Seven Years Ago Today...

The greatest piece of long-form content debuted on the site. The first episode of the Persona 4 Endurance was released and we got to experience the land of television with Jeff and Vinny. We also got to see such highlights as:

• Misty space limos
• Tuna and food-based denominations
• Ragged cops
• Abandoned Nanako (“every day’s great in your Junes”)
• Passive-aggressive game commands
• Mr. Morooka
• Rainy night things
• Constant, purposeful (?) innuendo
• Broing out
• Rumor-loving girl
• FUNKY STUDENT
• Popularity’s correlation to Intimacy
• Killing kids and torching houses
• Mysterious Foxes
• Jeff’s forlorn musings
• KANJIMANIA RUNNIN’ WILD
• Chie
• Nanako’s pseudo-death
• Teddy invading Charlie’s space limo
• The orchestral song in the final boss
• Charlie’s long goodbye
• "I'm Jack Frost Ho!" (Thanks to @artisanbreads for reminding me!)
• Jeff's murderous rage when Vinny cast Bufu. (Thanks to @monkeyman04 for pointing out this omission!)

Just wanted to commemorate the seven-year anniversary of this thing. What a great game.

Time for a rewatch

Back to episode 1 again, again... again.

I've watched the Endurance Run like 15 times or more at this point. Still watching it. Nothing stops it.

Im at episode 14. Havent watched in a couple of weeks, thanks for reminding me I needed to go back to this! Hard to believe this was all recorded 7 years ago already, dang.

I have been on this website for almost 8 freaking years?! Oh my god! There's empty space insiiiiiiiiii~~~

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...

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It smells like strawberries in here.

I don't think I have it in me to watch it with my full attention ever again, but I'll probably have it playing in the background of my life again at some point. I do occasionally boot up the last episode to watch if I'm in a particularly nostalgic mood, though.

I hope some day another game comes along that they feel compelled to Endure, but I fully accept that it's unlikely now that they've seemingly evolved the feature into more time/resource friendly formats like the "do it whenever" Playdates and such.

AUSTIN WHERE IS MY YAKUZA 5 ENDURANCE RUN IT WAS THE DREAM

I've been itching to watch this. Persona 4 is my favorite video game, but this was before my time. I started following Giant Bomb in 2013, but I remember stumbling upon the last episode of this years ago and remember thinking "Man, a couple of guys played through this entire game on the internet."

I actually just watched it for the first time. I've got four or so episodes left. I know, I know, could I be later to the party?

Been a fan of the site for a long time. I've consumed almost all the content they put out on a regular basis.

I've never watched the Persona Endurance Run.

@humanity: It has its up and downs. Vinny and Jeff struggle with the combat but when they are in social link mode they are hilarious. The chemistry the two guys have on video is really endearing as well. But is a GIANT time commitment so having it on in the background (like most GB content) is the optimal way of consuming it.

The Endurance Run is what brought me to Giant Bomb. I have no regrets.

Ugh. The last thing I need to do right now is rerewatch the Persona 4 ER. I don't got time for that shit anymore!

(opens new tab and types Persona 4 Endurance Run into Google)

Same here, I got here about a month after it wrapped up, and watched the entirety of the Deadly Premonitions ER, but never went back to Persona.

I cast Bufu!

@fisk0: I just started watching it because I was genuinely curious what that dang game really was, and I wanted to go back to some old content I haven't seen. With that said, there is some DAMN GOLD in that endurance run. One of the first few episodes featuring the weird teacher is non-stop prime GB content. Jeff, Vinny and that game are THE perfect combination together.

I'm also really glad I decided to satisfy my persona curiosity with the endurance run because, man... I just don't know about that game... No, actually I do know and I just don't want to say anything.... i just... don't get it, I guess.

I watched it fairly late (end of 2012) and liked the chemistry between Jeff and Vinny so much I wanted to find every Jeff & Vinny Quick Look on the site. Turned out I had to make a tool for that myself.

I haven't watched it before because I despised anything anime and rpg related, but I ultimately decided to take a shot and couldn't stop watching it.

I highly recommend it.

Been rewatching it lately. Such a good game, and great GB content.

I rewatched it not too long ago for the nth time and still love every second of it.

I finally started it a few weeks ago (currently at Episode 99). It's been great!

Going to do a watch soon I think. I missed it when it was on even though I was on the site all the time since it started but watched it a couple years after and I was a fool. if you haven't watched it you need to.

Great series and really got me into Persona, played 3 after and really looking forward to 5. Jeff and Vinny are hilarious in it and Persona 4 is great in its own way but also fun to see them poke and have fun with.

OP missed one of my favorites...

I'M JACK FROST, HO!

So worth watching, even the combat ones just to listen to the banter. I also have an affection for the Fusion episodes. That wailing woman in the background while they talk about how stacked Satan is.

Its what got me to stop lerking and make an account on here. I also credit it for my willingness to tryout JRPGs now, and persona 3-4 are my favorite games of all time.

