planetary

In a fit of nostalgia, I again looked up the This Year podcast collections, which I enjoyed enormously -- well, more than a decade ago, and once a couple times since.

For this curious, you can still find the files here: https://fourble.co.uk/podcast/thisyearcoll -- just look for "Hotspot", "Bombcast", and "Ryan Davis".

@zanzibarbreeze really captured to me what was the golden age of gaming podcasts, around 2005 to 2013. From the Hotspot to the Giant Bombcast up until Ryan's passing.

I know the site's moved on (several times now), and even audio-only recordings have become less relevant -- but to me those were the pinnacle years. Alas, nothing lasts forever.

Why would anyone want a 3-4 hours/day commute in the SF Bay Area? I live here, and the thought of going back to work is almost enough to make me want to quit and find another all-remote job.

Not price sensitive, no. Would gladly pay more for a "pure" and complete game without add-on BS.

What. The. Fuck.

I honestly don't know what differentiates GB at this point.

1. The wiki is neat but... pointless, these days.
2. Video content has become mainstream on YouTube and Twitch. And the quality bar is very high on those sites, and on others.
3. GB has abandoned news and written stories, unlike Kotaku and others.
4. Outlet game reviews don't matter as much, thanks to metacritic and influencers and reddit zeitgeist.
5. The community has gotten a lot worse, on the whole. Less tolerant, more defensive. :(
6. We've lost such great talent like Ryan, Snide, Patrick, Austin, and Dan.
7. Those who remain are split into East and West pods, which makes the great combos you want from the old guard really rare.
8. Deep respect for Brad, but he's a terrible podcast host. I've started to listen to the Hotspot instead.

All I really want is to follow Jeff and Vinny, and listen to their podcasts and watch some of their crazy videos. These days, the Giant Bomb site doesn't really need to exist at all for that to happen -- and in fact, with all its baggage and all the second-tier talent in the mix, the site kinda gets in the way and is a distraction, in a lot of ways.

It's Dec 30th. We should be on day 2 or 3 by now. What's going on?

Atheist parent speaking: It's a good movie.

PS5 and PC -- both when inventory becomes available. I'm not going to be participating in the twitter lotteries. Bullpuckies!

Absolutely no inerest in Xbox these days.

Stadia

"Jeff presents the best Res Infinite Level of the Year"