Is GiantBomb becoming too negative?

Jeff doesn’t seem like he likes any modern video games so I kinda get it a bit.

This is a really good retort and I'm super worried it's going to get buried under all the back-and-forth in this thread. Just want to say, nice work.

They've been set on their takes for a while. Basically you have to come to GB and accept whatever they have.

I can tell you as an RPG fan for example, you get used to The Witcher 3 getting pretty much shit on despite being one of the best games ever made.

I think the show was underwhelming but if you're really into the Ubi shit I get it. Otherwise if you want always positive there's better sites for that.

They aren't being too negative, Jeff G is consistently being too negative.

I don’t think it’s the case at all. Watch the PS5 reveal. They were pretty positive about that show while I personally was pretty down on it. I didn’t come away from that showcase that the PS5 is something one should be buying this holiday season but maybe in 2021 or 2022 instead. The Ubisoft conference has nothing going on (seriously, how are you supposed to be excited for the same cookie cutter games) and the same for EA. I haven’t really been keeping up with the crew since lockdown as they put out so much content while I’m also keeping up with games, films, YouTube and other media all trying to keep my attention. I don’t come to GB for faux enthusiasm. That’s disingenuous to who they are and to what they stand for. I had zero interest in CoD. It’s been a series I’ve been done with for years but when pretty much everyone on staff was excited about the new one, it got me to take notice and it’s been a game I’ve played more than any other this year.

No. It is just too easy to get cynic with a samey, bland, self-important conference like the one Ubisoft pulled.

They are more positive about Kena, Stray, Ghostwire and Bugsnax than any of the mildly-iterative, formula-driven, political-but-not-political games in that other video, and that is the way I want them. If what you are looking for blind enthusiasm with zero criticism over marketing material, there are several influencers that got you covered.

Maybe, but at the same time I watched the Ubisoft event and the only thing I remember is them repurposing the holocaust poem.

No, I rather take some healthy scepticism than the fucking hype machine led by other outlets.

"Is ______ becoming too negative?" is a very funny question in 2020.

It's not like the crew hate Ubisoft, they could've had something about Trackmania or Beyond Good & Evil 2 in there and Jeff or Ben probably would've liked those parts. *I* would've been excited to see more on the next Splinter Cell or even BG&E2, because I'll be amazed if that thing turns out to be a finished game someday.

@one1zero0one: Gaming on a traditional tv has plateaued. It needs to evolve and really cant unless you move to VR or some mobile phone integration. If you're expecting excitement from people that play 50+ games annually to celebrate what's undoubtedly not going to do anything new, beyond story, might i suggest any hyperbolic youtube channel that is undoubtedly hyped to all hell for games.

Giantbomb's tone is honestly the best place for when things bubble up and do something worth caring about. The PUBGs, Minecrafts, Eurotruck Simulator, Sims, and Animal Crossings of the world. Most other stuff isn't worth mentioning because it isn't really doing anything new or doesnt have staying power unless the game already personally speaks to you. When a game speaks to one of the hosts then i'm willing to give it a shot, they share my same anxieties. Giantbomb is the voice of the jaded gamer, who should be all of us that have been around for a console generation or 5. We still play games because there's occasional beams of brilliance and it's our preferred form of media consumption, we will always have a browser tab for gaming.

I let the staff be my filter because marketing videos are just marketing and we all know better than to fall for that. I hype myself for all these marketing events by playing the previous installment of the game. If that game is fun (like Far Cry 5 has been.. review on the site in the next week before Ghosts of Tshushima drops) then I'll buy the new game.

I have yet to beat AC: Odyssey so if i don't finish that game before Valhalla drops then i don't pre-order. More than likely it will be fine and why not buy the new game. I already loved Watchdogs 1 and 2 so Legion is a day one buy for me.

Nah, but I see where your coming from though

Most of these boys have been around in the industry for years and years, so they have seen the blueprint of games that for the most part has been the same, but with new layers added on top of it each year And each generation (and not in a bad way), I would never expect them to lose their minds over a reveal of a game these days, but more along the lines of “oh that looks cool/neat”

If you think the stuff Ubisoft showed is awesome, to hell with what people think, own that excitement, no one can take that from you. Same if you think it all looked like hot garbage.

Watch dogs looks fun, Weill see on Valhalla, and Far Cry’s tone and vibe and story looks fucking awesome

I've been here since 2008 and I honestly think it's time to close shop. It's hard to say but the site really has become a shadow of itself. There is just this palpable lack of joy: And I'm not talking about for videogames, but for the site itself -- everything from doing the shows to interacting with the community. At the start of this lockdown, it was easy to excuse it as them adapting to the "new normal" but things haven't improved. Still a total lack of interest in doing the site's signature shows, collaborating with guests, or doing anything fun, new and wild. And yet, I look at Dan Ryckert's streams, MinnMax, or most other podcasts I follow and this lockdown has been a time of experimentation, productivity, and innovation.

I felt in my bones this would be the last year of Giant Bomb, due to a variety of reasons. But now I'm starting to feel even if it isn't, maybe it's time they voluntarily close shop and redefine how they interact with the community whether that's splintering off into their own groups or doing their own solo Twitch streams/Patreon.

I get that GB in its current state is better than no GB, but there is something about the site that just feels sad, especially when I rewatch an old stream with Ryan, Drew, and Vinny and it's like man...things have changed and I mean more in spirit than staff.

GB means the world to me, but I do wonder if the GB brand is holding the individuals back whether that's them wanting to expirement on their own or leave games media entirely. Dan, Drew, Danny and many others have shown this can lead to great things rather than complete absence of the people we love online.

I encourage folks to watch Quick Looks and press conference videos from previous years. Giant Bomb has NEVER been afraid of sharing negative takes on games and game reveals. Remember when they used to read the weekly Nintendo E-Shop releases for the sole purpose of mocking them? And as others have said, it is not their job to serve as positive mouthpieces for game developers.

Regardless of anything else you may feel about this Ubisoft event in particular, I don't get how anyone can see that Watchdogs trailer with that poem and not immediately call it out as cynical bullshit.

@rejizzle: Nothing says apolitical like a holocaust poem.

And I can’t help but laugh at the people saying they should pack up shop because it’s not joyous enough. Clearly they miss all the fun, or when Vinny’s kids were one stream. Or Alex yelling “I am a strong man, I dare any of you to take a run at me!!!!!” after farting Dan out of the goal.

@puppykisses: I feel bad saying this but we got Jeff somehow in the Bombcast and Beastcast divorce. 268 episodes in I feel super dirtbaggish for dumping on someone but after that many episodes you start to know people. It’s like if I walk into a gyro shop. If the restaurantanteur corrects me when I order a gyro (Jeye-ro) instead of saying gyro (he-ro) then I don’t persist to “individualism” my way through my order and say what I want. The dude is the authority I will adjust my speech accordingly. In my mind it’s one thing but if I’m in that shop it’s another. Mario is universally Mario, though IGN Uk podcast does have their own way of saying it which might be a consequence of Mario not saying his own name in a game until Mario 64 and by then tv shows could have been saying it one way or whatever, so excusable. Bakalaar knows what it should be yet he goes on saying it his way. He’s the guy at Wendy’s that dips his fries in the Frosty and makes sure everybody sees him doing it first. I feel bad but I’m so sick of it.

No. If you want hype, or naive and uncritical thinking about video games, YouTube is full of phoney / paid shills who will blow sunshine about all things video games, including a publishers own Twitter or YT page.

In an age where indie games are largely the only source for risk taking and creativity, the larger 3rd party AAA game space has become the same yearly, regurgitated pile of bland, risk-averse video games and sequels, all aggressively monetized like they were mobile games.

Take a look back at the games released during the PS2, PS3, and 360 generation and compare them to what we get now; look at all the studio closures of great developers and the games / series that don't get made anymore. It's almost night and day.

That Ubisoft conference was incredibly "meh" and I appreciate Giant Bomb for their decades of experience, honesty, and critical thinking.

Any combination of Ben/Alex/Jason/Jeff is dour as shit.

It doesn't help that EVERYTHING Ben says has to be dripped in this later of irony. Like, he can't be genuine about anything. It's draining.

To me it seems like they are getting tired of their jobs. Ben and Abby seem positive and they get excited about games, but the old ones rarely seem generally excited about new games. Maybe with all the problems in the US it's hard to be positive and happy.

Not at all. If they started being all happiness and sunshine with every game they saw their opinions would no longer matter to me. I want them to speak their minds and share their opinions and thoughts. Both negative and positive.

They have all been in this race for decades, when games don't progress or show anything new and exciting. Its very hard being energetic about something you have literally experiences a hundred times over.

