Another set of new shows - The Very Online Show, Albummer, and Armed and Rangerous

Jeff has been known to say he'd like Giant Bomb to be the Netflix of... whatever it is they do here, so I guess it makes sense that we'd see the Netflix model of "make a whole bunch of stuff so that everyone has that one show for which they'll stay subscribed." If that's the case, expect to see most of the shows be relatively short-lived, getting shuffled off to vault-hostage status once they've brought in their audience.

@peezmachine: In their initial announcement of having new creators coming in he said that he wanted people to work seasonally. At the end of the day they are contractors so when the contract is up they're gone. If they're really liked they'll prob be back at some point in the future but I didn't think of the fact that the episodes will always be hosted here. Which means one of the biggest reasons that people sub(watch old shows) is just gonna expand.

i know alot of ppl i've stated they stay for the backlog of content but is that honestly the biggest do we know? cause personally i almost never do that , i came and stayed the last 6-7 years for the content that was new that i was enjoying , and if they don't put out things i'm enjoying then i'm gone. i do wonder how the split is in these things cause with all the options out there in things you can do with your time i wonder how many ppl spend it looking back at the past things they've watched. don't get me wrong i have moments when nostalgia hit me but imo that isn't worth 35-60 a year when i could put that money elsewhere .. and thats assuming costs never go up( new owner n all with new 'content')

@styx971: I get what you're saying on some level but it's also very funny to me how you contradict yourself not only in the first sentence. But also you're using your own personal experience to justify why you're dismissing how a lot of people said literally that they've paid for the backlog. 35 is a steal for gb btw.

Also the price hasn't changed in two ownership changes at this point so idk why it'd change now. Never say never but also it's been very very long. But that's a whole other topic.

Core GB for me was a group of friends sitting on a couch talking intelligently about and playing videogames, with shenanigans in between i.e. Lets try this new hotdog maker! You kinda felt you were there being part of the chat and forums. Maybe it only works with a young group in their late 20s/early 30s with time to kill? Hope they can find something here that works.

In the words of the late great MF DOOM; “Split, the wick’s lit”

@peezmachine: The problem with the “Netflix model” is that Netflix has become big enough and has so much content coming out all the time that their algorithm can suggest something to anyone. GB is never going to be that big - like other people have said, GB doesn’t live in some vacuum where Twitch and YouTube are impossible to access.

Here’s the thing too - even Netflix needs hits to keep most of its audience; that’s why they’ll tease a new Stranger Things season a year or so in advance. I don’t see how GB can survive if they don’t cater to their video game enthusiast fan base.

@fugoy: oh don't get me wrong i get what you mean n how i sound like i'm contradicting myself , i just honestly wonder what the ratio is honestly. its like ppl liking and not liking something you might get a handful of ppl who say one way or another but plenty of times others will think one way or another and just not say anything ya know. its hard to know what facts are without seeing a full picture n all, if 80% don't say anything and 15% say they do x and 5% y that doesn't mean that x is the majority so much as the majority of 20% ......and now i regret typing that cause its horrible to read but o well. i'm sure you get what i mean . as to the price i'm not saying it would or wouldn't just that things change and alot of times prices go up when perceived value goes up and more ppl/content can mean more value in theory. i sure hope it doesn't but its never not a possibility. its also worth saying that RV hasn't owned them long enough to known how that'll turn up probably. just food for thought.

@ptys same here, its what i loved about the site , yeah ppl grow and change so maybe your right but idk.

Every time someone mentions that they would prefer that the crew be in a studio sitting at a desk or on a couch playing games and talking shit I almost want to ask "Do you think they also don't want that?" Like do you think if things weren't as they currently are now in the pandemic(especially now) that they wouldn't be in a studio of some form?

@digitaldisco: I mean I get it - he has a 2-year-old, another kid on the way and is the process of moving. He has a lot going on and I TOTALLY understand why he’s stepped back a bit. But even with all of that it seems like he’s been pretty checked out for a while now. Especially since Vinny, Brad, and Alex left.

This. I understand the desire to want to see the GB crew back in a studio, on a couch, playing games but it's almost like COVID escapes everyone's memory when they mention this.

Also heads up for this thread, stop the speculation.

