If you notice any bugs, please give us a shout in the forums.

Summary About Me Blog Images Wiki Subs Reviews Forum Topics Lists Guides Trivia Achievements

Nov. 20, 2009
  • Feeling strangely liberated since I quit using QuickSilver. Plugins didn't work worth spit in Snow Leopard anyway. Spotlight for life?
    7 hours, 45 minutes ago via Twitter
  • Got a raging cowlick going on this morning. Feel like I'm five.
    8 hours, 51 minutes ago via Twitter
Nov. 19, 2009
  • Capt_Ventris wrote to Brad
    G'day just thought you might like to see some footage of the censored L4D2 that Austrlaia got stuck with. I think this means my country is now Pro Zombie. Bugger http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/11/lets-take-another-look-at-aussie-left-4-dead-2-edits/
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    17 hours, 41 minutes ago
  • dcpc10 wrote to Brad
    Yep having the same sync problem with my trophies too, there are some threads on the official PSN forums about it so I'm hoping the problem is getting resolved.
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    22 hours, 5 minutes ago
  • Killjoy wrote to Brad
    Don't worry Brad, you're not alone! I had difficulty syncing Assassin's Creed 2 yesterday. It finally worked after 10 mins of pushing X.
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    22 hours, 54 minutes ago
  • Office PS3 refuses to sync my trophies to the server. Errors out every time. Guess those GOW Collection and Buzz ones are lost for all time.
    23 hours, 31 minutes ago via Twitter
  • You will need Hideki Kamiya himself to explain what the hell is going on in this trailer.
    1 day, 1 hour ago
  • Fantastic work as always. Kat rocks.       @jakob187 said: " 'Tis cool.  Now, where is the screen showing his "song failed" on SingStar? " SingStar is one thing I am confident about winning.
    1 day, 3 hours ago
  •  Dude, Jill!You know what I'd actually like to play more of? Resident Evil 5. Despite having gone through the single-player story three times--something I never, ever do anymore--I would gladly sit down and blow away a few more big weird-looking bugs in that game, and not just because I'm still lacking a few easy achievements. Well, forget about achievements. Capcom's got some honest-to-goodness new content on the way for RE5, ...
    1 day, 3 hours ago
  • Brad uploaded 14 new images
    1 day, 3 hours ago
  • Brad uploaded 14 new images
    1 day, 3 hours ago
  • Brad uploaded 14 new images
    1 day, 3 hours ago
  • Safari is mostly awesome these days, except for the lack of FireFox's Awesome Bar. I really really miss that thing.
    1 day, 3 hours ago via Twitter
Nov. 18, 2009
  • grossblood wrote to Brad
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpFDGyTLtpY&feature=player_embedded#
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    1 day, 20 hours ago
  • Brad unlocked 1 achievement in Modern Warfare® 2
    1 day, 21 hours ago
  • Somebody's burning a wood fire near the office. Makes me miss home.
    1 day, 21 hours ago via Twitter
  • Why can't I pick an RGB value for my PS3's XMB? Or pick two and make a gradient? A color wheel? Anything would beat a scant 12 defaults.
    2 days, 3 hours ago via Twitter
  • What would you like to see on your AK-47?
    2 days, 4 hours ago
  • Brad created a new video Gyromancer: The Launch Trailer associated to Gyromancer
    Get the rundown on this hot PopCap/Square Enix collabo!
    2 days, 4 hours ago
  • James Cameron and Ubi Montreal devs discuss player choice in their new game.
    2 days, 4 hours ago
  • RobotHamster wrote to Brad
    Hey, I got all the stars in spec ops, if you need help or some advice just ask. Its not that bad once you got a good strategy.
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    2 days, 5 hours ago
  • @ZombiePie said: " Wait did Brad use the word "cotton" as an adjective in the beginning of the review? " No, I used it as a verb. verb  [  intrans. ]  informal 1  (  cotton on)  begin to understand  : he  cottoned on to what I was trying to say.    2  (  cotton to)  have a liking for  : his rivals didn't cotton to all the attention he was getting.    
    2 days, 6 hours ago
  • eduardo wrote to Brad
    Great review on L4D2, Shumi, looking forward to playing that sometime!
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    2 days, 9 hours ago
Nov. 17, 2009
  • Veteran Spec Ops continues to vex.
    2 days, 17 hours ago via Twitter
  • Kou_Leifoh wrote to Brad
    Brad, there is people who care about T Hawk and Dee Jay. Also, I never understood the hate for those haters. And the reason why Capcom is bringing them back is to complete the SFII roster.
    Delete - See Wall to Wall
    2 days, 18 hours ago
  • @TomA: We didn't get early access to the PC version, so the footage from that was captured today. If we had done less on the 360, the review wouldn't be up right now.
    2 days, 20 hours ago
  • @creamypies said: " Can't wait to get this! I definately know which character I'll be playing as (Ellis). MAYBE KEITH WILL BE DLC! "OH GOOD LORD YES.
    2 days, 21 hours ago
Added by Brad Shoemaker on Dec. 30, 2008

Probably aren't a lot of surprises in the games I picked for my personal list for the year, but maybe the order of these big names at least differs from yours. Let's have a discussion!

10. LittleBigPlanet

This would probably be way higher if I'd gotten to spend more time with the later levels, spent some time building my own, and then downloaded the best ones others have uploaded to PSN. I only spent a handful of hours bounding around the first few stages in two-player on the couch with my girlfriend--and the giggles that resulted were more than enough to ensure it a place here. Definitely going to put more time into LBP now that the unfortunate server and moderation issues have been ironed out.

9. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

If Trouble in Paradise were a PC game, it would have been released as an expansion pack for the original Viva Pinata--but then, it was priced like an expansion pack anyway. There were plenty of new areas and pinatas to complement all the recycled content, and the streamlined menus and more accessible information made this one the more pleasant experience I wish the first one had been.

8. Grand Theft Auto IV

Best sense of place in any video game this year, or perhaps ever. Rockstar captured the New York City feel sublimely, from the look of the skyline and the grit on the streets to the Helvetica font in the menus, the same as you see in the city's subway signage. Honestly believable characters, too. This is a crime drama for the ages.

7. Left 4 Dead

Mass zombie attacks will never get old, but Valve found a way to make them even spicier with the best cooperative shooting experience all year. Just as good as the action were the characters--Bill, Louis, Zoey, and Francis--and the contextual narrative that emerged through them. I actually sensed the dire circumstances of the undead apocalypse throughout every map, just thanks to the quips the four characters made, and the desperate scrawls left on safehouse walls by previous survivors.

6. Gears of War 2

I went from "Ho hum, more Gears" to "Dude, more Gears!" in the first 10 minutes. The campaign more than lives up to Mr. B's constant refrain of "bigger, better, more badass" with enormous, larger-than-life action. But Horde mode is the real star of the show, giving you a great way to play multiplayer cooperatively without all the foul-mouthed adolescents and matchmaking issues of the competitive online modes.

5. Burnout Paradise

The open-world single-player missions were moderately entertaining, but Paradise really came to life online. Tackling the dozens of over-the-top multiplayer challenges with up to seven friends, making enormous jumps, crashing head-on into each other--all with hilarious voice chat going the whole time--was the most fun I had online this year. It's this year's Uno! ...What does that even mean?

4. Dead Space

This wasn't the most original game of the year, but it might have been the best-crafted, most-polished one. Dead Space knows exactly what it's trying to do, and it does it incredibly well without straying beyond its scope. Great atmosphere and scares, surprisingly satisfying shooting, utterly gorgeous visuals--a real class act from EA Redwood Shores.

3. Metal Gear Solid 4

Flat-out best-looking game of the year that also happened to be the best-playing game in the MGS series. The marriage of cinematic production values and balls-out action offered the most stunning set-piece moments of gameplay I witnessed in this or any year. Solid Snake, I'm gonna miss ya.

2. Geometry Wars 2

Downloadable game at number two! Yeeeah. Bizarre Creations went so far above and beyond what they needed to do in a Geometry Wars sequel. The new modes were both more numerous and more ingenious that I could have possibly wished for, and the way the game integrated high score lists right into the menus and in-game displays really stoked your desire to beat all of your friends. I'll never get tired of playing this intensely skill-based game...until Geometry Wars 3, at least.

1. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Yeah, you read it right. This was the most fun I had simply playing a game in 2008. The vehicle-building isn't a gimmick; it's absolutely integral to the gameplay. It gives you tons of options to approach the huge variety of mission objectives in unique, creative, satisfying ways. Plus, it was the funniest, cleverest game all year. Somebody at Rare really knows my sense of humor, I guess.
Related to:


Added by Brad Shoemaker on Sept. 18, 2008

Here's a quick Luchadeer desktop background I whipped up based on our new site design. Full-size version here.

"Yo soy... Lucha."
"Yo soy... Lucha."









Enjoy!


Added by Brad Shoemaker on Aug. 23, 2008

Art style of the arcade game with more gameplay depth a la the NES version. Do it up like Bionic Commando Rearmed. SOLD.


Added by Brad Shoemaker on July 25, 2008

We've now selected a handful of you to make up our initial wave of wiki moderators on Giant Bomb. For now, we're going to focus on organizing the mod team and getting it running at peak efficiency before we add more people into the mix. Those of you who have sent us PMs about becoming mods and haven't heard back, we apologize -- there just aren't enough minutes in the day to reply to everyone at the moment.

If you have moderator aspirations on Giant Bomb, sit tight for now and keep on submitting wiki and image contributions. Future mods will be chosen based on the quality of the information they've submitted as users.


Brad's Reviews
This user has not written any reviews yet.
Date Joined: June 2, 2008
City: San Francisco
Gender: Male
Alignment: Neutral
Points: 5,782 Points
Ranked: Ranked #228 of 60,680
5,782 points you are ranked
228 of 60,529 users

John Romero
person - 225 points
Amped 3
game - 133 points
Fallout 3
game - 125 points
Star Wars: The Old Republic
game - 123 points
Halo 3
game - 122 points
Resident Evil 5
game - 115 points
Far Cry 2
game - 102 points
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
game - 102 points

Games That Make Me Happy
a list of 3 items by Brad
Pile of Shame
a list of 7 items by Brad
What I'm Playing
a list of 13 items by Brad
MrMiyagi 7 minutes ago
"A WILD CHARMANDER APPEARS!" "YOU CANT FIND A CHARMANDER IN THE WILD IDIOT"
JDUB_XL 8 minutes ago
Looks like the Mail service has lost my Gamefly copy of AC2. This is the first lost GF game since May 2006 :(
ObsideonDarman 9 minutes ago
I unlocked 2 Xbox achievements on FIFA Soccer 10! http://raptr.com/Gary_Joe
nukesniper 9 minutes ago
Recently finished Super Mario Galaxy. Started on Super Luigi Galaxy but I might not swing through with that one.
DBoy 15 minutes ago
Friday. Yes.
jdevl 16 minutes ago
Really should change those mint.com updates from Friday nights, what a buzzkill
LiK 17 minutes ago
Dragon Age Origins (360) officially done. Beat the last boss last night but finally finished the epilogue. Got a good ending I suppose.
jhosaphat 17 minutes ago
Ugh traffic!