Giant Bomb LIVE! at E3 2015: Day 01

@pudge: I don't feel that way at all. I feel like Phil is a real down to earth sorta guy and he continuously acknowledges a lot of the mistakes Microsoft has made along the way. Never got the feeling like he's some skeezy hype man trying to sidestep stuff at all - and I don't even own an XB1 or anything, I think he's genuinely trying to do whats best for both the company and gamers and it's a tough balancing act.

@humanity: He certainly is trying harder than Don Mattrick. I just feel that every time I see him answer a question, he explodes into PR speak as a distraction. He can't just give a yes or no and then explain. I much prefer the stuff on the Sony side, like when they just said "Yes The Last Guardian is coming" last year and left it for you to believe them or not. I'm actually really happy with what he's done, I just wish he would be just a bit more real when talking to people.

Also, for fuck's sake, bring Halo to the PC already.

This is why I love Giant Bomb, Jeff can switch from the chaos of the Firewatch bit to the semi-serious chat with high level Microsoft people which you get info from.

You don't get this range of tone in any other content anywhere.

They've tried this before, and it has never worked. Patrick and Brad sat in on some of the interviews last year, and it ended up with Jeff as the main interviewer asking almost all of the questions. The focus is always on the guests with these things, which is why it doesn't really makes sense to bring out other GB members unless it's someone like Lang.

Drew intense hand sanitizing at 25:03 :D :D

@mister_v said:

@robaota said:

@lelcar said:

@subwayd said:

Phil handled it cool, but Kudo looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

Absolutely beautiful.

I know Corporate big wigs are the guys we are supposed to hate but I do like Phil Spencer. He comes across like a genuine dude who tries where he can to do the right thing.

Yeah he seems like a nice guy. Even though some might read some of the stuff he does as forced, like congratulating Sony on their Last Guardian announcement on Twitter, i think it's genuine.

Well said, @brad: Final Fantasy VII isn't a top-five game in the franchise. In no order: 4,5.6,9,10 and 12 are all better. I'm even willing to listen to arguments in favor of 3 and 8.

@zombie2011: Yeah, I like Spencer too. The difference between him and his predecessor is night and day.

The people who made Firewatch do no know what it is.

I like that they switched the daily impressions to being first instead of last. Although I guess no matter what you do the last segment will always be kinda rough.

This video needs a square space ad read from Jeff. "Small business man goes to E3"

I thought the last segment on this panel was probably the best, actually. Really interesting stuff. A lot of good segments though!

VR stuff sounds great but there all going to have same issue and that is the fact that most people can not afford up to 2000 on these devices and a new PC. The Morpheus seems like it have most success if get the price right. VR probably going to end up as upper middle class toy.

But all this starting sound like how 3D TV was being pushed onto us and it makes me worry.

@amyggen: I'm not really talking about if it's interesting or not, just that it definitely had the "post-party" vibe.

Ah, trotting out the old "all games are broken" (when in reality only one or two have semi significant issues) chestnut. Probably the only thing that slightly irks mw about jeff that he's fallen into that trap.

Approving and selling broken games on your platform to consumers is wrong whether it's one game or twenty. It's not just an anomaly. It's a trend. I believe Jeff is absolutely correct in bringing it up.

@lelcar said:

@subwayd said:

Phil handled it cool, but Kudo looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

Can't wait for Jeff to ask the Sony guys where the PS+ version of Driveclub is.

What is FireWatch?!?!!?

I still don't know!

Assassin's Creed Unity
Halo Master Chief Collection
Mortal Kombat X
Driveclub
Little Big Planet 3
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Elder Scolls Skyrim PS3 (which is still busted)
GTA Online
Ultra Street Fighter IV on PS4
Wander

I would say almost all of those had (or still have) more than significant issues. And the fact is that ALL games ship unfinished now, which is unacceptable.

It was such a curveball. It was like nobody is going to understand what Wattam is, and everyone already knows what Halo is, so lets just talk about AI and living in the future and how Frank O'Connor is going to end up a BTL junkie.

Wattam lady is very interesting

Also her way of speaking, moving and reacting to other people talk is super-hypnotizing and mellowing. After a while of watching the segment i was feeling like i was under a shade of a tree, a bit high, in a sunny afternoon. She seems like she would be an extremely easy to work with psychologist/analyst/therapist, especially for children or teenagers.

Sorry for the strange comment, but it's really weirding me out

But isn't that what these late shows are for? They generally talk with guests about whatever instead of having them on just to shill their game like literally every floor show does (Gamespot, IGN etc.). That's what I come here for at least. I thougth that stuff was fascinating, and much more interesting than to hear them pitch their game again (which they've probably done on about 100 streams already that day!).

Just tell your Firewatch story without asking to be interrupted, please! My god I can't stand this back and forth and constant disgression.

When the real upload goes up, it will have the beginning part. This seems like a makeshift cut of the show.

