Is GiantBomb becoming too negative?

I don't know if it's that they're too negative, but sometimes it feels like they are going through the motions. Like with the Ubi show, even if they had been super critical, that would, to me, have been more interesting than "yeah, it's fine."

And I don't want to single anyone out, and I really like Alex and value his opinions, but him being "meh" on the new AC and Watchdogs is the least surprising thing I've ever heard. Hearing his thoughts did nothing to move the needle in terms of my expectations for the games. I don't mean that as a criticism. I don't know that there's an interesting way to say "It is exactly what you think it is." But if that's the case, why say anything?

I sort of wish the site would abandon the need to cover everything in the previews/new releases way and just focus on what they do best and only cover what they really want.

Do you know what I think is too negative? Public opinion of gefilte fish. So, like, yeah. It may be true that gefilte fish is grey, squishy, and often bland, but that isn't the whole story. No indeed. You see, like many foods, the quality of gefilte fish really depends on how it is prepared. Just think about it. How often would you say you just eat tofu without any sort of meaningful preparation? Sure, you can do it, but that's not going to provide you with the optimal culinary experience. I wish that people could give their opinions a little more thought and, perhaps, leave themselves just open minded enough to be willing to accept that their minds can be changed.

Anyway! I don't know if I think the GB crew is any more negative than they were in the past. There might be a little less of the "I love dumb stuff" attitude that we got early days of GB, but that is to be expected as the site matures.

No. Giant Bomb is critical. It's a no BS group of great friends who speak their mind no matter what, and I love them for it. And I hope it continues to grow and thrive. This is a special place not to be taken for granted.

@fourthline: I'm way into what you're selling. Seriously. Never change, I love it.

Have you seen ANY videos of people watching Ubisofts direct?

A lot of people are negative about it because it was boring and uninteresting.

Oh look another AC and Far Cry game. another Battle royale. Watch Dogs looks crazy but nothing about it looks like something i want to play

ITs not Giantbombs fault. When you don't announce anything new or interesting what do you expect?

hey man Omfg i can't wait its a new assassins Creeed!!! omg.

*Yawn

I wish they announced a new Prince of Persia or something.

I mean give Jeff a break. He loved Far Cry 3 and 4 and enjoyed the last 2 AC games.

I rather people be Honest and not just be on the fence.

Alex PLAYED yes PLAYED Both WatchDogs and Assassins and even he was like "meh".

I do love the people that wish they would come out of left field with a surprising love for one of those games after this presentation. You know, to really change it up and add some extra depth to the characters they portray.

Remember when Alex got into 4x games? Such character progression was unprecedented in this online entertainment show! Wouldn't it be awesome if Brad just started cheering out loud at the sight of an Assassins Creed finishing move? Everyone would be like WOAHHH, this guy is evolving! I was completely unprepared for this plot twist! But no.. we had to be bored by their predictable reactions. It's almost like we know these guys too well that we can sort of understand what they like and what they don't...

Jeff has hated a lot of popular games for as long as I have followed him, which is over a decade. And loved some truly weird games that I got into later in life. Nothing has changed.

No, they're not too negative. Watch Vinny and Brad playing Astroneer, or Jeff recently playing Trackmania, or Ben playing Them Fightin' Herds. The duders love Video Games. When I hear this refrain, I think it's generally because they expressed skepticism or some dislike for something the poster enjoys. I respect Jeff but his taste for video games often clashes with my own, but that's okay, I still want to hear his takes because much of this comes down to preference. He got me to revisit the Call of Duty franchise after avoiding it for 15 years and I'm also playing the heck out of Trackmania now, same with Titanfall 2, all of these games own. I rely on them to filter a lot of the crap out there and give me good takes from their immense collective experience.

@meierthered: @meierthered: I didn’t really “come back”. I only re-created an account so I could make one specific comment about something. And since I’m already logged in, it leads to more comments.

I only came back to the site because as much as I dislike the negativity, I appreciate the fact that Jeff has a level of insider knowledge most do not and so I like to see them respond to console announcement press conferences.

As much as fans will say no, the constant need to justify with oh their older, jaded by playing too much games, the environment today, politics, go somewhere else, YouTubers etc, makes it obvious their tone is that...more negative than constructive. I think they really hate the potential future of games being more of the same. The PS5 will just not look as impressive as the leap from PS1 to PS2 or PS3 to PS4, immediately.

