Turns out it wasn't Ryan at all, it was his identical twin, Julio, Ryan was the driver on the request of his brother as they were pulling an insurance scam on WhiskyMedia.
L O S T
Giant Bomb's Game of the Year Thread: Skyrim? Skyrim? Skyrim? Skyrim? Skylanders!
- Thread starter The Dutch Slayer
- Start date
L O S T
EmCeeGramr
Member
Right as it ends, a person wearing a Johnny Gat mask breaks in, steals the belt, and proclaims Saints Row The Third to be the real GOTY 2011. A no holds barred cage match proceeds, and "Johnny Gat" is revealed to be... Brad!?
elrechazado
Banned
It will be brad wearing a brad mask. That would be meta.
EmCeeGramr
Member
After the madness ends, Jeff returns to his dressing room after cutting a promo for the Game Developers Conference Royal Rumble XXIV. He notices his room door open and comes inside to find the place wrecked, and Patrick unconscious in the corner, his head shaved.
"BEWARE THE BARBER AT GDC XXIV" is written on the mirror.
"BEWARE THE BARBER AT GDC XXIV" is written on the mirror.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
I think the fanfic is a sign that we should wrap this up and eagerly await GOTY 2012.
Do you want to read some giant bomb fan fic?
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
I'd rather read GB fanfic more than any other type.
... But still no.
... But still no.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
It turns out that Leigh Alexander set up the Brad screwjob all along?
Didn't say I wasn't interested in their choices or why they chose them, I read/watched the results. But even if I disagree I don't see what the point is of getting upset over their choices. I don't think SR3 should even be in the top ten, but they enjoyed it a lot. It's entertaining to see why/how they made choices, but when you started getting actually pissed off it is time to step away from the keyboard.
How is something a filibuster when 3 of the 5 people involved agreed on Skyrim from the very start of the debate?
Just like in the US Senate, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to change the debate.
Nose Master
Member
L.A. Noire shouldn't have been anywhere near that list. How many people even had it in their personal top ten? Like, one?
More like 3? Maybe even 4?
Edit: Dead Space 2 is the real head-scratcher. I believe Brad is the only one to have that on his list, while games that multiple people had on their list—like Uncharted (3 people) and Deus Ex—were cut.
brianmcdoogle
Member
I really like Dead Space and Dead Space 2 since they are actually playable horror games (unlike Resident Evil games with their horrid controls), so it always bothered me that Brad is the only one to ever talk about them with any frequency. Do the other guys not play them? You'd think if Vinny liked RE5 then he'd love Dead Space.
Tangentially, I loved Dead Space 2's fake ending.
Tangentially, I loved Dead Space 2's fake ending.
darkressurection
Banned
After going back and re-listening to the final podcast, I find that the thing that is bothering me most isn't Brad's arguments (not that all of those are great) but is Ryan's behavior. Plenty of people have said that his line of thinking is weird already, he leaves the room for a decent chunk of time, when Jeff is still trying to argue for Saint's Row and says "So where are we at?" and Ryan yells out "Skyrim is the game of the year!" followed by him saying "I can't" over and over. Everything just feels weird, the issue isn't even Skyrim winning but the way in which it won definitely feels like Ryan thought that Saint's Row wasn't a GOTY "appropriate" choice which is really disappointing.
It didn't really bother me that much after the first two times or so when you realize what "doubt" really means. It didn't really make him seem like a psychopath either, I thought it was fairly obvious he's just playing the 'bad cop' role when you choose that option.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
It's the constant swings in emotion, if you went from one choice to another, that makes him seem crazy.
Vinny did play it, if I remember correctly. Same with Jeff. I just don't think it stuck with them like it did Brad, which is why I find it strange it not only made the list, but was like number five, above Batman, and became one of the "we are NOT cutting this game no matter what" choices. It was only on one person's list.