For me, I rewatch random series when enough time has passed and I enjoy it all over again. It's not nostalgia, per se. One thing this new era of GB has right is casting a wide net. Every time I talk to a GB fan, it's like they hate my favorite shows and they like the stuff I skip. That all said, even with a wide net that doesn't matter if nothing is hitting.

yeah fact is that we are still mid-pandemic and it is what it is, idk why ppl focus on the studio so much. i think you can still get that hang out vibe well enough remote if the passion is there for it. i've mentioned other places having that vibe in the past and i still think it now even if seeing them together vs hearing it is a bit different. as to if they want that or not who knows , alot of ppl like working remote since having that as a option and plenty don't as well.

idk we don't know what goes on behind the scenes, i don't have nor want kids cause it sounds like a real hassle in alot of ways ( great for those that do have/want them tho) but i'm sure if i was in that predicament my focus might be elsewhere in a sense too, in terms of long time co-workers and buddies not being there well i'd be flat out depressed personally.

But the thing is they kinda are. Like the first three new shows they announced all have to do with video games. You may not like them, which is fine(though idk how anyone can hate guilty treasures that shit was fantastic), but they were still video game related. Then we had three new shows not game related. Now we just had a week of two announcements where one is game related and the other is not. I don't know how much more balanced it can get if they want to start casting a wider net while also retaining their core tenant.

I think that it's misguided to think that Giant Bomb is some sort of generic content destination a la Netflix when the main thing, the number one thing since day one, that's brought everyone to the site is a consistently present core group of people who like each other and get along and are funny and fun and enjoy spending time with each other and all have a shared interest, video games.

You can do something else with the website if you want, and clearly they now want, but it is a completely different thing once you change the pieces of that formula. And even if it does work -- and I think that's a realllllllll long shot because then you're competing with Youtube and Netflix instead of Gamespot and Easy Allies -- it'll never be the thing we showed up for originally.

I’ve always been more about the GB personalities and format than the GB brand, so I’ve got nothing to do with this site anymore. Peace and love to you all, best wishes for the future.

But the pandemic doesn't really matter to this assessment, as they clearly don't. Their new model isn't built on in-studio interaction. And GB doesn't have a studio currently anyways. Or even much staff that lives in the vicinity of SF.

At this point I'm worrying that I hallucinated this, but I vividly recall either Jan or Rorie saying on these very forums almost two months ago now that they were gearing up to go check out their new studio space and concept out some potential builds. Maybe that got walked back as the inoculation rates slowed or the variants came on the rise or whatever, but I'm so sure I saw that get talked about yet I always see people saying they'll clearly never be in a studio again or whateverwhat have you...

@nodima: Rorie mentioned the goal was to be back in a studio in July, then July was the beginning of a new COVID outbreak. Like with everything else in the world COVID is kinda dictating what's happening.

@chillster7000: 👍

With Jason and Jeff B living across the country, that just leaves Jan, Rorie, and Jeff G to make use of an actual physical studio, and they are all very clearly busy with behind the scenes stuff still. Even if it was safe to go back in, with the direction they are going with the most recent shows and the lack of staff members, it just seems completely irrelevant at this point whether anybody wants it or not.

I'm not a fan of this new direction. I get that they're trying to be experimental and try new things, but members subscribe to this site to see video games and listen to people talk about video games. I renewed my yearly subscription a few months ago because I assumed that Giant Bomb would still focus on games after Vinny, Alex, and Brad left. It feels like they're trying to fix something that isn't broken.

@finaldasa: I hear a lot of offices, including my own, were aiming at September but who knows how thats going to shake out given how things are progressing.

Not familiar with Voidburger, but watched her Giantbomb announcement Youtube vid and she totally seems to fit in with everything else Giantbomb. Excited to see some of her other videos and whatever makes it to the site!

same but i will say that the discord Q&A rorie and bakalar did this morning they said of the 11 things in the works ( i Think that counting stuff we already know of) only 4 of them weren't game/game adjacent things. after that session i'll admit i am more hopeful than i have been for the past couple weeks, they seemed decently transparent about stuff today that honestly probably needed to be said sooner but it is what it is too, business n all. if you haven't heard it i Think bakalar was planning to get it up on the site eventually, least that was the impression i got.

@styx971: That's good, and I'm appreciative of the transparency. However having 11 shows going at once means that the vast majority will be all or mostly run by contracted people with no connection with GB. Bringing in new personalities is fine, the question still remains as to what makes these shows distinct enough to be siloed into Giant Bomb and not just a collection of random game-related YouTube videos.

Exactly, even with "The Worst Songs of the '80s" there was a vibe of even if some people think this song is bad it is good to me. Albummer has none of that and it feels like a bunch of would-be-professional music critics or struggling musicians shitting on things that are "popular" or "mainstream" without any of the context that makes other critics of bad albums interesting.

