And Now... The Rest Of The Story

Jeff & crew, I believe in you... although, I have no trust in Gamespot or corporations. I basically bought a subscription to just fund you guys... not really cause I needed that premium content. If you guys would have simply thrown a shirt in with my $50 subscription, I would have been more than happy to help you guys try and keep everything free for everyone. Cross over all you want with old Whiskey media crew, but if any of the uncool people from Gamespot even make a sound on an article, video or bombcast.... anything, I am likely out.

God, each year I try to go back and listen to a hotspot or watch a hotspot. For about a year or two after Gerstmann-Gate I was just curious if there was anyone left worth reading/listening/watching. Now I will do it only to what the awkward crap-show of terrible personalities, bad writing and a cast of questionable journalism professionals.

Man, you guys, even how informal you were still put on better interviews, 5-hour long bombcasts, and general show coverage of E3 than Gamespot did in a year. Like you bringing Jennova Chen and doing that interview just as a round table was great.

Closing comments; "It's still real to me damn it."

[edit] I see that some how Giancarlo is back at Gamespot...well he is an certified duder, so he is cool. Just steal him. He can play NES games in front of a projection TV any day.

@gakon: @gakon said:

I used to think I hated GameSpot, then Jeff Gerstmann told me not to, so I changed my mind.

Pretty much. I have never doubted Jeff Gerstmann, so if he and the rest of the team think this is the best decision for Giant Bomb, then I have full faith in them. Quite excited to see what happens in the coming months.

I am a little scared, but it's time to move on. Good luck, Giant Bombers! Keep up the great writing and content, and I'll stick around for years to come.

Just sad to see you split up with the rest of the Whiskey Media gang, though :( I wonder what this will mean for future Big Live Live Shows Live and Whiskey Media Happy Hours...

The most shocking part of this whole thing is I just saw John Davison go 30 minutes without mentioning iPhone games or casual gaming. Or maybe he got over his "bore everyone to death" phase from the death throes of 1up podcasts.

John Davison is at GameSpot. Okay, I'm not worried anymore.

One thing is still unclear to me after all this, how come the Kane and Lynch video review completely contradicts the score they gave the game. Jeff starts the review with "Kane and Lynch is an Ugly Ugly game" and then the final score is like 6.0 which is considered "Fair", to me the video review felt more like a 3.0. And if you read the comments on the video review you'll see that I'm not the only one who thinks something is not right there.

So I guess this explains the lack of content on the site over the last few weeks.

This is great. I was beginning to become frustrated at the lack of content the last few weeks too

I'm just worried that I've heard Vinny drop the C-bomb for the last time.

I'm still sceptical of this, but at the end of the day Jeff has gone through exactly what it is a lot of you are worried about before. I trust his judgement in the matter. And if it all goes tits up, I'm ready to subscribe to an independent project again.

Fun fact; this is the first video posted on GameSpot without a music bed since 2007.

Ugghg, so disheartening seeing you on "On The Crapper (Spot)"

Say goodbye to the great bastion on the internet that was GB. Say hello to the normal, boring, crap videos we see on every other video game site, including Gamespot. Boring, dumb people, with big brother watching over things. Good one.

Its been a long road!!!!!

@SpicyRichter: Maybe not next week, but it will soon.

@MmaFanQc said:

sooo.... Jeff Gerstmann was fired from Gamespot (CBS management) because they said he (Jeff) couldn't be trusted after he gave a poor score to a review....

now they go work for them again?

this wont end well.

It was CNET management at that time. CBS Interactive purchased CNET Networks in 2008 and if you have seen the video, Jeff mentions that if there was a problem with Gamespot you wouldn't have seen him On The Spot and this deal would have never happened. GS is not the devil as some people here are making it sound like.

Personally, I am glad that this is happening, not only it's good for the future of Giant Bomb but it's also good to see them put the past behind them and start with a clean slate.

Certainly looking forward the future of things.

Still excited for the news.

