Jeff Gerstmann Appreciation Thread

@colonel_pockets: perfectly said!

Thank you for over a decade of enjoyment and creating something that became part of my daily life. Feel like I lost a family member!

I've been following this website since 2011. The crew has been a near constant in my life for all those years and although I knew it wouldn't last forever it still hurts. Wishing Jeff and the rest of the crew left at GB the best. Thanks so much for the years of content and laughs.

Legend

I was a snobby print magazine reader and Jeff was the one that made me go "huh, I didn't know online journalists could have integrity". After CGW shut down and 1UP went belly up, I came here because I was seeking that honesty and authenticity. I'll be keeping an eye on wherever he lands next.

This one hurts, good luck Jeff. Thanks for everything

It has been an awesome and wild ride. From GameSpot stuff, to Arrow Pointing Down, to the launch of Giant Bomb and the Bombcast. Heck, nothing was cooler than sending in terrible energy drinks to a couple of those early episodes.

My one lingering question... did you every figure out what firewatch was?

Onward to whatever is next!

Caught me off guard with this one, but I guess it makes sense? The site's changing, and he stayed on for a good while to help with the transition.

Very appreciate of your work over the full decade of my life I've been listening/watching! Best of luck in all future endeavors!

Jeff is a legend in games journalism. I suspect he'd roll his eyes or be embarrassed by that assertion, but it's the truth.

Huh, end of an era. Best wishes to Jeff.

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Someone explain all the <>'s? I feel I missed a meme somewhere...

Jeff, I wrote this on Twitter but I'll say it again here: THANK YOU SO MUCH for everything. This website has been such a big part of my life for 11 years; I am thankful for every moment of happiness it has brought me, and I especially have you to thank for that. Best of luck in the future!!!

JEFF GERSTMANN IS STILL A THREAT!!!

All I can say is bruh

:(

thanks for all the years jeff , its been mostly great , hopefully whatever is next brings you happiness and lets you be unleashed if you have been.

And with that, my time as a Premium Subscriber will very likely come to an end. Nothing against the "new guard" at Giant Bomb, they are doing just fine, but they aren't the reason I have stuck around for all these years. Even after the loss of all the other core team members, Jeff was the glue that held everything together. I look forward to following him to whatever he does next, but with that, and Nextlander, and Fire Escape, there is simply not enough time in the day to keep up with a Jeff-less Bombcast. I will always have fond memories of Giant Bomb, and I appreciate the work that everyone has put into the site over the years, but for me it is time to move on. Thank you to Jeff for many years of entertainment and I look forward to hearing about what you plan to do next.

I am not even sure how to put in to words what I am feeling about this, so I will just say THANK YOU. Thank you for creating a site that has been a huge part of my life for so long.

I just hope the wiki will still be a thing, since I know that was Jeff's thing and it never seemed like anyone else cared.

Jeff's insights are the most intelligent and just the depth of his experience makes him one of a kind to listen to. His discourse on video games (and further leaks into a larger one on art and consumption) is a billion times better than most university lectures by far.

He will be sorely missed, but he brought so much substance to this medium. Anything I say won't do him any justice, and because he gave so much, i wish him well on his future journey.

He deserves to do whatever brings him happiness.

While I don't share the same tastes as Jeff (I'm still disappointed at how he overlooked a vital mechanic and proceeded to shit on Outer Wilds), I have absolute respect of the impact Jeff has made in video games coverage.

Thank you Jeff for creating this website which provided thousands of hours of entertainment for me. For the last 10 years, I grew up on Giant Bomb. Hope the future remains bright whether or not you decide to stay in the games industry.

Thank you for everything Jeff.

Agreed. I was occasionally listening to GB. Not anymore. Site is dead.

I feel like this day would always come, but I still can't believe the hurt I feel over Jeff leaving. Giant Bomb came out at a time in my life when I was desperately looking for video game content. I was in high school and had a part time job. I was finally making money, and I could finally go out and buy my own games and consoles. Also all my high school friends were done with video games. A few bought 360s for Madden, Halo and nothing else. All my friends viewed video games as a kid thing. I couldn't find the kind of content I was looking for in video game press at the time. Game Informer wasn't frequent enough with just a monthly magazine. IGN felt faked and not genuine to me. Gamespot I didn't trust because I heard about the Jeff Gerstmann firing without really knowing him yet. I thought I can't trust that site ever. Youtube videos weren't long enough to show off the new games for me to decide to buy them and the quality sucked. Twitch wasn't a thing yet.

