BawlZINmotion

I would not include Battlefield 4 here. All versions were screwed when the game launched. Most of the issues centered around online play, across all platforms. It seems more likely it was less about game optimization and more about network/server issues. Kind of like with SimCity. Still the fault of EA and/or DICE, but not really involved in the point you're trying to make, which is developers cutting corners on PC games and releasing them in a crappy state when compared to other platform counterparts. One of the worst offenders of that is Dead Space. What a wast of money.

@defcomm said:

It would be amazing if Microsoft used something standard, like.. I don't know, Blu...

@generic_username said:

That was a really good episode. My favorite though is the 2011 Thanksgiving episode. Everyone was super energetic, had a lot to discuss and was really funny. \m/ sandwich construction \m/

I still lurk, but I'm not involved as much as I used to be and actually deleted a lot of what I contributed since. Vinny isn't "gone", we just won't see him with the SF crew anymore. Yeah it's not the same thing, but it's not like he is leaving the company for something else like Dave Snider did. For me the height of Giant Bomb was just prior to the CBS acquisition, and before the office move and site redesign. When they would do videos and stuff, the office felt alive. When I see the odd mailbag since the move, the office feels cold and empty. Even before Patrick left for Chicago and Ryan passed. The site redesign was cool, but we lost a very cool feature in the quests and achievements. Most of the content I feel is produced now is Twitch-like, a bunch of people sitting around playing games. The GDC interviews were great, more of that would be very appreciated. And of course the Giant Bombcast rocks. It's not the same without Ryan, but it's still great. Speaking of, what's going to happen? It went from 5 participants about a year ago to 3 at present?

Then again I'm around the same age as most of the GB crew and I can hear the lethargy in Jeff's voice regarding games. There is one Bombcast I keep on my phone all the time, the 2011 Thanksgiving episode. You could choose pretty much any episode from that year and before, I like that one, but the excitement for the industry isn't there like it used to be. I cannot blame him, in many ways I feel exactly the same. I just keep clinging-to because games have been such a huge part of my life for so long that it feels wrong without them there on a regular basis. However I keep sitting down to play stuff and not really caring about anything available.

@bwheeeler said:

That might be because, thus far, the current generation has largely been a graphical a letdown. I know graphics aren't everything, but when new consoles release and people buy them, I imagine they want to see some kind of justification for the investment. And right now there really is none. Yes some games look better than the past-generation, but not enough to justify the generational shift, or the monetary investment, that goes with it.

Giant Bomb needs to take its place a video/audio companion to Gamespot. There ain't nothing wrong with that, just saying since they have the same parent company they might as well stop beating around the bush so many other things. The site itself should probably just be integrated in Gamespot, with Giant Bomb being a media brand within, or related too.

And realistically, having Gamespot and Giant Bomb under the same ownership group is kind of redundant. Most, if not all, content generated by Giant Bomb (as well as the site itself) could (and probably should) be integrated into Gamespot.

Things changed after the CBS buyout. Things changed again after the site-redesign (loss of site-meta). Things changed a 3rd time after ryan passed. Life changes, people move on, and to expect Giant Bomb to stay what it was is ridiculous. However I am with the OP in questioning the direction, quality, and quantity of content created as the years have gone by. I still enjoy the content that is. I still enjoy the site. However I find the golden age of both has already zoomed by. Of course I still, and will, follow Giant Bomb, I just wish I felt the same about it.

The big thing with this news is, apparently, Microsoft is keeping the $399 price in Canada. Where as Sony raised the price of the PS4 by $50 to "compensate" for the "weak" Canadian dollar. So in less than a year Microsoft basically jumped Sony... in Canada. How long that lasts remains to be seen, but those who have yet to buy into the next console generation will get a second chance to purchase at the same cost as customers in the United States.

Money for content? Yeah, I would say it is worth it. Whether that content interests you or not is another story. It's hardly the first multiplayer only FPS. Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament (all of them) and Battlefield (prior to the Bad Company forward era) feature no campaign mode. You could play with bots offline though, which was fun for learning purposes.

That said I have 2 very large issues with Titanfall. It is online only, so no part of the game can be accessed without logging into the servers. The other is I don't find the gameplay to be nearly anything like what so many people coming out of E3 were gushing about. What's there is novelty at best. If you really like Call of Duty, you'll probably find a lot to like about Titanfall and the $60 entry fee.

There are better games to play if you're looking for an online shooter. Many will give more bang-for-buck, or can be found cheaper.

On a final note, I think this would have been a perfect candidate for a free-to-play platform.