Yep, I said this a few pages back. It was a "we can't let that DUMB game win" feeling, which strangely was more propagated by Ryan than Brad. Brad just has a tendency to defend the game he played and loved to the bitter end (Red Dead, Uncharted 2, Skyrim), but this was Ryan's overall choice for GOTY, and he never even argued its case.
In fact, he started the conversation with "Jeff, I can't go down this road with you."
You know what it is? How I can best sum-up Ryan's attitude? It's like the Academy Awards never seriously considering a comedy, or a Pixar movie for Best Film. "Yeah yeah, Toy Story 3 is great, we know. That's why we nominated it. But hey, did you see that really sad movie?"
I hope Brad gets fired from Giant Bomb. Every year he's a thorn in the side of the website reaching its maximum potential for fun. He can go start his own, new website where people review things they totally fucking suck at.
Ed: Sorry I realize that sounds dickish as hell. I don't really want Brad to lose his job. Just damn does he make me rageface every GotY time.
Ed: Sorry I realize that sounds dickish as hell. I don't really want Brad to lose his job. Just damn does he make me rageface every GotY time.
darkressurection
Banned
Agreed, the thing that sticks with me most after the second listen is when Jeff says that if they put their money where their mouth is and decided to design a game with the Giant Bomb sensibilities, that SR3 was the game he wishes they would have made.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
If you go with that analogy, you might as well say that Skyrim is the Crash of 2011.
brianmcdoogle
Member
Now that's just mean.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Haha, but it's true if the idea was that a "serious" game had to win!
Hah, yep, basically said this earlier too. Man, either you're an incredibly smart chap, or you're just trying really hard to be my friend. You don't have to try that hard, dude. ... I could really use a friend.
But, yes, that was a key moment in me going "whu?" That list is supposed to represent everyone at the site and the site as a whole. No game does that more than SR3 this year, and I don't even really like that game (though to be honest, I sort of hate Skyrim).
But it also seems to me that Skyrim shouldn't even be their number 2 game. I mean, Brad and Patrick love it, but everyone loves Bastion. And everyone loved Portal 2. Skyrim feels like a 4 - 6 game for everyone, but nope, it's just Ryan saying "nah, this is the 'right' choice."
Opinions something something
darkressurection
Banned
I blame crazy internet mindwave replication or something. But yeah, just really weird that the final call was on Ryan and as far as I can't tell he hasn't played any Skyrim, and his argument for being against SR3 is so weak. If I told someone, "Yeah, I really can't stand by this game because I like it too much and played all of it and there isn't anymore of it to play, but this game that I have only heard about sounds pretty rad so I like that better". They would think I was a lunatic.
Officerrob
Banned
As soon as they started debating between Skyrim and SR3 Ryan said to Jeff, "I can't go here with you". Up until that point the only argument made for Skyrim was Brad calling Jeff "cray cray" for putting SR3 first
Maybe after the break the guys will be back and Ryan will have bleached his hair again, but left his beard dark.
EmCeeGramr
Member
this is a really bad post
darkressurection
Banned
Bizzaro Ryan ran down Ryan backstage after the first set of deliberations and this week on Thursday Night Throwdown ALL WILL BE REVEALED.
Yeah, it didn't really bother me. Though I can see how those options were originally "Accuse" or whatever instead of "Lie".
I finally worked my way through most of the podcasts. I didn't finish the last one. It was too much.
I don't really have much to say about their choices. I disagree with a lot of stuff, but that's okay.
I just wanted to say that these podcasts made me a fan of Patrick. Prior to listening, I was always pretty annoyed with him. I'll still be annoyed with him on occasion I think, but I like him now. I felt that during these podcasts, he really toned it down. He wasn't constantly interrupting or telling some story no one cares about or stating his opinion (which isn't even his opinion, but just what the internet says) on stuff he has no business talking about.
When he had an opinion about a game in the discussions, he was usually concise and to the point. And his points, though I don't agree with all of them, seemed well made.
It would be great if he was like this on everything else from now on.