I had fun playing Kane and Lynch D:

(I also bought it for about $20).

Somehow I am a bit MORE iffy about this combo than before I watched this interview. Still cautiously optimistic, though.

So wait - is British guy now Jeff's boss?

I've always liked John Davidson and it's good to see that everyone is happy.

Most of the hate here comes from ignorance. All the management that was in place when Jeff was fired is gone. I have stayed over at GameSpot and here since that happened and the GS guys and GB guys have regularly mentioned each other and reviews from each other etc.

Kevin Van Ord, Tom McShea, Justin Calvert, and the rest of those guys tell it like it is. I have heard McShea be just as critical about games as Jeff ever has been and even more so at times. It's been 5 years. Get over it.

Just found a twitter account called CBSGiantBomb

I think its a hoax, but found it funny!

What's going on with Matthew Rorie?!

Hmmm....nobody got that chill I did when Jeff noted the whole backdrop was a green screen. Just stop and think about warlords on that monster....or what they will due when drunk....

@rjayb89 said:

DEATH TO RORIE

Poor Rorie, maybe he can turn the office into a Dog Day care Center :).

@Legend said:

This whole thing is messed up. I don't like it. I don't like how they kept us in the dark for so long. I don't like the way they announced it. I don't like how Rorie (from what I can tell from his tweets) had no idea they were going to announce it when they did. I don't like how even he doesn't know exactly what will happen to Screened. I don't like any of it.
This decision was %100 business. The staff knows how much many of us hate Gamespot. They know we would've supported them even more if they were about to go out of business. Seriously, imagine how much money people would give on, say, Kickstarter to keep the site going. But no, they didn't care about any of that. They just found themselves a good business deal and went with it whether the users like it or not. And from what I can tell, most users don't like it one bit. They didn't even explain why they made that decision in the first place, and they probably never will (I'm guessing money but who knows). I'm just so disappointed to say the least...

Of course it is money. I agree with everything you stated here. This whole thing is a slap in the face. Most supporters of this have their head in the sand if they think GB and Gamespot will not merge....and more then likely.....everything will just be absorbed into Gamespot slowly but surely. This is just common sense.

I can't wait to see the great content moving forward.

@SomeJerk said:

"The staff knows how much many of us hate Gamespot." Lemme correct that for ya. "The staff knows how much many of us are uninformed bumbling retards who think that the Gamespot of 2012 is the Gamespot of 2007." There.

No, I don't think anyone is confused over what year it is.

It is probably because people know the 2012 Gamespot is 1000x worse then the 2007 Gamespot. Have you actually went there lately? It is an embarrisment.

What a crazy day that was....

@FreedomTown said:

@SomeJerk said:

"The staff knows how much many of us hate Gamespot." Lemme correct that for ya. "The staff knows how much many of us are uninformed bumbling retards who think that the Gamespot of 2012 is the Gamespot of 2007." There.

No, I don't think anyone is confused over what year it is.

It is probably because people know the 2012 Gamespot is 1000x worse then the 2007 Gamespot. Have you actually went there lately? It is an embarrisment.

The community for this site lately has not been doing a stellar job of showing how much better the place would be without...

@FreedomTown said:

@Legend said:

This whole thing is messed up. I don't like it. I don't like how they kept us in the dark for so long. I don't like the way they announced it. I don't like how Rorie (from what I can tell from his tweets) had no idea they were going to announce it when they did. I don't like how even he doesn't know exactly what will happen to Screened. I don't like any of it.
This decision was %100 business. The staff knows how much many of us hate Gamespot. They know we would've supported them even more if they were about to go out of business. Seriously, imagine how much money people would give on, say, Kickstarter to keep the site going. But no, they didn't care about any of that. They just found themselves a good business deal and went with it whether the users like it or not. And from what I can tell, most users don't like it one bit. They didn't even explain why they made that decision in the first place, and they probably never will (I'm guessing money but who knows). I'm just so disappointed to say the least...

