So a bit confused about the whole GB\Gamespot thing

What are they gonna do differently ? They are both Video Game sites and I havent been to GS in a while. Will Giant Bomb be where all the video content is? Other than the personalities. Im not sure how much they will differe

Two different sites, two different ways of doing things. they will be doing nothing differently.

At least thats how they are billing it.

@eag67: Two separate sites.

Basically we are supposed to expect that two video game sites based on reviews, news, and other content are going to coexist totally independently of one another while under the same roof.  Because, yanno, they said so and all.
 
While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test.  As I have said on another thread, it would be like one company owning both Wal Mart and K Mart and deciding to put them in the same building.  What is the point?  They are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

Well I have always love GB cause of the personalities. And the personal touches that they each give to the site plus the site has always caterted more to the casual gamer in that they cover the titles that most gamers are playing. Just hope that continues but I hate the WM breakup. I wish Tested had joined Comic Vine and GB at cbs.

@Excast said:

While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test.

If the internet had an odour, 4chan would make me throw up. Luckily business isn't built on smells, nor gut reaction.

@Excast said:

hey are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

Im not sure they are direct competators. While they both cover video games they have drasticaly diffrent styles and content. Gamespot does mass coverage on every video game at every stage they can find it in quick form (i.e. shot articles and short from video) and then abandon them after release whereas Giant Bomb tends to cover games closer to release in long form videos and have longer post release coverage as well as coverage on other things outside of just game reviews.

While they cover similar ground, mostly in the reviews, they do it in vastly diffrent reviews and as such an audience derives diffrent things from them. Myself, and I would assume most people, look at Giant Bomb and a second "mass coverage" website to gain a complete view on games currently.

@Excast said:

Basically we are supposed to expect that two video game sites based on reviews, news, and other content are going to coexist totally independently of one another while under the same roof. Because, yanno, they said so and all. While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test. As I have said on another thread, it would be like one company owning both Wal Mart and K Mart and deciding to put them in the same building. What is the point? They are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

You'd probably be suprised how many businesses operate in the exact way you specify.

Gamespot and Giant Bomb are brands that are both successful in their own right.

Gamespot would be the news site where Giant Bomb would be the "Features" site. You go to Gamespot for reviews on every game. You go to Giant Bomb for "personal takes" on what games the staff is interested in. You go to Gamespot for coverage, you go to Giant Bomb for "personalities". You go to Gamespot for professionalism, you go to Giant Bomb for cursing and juvinile behavior.

I think you're more likely to see Gamespot change as a response to this deal than GiantBomb.

If they would to merge, I bet Gamespot would merge into Giant Bomb.

They have different audiences and demographics, GS is broad and populist, GB is niche and specialist. They bought it for the increase in market share.

A better analogy would be the CBS TV division. CBS, Showtime (owned) and CW (50% ownership) technically compete for the same viewers but in reality cater to different demographics.

IGN bought GameSpy and 1UP and had them run reviews, etc all separately - although the difference is IGN bought them up cheap when they were already crashing.

By putting GB in the same building as GS, sharing assets such as video production and web backend - apart from the price of aquisition - they essentially inherit the audience of GB for the ongoing cost of a half dozen salaries.

They will both probably keep operating more or less they way each has been with a bit of cross pollination. This may be a poor example, but isn't Gamespy owned by IGN and still live its own pathetic existence separate from its parent company?

@Excast said:

Basically we are supposed to expect that two video game sites based on reviews, news, and other content are going to coexist totally independently of one another while under the same roof. Because, yanno, they said so and all. While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test. As I have said on another thread, it would be like one company owning both Wal Mart and K Mart and deciding to put them in the same building. What is the point? They are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

Or like a Starbucks next to a Starbucks?

Two separate sites. Just like GameRankings.GameFaqs, Metacritic and Gamespot all co-exist currently under CBS Interactive.

Giant bomb and Gamespot are no where near the same. They cover the same topic, yes, but nothing about the way they cover it is the same.

Probably in six months to a year some suit will say something to the affect of, "why do we need two different video game websites?" and Giant Bomb will get folded into Gamespot.  The distinction between the two matters to us, but not to anybody else.

@Dagbiker said:

@Excast said:

Basically we are supposed to expect that two video game sites based on reviews, news, and other content are going to coexist totally independently of one another while under the same roof. Because, yanno, they said so and all. While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test. As I have said on another thread, it would be like one company owning both Wal Mart and K Mart and deciding to put them in the same building. What is the point? They are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

Or like a Starbucks next to a Starbucks?

Not to mention that Starbucks also owns Seattle's Best Coffee, which is usually right near the competing Starbuckses.

Oh don't worry, GiantBomb will become GameSpot, or GameSpot will be assimilated by GiantBomb, rest assured. Why would a major company have two very large gaming site under their wing? Doesn't make any sense. Why would you rather have two separated user bases, rather than a unified one. From a business perspective, I'm sure that seems like a waste of resources.

Aren't Lay's and Ruffles both owned by FritoLay?

@Excast said:

Basically we are supposed to expect that two video game sites based on reviews, news, and other content are going to coexist totally independently of one another while under the same roof. Because, yanno, they said so and all. While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test. As I have said on another thread, it would be like one company owning both Wal Mart and K Mart and deciding to put them in the same building. What is the point? They are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

except they're both going for completely different audiences. GameSpot is a site for "everybody" (and competes mainly with IGN) Giant Bomb is a site for duders like us - just like it always was.

@eag67: What you should expect is to see a different office in mailbags and probably more weird videos. that's it.

Expect to see GameSpot content featured here on the homepage, and expect to see GameSpot staff to appear in Giant Bomb videos and podcasts. They openly said this in an interview. In a year or two from now, no one will care if the two sites merge because people will get used to seeing GameSpot content and staff all over Giant Bomb..

@Excast said:

Basically we are supposed to expect that two video game sites based on reviews, news, and other content are going to coexist totally independently of one another while under the same roof. Because, yanno, they said so and all. While that would be great, it doesn't pass the smell test. As I have said on another thread, it would be like one company owning both Wal Mart and K Mart and deciding to put them in the same building. What is the point? They are direct competitors and it doesn't really make any sense that this can be expected to work over the long term.

Not a great analogy, because they aren't directly competing.

It's more akin to one company owning two different shoe stores and putting them in the same mall. That happens a lot and makes perfect sense, if the two stores are aiming for completely different demographics and providing different styles.

Or, it could mean that Giant Bomb can do less reviews and reporting kotaku-like news stories, because all the admoney goes to CBS from both sites, and just post links to gamespot for that stuff that doesn't interest the core GB staff. This means there'd actually be MORE time for focusing on the podcast, awesome video content, and the CRAZY that we love. It may not be doom and gloom.