Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

220 Comments

Jeff Gerstmann Heads to New York, Takes Questions

Watch the video of Jeff's trip to Brooklyn and the NYU Game Center, where questions were asked and answered.

Before PAX East consumed us all last weekend, I took a quick trip to Brooklyn to make an appearance at the NYU Game Center. They've got a very cool thing going out there, providing students with high-tech setups like 3D printers, motion capture gear, and so on. If there were more game-dedicated curriculums out there when I was getting out of high school, perhaps I would have found my way into one of them, rather than rushing straight into the job market. But, of course, there's no one way into the video game industry. There's no one way into the "covering the video game industry" industry, either. Anyway, enough preamble. Here are a couple of hours of video with me speaking with James Marion, who was kind enough to invite me out in the first place, and taking questions from the audience. I had a good time, and unlike the events that followed that weekend at PAX, no bottles were broken over any heads during the course of this discussion. Oh well, there's always next time...

For more on the NYU Game Center and its ongoing series of talks, check out this website on the internet.

(Also, if you're on mobile and the Vimeo embed doesn't show, perhaps you'll have better luck by going directly to the video.)

Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

220 Comments

Avatar image for mooseymcman
MooseyMcMan

12783

Forum Posts

5577

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 13

It's a great video! My favorite part is when Alex agrees that his legacy is that Big Rigs review.

Avatar image for flavbot
Flavbot

249

Forum Posts

10

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Neat! I've been looking forward to this.

Avatar image for ilikepopcans
ilikepopcans

979

Forum Posts

3100

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

It was a good talk. Good job everyone involved

Avatar image for leejunfan83
leejunfan83

1241

Forum Posts

54

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

I live in Brooklyn!

Avatar image for deckard42
Deckard42

186

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Thanks for putting this up, I was hoping I would get a chance to watch it.

Avatar image for dylanfill
dylanfill

11

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By dylanfill
No Caption Provided

I was there! I had no idea Jeff was even going to be there until like an hour before it started. It was kind of surreal considering I have class there every week so it was awesome having Jeff come to speak. I even managed to get a picture with him and Alex.

Avatar image for oni
Oni

2345

Forum Posts

5885

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 26

User Lists: 12

That Q&A was actually really good. Fun to contrast with the PAX Q&As, which are 99% horrible, though that Crash Bandicoot jacket guy was pretty alright.

Avatar image for landonrobinson
LandonRobinson

113

Forum Posts

245

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Avatar image for hassun
hassun

10300

Forum Posts

191

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Great talk, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Good Q&A too, which is rare.

Avatar image for jamessmarion
jamessmarion

55

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Man, that moderator is REALLY handsome.

Avatar image for sharks
sharks

43

Forum Posts

9

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

The Vimeo embed isn't serving html5 to browsers without flash.

Avatar image for yummylee
Yummylee

24646

Forum Posts

193025

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 88

User Lists: 24

Should have uploaded it to dailymotion, as that way the segment where Jeff strips off his clothes and finally cracks, after one too many ''how does i become games journalist?!?'' questions, wouldn't have been censored.

...In all seriousness I'm looking forward to checking this out, as I would imagine it'll basically be Jeff answering questions in his more reflective, introspective 'Jar Time' mode, which I always enjoy listening to.

Avatar image for wunder_
wunder_

1247

Forum Posts

1611

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 11

@dylanfill: Can I ask what everyone was there for if not for Jeff? I'm just curious because I thought the event was a talk with a few people, with Jeff being one of the headliners, but I suppose I have very little knowledge of the actual event surrounding the Q&A. Was it open to the public? What else was going on besides the interview and questions?

Avatar image for r3d_zombie
r3d_zombie

85

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

wish the interviewer would just let Jeff speak, he keeps changing the subject

Avatar image for basketsnake
BasketSnake

1821

Forum Posts

48

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Get rid of EVERYTHING on the site and just make quicklooks. QuickBomb.com

Avatar image for dijon
Itwastuesday

1269

Forum Posts

38

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

interesting talk from jeans shortsman as always

Avatar image for trowa_s
trowa_s

35

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

:/ this sounds great, why is there nothing like this in the UK

Avatar image for nickhead
nickhead

1305

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 10

Edited By nickhead

Good stuff! Jeff's point about making this site a place for games you might not typically hear about is one of the reasons I've stuck around since the beginning. I can't even begin to list the games I've loved, and was only exposed to, because of quick looks and the guys' individual tastes.

Avatar image for cooljammer00
cooljammer00

3187

Forum Posts

17

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By cooljammer00

This was a super fun talk, and I was real glad to chat with Jeff and Alex and some of the guys from Kotaku afterwards, asking them all sorts of obtrusive questions about their eating habits. Of course, my camera is real shitty and my photos with the GB crew are all blurry, but eh: you take what you can get.