Then I came across this E3 2008 recap of day 1 from a weirdly titled video game site called Giant Bomb where this guy(Jeff Gerstmann) opened the video giving a play by play recap of his other guy getting back in headphones (Brad Shoemaker). It's weird that was the video that got me hooked, but it was. For the next decade plus I could always count on Jeff and the others to entertain me multiple hours a week.

I can't express how much of a gamechanger quick looks were for me and my buying decisions. The unique games that were shown during UPF. The great Extra Life streams. The amazing Giant Bomb at night E3 shows that introduced me to some great people in the industry. Finally all the great shows Giant Bomb have produced. It was the first site that felt like real people telling you about the games they liked and didn't like regardless of the hype or lack of hype a game had. Not only did I find a place to give me the amount of video game content I wanted, but I found a welcoming community to share my love of video games with. It was the first video game community that I joined and I know without it I probably wouldn't be playing video games today.

Even while writing this I find myself wishing he would just stay for a couple more weeks so I could get his opinion and insight into the upcoming press conferences. I also realize that's selfish of me.

I doubt Jeff will ever read this and that's ok. I wish him the best of luck on his future. I will miss him. I hope for nothing but the best. Thank you Jeff Gerstmann.

As somebody who become hooked on this place in 2009 via the gateway drug that was the Persona 4 Endurace Run, I'd like to add my signature to this here digital guestbook and say thank you to Jeff.

Jeff, you created something ambitious and weird and funny and fucked up and kind of ground-breaking. It was gratifying to watch the scrappy little upstart outfit in a Sausalito basement become this thing that, in a lot of ways, the rest of the industry ended up having to try and catch up with. Thanks for so much entertainment over so many years and thanks for all the other stuff involved that we never saw. My absolute best to you and your family and for whatever your future holds.

<> o7 <>

Listening to and watching stuff with Jeff in it has been a ritual for a good 15 years for me. Over that time, Life has happened. Weirdly similar big ups and downs. During all of it, Jeff’s been a rock, and I know it must have been super rough at times. Thank you, Jeff, you’re as real as they come. <>

I think Jeff is legit one of the funniest people in the world. Keen to see where he and GB go next <>

@wollywoo: it is from the early days of GB and a reference to the diamond on top of your playable sim in the Sims games. I think it is from one ofe end of the day videos from E3 2009.

Imagine what current games coverage would be like if it weren't for Jeff and this website. Sure, it would probably have got here eventually, but Jeff and the original crew fucking innovated this shit. You'll always be a threat in my heart, Jeff ❤️

Jeff and giant bomb has helped me get through some rough shit over the years and well ill watch what ever he does if he does anymore shit but i will continue to support the rest who are here with the company they all do amazing work and i think jeff knows that i think he realizes its time to step back be a dad (a awesome one for sure) fuckin keep being a threat gerstmann

<>

Love ya Jeff! Thank you for keeping me entertained for so many years and making me realise that crime is cool (the fun kind of crime).

<>

Jeff Gerstmann is great.

I was not always a specific GB fan (humour and approach varies, and I know a lot of the old staff came to terms with some stuff not being very apt or suitable in retrospect; the benefit of age and experience!) but I came to love Jeff's work and approach over nearly 2 decades.

He was always entertaining, had a deep well of knowledge, spoke of other hobbies without shame, pushed people up, and just seemed fantastic. Even during periods of terrible events, whatever happened, I never felt let down by Jeff which is quite rare! I say this as a fan, not someone who was ever involved in video game media, so I won't pretend I know Jeff at all, but what he offered with his work was more than can be said in a simple post.

Jeff was always a good voice, one of the many hundreds of voices I've heard that made me less liable to be a cynic about things which weren't worth the time of day, energy, or stress.

Thanks, Jeff. Theff.

Jeff Gerstmann still is, and always will be a threat!

Good luck on whatever comes next, Jeff.

I joined like 3 weeks before Ryan passed away. When the rest of the crew left I knew this day would come. I stopped watching a lot of the content but I still tuned in every week to the bombcast to get my weekly check in with video games. I am an older gamer and I feel a lot of this audience is. Twitch, twitter, tiktok, and other social media that is not for me. People worried about DMCA and what not and worried about it just does not feel right. Here you never really had to worry about that so it felt like a niche time capsule of the internet. Between all of this, the supply issues, the lack of any games for at least a year or so I am not sure if this hobby is even for me anymore.