I don't really have much to say about their choices. I disagree with a lot of stuff, but that's okay.
I just wanted to say that these podcasts made me a fan of Patrick. Prior to listening, I was always pretty annoyed with him. I'll still be annoyed with him on occasion I think, but I like him now. I felt that during these podcasts, he really toned it down. He wasn't constantly interrupting or telling some story no one cares about or stating his opinion (which isn't even his opinion, but just what the internet says) on stuff he has no business talking about.
When he had an opinion about a game in the discussions, he was usually concise and to the point. And his points, though I don't agree with all of them, seemed well made.
It would be great if he was like this on everything else from now on.
The only thing I learned from this is that GOTY-deliberations in general are pretty stupid because it's like, opinions man, and that people take them way too seriously. Who cares what some guys thought was the best game of the year? The only thing that should matter to anyone is what game you personally had the most fun with.
At least the GB guys puts out a podcast where we can hear their reasons. That the reasons were sometimes poor just goes to show that this whole GOTY business is a joke. No offense to the GB guys though, I still got 10 great hours of podcasts to enjoy out of it even though I may not always agree with their opinions.
At least the GB guys puts out a podcast where we can hear their reasons. That the reasons were sometimes poor just goes to show that this whole GOTY business is a joke. No offense to the GB guys though, I still got 10 great hours of podcasts to enjoy out of it even though I may not always agree with their opinions.
Gonna agree with the guys who say Brad argued
for Skyrim because he freaking loved Skyrim, but Ryan just turned because of some weird idea that Game of the Year couldn't go to something that silly, no matter how much fun it was.
Which, if that was his thought process (and obviously I have no way of knowing what his process was unless he says something), it's kind of terrible. It's sort of antithetical to the spirit of Giant Bomb in the first place.
badly
Which, if that was his thought process (and obviously I have no way of knowing what his process was unless he says something), it's kind of terrible. It's sort of antithetical to the spirit of Giant Bomb in the first place.
WrenchNinja
Member
As much as I find the last hour of day 5 ridiculous, I have to thank giant bomb for even putting out their deliberations at all every year. Best gaming site on the net and has made a lot of last week go by a little bit faster for me.
Brewster's Wallet
Member
When I realised that the discussion for #1 had a WHOLE HOUR still to go, I just left it and watched the top 10 video instead. Seems like that was the right call
I don't care what they vote number 1 as both SR3 and Skyrim are excellent. Enjoyed the podcasts immensely
I don't care what they vote number 1 as both SR3 and Skyrim are excellent. Enjoyed the podcasts immensely
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Major props to Vinny on being the bigger man in a lot of these conversations. The childish "I'm going to delay the podcast for as long as it takes for you to cave in" shenanigans was not unexpected, but as eye-roll inducing as ever.
I'd have preferred a Saints Row 3 win, personally. Giant Bomb putting that up as their GOTY 2011 would have been such a nice statement. I don't even think the game is practically fantastic, but as far as what 2011 was all about for that group of people, and the genuine enthusiasm it inspired from everyone at the table, SR3 would have been the "romantic", interesting choice. As it is it's just another notch on the Skyrim belt. Sure, it's probably earnt, but where's the character in putting it on the GOTY mantle? It's the obvious choice. I dont think Giant Bomb has ever been a site about serious business, so I guess I didn't expect the award to be taken so seriously. But I guess Brad, Patrick and -- alarmingly -- Ryan all felt differently about their GOTY award.
In fact, Ryan's whole reasoning throughout this podcast was unexplainable. I can't rationalize it. I like the guy (on podcasts), but I just had no idea where he was coming from a lot of the time. It was baffling.
Full disclosure, Dark Souls and Portal 2 (especially the co-op) were my favourite experiences this year. Skyrim isn't in my top ten. So there's that.