I'm not specifically talking about Ubisoft and such. It's just the vibe I get from them when I listen to the podcasts. They seem tired and uninterested. They sigh a lot and are sad about all the morons who sexually abuse people (and I get that it's hard when such things happens in your field). Maybe it's just me who is reading the room the wrong way.

Man some of y’all folks are all the way indoctrinated by the videogame hype machine. The second anybody deviates even a hair from warmed over focus tested marketing speak and y’all lose your shit.

Grow up.

Videogames contribute to culture, they are not made in a vacuum, they have a measurable effect on human lives and we must consider them from a myriad of angles outside of what multibillion dollar corporations tell us to less our brains turn to shit soup.

I don't give a fuck about what Ubisoft says. I love open world games with a lot of activities, that is why I'm really hyped about WD3, AC:Valhalla and Far Cry 6.

@sombre: I did laugh when the protagonist in the assassin's Creed game was fighting a group, and Ben remarked 'fighting them one at a time, like every other game'. That one connected, though it's not always true.

I see the point, I didn't say, really care for how Jeff and Dan played off each other. But I also had/have a meta-view of valuing Jeff, and learned to like Dan (especially when he went to GBE).

While I did notice the commentary in this talk over, it didn't really bother me . Different filter.

Do people know that "less negativity" doesn't mean "supply the hype beast"? I haven't watched Ubisoft's conference, or GB's coverage of it, but there's definitely some QL's here that are made to just shit all over a game. That just doesn't seem like a good use of anyone's time.

And to people saying like, "Its very hard being energetic about something you have literally experiences a hundred times over", I don't really know what to say? Video games are very iterative. Especially giant ones from massive studios. If the staff haven't grasped that over the past couple of decades they've been covering them, yeah.

@pnutz83: I am interested in the fantasy Viking game too. But my interest level closely mirrors the GB crew, where I’m so over closely cut vertical slices and just want to see the game do it’s thing. Their hype was right where I was, mildly interested.

GB is has hype about games when they are interesting and different. But what we are seeing right now is a bunch of timid games in long standing franchises. It’s nothing to get hype about. I’m more pumped about an update to Satifactory than I am for a lot of games these days.

Also, video games have come to a point where they want to emulate movies or prestige TV, but that comes with the burden of having the serious art say something. And when they continue this toothless middle of the road, don’t offend anyone style of narrative, it stands out. At some point people started asking “To what end?” when it comes to some of this.

Edit: when I say “To what end” I don’t mean to imply that the enjoyment from the game isn’t with it. I’m currently 40 hours into a game about a factory, enjoyment is merit enough. But when games get into the “serious drama” they need to justify why they choose to tell the stories they are telling. If a game is going to invoke modern political strife in what is clearly the world we live in, they need to justify it beyond “it’s a cool setting.” Or risk criticism for uncritically using modern conflicts without much(or any) thought.

No

The only time this resonates with me is when Jeff can't get over a brief initial impression of a game that then turns into complete dismissal to the point of making the other guys turn quiet about liking such a game. This would happen a lot on the bombcast but not too recently. I've noticed that he will catch himself more often by letting others talk about a game if they like it a lot even if he doesn't.

As for why this thread was posted because of some perceived misgivings that the crew didn't care too much for Ubi's tone deaf presentation.....yeah I totally understand having a hard time pumping yourself up from the start when there's the whole nasty allegations about the top brass that Ubi corporate is trying to quickly move past from a public relations point of view. Then you hear they won't address them at all quickly followed by the lamest attempt of co-opting current political and social crises to use as watered down window dressing for your "join the resistance" bullshit taglines. That was the most annoying part of the presentation.

The crew didn't shit on the rest of the content though and for the most part sat quiet during the boring mobile game shit. Vinny wants to play Valhalla and the crew have cautious optimism about Far Cry 6.

If I wanted blind euphoria hype parties and hollering I'd go watch Twitch or YouTube shit. Fake enthusiasm is a dime a dozen over there.

EDIT: forgot to mention that despite the shitastic "movie" of Legions and the tonal whiplash it has, most of the crew STILL want to play it because it seems relatively ambitious. Their main concern was if the horrible tone in the marketing material will leak into the actual game.

I don't want to see them pissing their drawers over new game announcements.

No, they're doing just fine in my opinion.