I started watching the P4 run on their youtube page via the playlist so I'll have to finish that up.

Hey everybody in this thread..........GET BENT!

You spent time reading this forum thread.

Seriously the best content on the site. It was long-running because it went from February to September, and content was posted every weekday so there was guaranteed new footage. Most of the videos were long as hell too, so that was great. I remember being on here during that time and waiting with everyone else for episodes to be posted. People would always find the page for the next day's video ahead of time too. It was one of the few times I have kept up with something like that on a daily basis for that long of a time.

beat me to it...

WHOAAAA!!! You're like a craaazy hyena. Are you in a biker gang?

@shaunk: Man I wish I had seen it concurrently with the community. Those comment sections must've been rad.

It's a wonderful game and an amazing video series. Definitely my favorite.

Oh right! I keep meaning to finish it. Got like 10 or 12 episodes in years ago but it didn't hold my attention. Always wanted to at least get a bit further when the episodes consistently get long as hell, since I figured that'd be when they really got into it.

Deadly Premonition Endurance Run though, now that's some shit. I still watch episodes of that fairly often.

I haven't seen it again since they started that whole thing but man.. I remember working some shitty job in my college days and watching an episode every day before going to work or class was such a treat. I think nothing will ever touch the first endurance run and it will remain as one of the greatest content on the site, just some dudes in a basement that were still kind of fresh from Gamespot. The whole drama with episode 50 and I still remember Ryan sometimes playing Rockband drums or guitar in the background and the banter that went on betwen the guys.

Now I feel old, but yeah, I was there when it happened.

It's still one of the best pieces of content on the site though, honestly, if I were to rewatch it now I'd skip most of the actual dungeon crawling. I always felt like Jeff and Vinny's grasp of the mechanics was a little tenuous and the best part of that series is them riffing on the social link stuff and story events.

My entire adult life, I am turning 26 in a few weeks. 8 Years doesn't sound like a long time, but so much has happened it feels like multiple eras.

Still haven't watched the last episode. The endurance run can't end if I don't let it.

Is it really 7 years old? I honestly can't believe it. I feel like it was only 7 years ago I was watching gamespot videos about the dreamcast.

Then my 7 year anniversary must be coming up. I found the Endurance Run after a few weeks of episodes, quickly caught up, and haven't left since.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2_Y7CxaZkI&list=PLXlhzeWIuTHJT8A2En1e8Jbb9NpI0qcXJ

I'm watching this for the first time. Excited.

A-ha! Is this our chance? (to watch the whole ER again?)

(there's also needy Ghoul and all the other Persona-based jokes)

I don't want to believe it's already been seven years. But indeed, 9+7=16, so yes. I created my account here around the same time (January of '09), so quite the anniversary for me. Watching any of this endurance run takes me back to the early days of this site... I'd love to watch it all over again and play P4 again.

Seven Years and Ghoul is still waiting for Jeff and Vinny to hangout with him.

Maaan, you're gonna make me re-watch for like the tenth time or something.

Poor Ghoul not getting a bullet point is actually super meta.

@the_tribunal: You can actually read the comments from back then easily. They are right in the individual videos. They're also exactly what you'd expect: equal parts people saying its great and people talking about how they're playing the game wrong.

This is what brought me to this site in the first place and (almost) single-handedly responsible for me sticking around for the years since. I have to wonder when or if I would have found my way to Giant Bomb without it. For the first several months it was literally the only reason I visited the site.

When this came out, it was my first year in college. I got a 4-year degree in business management, and wanted to manage a bar or restaurant, and worked in a restaurant for a few years after graduating. I used to sit in the library at the community college and watch the endurance run between classes.

A few months ago I wanted to explore changing careers, so I re-enrolled in the same community college and started taking some entry-level classes in the medical field. Just for giggles, I started watching the Endurance Run again a few weeks ago, at the same spot in the library where I used to. Weird feeling, feels like nothing has changed since then...

There's no point to this story. Other than Persona 5 still isn't out!

Has it really been seven years? Jeez, it doesn't even feel like GB has been around that long.

I'd hoped to get Part 1 and 2 finished for today (probably now be done later in the week; ill at the moment), but here's a look at something I've been messing around with* and an early entrant for Least Necessary HD Remaster 2016: Giant Bomb HD Remix - Persona 4 Endurance Run - Part 1 [Unfinished]

* There's no real need to HDify these videos, and some episodes (fighting/fusing) are near-impossible to do, but I'm having fun with it and it's making me a lot better at Premiere.

Me too.

I chugged through the whole thing over the course of a few weeks in 2012. I've watched it twice now, got up to about 50 or so episodes at some point after that and stopped. I started it again a few weeks ago.

It's amazing.

The Endurance Run is what led me here. My absolute favorite moments have got to be every time Ryan chimed in from across the room. That and the episodes with him and Dave are some of the best. "Guys gonna fight the King?"

Oh and all of episode 50.

And episode 100.

Sheesh.