Support NeoGAF

[firehawk12]

That got hampered once he went home and the people he found were already in GB content.

Was unfortunate.

I think he did some skype interviews with random indie devs a few times, but really after GDC/E3, he seemed to have stopped doing that stuff.

Yup. And written content is what I prefer.

Good move, and good luck to Patrick.

At Kotaku, once I get past the Gawker nonsense, I only ever read stuff by Jason and Stephen, which is quite often top notch. I guess I'll add Patrick to that mix. The rest of their writers are not bad writers, but the subject matter ranges from forgettable (Luke) to downright atrocious (the Ashcraft guy and Patricia in a race towards the very bottom, in that regard).

Looking at the Kotaku front page makes my head hurt. The signal to noise ratio is really bad.

 

[Gusto]

Great get for Kotaku. GB's loss.

This. Whelp, guess Im going kotaku for news now.

 

[kcp12304]

Damn that's an eerily specific thing to remember.

How long ago was that also. Bit of of a petty grudge.

 

[Fracas]

Oh man, Kotaku is just absurdly good now.

 

[oti]

To be fair, he tried to stay relevant with stuff like the Interview Dumptruck. But those basically stopped after a while. But people go to GB to hear people talk over games, and I think most solo streams are kind of hard to listen to. Heck, they even stopped those Retro QLs that they did off an on from their bedrooms.

Yeah and he made GB a more diverse site overall with his content. The Dumptruck is a pretty GBish way to make interviews. But in the end it just wasn't interesting enough for me personally. I'd rather re-watch Quick Looks or re-listen to older podcasts than watch Solo or Spelunky videos. So I don't think GB lost that much with him departing but he gaines so much with being a part of Kotaku.

 

[khaaan]

Comparing GB with Kotaku is just plain insane and I'd bet Jeff Gerstmann would be the first to agree.

Kotaku has access. Reporters want access. I don't think GB would ever interview Miyamoto for instance.

But what if it turned out Miyamoto is a huge WWE fan?

 

[xenorevlis]

This is good. Kotaku has definitely been nudging back towards a more respectable form of game blog than it used to be and even hitting important topics more often while other sites decide to figuratively blow their sponsor of the week/month.

 

[silvermember]

Seems like a downgrade. Best of luck to Patrick though. I wonder if he was starting to feel like kind of a fifth wheel over in Chicago by himself.



Ringing endorsement - "It's not as bad as you think!"

What you said would be funny IF you knew my standards for good or bad, so let me clarify it for you, if you care.

I consider all video game journalism to be mostly shit. If I was to rate video game journalism on a scale of 1 to 100, most of them would be a 74 aka C. To me anything below a B is shit, Kotaku is a B- thus is less terrible than most other sites by comparison. Now if this was based on a curve, well you get the idea.

Uh, glad you've always liked it?

I am glad as well.

 

[Future PhaZe]

If journalism is the true pursuit, then an entirely new venture would be his best bet.

I've never taken kotaku seriously

 

[louiedog]

Damn that's an eerily specific thing to remember.

And so long ago. Mots people grow quite a bit between their early and late 20s.

 

[Mutagenic]

I disagree with many of Kotaku's articles, their page layout, and the overall wiring staff too often to start visitng for one good addition. Maybe Patrick has a blog I can continue to follow him on. I just hope there wasn't a rift between he and the GB crew. He always got along so well with Vinnie and Jeff it seemed.

 

[enzo_gt]

Makes sense. Nobody goes to GB for written content. Kotaku is primarily written content.

Oddly, Kotaku is probably the one site with a worse design than GB.

Another thing that's puzzling is that even though they're a video content focused site, they've doubled down on written reviews and pretty much left their video reviews in the wind.

 

[ZeroX03]

I'm not white-washing her. I have my issues with many of her click-bait articles but, still most of them are very well written.

She must have improved substantially. Her early stuff was borderline nonsensical. Things like missing words and unintelligible sentence structure. It was bad enough that it hurt any good points she was trying to make.

 

[Gattsu25]

Well good for him.

A good game journo joining one of the few sites that engages in journalism

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Here are some Alexa traffic ratings for some of the most popular videogame-focused sites out there.

Alexa Traffic Ratings (US / Worldwide)

Penny Arcade - 1,095/4,102
Eurogamer - 3,191/4,060
Giant Bomb - 1,136/3,132
Neogaf - 751/1709
Gamespot - 447/791
Kotaku - 208/609
GameFAQs - 190/526
IGN - 99/253

As you can see, Kotaku gets a LOT more traffic than Giant Bomb does.

 

[KimonoNoNo]

I like Kotaku. (There I said it!)

 

[AlphaSnake]

Ahh, the days of sneaking into E3. It really wasn't that hard to sneak into E3 if you knew the right people. When I was 16, the PR folk from Atari/Infogrames were super awesome and got me in as an Atari employee with a media pass, and still had my creds badge display my site name.