Of course it is money. I agree with everything you stated here. This whole thing is a slap in the face. Most supporters of this have their head in the sand if they think GB and Gamespot will not merge....and more then likely.....everything will just be absorbed into Gamespot slowly but surely. This is just common sense.

Its also complete conjecture. You need to check your assumptions if you think any of that is "common sense".

@DiGiTaL_SiN said:

One thing is still unclear to me after all this, how come the Kane and Lynch video review completely contradicts the score they gave the game. Jeff starts the review with "Kane and Lynch is an Ugly Ugly game" and then the final score is like 6.0 which is considered "Fair", to me the video review felt more like a 3.0. And if you read the comments on the video review you'll see that I'm not the only one who thinks something is not right there.

I think Jeff should shed some light on what happened there specifically.

If you have been following the debacle for the beginning, you would have known that the video review wasn't even meant to be launched in its current form. Jeff mentioned multiple times that there were problems with the audio and that the final product was rushed and didn't reflect what they had hoped for.

And does the video review really hold any merit when it comes to written words? Forget the past and lets move on.

I really believe that this is a good thing :)

@Matfei90 said:

@gunslingerNZ said:

@Switchthemunky said:

Now they've got a bit more cash, they should think about doing the World Tour.

That's exactly the sort of crazy homegrown spirit I feel will disappear with this move though... I mean think about it, that whole thing came about because of some drunk shit that was said on the street by the staff after spending the whole day livestreaming about topics as high brow as the best way to microwave bacon.

I can't see that taking place in this new office space. This really is an "office space" as well, a lot of that video stuff which organically developed in the WM open plan office and their original basement office just isn't going to happen on the 3rd floor of CBS towers...

I wouldn't want to hold them back and I'm happy the website is growing up but it's still sad to see.

This is what makes me sad. Losing the organic video content (which is what makes Giant Bomb and (the now old) Whiskey family so awesome and the prime reason I come to these websites and subscribed) will suck alot of the magic out of the personalities and totally insane antics we've come to expect and enjoy from these guys. Got my fingers crossed it wont happen, but I'm not optimistic in the long run.

@jt1080 said:

So many selfish ignorant comments. Be happy for them, jesus christ. This is awesome news and I want to congratulate everyone at the Giant Bomb team. You deserve this.

Can't wait to see what's next and collaborations with the GS team.

people here just want to protect GB and the crew from bad things because they like GB and the crew. its never cool to see good people get f***ed over so everyone is just a bit protective.. and considering the past and the reality of big companies, i can understand why people are weary.

Its good to grow, its good to make dreams come true, with or without outside help.. Everyone just hopes they stay Valve and dont turn into Activision.. thats all.

they defected to gamespot and those lying turds?? hmmm i understand the reach to the people through their shit (gamespot) but fuck those hippe/hipster fake fuckholes

Dude, so many people commenting without watching the video!

too much green screen is bad

@Majkiboy said:

Dude, so many people commenting without watching the video!

That's kind of how this has gone all along. Lots of freaking out and getting angry.. then blatantly not knowing a thing about the situation.

@mehojevich said:

they defected to gamespot and those lying turds?? hmmm i understand the reach to the people through their shit (gamespot) but fuck those hippe/hipster fake fuckholes

Gamespot seems to be one step away from G4 or something you'd see on SpikeTV. Fake people, stale, old, boring, outdated, innacurate, etc..etc..etc...

I'll be curious how long it takes for everything to go south. Who will be forced to leave or added to the team? What compromises in terms of content will be made? Hopefully we get a couple of good years out of Giant Bomb until that happens.

@FreedomTown said:

@Legend said:

This whole thing is messed up. I don't like it. I don't like how they kept us in the dark for so long. I don't like the way they announced it. I don't like how Rorie (from what I can tell from his tweets) had no idea they were going to announce it when they did. I don't like how even he doesn't know exactly what will happen to Screened. I don't like any of it.
This decision was %100 business. The staff knows how much many of us hate Gamespot. They know we would've supported them even more if they were about to go out of business. Seriously, imagine how much money people would give on, say, Kickstarter to keep the site going. But no, they didn't care about any of that. They just found themselves a good business deal and went with it whether the users like it or not. And from what I can tell, most users don't like it one bit. They didn't even explain why they made that decision in the first place, and they probably never will (I'm guessing money but who knows). I'm just so disappointed to say the least...

