I haven't been to Gamespot for the last few years (for obvious reasons) unless I accidentally followed a source link to it but he's definitely a great personality from the time that I did use to visit regularly and take in the video and audio podcasts.
I do hope he will come to GB. In the old GameSpot he was one of the best. I would like to suggest Homer Rabara as well but don't know relations between him and GB.
when he reviewed backbreaker i was like holy shit! But yeah, they only need alex to review the 5-10 relevant sports titles of the year. If they have a dedicated dude their staff becomes bloated.
In Gamespot news, the only 2 editors I know now are Kevin VanOrd and Sean McInnis, and I like neither.
Brian Ekberg is so cool. I used to listen to his sports podcast with Shanker and Aaron Thomas all the time. It was super funny. He was one of the best guests on the old Rich Gallup HotSpots back in the day. One of the most important figures of GameSpot for me.
Well once kevin Vanord is gone, Gamespot might as well close its doors. I do hope Brian Eckberg finds a good home. I wouldn't mind seeing him in the Giantbomb offices at all! After all we need a sports guy :D
" Well once kevin Vanord is gone, Gamespot might as well close its doors. I do hope Brian Eckberg finds a good home. I wouldn't mind seeing him in the Giantbomb offices at all! After all we need a sports guy :D "
I think what it really comes down to is if you feel Giantbomb needs a dedicated sports guy. IMO, they don't. I like the team small. Add a sports guy and you start adding more dudes, until the staff is just bloated.
@DystopiaX: I do agree that the team needs to stay small, but in terms of games that get too little coverage due to lack of interest, it is by far sports. RPGS are covered by Brad and Dave. One more addition wouldn't hurt the team I don't think. At the end of the day, this is all speculation :)
" @DystopiaX: I do agree that the team needs to stay small, but in terms of games that get too little coverage due to lack of interest, it is by far sports. RPGS are covered by Brad and Dave. One more addition wouldn't hurt the team I don't think. At the end of the day, this is all speculation :) "
But honestly, I don't feel that sports games need all that coverage. As I pointed out earlier, the reviews can be handled by any of the authors or Alex (who did the backbreaker review). The news can be handled by the news team. The editorial team is perfectly capable of covering the minimal changes in every years' new iteration of Madden and such.
" @DystopiaX: I do agree that the team needs to stay small, but in terms of games that get too little coverage due to lack of interest, it is by far sports. RPGS are covered by Brad and Dave. One more addition wouldn't hurt the team I don't think. At the end of the day, this is all speculation :) "
But honestly, I don't feel that sports games need all that coverage. As I pointed out earlier, the reviews can be handled by any of the authors or Alex (who did the backbreaker review). The news can be handled by the news team. The editorial team is perfectly capable of covering the minimal changes in every years' new iteration of Madden and such. "
I just dont think you like Brian at all. Like hes on your "To Kill" list or something. That's why you're so against him being on the GB team.
Do people who mostly play sports titles actually visit gaming websites? I get the impression they just buy the latesta EA $starname $sport $year title and play that until the next one comes out. Repeat.
Do they really need someone dedicated to sports game reviews? For new franchises, Alex handled Backbreaker and Jeff took care of UFC Undisputed just fine. For the established franchises, are there people out there who are on the fence about picking up the latest Madden, NBA Elite, or NHL and need GB's input? I tend to doubt it.
" Do they really need someone dedicated to sports game reviews? For new franchises, Alex handled Backbreaker and Jeff took care of UFC Undisputed just fine. For the established franchises, are there people out there who are on the fence about picking up the latest Madden, NBA Elite, or NHL and need GB's input? I tend to doubt it. "
I understand your sentiment but people don't come to GB for sports game news because none of the guys provide it. You don't go to the desert for water.
Regardless, I've always liked Eckberg so I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes.
They are bigger than IGN now in terms of views per month.