 

[andymcc]

How long ago was that also. Kinda of a petty grudge.

people can remember lots about game reviewers. i, and i'm sure many others here, remember the 1up Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins review pretty well (by our own toastyfrog) because of how bad it was and the hilarious thread about it. i made a joke about ckohler not knowing the difference between GnG games at one point (i was busting his balls, i actually quite like his writing and posts on here) but... that's a little far imho

 

[firehawk12]

Another thing that's puzzling is that even though they're a video content focused site, they've doubled down on written reviews and pretty much left their video reviews in the wind.

GB? They hardly do reviews outside of AAA games.
People treat the QLs as reviews nowadays anyway.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

If you want to be a Gaming Writer rather than a Gaming Personality, then Kotaku would be your first choice over Giantbomb. If Patrick never joined GB then Kotaku would be the a good place for him. It only seems like a "downgrade" because many folks care way more about GB than Kotaku.

Don't waste his talents Kotaku.

I agree that I rather would want to be a writter than a personality... Is just weird...

Again, no offense to Jason.

 

[strafer]

Here are some Alexa traffic ratings for some of the most popular videogame-focused sites out there.

Alexa Traffic Ratings (US / Worldwide)

Penny Arcade - 1,095/4,102
Eurogamer - 3,191/4,060
Giant Bomb - 1,136/3,132
Neogaf - 751/1709
Kotaku - 208/609
GameFAQs - 190/526
IGN - 99/253

As you can see, Kotaku gets a LOT more traffic than Giant Bomb does.

No Gamespot?

 

[EmCeeGramr]

If journalism is the true pursuit, then an entirely new venture would be his best bet.

I've never taken kotaku seriously

Well, it's worth noting that Patrick only got married like two(?) years ago, and supporting a family means that taking a risk on a new reporting focused games website (which sounds like a disaster, frankly) is a no go.

 

[Delt31]

Here are some Alexa traffic ratings for some of the most popular videogame-focused sites out there.

Alexa Traffic Ratings (US / Worldwide)

Penny Arcade - 1,095/4,102
Eurogamer - 3,191/4,060
Giant Bomb - 1,136/3,132
Neogaf - 751/1709
Kotaku - 208/609
GameFAQs - 190/526
IGN - 99/253

As you can see, Kotaku gets a LOT more traffic than Giant Bomb does.

confused - lower is better/more?

 

[LaserHawk]

Damn that's an eerily specific thing to remember.

You know, I can't help but laugh and agree. It really is odd that I remember that. I probably shouldn't let it keep me from reading any more of Patrick's work, since he may have improved a lot since then.

But I don't visit Kotaku, so I guess I'm not going to get that chance.

 

[Atilac]

So Klepek is to giantbomb what chevy chase is to SNL?

 

[MadGear]

confused - lower is better/more?

I guess its more of a ranking than a rating.

 

[firehawk12]

Well, it's worth noting that Patrick only got married like two(?) years ago, and supporting a family means that taking a risk on a new reporting focused games website (which sounds like a disaster, frankly) is a no go.

I think people may have expected a Patreon thing because Klepeck got Sterling on right after he did his own crazily successful Patreon.

 

[Myggen]

Here are some Alexa traffic ratings for some of the most popular videogame-focused sites out there.

Alexa Traffic Ratings (US / Worldwide)

Penny Arcade - 1,095/4,102
Eurogamer - 3,191/4,060
Giant Bomb - 1,136/3,132
Neogaf - 751/1709
Kotaku - 208/609
GameFAQs - 190/526
IGN - 99/253

As you can see, Kotaku gets a LOT more traffic than Giant Bomb does.

I don't think anyone doubts that. But in general Alexa is absolutely terrible, better to use Kotaku's actual public numbers to see how much traffic that site gets (which is a lot).

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Another thing that's puzzling is that even though they're a video content focused site, they've doubled down on written reviews and pretty much left their video reviews in the wind.

Well, I think that's because making the video reviews is a lot of video production work for what they are (just reiterating the written review), and written reviews (which are still relatively infrequent for a site of GB's size) actually do draw in a large amount of traffic from Metacritic links.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Looking at the Kotaku front page makes my head hurt. The signal to noise ratio is really bad.

This is very, very true. I hope for their sake that they either get out of the Gawker umbrella or refactor their website to make it easier to quickly access articles of interest. You're right... You have to navigate through a LOT of fluff to get to the meat.

Even the Deals articles are a mess, format wise. You have to scroll like halfway down the page through a LOT of nonsense in order to get to the section where the deals are sorted by video game platform, which is primarily what I care about in an article about shopping deals on a primarily video game website.

 

[LurkerPrime]

confused - lower is better/more?

Confused me too, but it's rankings so the lower the better. (Closer to #1 traffic)

 

[Delt31]

also - is it safe to say he left GB b/c he felt like he wanted to do more writing vs video?

 

[Chuck]

So Klepek is to giantbomb what chevy chase is to SNL?

are you saying the new hire will be bill murray?

if so...