Yeah kinda wish just a little happy person was on it. Not fake just one of the crew's children, giving a bright laugh like on the streams. Honestly, I get the point of this post now. But you're never ever getting anyone on the literal site they pay for to say the crew they like is too cynical. Much like red letter media etc people equate calling everything another one of those and shrugging for everything but the 1% makes people think you're more legit. That said sometimes that's just people pushing for the faithful day nothing impresses them anymore. It's not the most important thing to run towards if you're into enjoying games. Games aren't gonna wow you like someone new to it. Its like people saying all movies are trash besides blah blah. It's such high standards that it's great for those who dislike most of the medium but a bummer when nothing even remotely nice can come out of anyone's mouth. (not speaking on GB now. More about the guy at a party who disagrees and says every topic is dumb and done before so its bad.) IDK. Seems people on this site enjoy it. Still want them to speak their mind even if they go on every stream and say everything is awful. That said...I dont jump on most podcast anymore since they do get a bit less fun then my mood is on a weekend when I have time to listen.

@haz_kaj: Lol I was joking. I was pointing out that Jeff was gushing about a game 3 days before this thread appeared, and to add on to turboman pointing out that Giant Bomb praised the PS5 reveal weeks ago. The whole "good old days" thing is silly because they've been positive very recently.

Like many here I'm around the same age as Jeff and Brad and thier content has always matched my feelings on the video games quite well.

I don't think anyone could honestly / accurately argue that we're getting anything other than their true opinions.

So the only way to classify them as "too negative" is subjectively, as in "too negative for my taste". Which, sure, is possible. I expect the crew would readily tell you to calibrate accordingly and to seek out other opinions too.

I don't come to GB for facts (at least not primarily); I come here to know what particular folks think about particular things.

Personally, I think if anything the crew is generally a little too forgiving of cut corners (any time they utter "making games is hard" is a pretty reliable signal of this for me).

Well, the world is burning down, The US especially. They have all been locked in their homes for 4 months now. I'm sure they all friends and family members that are at risk and are worried about. Jeff has a small child to worry about. It's a negative time out there, you can tell its weighing on them all. Vinny in particular. The UBI talk wasn't more negative than anything I thought. You also have to add in all the abuse allegations from people associated with the site or personally. Lots of bad stuff happening and they aren't trained monkeys to perform they are people like anyone else.

I don't watch nearly as much of the content here as I used to, but to answer the question on its face, no I don't think they're becoming too negative. As people have pointed out, they were more positive about the PS5 reveal recently. I imagine the effect of their "negativity" towards Ubisoft would have been softened had this been a normal E3 year and all these streams came within the course of a few days. I'm sure we can go back to any E3 archive and see them praising one particular press conference and completely trashing another. They've never been uniformly rah-rah or poo-poo.

I can't say much about their tone in the Ubisoft video since I didn't really watch it. I tried but ended up skimming through because I'm completely uninterested in anything they were showing. I could see feeling disappointed in their ambivalence if I were excited about some of these games. There have definitely been times I've been anticipating certain games and GB basically ignore them because no one on the staff is interested. Worse is when they do take looks at games and seem to miss what's so appealing about them (I recently started playing Disco Elysium and I went back to check out the QL, and well, yeah). So yeah I get it can be frustrating when their feelings don't line up with yours. But that's to be expected. There are a lot of games and everyone has their own point of view. There are also a lot of people out there talking about games, so if you want to find someone who agrees with you about a particular game, you can certainly do that.

Blame the industry for being awful, disgusting and inhumane. The people at Giant Bomb are human and with everything going on in the world and the games industry eating itself alive with all the absolute horrid news coming out about what this industry has done to itself, they are going to react to it, as it is part of their job and it's going to effect them personally. You don't have to like, but it's the reality of things and what is happening. If you want to ignore everything and be ignorant of what is happening, and just play games that's up to you, but to put that on the GB crew and that they are being to negative is just so wrong.

I'd say they are remaining pretty positive, with everything going on in the world right now. Some of them have families they are taking care of during all this BS. Between all the work in trying to get everything up and running, while at the same time making sure your kids aren't burning the house down can't be easy. In the end...I agree with some things and disagree with others. For example, I just started Death Stranding on PC. The game starts with you taking the President's corpse to an incinerator. Game can't be that bad!

i don't see them being too negative. as someone who has followed from the start though their coverage has become less diverse.

nowadays, boy if you like fighting games, this is the site has you covered. they keep stirring this pot.

if you look at the history posts though, it's really varied.

are y'all tryna cancel giantbomb? shaking my head jheez

Maybe if the Ubisoft presentation wasn’t 3 identical games with superficial differences they’d be more happy? Maybe if Ubi’s leadership wasn’t crumbling due to toxic workplace allegations? Maybe if a single one of their games took a single bold step to create something different?