I can see why Eckberg left, but what took him so long? It was totally a shock to see Jeff leave but after what he did with Giant Bomb that seems like a pretty damn good dismissal. Getting fired for a fair and honest review, fronting a new and better website that doesn't take scores and shit too seriously, then (soonly) giving his fair and honest review on the sequel (Kane and Lynch 2 actually looks quite ok if anyone plays it online, that is). Not forgetting Ryan's part in all this, or the rest of the crew, but Jeff's departure set the internet alight.
I liked him, the few reviews I read at least. He's a sports guy, and I don't like sports so I didn't read too much of it. I hope things work out well for him though.
" @DystopiaX: I do agree that the team needs to stay small, but in terms of games that get too little coverage due to lack of interest, it is by far sports. RPGS are covered by Brad and Dave. One more addition wouldn't hurt the team I don't think. At the end of the day, this is all speculation :) "
But honestly, I don't feel that sports games need all that coverage. As I pointed out earlier, the reviews can be handled by any of the authors or Alex (who did the backbreaker review). The news can be handled by the news team. The editorial team is perfectly capable of covering the minimal changes in every years' new iteration of Madden and such. "
I just dont think you like Brian at all. Like hes on your "To Kill" list or something. That's why you're so against him being on the GB team. "
Nah, I just think that if they pick someone to join the team I'd rather have adam sessler (who's pretty good despite getting bad rep for being on G4), or just have Alex do shit on a semi-regular basis.
Too bad. He was one of my favorites of those still at Gamespot. Now Tom McShea is the only personality at Gamespot that's worth following. Him and maybe Kevin van Ord.
WTF??? Who is this guy? He does editorials on sports games? NO I don't give a fuck about him. Come back top me when sports games do matter. When EA actually skips a year on releasing Madden. Same goes for all other sports games.
" WTF??? Who is this guy? He does editorials on sports games? NO I don't give a fuck about him. Come back top me when sports games do matter. When EA actually skips a year on releasing Madden. Same goes for all other sports games. "
Or maybe when a sports franchise sells something like 70 million units?
Oh, wait...
You're an idiot. I'm not a sports fan at all, but saying sports games don't matter is simply very, very stupid.
" WTF??? Who is this guy? He does editorials on sports games? NO I don't give a fuck about him. Come back top me when sports games do matter. When EA actually skips a year on releasing Madden. Same goes for all other sports games. "
Or maybe when a sports franchise sells something like 70 million units? Oh, wait... You're an idiot. I'm not a sports fan at all, but saying sports games don't matter is simply very, very stupid. "
Because it doesn't fuckin matter. All they're doing is releasing the same game as last year. The only difference is an updated roster. If these companies just happen to support their previous games instead of shutting down servers after 2 years then I'll start caring about these sports games.
I'm not familar with the ppl at gamespot. I don't go to that site, so I don't really care at all. If he makes it to giantbomb, then maybe I might care.
" WTF??? Who is this guy? He does editorials on sports games? NO I don't give a fuck about him. Come back top me when sports games do matter. When EA actually skips a year on releasing Madden. Same goes for all other sports games. "
Or maybe when a sports franchise sells something like 70 million units? Oh, wait... You're an idiot. I'm not a sports fan at all, but saying sports games don't matter is simply very, very stupid. "
Because it doesn't fuckin matter. All they're doing is releasing the same game as last year. The only difference is an updated roster. If these companies just happen to support their previous games instead of shutting down servers after 2 years then I'll start caring about these sports games. "
The reason they shut down their servers is because all of the people who actually care about the game have already migrated over to the next installment. Many of the yearly franchises also contain some pretty important updates -- not Madden as much as FIFA, which has seen important updates from year to year since about 2007.
I'd love for'im to come over to Giant Bomb...Ekberg was the only one left behind at Gamespot that i thought was still ok. i was disappointed when he started to specialize in the sports gaming cause i couldn't give a shit about sports games
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