@pnutz83: But you don’t know what those games are like as a whole. Yes you have previous experience liking Ubisoft’s open world games I’m sure but these are different games. You’re at least partially basing your hype on carefully curated materials provided to you by the company. Whether you recognize it or not Ubisoft’s PR and marketing has influenced you.

Skepticism enters when you consider for more than a second the invisible forces that may be persuading your thoughts, elevating your excitement. It’s healthy to interrogate these things and I’d urge you to do so.

I’ve drastically reduced my GB intake over the last couple years and now I’m pretty much down to the beastcast, occasional Alex streams, GOTY, and these kinds of press briefings. A lot of that has to do w the negatively. There is a difference between being critical and negative and I’d say GB has been on the side of the latter and not enough on the former, especially in the recent years.

For a thread complaining about a lack of positivity in the GB crew, there's a hell of a lot of negativity bouncing around in here.

I hear you about the politics , and I would love it if Far Cry 5 touched on the current political situation in the US and such but the game was still good. I also think that WD3 will still be good even if they don't touch brexit or Trumps America. Just because a game doesn't go where you want it doesn't mean it can't be good.

I'm glad you made this thread because i didn't want to speak my mind in fear of reprisal.
There is the video game side of things where we're now craving to get angry at "non gameplay", which depending on the situation we should (Xbox event), but their annoyance at the Legion "short film" was unwarranted, it was a fun little creative thing and we've already seen gameplay before, then they showed more gameplay after, there was no reason for it. For me personally the Xbox show was bad, the PS5 show was ok, EA was bad, and despite it just being battle royale or sequels the Ubi show was actually probably the best by virtue of having at least 2 games i want to play, it was short succinct and there's more to come.
Then there's the real life side of things which is where i'm going to get some flak, maybe i'm disconnected, maybe i don't care enough, but the real world seems to be REALLY eating these guys up, Vinny and Alex have spoken about questioning working alongside this industry, and all negative, societal and/or political views expressed are echoed by every single person in the crew, even though there are extremely important opinions and discussions to the opposite of what they believe, there's a bit of a one side or nothing mentality going on, and given how often these topics are raised in these shows where i can only listen it's really rough.
There's still a lot of good in the world just look at the GB forums, it's full of all sorts of wild and wacky discussion, healthy criticism, varied opinions and just generally people enjoying life, various parts of the world suck at the moment it doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun, fun is why Giant Bomb was created.

I know what they are trying to do. But for me a quick look at the game is enough for me to decide if I'm going to buy it. In AC.: Valhalla it was upgrading your village that made it for me. I don't have to watch anything else.

I never felt or feel now that Giant Bomb is negative, I think they are being honest, in a wold where a segment of the industry increasing doesn't like honesty because of how ugly it makes them look.

The increasing uproar by developers, publishers and fans of games that they feel should NEVER be criticized is just Strategic Lecturing Against Public Participation. Like in the courts - a SLAPP Lawsuit intends to censor, intimidate, and silence critics. If you are critical of games or gaming you will be demeaned for it by powerful corporations...which ironically is how Giant Bomb started anyway.

Jeff wan't dismissed from his job for liking "Kane & Lynch: Dead Men" too much. No, he was dismissed for having a critical opinion on a mediocre game. This entire site was built on "Yeah, we're gonna tell you what we honestly think", which is fine until they don't like something you love - I guess.

@pnutz83: Yeah, but then it is just lazy and uninspired. They want to use the culturally touchstones of the moment to inspire their their toothless romp through Montana. The gameplay might be good, but there are lots of good games that don’t feel the need to do that.

I think after so many years of absorbing corporate marketing material, it's just hard to be as excited by it. I think it takes a healthy grain of salt to not get blinded by hype. Funny, that's kinda what Devolver's stream was calling out.

Totally agree with you here. Of course they have to talk about it. And I understand that they are fed up with all the shit that is going on, but i feels like it definitely makes them more cynical or negative. Which is understandable considering how long they have been locked down.