“I don’t get it. I feed them shit year after year and they act so *ungrateful*. Am I doing something *wrong?*”

I can't BELIEVE Jeff gave Twilight Princess a 8.8!!!

This. THISTHISTHISTHISTHIS.

Every time I see a "GERSTMANN'S TOO JADED!" comment, I think about him seeing that weird Japanese Mortal Kombat game (with all the bloodspray), him reacting to Deadly Premonition 2's announcement, his reaction to that unearthed SEAMAN FMV, and I think: Jeff isn't jaded, the industry at that AAA level is literally using its record profits (not income...PROFITS) to enrich its top executives and cover malfeasance while its worker salaries stagnate and their benefits don't grow. People are working so hard, they're burning out in their 20s, and that's to say nothing of the harassment that is evidently at almost every level: from indie to community to AAA.

I'm thrilled that, even as a fine CBS Property, they're still being real and they're still being honest. Quite frankly, there are other places I can go if I want to hear about how every AAA game is either Great or The Greatest (and sometimes: I DO want to hear that! You ever look up a Kevin Smith review of a movie you already like? He's THE BEST at reinforcing that you're right for liking the thing you like!) But here? Here I know they aren't going to sugarcoat it. And I don't HAVE to agree with them! I think Persona 5 is a better game than 4 in almost every way, but I don't just throw my hands up and stop listening to the Bombcast/Beastcast whenever it comes up and they're lukewarm on it.

When we all had the "Are Games Art??" argument in a very real way several years ago, I was incredibly disappointed, and continue to be incredibly disappointed, to see how many people just wanted to hold that up as a shield, so that their parents would finally take their hobby seriously. They didn't want to actually LOOK AT GAMES and CRITICIZE GAMES as art, they just wanted to be able to wear their "I WENT TO E3 AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS BOOTH BABE'S T-SHIRT ;)" Lara Croft shirt in a bar and feel superior.

Hol up. Are you trying to tell me that people arguing about whether other people are too negative can't be decided upon objectively?

I can't either. It deserved a lot less.

I'd way rather have them be negative about something and it be how they truly feel than them feign excitement about something. Giant Bomb stands out because they are themselves through and through, not because they are excited about things.

So, yes and no. I definitely tend to listen to GB with the expectation of them going the "hyper-critical/cynical" route on their discussions. I don't always agree with them, but that is the way they genuinely think, and I guess I don't get too mired in hoping they'll be more positive. I don't attach my opinions too much to what Jeff/Alex/Vinny/etc. think about games I enjoy or are excited about. In fact, one of the things I love about GB is yelling at them in my car when they say stuff and being like "C'mooon, that is a horrible complaint!" It's kinda the fun of it for me.

That said, I definitely supplement my GB with more positive, optimistic outlets. EasyAllies are like, super optimistic and positive, to the point that I think they often aren't critical enough, and I love that I can get that contrast between the two outlets.

Exactly. Thats why i love listening to these guys

If you want a group of people who pander to the general audience by being fake and overly positive about everything go Listen to Kindafunny Gamescasts.

So true, I find myself drifting away more and more. East is still great and the crew there is what keeps me coming back, but west is unrecognizable to me, Jeff and Brad like the tired parents, sick of it all, Jason the odd uncle no one wants there at the family reunion, Ben and Jan like annoying teenagers, one without personality desperate to be liked, only managing the opposite, the other going trough his "alternative" phase and coaxing only sighs as reaction. It's a shame really, I enjoyed their content for so many years, feeling almost like a distant cousin to them. I was heartbroken when Ryan died and in a way that's when the mood started to shift. Other people left, Dave Snider was always a blast when he appeared. Drew always affable, Klepek was fun but never hesitated to dig deeper into topics, Austin always having something interesting and thought provoking to discuss. Even Ryckert, especially in combination with Drew was such a blast to watch (in reasonable doses).

Now, it feels like one of those businesses that you read about, all the creative forces having left, shambling along, shadow of it's former self. If Vinny left, I might actually stop visiting the site for good. There's few things more crushing in entertainment than seeing Ben and Jason doing a quick look of a game I'm excited about and would like to look at it with "friends", but these strange pretenders are elbowing in and killing the mood.