Giant Bombcast 689: Touch the Crank

I know the fanboys will tear me for this, but someone needs to say it. There's a real disconnect happening here when Jeff says he wants the site be something new and unpredictable and then the first announcements we get are three more white dudes (seriously, how do you keep fucking this up), one of which worked with the site already(dan) and another which practically did(danny).
Let me be clear, I've been a premium member since near the beginning and individually I like what these people do, but this comes up time and again when GB has the chance to do hiring. People in the community have been asking for new and diverse voices on this site for years and that demand is generally sidelined in favor of established, industry, white dudes.

Contract work makes a lot of sense actually.

PS the site needs more Dave Lang <3

@pirsig: I understand your concern and it's valid. Not to play a round of "count the diverse voices", but they talked about working with GameSpot folks like Lucy James and Tamoor Hussain, and Jeff G said they'll be hiring up more core staff in due time. I think there's a good chance that we'll hear from different perspectives on this site soon.

As for me, I'm incredibly excited for everything that was talked about on this podcast. It's in stark contrast to how crummy I felt when Vinny, Brad, and Alex announced they were leaving. I think new highs for the site are on the horizon, and I'm so happy and excited for the staff and the new shows.

It feels like they're just going full blown G4TV and I'm totally down for that approach. I hope it works out and they have content I enjoy. Sounds like they will though. I like Dan, Danny, and Grubb's stuff so their heads seem to be in the right place for vibe, content, personalities, etc.

@elby: It's talk until it actually happens, but yes, I know things don't stop here, but nothing happens in a vacuum and it does say something about priorities. I am excited and hopeful still to see where things go, but I can simultaneously still be disappointed at this first wave of announcements.

@jeff

Can't hurt to try to get this in front of Jeff's eyeballs. Personally i've never heard about this issue, so it could very well be something that Jeff hasn't encountered neither. Would be cool if that actually turned out to be the issue!

@pirsig: Crazy world we live in where "How dare you hire someone who's race I don't personally approve of" is seen as anything other than unashamedly racist. Replace the word white in your comment with any other group and you'd be calling for the person who posted it to be fired from their job and be publicly shamed as a bigot.

I'm really excited to see some of what was talked about. I still think about all the mailbags, all the random videos of Jeff and Ryan bantering off each other, the podcasts where Dan and his dad just shoot the breeze... I still go back and watch How to Build a Bomb and the Whiskey Media Happy Hours. Hell, I've watched literal hours of Jeff sorting through things in his garage. There are a thousand places where I can get video game news, but Giant Bomb is (and should always be) so much more than that, and some of my favorite content is only loosely about video games.

Giant Bomb Upwork!

What are the odds that Dan & Jeff B's collab will start with "hey, where's my McGruber bluray?"

Very very excited for DOD's Meat Space

I was always under the impression that metroidvania = 1- upgrades to access areas, 2- character development (exp, equipment). So really metroidvanias are just Castlevania SOTN.

RYCKERT?!?! <3

In regards to renaming metroidvanias, i have the name pathfinder used as a replacement.

@conaldpeterson: We live in a world where people who can pass as cis, white, straight, men are given every space and advantage possible. If you don't understand how that is actual racism, that racism is about societal structures/institutions and that anything less than antiracism, than concerted effort and pushback, is upholding those, well then I don't have the time or patience to help you. Go take your laughable bullshit about white people being victims of racism elsewhere.

The word quarantine was ruined by all the Americans claiming they were in quarantine for months, when they were never in quarantine at all.

The next PS5 exclusive is Death Loop, coming 9/14/21.

This Giant News has made me very excited about the future of Giant Bomb.

Is the Giant Bombcast the cockroach of podcasts? Like its going to be airing when almost everyone else is gone, right?

Jeff B got very close to my preferred name for Metroidvanias: Ability Gated Exploration, or A-G-E games. (To go alonside the pantheon of RTS, RPG, FPS etc. etc.)

Ive been a premium subscriber since day one 2008 and I'll be givin this site whatever "premium" is until either myself or the internet dies.
My bio is unchanged since I joined. My screen name is so old that the reference now embarrasses me.
I'm stayin and I'm legit excited for what's coming.

Weird.... why is this a goal of 40 year olds. Stability has grown this web sight. Start a second web sight. Leave Giant Bomb as is. Choices are the best . Change sucks.

Weird was the description they gave. As a 50 year old. We just had weird.... pandemic. We need comfort of stability. Common minded love of hobby. .Jeff B seems to awesome be rewarded. Not one mention of Brad, Alex, or Vinny. Comes across as these guys were holding back Jeff’s ambition.

My insight, I am a huge Alex fan.

For the record I am saying Danny O’dryer .Dan Ryckert is Dan Ryckert. He was entertaining.

Weird ....lol, is never a good selling point.

Very normal to make 9 consecutive posts that sound like the person forgot to log into their smurf accounts.

This all sounds great, I can't wait to see what's next for GB and I'm stoked that we're gonna get more Dan again! I also hope that we get more folks from diverse backgrounds with future hires!

Gang Gang!

@conaldpeterson: what a weird reply...

This makes me feel pretty good about the site's future. Already good energy in these new podcasts and Jeff B. and Danny really gel well with the others. New shows and partnerships with friends and associates also sound exciting. Wherever this thing goes I'm in!

Pretty exciting stuff guys, thanks!

I'm looking forward to what comes next. Definitely do not need Dan back again, but the rest sounds full of potential.

@leraa said:

Yip me neither, never was the biggest fan of all the tomfoolery. He did make some good shows though. 🤷

Piss is On the Table would've been a better episode title.

I'm wondering and looking forward to what Dan brings back to the site. His personal stream has been nice to continue getting content from him, but it gets a little too much for me at times (all that sound alert nonsense). He'd probably be a bit reined in again on this site's content, so that'd be nice.

I love how disappointed Jan was to find out Cinderella and the fairy godmother are white. What a weird thing to be so passionate about....