Anyways Jeff is still a threat and will always be a threat!

My first posts in years. Thank you for everything. <> you were part of a lot of my early adult life. Podcasts and videos got me through tough times and college.

Jeff, thank you for 14 plus years of games and goofs.

Good luck in where ever you land - I don't think we will have heard the last of Jeff.

Best of luck to the man. Time for a well-earned break. Raise those kids right!

i was 15 when i listened to the first episode of the hotspot. that was over half my life ago. that's. wild. love you, jeff

I just want to say thank you to Jeff Gerstmann for the hours of entertainment you've provided me. I've been following you from your original time at Gamespot to the creation of Giantbomb and now leaving it. As far as I'm concerned you've always been the hardest working man in video games. I'm very curious to see what shenanigans you'll get up to after leaving he site you helped create. Go forth and prosper.

Giant Bomb (and Jeff) was a big part of the end of high school/college years.

I never watched much Gamespot content other than checking review scores, but something about the hub bub about him being fired peaked my interest in searching his name. I found a blog post about Arrow Pointing Down which I think was only a week before the first pod dropped (my memory may be off on this). I'd never listened to podcasts before but I enjoyed the report.

Being around when the site launched was my only experience with feeling "part" of an internet thing. A unique experience that won't happen again. Jeff personality and knowledge hit at the perfect time: my gap between high school and university where I soaked up Quick Looks, the P4 Endurance Run, and the Bombcast.

The site itself constantly felt it was building to something until the end of Whiskey Media. Since then it been solidly moving sideways through many changes. Awesome personalities joined and left the site which kept it fresh, although some of the reasons why I loved the site waned. Written reviews, fun and daring (although I assume debilitatingly time consuming) GoTy content, and the E3 show.

A lot of what I've found exciting about following this website has fallen off, especially with covid. Jan, Jen, Jeff Back, and Gamespot guests are fun and I like listening to them. Jeffs presence at the site is a big reason why I kept subbing on top of enjoying content. I think it's because he's tethered me to my memories of a time in my life when I vacuumed up Giantbomb content.

I don't consume almost any gaming content other than podcasts now simply because movies/TV/playing games is all I can fit in. I'll be interested to see where the site goes, but this will still like the closing of a chapter given that Jeff was the beginning of my really following video games for myself.

Thanks Jeff, for being so damn good at your job that you got me into watching stuff about games on the internet. I also wouldn't have been introduced to so many other talented interesting people if not for you.

Next to Dan, Jeff has single handily influenced the last 14 years of my life, both in terms of personal development and understanding on what it means to stay true to your personal convictions, and his ability to be a part of content that brought us all laughs and joy, wish him nothing but the absolute best

Hmm OK thanks for explaining! I still don't quite get it, but

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Love you, man! Can't wait to see what you do next!

Jeff is the best, a constant virtual presence in my life since I was a barely coherent middle schooler. Now that I'm pushing 30 and a lawyer (what the fuck happened?), while I haven't listened to the Bombcast in months, Jeff's influence is still indelible on my whole deal. I probably quote him or think of some nonsense or other that he spearheaded at least once a day.

I've always found this to be a pretty cringey and empty question, but any time anyone has asked me who my hero or role model is, my mind has always gone to Jeff and the integrity with which he handled the GameSpot nonsense and the frank, blunt manner in which he has historically approached problems. I hope he re-emerges in some capacity where I can directly give him money without jumping through corporate hoops because the man more than deserves it. What a dang legend.

<>, duder. The once, future, and forever threat.

https://www.patreon.com/jeffgerstmann

Jeff's Patreon is live. Weekly podcast and other goodies.

Can't wait to see what this duder builds next. excited !

Gotchu duder

Also, for a chronicle of Giant Bomb memes, feel free to hit up the great community write-ups. There's a list of most stuff here.

Signed up for Jeff's Patreon! Nearly 3,500 people signed up and his first podcast is still going live on Twitch as of this writing. So far Nextlander and Jeff are getting my money. Will consider signing back up for GB premium depending on how the new direction goes (really excited that Dan is back!).

I signed up for Jeff, Ryan, Brad & Vinnie. Had to cancel my subscription, but will transfer to Jeff if he does something. Thanks for the great content over the years Jeff. I'm Out!!!

@dport: He's got a podcast and patreon setup. He's been doing a livestream since 8:30am pacific -- https://www.twitch.tv/jeffgerstmann /// https://www.patreon.com/jeffgerstmann/