 

[Future PhaZe]

Well, it's worth noting that Patrick only got married like two(?) years ago, and supporting a family means that taking a risk on a new reporting focused games website (which sounds like a disaster, frankly) is a no go.

I can't imagine he's in it for the money, but if he is, he's built enough clout in the community to probably do quite well with his own ad and subscription driven startup.

 

[entremet]

So Klepek is to giantbomb what chevy chase is to SNL?

Not really honestly.

Giant Bomb has always been Jeff, Brad, and Ryan (RIP) to me as the core to me. Patrick came from 1up as a news guy.

 

[hunnies28]

Wow, I guess I'll be reading Kotaku a lot more now.

This was my reaction.

 

[oti]

I can't imagine he's in it for the money, but if he is, he's built enough clout in the community to probably do quite well with his own ad and subscription driven startup.

In a few years maybe but right now this would be insane. Yes, he worked for GB but he isn't crazy.

 

[Einhander]

This is very, very true. I hope for their sake that they either get out of the Gawker umbrella or refactor their website to make it easier to quickly access articles of interest. You're right... You have to navigate through a LOT of fluff to get to the meat.

Even the Deals articles are a mess, format wise. You have to scroll like halfway down the page through a LOT of nonsense in order to get to the section where the deals are sorted by video game platform, which is primarily what I care about in an article about shopping deals on a primarily video game website.

Yes. A minimalist website design is best for viewers.

 

[Celegus]

I like Patrick but never really visit Kotaku that much. I don't think that will change in the near future. Hope everything goes well for him though.

Pretty much this.

 

[Mechanized]

Here are some Alexa traffic ratings for some of the most popular videogame-focused sites out there.

Alexa Traffic Ratings (US / Worldwide)

Penny Arcade - 1,095/4,102
Eurogamer - 3,191/4,060
Giant Bomb - 1,136/3,132
Neogaf - 751/1709
Gamespot - 447/791
Kotaku - 208/609
GameFAQs - 190/526
IGN - 99/253

As you can see, Kotaku gets a LOT more traffic than Giant Bomb does.

cjayc must be rich as fuck.

 

[Cowie]

If Patrick was "just doing this for the money", do you really think he'd stick with video games? If you're going to sell out, you can do a whole hell of a lot better than games journalism.

 

[jimmypop]

Oh, a Gawker property? No thanks, on principle alone.

I wish him well, though.

 

[Rabbit Clock]

From Giantbomb to Kotaku.. that's one hell of a downgrade. Good luck Patrick. Hopefully you'll keep Spookin' going on YouTube or something.

 

[conman]

What a strange coincidence. I just started reading Kotaku regularly again last week (after a 5 year hiatus). The site has really changed over the years and become something special.

Good on Klepek. I dig his work, and now I will keep on digging it!

 

[SlowRevolution]

Not really honestly.

Giant Bomb has always been Jeff, Brad, and Ryan (RIP) to me as the core to me. Patrick came from 1up as a news guy.

vinny

don't you dare leave out vinny

 

[firehawk12]

This is very, very true. I hope for their sake that they either get out of the Gawker umbrella or refactor their website to make it easier to quickly access articles of interest. You're right... You have to navigate through a LOT of fluff to get to the meat.

Even the Deals articles are a mess, format wise. You have to scroll like halfway down the page through a LOT of nonsense in order to get to the section where the deals are sorted by video game platform, which is primarily what I care about in an article about shopping deals on a primarily video game website.

That's the thing - you can literally get better news elsewhere. If you want game deals, just go to CAG. If you want news, it'll just get linked to GAF. I suppose there are people who must find value in all the fluff that gets dumped on the front page, because people visit the page quite often, but for me it's the equivalent of reading Us Weekly in the promise that there's one interesting article in the magazine every week.

 

[Tripon]

Here are some Alexa traffic ratings for some of the most popular videogame-focused sites out there.

Alexa Traffic Ratings (US / Worldwide)

Penny Arcade - 1,095/4,102
Eurogamer - 3,191/4,060
Giant Bomb - 1,136/3,132
Neogaf - 751/1709
Gamespot - 447/791
Kotaku - 208/609
GameFAQs - 190/526
IGN - 99/253

As you can see, Kotaku gets a LOT more traffic than Giant Bomb does.

How does that compare to Gamespot?

 

[mr stroke]

I'd still love to know the gritty details of why he jumped ship.

Has to be money

 

[GillianSeed79]

No offense to Giant Bomb, but Kotaku seems like it is more of a news-driven blog/website, whereas Giant Bomb is more personality/content-driven. It seems like a good fit for him given that he is more of a news guy. I will still miss him though over at Giant Bomb and Bombing in the AM. Him and Jason seem like a good tag team. Does Kotaku have a podcast?

 

[funkystudent]

Schreier is the man.

Maybe working under him will put a bit if fire under Patrick and his 3 days late, spelling mistake filled, one story broken every year thats normally to do with activision ways.


The rest of the site is a joke though.