AC had some graphical bugs and a less than desirable framerate at launch which i'll give you i suppose (though i recall it looking alright when i watched it being played around launch). MCC had issues with multi that have been ironed out but single player campaign was fine at least for me. MKX was a somewhat botched pc port that also seems to have been pretty quickly remedied. DC had online issues but seems more that people just weren't happy with the game on a basic design level; not exactly broken. DA:I i swear Jeff is the only one acting like there's huge issues that I've heard; sounds like an edge case. Only widespread issue I've heard with that is the ambient chatter between party characters stopping and voice changing on main character; not exactly a broken game. Never heard anything widespread about LBP3, GTA Online, or SFIV so news to me. Even full list considered, with how many games are released each year I hardly consider it an epidemic that EVERY GAME is being released in a broken state (obvious hyperbole). I've only heard widespread complaints about AC and MCC and I would legitimately say only 4 out of your list actually had/have significant issues (if we could Elder Scrolls).

It's unfortunate that it happens but we shouldn't consider it some kind of plague of broken games. Complaints nowadays should also be taken with a grain of salt considering the hyperbolic mess the internet can be. All things notwithstanding, people should consider the amount of work that needs to go into a game nowadays compared to the past, with how complicated mechanics have become and how extravagant art assets are. I honestly think it's surprising how consistently modern games work, and work well.

@jeff is really knocking it out of the park hosting. He's doing such a great job at being informed and having interesting conversations with people from all parts of the industry. Knowing all the games and what to talk about can't be easy.

I wasn't a big fan of FF7, but having played 13-1, 13-2, and 13-3, I'd rather play remakes of 7, 8, and 9 than give 15 a try.

Oh, definitely. Even on that expectation it was just a stand out in the nights groups where we had John Drake and Palmer Luckey dancing around each others respective company's VR philosophy and Phil Spencer giving very folksy but measured interview responses (while Kudo giggled).

Its also kind of interesting from a format perspective because Jeff is more than accommodating for guests to get on the soap box about their game if they want since he lobs a few segue softballs to the tune that Fire Watch and Tacoma managed to lay down some marketing in between their nonsense. Jeff tried to pitch a couple of those softballs to the last panel and gave up to convene the Panel of the Future.

Phil Spencer seems like a pretty cool guy.

Yeah, he's good at "hiding" the PR speak, if that makes sense. He also sees like a guy who really cares about this job and this medium, which is always cool to see.

Are Palmer Luckey and Phil Spencer officially "friends of the site" now after appearing on two E3s in a row? :P

1:37:47 Jeff's modding bit absolutely slayed me.

It's good to know, for all our technology, for all our VR headsets, calm Phil Spencer interviews and sedate discussions about AI with the Halo dudes, humanity will never be able to answer the ultimate question: WHAT. IS. FIREWATCH?

That BC implementation on the Xbone is awesome news. I was really afraid it was going to be similar to what they did on 360.

I thought Palmer might big time Giantbomb this year now that the Oculus thing is finally becoming a reality and he's becoming a bigger and bigger name. But nope, still being himself on giantbombs silly show. That VR segment was actually really interesting, got me even more hyped for VR than I already was. Props to him and Phil for keepin it (mostly) real, they're both A okay in my book.

What is Firewatch?

WHAT. IS....

I have never used VR but I imagine that Mirror's Edge is totally not the right game for VR? Wouldn't it be completely nauseating to move so quickly through an environment. Ducking, jumping, gliding, sliding, without actually moving for real? I'd think the gameplay is too fast and too wild in terms of camera movement, to really work well with VR.

@akotchkoski: He probably means on his own time and not work related.

All these interviews/conversations are great in their own way.

@akotchkoski: To be fair though, I played through Persona 4 and LOVED it and have since spent MANY hours playing other JRPGs trying to convince myself that I'm into them before finally conceding I'm just into Persona.

Thanks for the pizza, @drewbert!

Man, that last conversation between the 343 guys and Robin Hunicke was so excellent - a real delight. It was a better, more exciting VR conversation than the one the actual VR guys had and that was only a part of it.

Having a bunch of clever people in a room where they have the freedom to have a wide-ranging discussion is why these E3 chats often have moments which are the highlights of any game coverage thing that I consume - heck, of anything at all, sometimes. And Robin sure is a charming and smart lady - I could listen to a lot more of her.

Firewatch segment was painfully awkward but fun to watch.

That last talk was really great, the whole show wasgreat, but man that last segment, VR is facinating to me, and can't wait to check it out and Hololens sounds great also, But the last bit about traveling to a place in VR and be there with another person perhaps, that's where it get's I don't know... Scary? a bit.

But yeah great first day guys.

@cagliostro88: I totally get where you're coming from. How she so strongly engaged non-verbally with what the others were saying really struck me too. She would definitely add warmth to any conversation she was a part of.

I think Giant Bomb is trying to kill me, I nearly threw up the food I was eating from laughing during that "skin glove" segment.

Yeah. She referenced the movie Moon, which is always good to hear.

In regards to Shenmue 3 getting funded, it kinda gave me the idea/hope that SEGA should crowdfund localization of Yakuza 0.

The entire series are games I want to play a lot and they haven't shown to be financially viable for SEGA on their own, but maybe the fans of the series like me could make it happen as a sort of pre-order... and as a physical release, please.

Sad we didn't get to hear Sean's Firewatch story, but wow Robin was great, would love to hear her on a Bombcast or a Beastcast or an Idle Thumbs or anywhere!