Wreck it Ralph said it best. "Never read the comments." I really hope the guys don't. I come to Giantbomb because I know that no matter what content i click on, regardless of length, there is some quality videogame discussion. I could probably fill about 45 seconds worth of conversation about games with friends. All the shills on youtube and twitch are just saying something nice at all times. For tomorrow's Bombcast i know it's going to be 2 hours minimum of content covering every aspect of gaming and things that touch my life. If i were only allowed to consume videogames and one piece of media it would be the Bombcast with the Beastcast second. They've done a fine job of eliminating advertising bloat and their tools for their site, i dont know if they use Squarespace or not, are phenomenal. They do a great job and i've never tuned into any other piece of media consumption in my life so faithfully, just this every Tuesday and Friday/Thursday. This is the rosetta stone for videogames. Until videogames are done this property is just fine, whether you like the tone or not. I often challenge myself by randomly selecting a podcast and seeing if i remember the conversation, undoubtedly i do. I really hope that this year they consider doing their GOTY live. I would love to mainline some of their top 10 game of the year during their week of discussion and come to my own opinion while their still recording.

@cikame: the Watch Dogs movie was unbelievably tone deaf. Repurposing a Holocaust poem for a goofy ass video game trailer is so fucking stupid. The crew obviously felt the same way and that got the whole thing off to a really bad start.

@butterstick1: I'd never watched a Devolver stream before. I watched this one and I was laughing my ass off. It was absolutely brilliant.

There's a spectrum. I don't really find the Beast crew to be very negative, even Jeff Bakalar's "Grinch"ness comes across as mostly joking to me. Maybe as a 40+ dad myself I'm just on the same aging borderline Millenial/Gen-X wavelength as them.

I do find Jeff Gerstmann to be kind of negative as a rule. But:

This is a great point. Titanfall 2 is a game I wouldn't have touched with a 10-foot pole if it hadn't been for Jeff's raves. And I loved it.

It's less negative and just...boring. The guys dont get excited about anything with any level on sincerity. Part of it is probably that they actually have lives nowadays. Wives/Kids etc. Theyre not the degenerate die hard 30 year olds they once were, and the sunk fallacy amongst the fanbase is real

I think people are conflating a lack of passion with negativity. I'd argue there is a pretty dramatic lack of passion about games themselves from the site lately. That's understandable, the crew is getting older and they are less passionate about the games themselves and more about their background. Scoops and Austin always did a good job of bringing this fire to the forefront, but the crew doesn't have anyone articulate with this particular skillset anymore. My read on what people are seeing is more of a (I'm sorry in advance) sad sort of impotent discouragement at the games industry, coupled with a dramatic increase in ironic takes. This is super offputting to a lot of people.

I'm not sure it has gotten that much more "negative" though. Their collective passion just moved around, in a way that isn't super conducive to building anything interesting.

@hughj: hey this actually makes sense in my life

What was there to be excited or passionate about in that ubisoft event? Another Assassins Creed? Another Far Cry? That goofy ass Watchdogs trailer?

There was plenty of excitement around the PS5 stream because the stuff showed off was actually exciting. Unless you're really really into one of their cornerstone franchises the event was a mix of uninspiring more-of-the-same and outright bad. Ohhh look, it's a mentally unstable villain with relatively omnipotent power in his autocratic microstate, what a crazy idea! That stuff is just lame to people who are tired of the formulas.

This sums up my feelings pretty accurately. E3 conferences are nothing but marketing aimed at making you look beyond your concerns and worries and promise you that this next big game is worth your money. It's healthy to be skeptical.

Overall, I don't think the site has gotten more negative or less excited. Mario Maker, odd game shows, Hitman, Minecraft, convincing St. Vincent to play Fortnite, The Sims, and truck simulators are just a few examples of the many things GB digs through and finds joy in.

I think, by comparison, GB is much more low-key and skeptical of marketing and the games industry. Maybe that is a form of negativity. But in a world with Twitch streamers and Youtubers as well as dire disheartening news about abuse or a pandemic, it can be a stark juxtaposition.

I think the OP does have a good point. That maybe GB could search for a way to keep bringing that positive energy to more videos they do. But I don't think negativity is some dour curse hanging over the heads of the site.

I mean, what is there to be excited about in the year is our lord 2020 for the video games? Cyberpunk, a game with so much hype that the first critical review it will ruin twitter for a month? And kinda looks like super expensive Deus Ex?

This year isn’t bringing it. There is no Wolfenstien LSD nonsense. Or Mario possessing a T rex. Bugsnacks is a long way off.

Much of the stuff Ubisoft showed was very tone-deaf so I am not at all surprised that the crew was annoyed with it.

Ubisoft cannot constantly hammer the "Our games aren't political so you can't criticize them" point and then continue pushing the envelope on the political themes and tropes their games continue to chase after. That FC6 trailer went really far into that direction.