Have Yourself A Jarry Little Christmas - 12/20/2013

Who's this guy

Jeff you are the Socrates of our generation.

I wish I watched this next week some time or after the game of year podcasts. Perfect way to wrap the year on Giant Bomb and some of the processes and plans for the future. I wish you guys all the best for the future and keep on keepin on. This(and rap genius) is the best website on the internet that does what it sets out to do.

I'm a subscriber, but I don't get the subscriber feed on my phone (I listen while driving), but I actually really enjoy the ads. You guys put a funny spin to it, it makes me smile. As long as it's never like a radio advertisement, and just you all talking out the ad, it's great.

Giant Bomb seems like the only game site run by people instead of media personalities.

@manlybeast: Jiff

I feel ya there. Sad thing is, a lot of the people at other gaming sites have great personalities, but their corporate overlords make them stick to the script and keep things "professional," because, after all, it's not like we're talking about video games or anything here.

The most egregious example I can think of in recent memory is the gutting of Gamesradar a few years ago. There were some seriously funny duders there who had a great thing going for awhile, but the corporate stuffed shirts at Future didn't know what to do them and, instead, curtailed their efforts. You could hear their frustration in their last few podcasts.

Oh, well. Here's to the independent spirit of Giant Bomb. May it ever be infectious!

Jeff's "I think I'd be OK" response -- plus his look into the camera -- at 1:26:35 actually caused me to laugh so hard it bordered on pain.

Thanks Jeff. Jarry Christmas to you too.

Those last few minutes were some real talk, very heartfelt. Jeff is a good dude. Keep on keepin' on. Let's see what's next.

Look at all that cash! Think of all the Jars full of water you could buy.

Thanks for this video Jeff.

The truth is that nothing is forever and when this crazy ride called being a Giant Bomb subscriber ends i'm gonna be kinda butthurt about it.

Its been so long since Jarrrsss

Follow that money to Reno, man. Get yours! :)

As a sub I actually prefer the version of the podcast with an ad in it. Feels like I'm missing out on funny content when I listen to the one without it.

Some of my favorite content of the site. While it doesn't have to be as "regular" as Jar Time with Jeff, I always wanted a few 'real talk' videos with Brad and Vinny (and Ryan). I feel like we "know" Jeff the most, it would be interesting hearing those guys talk in a more intimate setting.

GTA online is in my opinion the best thing about GTA 5. I loved the campaign, but GTA online is what makes GTA 5 my game of the year, have spent 200+ hours with it now and i always have a blast. only MP game i have spent any significant time with in a few years.

Jeff Gerstmann, the great philosopher.

It's videos like this, and that incredibly optimistic answer to that last question, that make me completely okay with having Jeff as a role model of sorts.

@escoe88: I'm totally with you, I dont feel like he'd get that...sentimental I guess, if he was really just talking about a videogame series. You've gotta feel for him.

Merry Christmas, Jeff. Thank you.

Killin it...JEFFFF

Man, I was hypnotized over the last two questions, this is truly amazing content from the heart. This is what makes GB the best gaming site, and in my opinion my favorite site on the internet.

I love you. With my penis.

Alex the Kid was for late adopters who got a SEGA Master System 2. Choplifter and Kung Fu Kid is all you needed!

@mrfluke: "Patrick could absolutely learn a thing or two from how Jeff talked about the internet and the assholes on the internet, that was the best explanation of the whole thing and he said it without coming off as a fucking political activist."

This is funny to me, but also pretty telling. Jeff, after all, is the one who chose to hire Patrick. Who enthusiastically wanted to hire Patrick. Not despite who Patrick is as a writer & human being, but because of it.

It's as though it hasn't occurred to you that Jeff has also been learning from Patrick as well as others in the business who don't share the same Gamespot background. GiantBomb has more than its fair share of dudebros and fools. Do you think that Jeff, Ryan, Brad, Dave, Alex, et al. never noticed that segment of the community or never considered the extent to which they've encouraged it? Have you considered that adding Patrick - precisely because he isn't from the same small circle of Gamespot guys - was one of several ways that they've tried to expand the community?

To me, it sounds like you don't understand that you're able to absorb (most) of what Jeff has to say because he says it in a way similar to how you might say it, rather than because it's an objectively better way of saying it. Despite what Jeff said, you're still falling into the trap of resenting someone's voice - in this case Patrick's - because it's dissonant to you, rather than understanding that your particular way of hearing and/or saying something is not objectively better, because this stuff is all subjective.

I watched this video. I liked it.

you mention one thing about patrick here that isnt positive and you have someone hurt by the statement, i dont see eye to eye with patrick often, but that doesnt mean i dont respect him though.

all this IS ultimately subjective and that jeff said it in a more casual way that i think i would, dont know where you're getting that im objectively saying he told it better, just more that i prefer the way he relayed things vs how patrick relayed things.

to me, he pretty much said what patrick hammers into worth reading and into articles in the past, and look at the difference, these comments here are more or less fine. while when patrick makes a statement similar to what jeff did, the comments section catches on fire. i think if he takes a more casual tone on the subject like jeff did, there would be less fire in the comments.