Avatar image for cooljammer00
cooljammer00

3187

Forum Posts

17

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By cooljammer00

@wunder_ said:

@dylanfill: Can I ask what everyone was there for if not for Jeff? I'm just curious because I thought the event was a talk with a few people, with Jeff being one of the headliners, but I suppose I have very little knowledge of the actual event surrounding the Q&A. Was it open to the public? What else was going on besides the interview and questions?

I mean, it was advertised as one talk in an ongoing series of discussions with important game biz people. But it was only ever promoted as An Evening with Jeff Gerstmann, and not like a roundtable discussion with other gaming minds. What I'm confused about is the...older people in the audience, some of which didn't seem particularly familiar with Jeff or his work. Maybe they just really dig community events.

Avatar image for rjaylee
rjaylee

3804

Forum Posts

529

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 2

@wunder_ said:

@dylanfill: Can I ask what everyone was there for if not for Jeff? I'm just curious because I thought the event was a talk with a few people, with Jeff being one of the headliners, but I suppose I have very little knowledge of the actual event surrounding the Q&A. Was it open to the public? What else was going on besides the interview and questions?

I mean, it was advertised as one talk in an ongoing series of discussions with important game biz people. But it was only ever promoted as An Evening with Jeff Gerstmann, and not like a roundtable discussion with other gaming minds. What I'm confused about is the...older people in the audience, some of which didn't seem particularly familiar with Jeff or his work. Maybe they just really dig community events.

If you take a look at some of their past events, they cover a pretty broad spectrum - it's sometimes easy to forget that even though we're in the know about Jeff and Giant Bomb, there's still a ton of people out there that haven't (even if they are into video games).

Avatar image for mathey
mathey

1171

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 1

Edited By mathey

Man, that moderator is REALLY handsome.

Hey, wait a second!

Avatar image for konig2540
Konig2540

94

Forum Posts

35

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I love when Jeff rages. Jeff's rage voice speaks to me.

Avatar image for paul_tillich
Paul_Tillich

358

Forum Posts

40

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

wish the interviewer would just let Jeff speak, he keeps changing the subject

This.

Avatar image for buneroid
buneroid

458

Forum Posts

4

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

I go in to some kind of trance when Jeff speaks for long periods of time. Can't stop listening...

Avatar image for bill_kerans
bill_kerans

13

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By bill_kerans

Good stuff all around, Jeff, James and the folks asking questions, nice job!

Avatar image for tirion
Tirion

200

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

I realize that the scenario is a bit different, but comparing this Q&A with the PAX panels makes a lot of the PAX panel questions so much more cringeworthy. The Q&As at PAX is still entertaining in a different way, but this was just really interesting all the way through.

Avatar image for tdot
TDot

480

Forum Posts

39

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

@tirion said:

I realize that the scenario is a bit different, but comparing this Q&A with the PAX panels makes a lot of the PAX panel questions so much more cringeworthy. The Q&As at PAX is still entertaining in a different way, but this was just really interesting all the way through.

What, you don't like it when someone talks about working at gamestop for 10 minutes, asks when there'll be more TANG, asks what greg kasavin has been up to, or tries to do a 'hilarious' live rick roll?

Avatar image for zornack
Zornack

263

Forum Posts

162

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

@tdot: Hey, at least no one made an endurance run joke this year!

Avatar image for alanm26v5
alanm26v5

557

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 9

This is like Jar Time in front of a live studio audience but no jar. Never not interesting.

Avatar image for monkfishesq
monkfishesq

334

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

I'd care about giantbomb a lot less if a bunch of freelancers I didn't care about started writing reviews I didn't want to read.

Avatar image for deactivated-630479c20dfaa
deactivated-630479c20dfaa

1683

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

lol did the dude in the beginning just say queer people?

Avatar image for tdot
TDot

480

Forum Posts

39

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

@zornack said:

@tdot: Hey, at least no one made an endurance run joke this year!

But WILL there be a new endurance run?! That's what I want to know.

Avatar image for supermacguyver
SuperMacguyver

14

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Great talk, great Q&A. I forgot I was listening to a talk at a university and was surprised at the quality of the questions, especially considering convention Q&A questions.

Avatar image for d_w
D_W

1973

Forum Posts

2440

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 21

D_W  Online
@tdot said:

@zornack said:

@tdot: Hey, at least no one made an endurance run joke this year!

But WILL there be a new endurance run?! That's what I want to know.

Yeah. It's going to be Jeff and Alex playing through both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

Avatar image for lanechanger
Lanechanger

1779

Forum Posts

2289

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Very good talk, almost like a live Jar Time

Avatar image for tdot
TDot

480

Forum Posts

39

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 2

@d_w: I was hoping for the finals fantases 7-2: Goku battle Gaiden

Avatar image for dahlis
dahlis

105

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

In all honesty, when I first started visiting this site I thought that Jeff was the least interesting person. Some four years later, he's the game journalist that I have the most respect for. Always informative and entertaining to listen to (even though he still haven't played through Dark Souls...)