Of course it is money. I agree with everything you stated here. This whole thing is a slap in the face. Most supporters of this have their head in the sand if they think GB and Gamespot will not merge....and more then likely.....everything will just be absorbed into Gamespot slowly but surely. This is just common sense.

I don't know. I find it hard that I, as a free user of this here video game website, have any right to complain and bash the staff for this. It is what it is. I am going to take their word that the site will contiune to grow and get better. If 6 months down the road this place is stale/boring/visibly changed for the worse because of CBS than you(we) can get up in arms and leave. But to sit here and pontificate on theoretical situations seems selfish. They have to do what is best for the website and their lives. Personal goals came into play here and they can't keep every single disgruntled internet user happy. Once the content starts flowing again I think everyone will calm down.

It is great to clear the air. I loved gamespot before the big debacle, so it is relieving to know that the management that ruined it in 2007 is now gone. It will be an interesting few months and I'm definitely keeping an open mind about it.

(Sniff)..... Can someone point me to a "best of" of sorts involving Will smith and the GB crew? maybe set to the backdrop of that really sad song that always plays during the "help us save these starving children/ animals" Commercials...... and one for Rorie too!

I'm gonna miss those Happy Hours.....

Let's say nothing changes about giantbomb, or the main guys. But no will or norm? No yelling from across the studio during tnt? No bar area? No bitching about the crappy room they do their podcasts in or being in a basement? No rorie man handling ryan's fingers? No puppies?
 
It all really really sucks from that viewpoint. It's hard to give that up. It's like watching your favorite tv show end and the cast breaks up, even if in this case it's not all of them. I don't think they're sell outs or greedy, and not going to pretend to know their finances, but until we're months out from now and I know what the new giantbomb is like, it's just not a great feeling. I haven't been on ign or eurogamer in quite awhile because while I liked the depth of news and articles from consuming all of these sites, GB was funnier and more personal and I could relate to every single name that ever wrote an article or spoke a word because I knew a little bit atleast about each one. Goodluck, I don't plan on leaving, I'm just a bit sad.

I mean IGN has 1up, Now Gamespot has Giantbomb, or should I say FOX and CBS owns them now. Either way, Giantbomb will always be my favorite Gaming site. They seem like they have a lot of fun working together. If that's not going to change, then I'll always be a loyal fan.

I just realized John Davison looks nothing like how I pictured him in my mind after years of listening to him on various podcasts. I always pictured Chase from House, which...no.

John Davison is pretty awesome tho, glad to see he's kind of running things at Gamespot now, they could do a lot worse.

"Far dirtier then... well... ahh... we've said some pretty messed up stuff..." - Jeff

Giantbomb. This is why I love you.

Shit is intense.

Good Video

I was considering getting premium membership just a week ago, before all this crap. So glad I didn't. I would really like to see how Ryan feels about all this, he's been keeping pretty quite. And that little "I love Mondays" earlier this week... lol, there was no mention from him of why he loved that Monday. I was starting to really get into the whiskey media family as well, so it will be missed. I'll tune in once or twice to see how it's shaping out for them, but now that they are apart of CBS/Gamespot there is no way I can show my support anymore. Not sure how tight money was for them, but I'm just going to say it right now. Your all hailed holy man "journalist" with integrity Jeff is a sell out. I'm sure it's for a good cause, like you know being able to eat and pay your rent. At some point, given the opportunity most people would sell out. So I'm glad life will be better for the crew as people! I didn't follow Jeff or Ryan's story from gamespot to giantbomb, and I don't really care. The only explanation they needed to give anyone is that they needed more money.