Hey Jeff. Not sure if you're reading this and I don't actually post that often but I just wanted to say thank you to yourself and indeed to the whole Giant Bomb crew for sticking around and continuing to work so hard to bring us all amazing content. It's been a Hell of a year (mine's been pretty awful in many ways too beyond the events that have affected us all in this community) but I'm glad you've continued on and have a vision for the site in the future. Giant Bomb makes my days better and you guys deserve a ton of praise. Merry Christmas and here's to a better 2014!

Keep flying that B-52 with the nonstop fat truth bomb drops

Good shit Jeff. TY

And here's to a little less tumultuous 2014.

Jeff this was the most honest video I think I've ever seen of you. Well put on a lot of the topics. Lets hope for better surprises in 2014. I'll be sticking with you on this weird internet thing forever dude.

I am a subscriber too and I like the ads because you feel that you somehow riff off them. I love Vinnie playing the straight guy.

I just hope that ad companies get that people only accept it because it is hilarious. So don´t go straight on us now!

@mrfluke: Although I kinda have to scoff at "fucking political activist", (because what the fuck is wrong with taking an active stance on politics?), I still agree that Jeff talks about this shit better. That casual way of speaking is the reason I prefer to listen to P.O.S's politics over, say Chomsky. And now I'm comparing Patrick to Noam Chomsky, which is obviously insane so fuck it. I'm done. I agree with you is my point.

Jeff I love what you and the crew do, you have my continuous thanks for being so entertaining. Happy Holidays.

This was great.

Fairly new to Giant Bomb, been playing games since ZX81/Grandstand days (UK) but only really started paying attention to Giant Bomb a few months ago. In fact, it was pretty much the week after the sad passing of Ryan Davis that I tuned in - there was much mention of him in very glowing /upset terms on This Is Only A Test, and after hearing so much talk about Giant Bomb previously I finally checked it out. Swiftly realised what I was missing, subscribed, and this video, along with all the other stuff, is simply the best coverage of gaming.

Bravo, and merry Xmas to all.

How to fix the internet? Let's ask Dennis Dyack.

It makes me really sad Giant Bomb isn't as big as Jeff wants it to be. I've always had that feeling, just with total viewers during streams and youtube vids. I would pay a lot for it though. Giant Bomb is about as important to me as anything can be to anyone. Life sucks but Jeff is my hero.

Best Jar-Time ever. That last 30 mins was amazing and intense and more than a little sobering. Thanks Jeff and everyone at GB!

@jeff As Always, your answers to the questions were interesting/entertaining/sometimes surprising. Thanks for running this, and go to hell 2013. We had some great games, but it was kind of a shit year for obvious (and not always obvious) reasons.

Okay.

Happy Holidays Jeff. It's been a shitty year for me, and I can only imagine how much shittier a year its been for you. Seems like that's going around. I know its been said a bunch in these comments, but all the Giant Bomb stuff, and these videos in particular, they really help me get through it all. I want to thank you for the bottom of my heart for getting out on the Internet and just being you, bringing us what you think we want to see, and being real in a world where everyone else seems to be fake. I appreciate it more than you could ever know.

Dang, I have such respect for this man.

This.

Jeff wants Giant Bomb to be bigger? Ask us for more money. Internally kickstart your own ideas. I pay what, five dollars a month for this site? I pay way more for shit that matters less to me, and provides far less value, every day. I pay more for Netflix, but spend way more time on Giant Bomb. I take vacations around major Giant Bomb events!

Come up with something. Maybe charge for live events? But the archives are free for members. Or the other way around? Which would be kind of odd, like a pay wall blocking subscribers. But something! I wouldn't bat an eye at the cost of Giant Bomb doubling (What could you do with twice as much money, Jeff?). Or perhaps a reward system, a la Kickstarter, that makes promises for certain content if certain contribution goals are reached when people subscribe: if enough people pay $7 a month we'll do a Raid on Tokyo and stream it live! Or some such. What's an extra $24 a year!? I'd pay $25 for Jeff to raid Tokyo!

There are ways!

Wow. That got super deep towards the end there...

Jeff is a good dude.

You want to have more people working for Giant Bomb ?

Hire JEFF GREEN !!

@jeff: Having to do more work for potentially more money is a good problem to have. :D

Thanks, guys!

The anonymity of the internet part was real. Dug it. The part after that about pre-internet stuff was beyond me.

And then the part about rehab for internet scumbags was really insightful.

The part about compromising ethics was brilliant.

Jar jar videos rule

Listening to this I realized just how much you and the others here have influenced how I think about video games. I've been a member for about two years now but I frequented the site for a while before I made an account. I've always been into video games, but before then they were just a thing I did. A hobby to pass the time. My main hobby, to be certain, but I didn't think anything more into them beyond that.

But since i've started coming here i've thought more about how and why games are made, the people that make them, the issues that come up while they are being made and the issues that can happen within the games themselves. Video games have influenced my life a lot, but it wasn't until I began listening to you guys that I realized just how much.

Now i'm working on a game of my own with a friend of mine, and it's all pretty much thanks to you and the others.

So, thank you, Jeff. For everything.