MinusTimes

@iqmay: I can verify this bug. I was trying to watch the UPF live stream last night on my Apple 4K Tv, and the stream would load in low quality for about 10 seconds then would cut to the “Please Stand By” image and play music. I tried it on iPad and had same issue. Yet it worked fine on my laptop.

Patrick's departure was pretty predictable. GiantBomb was already in the midst of a transition from text based review heavy content to 90% video when he was hired. While Patrick grew into a much better on camera personality over the years, it never left me that he was really a writer just trying to find a place on a site that continued to devalue the written word.

Watching Patrick have to set aside writing in favor of video content was like watching Michael Jordan try to play professional baseball.

As for Kotaku, I could care less about the platform. If I like the writer, I'll like their content regardless of where it's hosted.

Why would broken games have any impact on big game development at all when there are practically no consequences for it?

Look at the NBA 2k series, it launches every year with busted online but the same people that bitch are the same people that preorder next year's version.

Look at an example from the staff of this very website. There was lengthy discussion and mockery on the Bombcast about the Battlefield 4 situation and how busted it still was well after launch; then maybe three months later Jeff talked on that same podcast about how he bought Battlefield Premium.

That's the mentality of your average video game enthusiast. The only time there are consequences are when it's a brand new property with no track record. If it's an established franchise we'll take it on faith that next year will be different.

Oversimplification: Bugs are inevitable in something so complicated as games. I believe that for the most part developers work hard at crushing the big ones, but the reality is publishers set dates and at a certain point a game is coming out even if it's a hot mess. With the advent of broadband and connected consoles they can extend QA on to the end user and rely on day one patches or hot fixes.

The real truth though? Games are broken because we allow them to be. As with a lot of entertainment, games are most relevant when they're first released. People want to go out and buy it day one week one while everyone is still talking about it. It's the same with opening weekend movies or tv show premieres people want to be a part of the zeitgeist. As long as that need exists people will keep preordering and publishers will keep releasing unfinished product because they know those people will buy it regardless. When that changes or starts to dissipate then you'll see a return to shipping a game when it's ready.

I feel like the real issue is getting lost in all the talk about review embargoes. In my opinion, the real problem is the continued trend of publishers releasing busted games that they then choose to fix on the consumer's time--and in some instances dime. This issue was highlighted on this very site during last year's Game of The Year awards when it won the "Please Stop" award and it has continued unabated. The two big releases this week--Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Assassin's Creed: Unity--were both busted games.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection required a 15 GB day one patch just to be able to play the online. When the download finished players discovered the matchmaking was completely broken. The majority of the reviews hit one to two days prior and they were mostly glowing, but the game was broken when it reached consumer's hands. Did the embargo lifting a few days pre-release really help? Obviously it did not. What would have helped would be 343 shipping a finished product.

I normally do not purchase games on release for these various reasons. I jumped on both the releases this week because of Target's buy two get one deal. Lesson learned.

There's a lot of things at play. If I had to narrow it down, I would say that they have experienced natural consequences of two key decisions that were made along the way. The first being the entire concept of the site with its focus on the staff/personalities. Initially this was refreshing and unique; it's basically what made the site, but to use an analogy, there is a reason why television shows do not run forever. Sure part of it is because they eventually run out of new ideas, but the larger part is that --no matter how big of a fan you are--you just get tried of the characters after awhile. I think to a lesser extent that might be happening with Giant Bomb. After 6 years of the same core group, there's nothing new under the sun. It gets to the point where you can reasonably predict their take on the games they cover. I think that's exactly what Jeff and Ryan hoped would happen when they envisioned putting themselves out there more, but there is that old saying, familiarity breeds contempt.

The second is the decision to go to subscriber model. When it was first introduced they gave you a weekly Whisky Media show and a discount on the store, while the lion's share of what made Giant Bomb great remained free for all, but as time has passed, more and more content has ended up behind the gate. This is the classic trap of such a model. You start to feel like you have to "justify" the money you're asking people to spend so you put most of your resources into producing content for them. It's only natural that the free content suffers once that focus starts to shift.

Grand Theft Auto V: Mechanically, they have been releasing the same game since GTA III on the PS2. Same mission structures involving shootouts and car chases and the same terrible shooting--albeit marginally refined. Even the heists--which dare I say had promise--always devolved into protracted shootouts and/or car chases. The driving controls are fine but the shooting is and always has been barely functional in these games. The fact that there was no clean way to get out during the heists negated any fun that could have been had. Did every single one of these really have to end with me using their terrible lock on aiming to mowing down wave after wave of cops, SWAT, army, or PMC? Really?

From a story-line standpoint this game continues to trade on it's outlandish characters and sophomoric social satire through its exaggeration of American excess and vapidity to the furthest extremes. The difference is the jokes have finally gone stale. We get it, Americans are fat, stupid, lazy, greedy, fame hungry, and all on prozac and in therapy. It was cute the first six times you did it, but now what? It's time to come up with a new shtick

It depends on how much you care about Microsoft first party games and exclusives. If you enjoy Halo, Gears, etc. then I say go for it; especially in light of the deals going on right now. Both Wal-Mart and Amazon are offering the Titanfall bundle for $50 off which means you're getting the system and its best game right now for less than the system usually costs by itself. There might be a price drop around the holiday window but there might not be. So this might be the best deal you get on the system for quite sometime.

Personally, I bought the PS4 at launch and I am disappointed in it for the exact same reason I was disappointed in the PS3 when I bought it at launch; the launch window exclusives have been extremely underwhelming. I picked up the Titanfall bundle on release day and I haven't regretted the decision. It's tough to say that any one game is worth a $499 price tag--especially when there's no real campaign, but Titanfall has proven easily better than anything I've played on PS4 thus far. If I had it to do over again. I would have paid the extra $100, picked up a One, and waited for Uncharted 4 to pick up the PS4.

On hiatus. Three games in a four year span is a little much for me, and I think that's at least part of the reason that this one's magic didn't really work on me.

After playing it on my PC and seeing how gorgeous it is, I don't think I could play a console version. But I'm glad it's coming to consoles. I hope it comes to PS3 so every body can experience it. It's just a shame that the console port of the first one is probably never going to happen.