Broken Age's nod to Giant Bomb

Playing through Broken Age once more, just to get some of those deliciously stupid Steam trading cards--I sell every single one I get, have almost made a whopping $4.00--and I was clicking around a bit more in the Hall of Heroes room in Shay's storyline when I found this, which I believe to be a small nod from Tim Schafer:

What do you think? If you click towards the top row, third cubby from the left, you'll get the message.

That is really neat :D

I should probably play the copy I have still installed in my library... eh?

I don't get it.

Since it's related - gb user eladren found this in the Broken Age documentary-

I don't think it is one :x

Sometimes people refer to the guys here at Giant Bomb as the Bomb Squad, so the above could be a reference to Giant Bomb, which is possible since Tim Schafer is a friend of the site.

I remember that part, and I wasn't sure whether it was actually a GB reference or not.

Since the ship AI gives him all of these fake missions to go rescue things (runaway train, etc.), I assume some kind of "defuse the bomb" mission used to be done when he was younger and it has since been retired, but the Hall of Heroes still has some sort of toy bomb defusal robot or something.

Or maybe it's a veiled GB reference, who knows. The "-bot" added onto the end makes it less likely. It's certainly not as clear cut as all of the weird internet references in Guacamelee.

I don't think that's a Giant Bomb reference.

Bomb squads are real things which use robots to dispose of ordnance, so I have my doubts. "BombSquadBot" would be a weird way to get a reference in, either way.

@mb: I was going to say it wasn't a reference, but with that, I'll raise my answer to a maybe.

That's pretty cool!

Yeah, this is a real stretch.

Like I said, I wasn't sure, so I wanted to throw it out there. Sometimes during the emails section of the podcasts, people write in referring to them collectively as the Bomb Squad. Not often though. Either way...uh, play Broken Age! It's a lot of fun.

@mb:

It took me a moment to find it. That's wonderful.

See above.

Hah!

I'd believe it was deliberate. I mean, a Bomb Squad toy robot? I can't think of any other reason for them to be that oddly specific on the kind of robot unless there was a humor angle involved, which it doesn't appear to be.

It might be a stretch, but it wouldn't be the first time Double Fine puts Giantbomb into their games in some way.

@draxyle: What other references have they made?

What about this Polygon reference!!?????

Well I don't think it was part of the final product, but if you ever saw the Double Fine Happy Action Theater quicklook, they were quite explicitly putting Giantbomb stuff into the demo build of that game.

Did someone ask Brad Muir on twitter or something? ... Maybe he can confirm it?

@beachthunder said:

What about this Polygon reference!!?????

Love that dude!

I'd like to say it would would be great to see more nodes to others in the industry in games. Or, would the novelty ware off? Either way it's great to see these things. The Ryan pic obviously more than a node, and more of a memorial.

Why would they purposely capitalize the B and S in BombSquadBot in the subtitles? I mean why not just type out bomb squad bot? It's a very subtle but intentional thing to do. It could be a stretch if it wasn't typed out the way it is.

@mrpandaman said:

I think it's capitalized the way you would capitalize a brand name of toy, like a...BeyBlade or something. Obviously they're all fabricated by the Mom AI, but I think they're meant to seem like named toys.

Then if that's true, BombSquad is a specific name albeit a name that only fans of this website would get. The next question to ask is if this type of naming things is consistent through the whole game.

If it is and all the names are subtle nods towards others, then only one can assume that this is indeed a reference to GB. If this is a one off naming reference, then again one can assume this a nod to GB. If this is not a unique instance and the other naming schemes follow the same pattern of branding things albeit proven to be fake names then this would not be a reference to GB. As it is now, it is safe to assume that this is GB reference also seeing as how DF has interacted with GB.

<3

No offense, but I don't think it's a Giantbomb reference intentionally. I've never known Tim to be that vague about a reference in his writing. I mean, he isn't heavy handed but if it's a reference you'll be meant to get it. I don't see it here. It's to vague. Bombsquad is to ubiquitous in this context to be an intentional reference to anything.

Got people talking about Broken Age, though. I'm totally cool with that!

If you think it's a reference, it is. If you don't, it's not.

Since Tim will never say one way or the other, that's that.

I was right with you up until the last sentence. It's not safe to assume it's a GB reference. There is a pattern of branding things on the ship with fake toy names. BombSquadBot is implied to be a toy used in some kind of bomb defusal mission that is now retired. You get Grabbin' Gary, a little robot that can grab stuff. I think the radiation suit and/or space suit also have some kind of toy-like brand name. The whole ship is like the commercials on a children's television channel, a constant stream of fake toy names and fake breakfast cereal names.

There would need to be SOME other kind of reference. If there was a visual cue that was clearly the GB logo or luchadeer or something, sure. If right after he said "BombSquadBot" he referenced a GB meme or said "duder" or something, maybe. But I don't think merely calling something BombSquadBot means anything.

Look, Square made a reference to Giant Bomb in Final Fantasy XII too!

I meant since this was the only thing that the OP showed, I assumed that for what was shown, that it was unique. I haven't played the game yet and only seen just a little of it, so I didn't know if they branded other things in the same fashion. Now that you have said that there are similar naming schemes, then now I'm very skeptical that this is a nod to GB.

There should be a "Best GB reference" thread although we all know that the Windwaker HD guide is the best.

@wrighteous86 said: