Giant Bomb
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Giant Bomb | |
|---|---|
 Giant Bomb Blog |
|
| URL | GiantBomb.com |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Gaming |
| Created by | Jeff Gerstmann Ryan Davis |
| Launched | March 6, 2008 (blog) |
Giant Bomb is a video gaming website created by former Gamespot editors, Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis.[1] The Giant Bomb blog was launched on March 6, 2008 and the completed site will launch in the Summer of 2008.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History and development
Jeff Gerstmann was dismissed from his position at GameSpot as Editorial Director on November 28, 2007.[2] Immediately after his termination, rumors circulated proclaiming his dismissal was a result of external pressure from Eidos Interactive, the studio behind Kane & Lynch: Dead Men which Gerstmann had previously given a Fair or undesirable rating along with critique.[3][4] Both Gamespot and parent company CNET stated that his dismissal was unrelated to the review.[3] [5] Ryan Davis announced his departure from Gamespot in February 2008, listing one of his reasons for leaving as Gerstmann's firing. [6]
On February 21, 2008 it was reported that Jeff Gerstmann and Gamespot founder, Vince Broady, were working on a new video game website that would "take on GameSpot".[4][7] Before Ryan Davis left Gamespot, Gerstmann had been working on the concept with several engineers. In the process of coming up with the name for the website, over 70 domains were registered. Gerstmann wanted the website name to be catchy and original, stating that there were too many video game websites with the word "Game" in it. [2]
On June 3, 2008, Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis announced on their weekly podcast, Giant Bombcast, that fellow former Gamespot editors Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella have joined the editorial staff of Giant Bomb.[8]
Giant Bomb is planned to launch in the summer of 2008.[9] Although no specific date has been given, Gerstmann has stated that he wants it to launch before E3.[2] One of the things he wants to launch early is user registration.[2] The Giant Bomb office is located in Sausalito, California.
[edit] Content
Unlike most video game websites, Giant Bomb will not heavily cover industry news in a buisness perspective.[9] During an interview on X-Play, Gerstmann commented that a lot of the video game news had become "stale".[9] Users on Giant Bomb will have the ability to create blogs, keep track of their game collections, and add info to game entries.[10] Additionally, forums for the site have been confirmed, saying that "building a community of people...is a big part of what Giant Bomb is all about".[11]
[edit] How to Build a Bomb
An episodic video feature, How to Build a Bomb follows Jeff and Ryan during the pre-launch development phase of Giant Bomb.[1] The videos are currently being hosted on the video hosting website Viddler,[12] and also embedded on Giant Bomb.[13]
[edit] Giant Bombcast
The Giant Bombcast is a weekly podcast put out by Ryan Davis and Jeff Gerstmann (including, as of June 3rd, Vinny Caravella and Brad Shoemaker). It is a continuation of the Arrow Pointing Down podcast formerly featured in Ryan Davis' blog of the same name.[14] Topics of the podcast revolve around the video game industry while also including non-video game topics such as energy drinks and movies while ending the podcast with answering e-mails sent in by listeners.
[edit] Review System
Video games on Giant Bomb are rated on a scale of one to five stars, with five stars the highest rating a game can receive and one star being the lowest. There are no half stars on the rating scale.[15] The reason for Giant Bomb only having a 5 scale ratings system was because they didn't feel the need to have 5 different ways of telling you how good or bad a game is and that the rating is just a way of showing on a scale form 1 to 5 how likely you will enjoy the game. Jeff has stated that they plan on adding video reviews in the future. [15]
[edit] References
- Note: This article uses blog posts as references. These blog posts are from the site's staff and thus can be contextualized as official announcements and regarded in the same light as announcements on a corporate website.
- ^ a b Gerstmann's next big ting: Giant Bomb. Joystiq (2008-03-07).
- ^ a b c d e Jeff Gerstmann on GameSpot, Giant Bomb, and snark. GameRadar. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
- ^ a b Spot on: Gamespot on Gerstmann. Gamespot (2007-12-05). Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
- ^ a b Gamespot's Sad State of Affairs. 1UP (2008-01-21). Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
- ^ CNET Denies 'External Pressure' Caused Gerstmann Termination. Shacknews (2007-11-30). Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
- ^ Gamespot exodus continues: Ryan Davis to leave. Joystiq (2008-02-04). Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ Gerstmann, GameSpot Found To Launch New Site?. Kotaku (2008-01-21).
- ^ Gaint Bombcast 06-03-2008. Giant Bomb (2008-06-03). Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ a b c X-Play interview-Jeff Gerstmann. G4 (2008-03-06). Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
- ^ Giant Bombcast 04-15-2008. Giant Bomb (2008-04-15).
- ^ Giant Bomb: Your Questions Answered!. Giant Bomb (2008-03-13).
- ^ Viddler.com - Browsing giantbomb's public videos
- ^ Giant Bomb ยป videos
- ^ Welcome to Giant Bomb (dot com). Giant Bomb (2008-03-05).
- ^ a b Giant Info Bomb #2: Reviews, Podcasts, and More!. Giant Bomb (2008-03-18).