I haven't cancelled yet because I'll see how it goes until the end of my sub but it is looking like things like Nextlander, Waypoint, Axe of the Blood God, and Retronauts will be getting my gaming news money going forward.

yeah don't get me wrong , i totally get what you mean , i don't love it either honestly but it is what it is at this point , who knows how things'll end up , but it is pretty fair to say they haven't been able to keep up with things with so few staff either way and the answer to that question while crummy sounded at least honest in a timing just sucks type of way that i can sympathize with knowing now vs not knowing before.

So seems they are never moving to a studio again and just make videos about pop culture and memes. The same thing everyone else does. GB has lost what made it unique.

They never followed trends before. Now it just seems they are following all of them. I have seen many websites do this. Every time it ends their popularity. Also usually comes right before or right after a big sale. They either die off soon after or linger like a hangnail. The future isn't bright with this new direction.

@ak416: I don't get ads on YouTube because I use a free adblocker. Huh, problem solved

lol yeah freeloading a free website run by google who purposefully puts a thousand ads to try and force people to pay for YouTube. I'm sure google loves you

aren't the shows gonna have shorter runs anyway? pretty sure the plan was to have collaborators coming in and out. So I'm sure there'll be more video game content later on. Plus, Grubbsnax is very video game related.

@ryudo: What are you even talking about? You seem to be making a lot of assumptions without really understanding how any of this works.

I'm not talking about supporting Google, I'm talking about supporting the content creators who use YouTube or Twitch as a platform.

If you are comfortable not supporting creators like NL and GB by blocking ads while also not paying for GB Premium or Patreon or whatever, good for you. I'm not, I want to support the creators I enjoy watching so they can continue to make the content I enjoy. That was my entire point. That for me to get the same experience I get at GB over at NL, it would cost significantly more, more than I am willing to pay. You would know this already if you had actually bothered reading the comment chain you replied to instead of just making snarky comments about using ad block.

I have been thinking about this.... Should the old in-joke of videogames.com still redirect to this website even though it is not just about video games anymore?...not sure how to answer it myself.

I thought the very online show was premium? I just saw the entire episode is on YouTube?

There is a premium star next to the video under the Latest section, but it' isn't under the premium section.

I like the very online show. The albummer show isn't for me, I only watched a few mins of the first episode while they were doing their introductions before I said pass. No knock against anyone on the show, just not for me... I may try to go through a whole episode down the line, but not now.

I like that more premium shows are coming on board, it's adding value to my premium membership.

@ikissedmyghost: the first two episodes of the Very Online show were made free. The rest will be premium only.

really you guys? this was a civil discussion , why do you both have to act like that.

Hot Takeouts is better than I expected.

@shindig: It's fine, and VoidBurger seems cool - but like Albummer the concept of talking about the Super Mario Bros. movie has been done to DEATH on YouTube, bad movie podcasts, etc. It's not original and has almost nothing to do with Giant Bomb.

Yeah talking about the the super mario bros movie has nothing to do with giant bomb. It ain't no game! Lmao. Also she clearly said she'll do plenty of other topics that are about games, it's not solely video game movies.

@deckard: Well I guess it has been covered before true. Even on obscure places like Giant Bomb dot com.

I really don’t understand why these would be the choices. I love music but, to think about the fact that the website that gave us such great things as ranking of fighters, any of the endurance runs, and all the quick looks that made me laugh when I’d had a terrible day..reduced to Meme and emoji reviews? Ten years. I’m going to step away.

@deckard: Talking about video game-related movies is classic Giant Bomb. So classic that there was a video series dedicated to it.

If all you took out from the 8 new shows they've done over the past month is "meme and emoji reviews" then yeah you should step away. It'll be alright without you now.

I understand and am with the people who are not fond of this being a primary direction for the site but those of you who are getting a bit over dramatic need to really consider whether or not any of these shows would have been at all out of places if they launched them years ago alongside all of the misc. nonsense the site has done.

Like this shit is not beneath the austerity of Giant Bomb we flushed a pie down a toilet that one time over here.

@ryudo: Wow you're so cool for calling that guy an idiot and for telling him to fuck off. Very mature. You're definitely the kind of person Giant Bomb just loves!!!!

Unless they start posting more quick looks (and not solo ones, they must include banter between two people) and risk their health and that of their loved ones to sit in a room together to banter while playing games, people will never be happy.

Bakalar deserves more credit. That's my take.