This year has been a bit of a disappointment, for sure. Only one group video so far and they tend to be some of the best GOTY content, since its only on special occasions that East and West meet like this - its a shame if they cut them out due to time constraints or etc. These single-person videos could be done anytime and anywhere, so they feel a bit lackluster, though I have enjoyed Abby's videos so far.
As for the podcast format. Hmm. I forget how I felt about it last year, but yeah - I don't feel the urge to listen to them as much as I used to. I much prefer the more confrontational way of making lists, because in essence, we still got the same results as now (we hear about the pros and cons of the games), but it feels more energetic as people are trying to keep their favorites on the list while push other games down. I can understand why the crew might not enjoy them as much, but they are much more entertaining to listen to.
I'm not sure why, but it definitely feels like GB has been slowly reducing the effort put into GOTY over the years. I yearn for the heydays of old Giantbomb GOTY videos that had a theme and were scripted. That was some quality content right there.
For some reason, just a few days ago I was musing to myself about when/if Drew would end up leaving GB...and now it happened. This sucks. But I am glad.
Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. Therefore, he understood, there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink our eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of mind is surprise. The only state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.
@bisonhero: For sure. Every program they do is really high quality and I don't really have an issue with those historical or human interest stories, but I have found myself skipping more and more episodes the further we get from those early seasons. I think I've skipped only few episodes in seasons 1-11, but 12 onward it has switched around and I've listened to only one or two episodes per season.
It's an interesting topic actually. I would recommend listening to Radiolab episode 'On Repeat'. From 6:25 onward.
They talk about a short-term amnesia case there, but anyone that has parents or relatives that suffer from Alzheimer's or just dementia will recognize the same thing. How people get stuck into "loops" because they forget they asked something and once presented with the same stimulus (answer), they repeat the things they've already said numerous times. Which raises (somewhat creepy) questions about our brain and if it really is just a machine that always yields the same output for a specific input.
Every year we listen to the most petty bullshit complaints about a game they are trying to drag out of contention. I wish they could actually advocate for their candidate and articulate why it spoke to them instead of tearing each other down. Doom and Hitman are both good, would rather hear them argued on real merits than Doom blasted for a bonus mode that nobody expected to be good or even really played.
Rip and tear! More entertaining that way! :)
But honestly, just because we weren't expecting it to be any good doesn't diminish the fact that they still served up a package with shit multiplayer. They did eventually get to comparing the merits, but Doom definitely deserved to take some flak for including trash in their offering.
@dunchad: Vinny felt the same way about The Witness as Jeff (and you) felt about Inside. He was able to express his opinion in a much less obnoxious way. I don't think it has anything to do with being "passionate" and more to do with just respecting other people's opinions.
Nah, Vinny just didn't feel as strongly about that. Re-watch the part where they took Mass Effect 2 away from Vinny to see a more passionate reaction.
Thanks to Dan talking about it several times, I went ahead and read '10% Happier' by Dan Harris. I was expecting it to concentrate on the meditation aspect, but it was more of an autobiography with a line of meditation running through it. Not living in US meant that I had no idea who the guy was, but it was still interesting to read about the experiences of a TV journalist/anchor as well as his take on meditation and the people in those circles (Eckhart, Chopra etc.). Very enjoyable read. 4/5
Was just listening Last Christmas yesterday. I never did listen to much Prince or Bowie, but there was always a few songs from George in my playlists. This year can't be over any sooner.
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