Avatar image for d_w
D_W

1973

Forum Posts

2440

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 21

D_W  Online

@tdot: C'mon man, ERs are meant for quirky relatively obscure or old games. Who hasn't played FF7.2: GBG? (though the 'Ultra Edition on the PSP2 was really where it's at.)

Avatar image for bgdiner
bgdiner

315

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 13

User Lists: 0

How did I miss this?! Damnit!

Avatar image for theblue
TheBlue

1034

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Excellent stuff. I could listen to Jeff talk about games for days.

Avatar image for bacongames
bacongames

4157

Forum Posts

5806

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 8

@tirion said:

I realize that the scenario is a bit different, but comparing this Q&A with the PAX panels makes a lot of the PAX panel questions so much more cringeworthy. The Q&As at PAX is still entertaining in a different way, but this was just really interesting all the way through.

Actually that goes for other panels at PAX actually. Most of the panels I've gone to at PAX are generally content specific and it's rare people ask dumb questions when it's not a general fan audience for a thing. For instance, even though it was Rich and Vinny at the Produced panel, everyone pretty much had a great question and it was on point to the topic. Since social issues are hard and inherently controversial, they're the only other type of panel where things can go a bit weird but overall it's mostly just been the Giant Bomb panel over the years that makes me dread Q&A.

I guess the positive spin is that in most other situations, Q&A is pretty decent if there's a topic focus or direction to the panel. If it's just a convening of fans, eh...

Avatar image for nordom
Nordom

77

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Great talk and Q&A. Very interesting to listen to.

Avatar image for rlhyeung
rlhyeung

171

Forum Posts

11

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Very great discussion, and I don't what some of you are talking about, I think the interviewer was pretty good, and added to the discussion / got Jeff to talk about some things we haven't heard of, or things we have heard of in a new light. Also, fantastic Q&A. A lot of serious and insight questions with some fun questions. I guess that's what happens at university run events; you generally get a higher calibre of discussion involved.

Avatar image for tirion
Tirion

200

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

@tdot said:

@tirion said:

I realize that the scenario is a bit different, but comparing this Q&A with the PAX panels makes a lot of the PAX panel questions so much more cringeworthy. The Q&As at PAX is still entertaining in a different way, but this was just really interesting all the way through.

What, you don't like it when someone talks about working at gamestop for 10 minutes, asks when there'll be more TANG, asks what greg kasavin has been up to, or tries to do a 'hilarious' live rick roll?

I regress. I completely forgot the kind of revolutionary question that got me to personally question my way of living and... DEAR GOD I had forgotten the Kasavin-question (the other ones I can't forget for different reasons). WTF?


@zornack said:

@tdot: Hey, at least no one made an endurance run joke this year!

The irony in no one asking the question the year they actually was announcing a new one.

Avatar image for tirion
Tirion

200

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

@tirion said:

I realize that the scenario is a bit different, but comparing this Q&A with the PAX panels makes a lot of the PAX panel questions so much more cringeworthy. The Q&As at PAX is still entertaining in a different way, but this was just really interesting all the way through.

Actually that goes for other panels at PAX actually. Most of the panels I've gone to at PAX are generally content specific and it's rare people ask dumb questions when it's not a general fan audience for a thing. For instance, even though it was Rich and Vinny at the Produced panel, everyone pretty much had a great question and it was on point to the topic. Since social issues are hard and inherently controversial, they're the only other type of panel where things can go a bit weird but overall it's mostly just been the Giant Bomb panel over the years that makes me dread Q&A.

I guess the positive spin is that in most other situations, Q&A is pretty decent if there's a topic focus or direction to the panel. If it's just a convening of fans, eh...

I have unfortunately not been to PAX myself, that stupid Atlantic Ocean in the way, but when you mention it i've seen a lot of other panels (specifically this year with the direct streaming) and you're probably correct. I mean the thing Jeff did at NYU didn't seem to be lacking of Giant Bomb fans when it came to the questioners, and it was some really interesting stuff there, but the talk or answering of questions from the moderator seemed a lot more focused then the usual PAX panel they've done.

Avatar image for robothamster
RobotHamster

4284

Forum Posts

1446

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 11

Edited By RobotHamster

Hey I was there too! A 1 hour drive took me 3 with traffic but I enjoyed it so it was all worth it. And here's my proof!

No Caption Provided

Avatar image for nentisys
Nentisys

956

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 7

Edited By Nentisys

Cool talk, bro.

Although pretty much 95% of the questions asked have been covered by Jeff in the Jar Time series.