I'd have preferred a Saints Row 3 win, personally. Giant Bomb putting that up as their GOTY 2011 would have been such a nice statement. I don't even think the game is practically fantastic, but as far as what 2011 was all about for that group of people, and the genuine enthusiasm it inspired from everyone at the table, SR3 would have been the "romantic", interesting choice. As it is it's just another notch on the Skyrim belt. Sure, it's probably earnt, but where's the character in putting it on the GOTY mantle? It's the obvious choice. I dont think Giant Bomb has ever been a site about serious business, so I guess I didn't expect the award to be taken so seriously. But I guess Brad, Patrick and -- alarmingly -- Ryan all felt differently about their GOTY award.
In fact, Ryan's whole reasoning throughout this podcast was unexplainable. I can't rationalize it. I like the guy (on podcasts), but I just had no idea where he was coming from a lot of the time. It was baffling.
Full disclosure, Dark Souls and Portal 2 (especially the co-op) were my favourite experiences this year. Skyrim isn't in my top ten. So there's that.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Also, god damn it, I was trying to avoid singling our Brad because skimming through this thread it seems like its just a giant pile-on in here, but the whole "AHA! You said X and NOW YOU CAN'T USE THAT TO DEFEND ANY OTHER GAME LATER" faux-debate club bullshit should be saved for second graders because PURPLE MONKEY DISHWASHER
Edit: haha, reading through this thread, it looks like I'm just rehashing the same handful of points everyone has already hit on.
Edit: haha, reading through this thread, it looks like I'm just rehashing the same handful of points everyone has already hit on.
I actually don't have a problem with Brad. Note: I haven't listened to the Podcast due to spoilers I'm just going by what people have said in this thread. If Skyrim is his favourite game he should be able to argue for it. Even if he got carried away he's in a room with people who have put years into the industry and I'm sure they'd know the mechanics of one of the two front runners for their GOTY show. Or at least I would hope they would.
Nah, his arguments were literally bordering into complete fanboy territory. Everything he was saying against SR3 was actually also able to be a complaint on skyrim(combat, repetition, bugs, etc.). He made a messy argument and just wouldn't stop until he 'won'. It's perfectly fine and fully expected to argue for the game you believe to be goty, but yeesh.
MegaKungFuRadio
Member
The only problem I have is that Brad becomes a childish, dismissive dick while trying to defend Skyrim against Jeff, who is 100% right about all his criticisms about the game. The fact that he's played about twice as much as Jeff has and didn't notice all those things Jeff did is alarming. Like, "I'm glad I didn't find that quest, it sounds boring, all the ones I did were much more interesting." Bull-fucking-shit. I played 120 hours of Skyrim and not only found almost every dungeon that isn't tied to a questline mind-numbingly dull, but felt like I was punished for exploring that content outside the context of the questlines because they would sometimes BUG the quest if you did things out of order. Speaking of the questlines, Oblivion's were better. Almost all of them. I thought the worst Oblivion guild line was better than all but the best (Dark Brotherhood) in Skyrim. I'm not arguing Saints Row over Skyrim (because personally, Skyrim wins by a country mile) but Brad's inability to recognize any of this invalidates his opinion to me.
Listening to it right now and yep, that's what i'm getting out of it, too.
Can't make a decent argument but won't stop banging his head.
Anyway, i'll stop now because it's annoying to listen to.
Or maybe Brad didn't play for 120 hours. I actually hit that quest Jeff mentioned with the guy sitting outside of the cave with his friends dead inside. Yeah, that wasn't great, but I've also wandered into the lair of fire mages with oil all over the floor, and a lighthouse where some terrible shit went down. I found plenty of non-quest dungeons enjoyable. If you don't want to thin out the experience for yourself, you probably shouldn't play it for 120 hours. It's pretty clear right off if a cave or whatever isn't going to be worth the trouble.
Most of Oblivion's quests were dull as dirt. The main is pure tedium, except for some bits near the end. Brotherhood is decent, but not as good as most people remember. Doing odd jobs to get into the magic academy takes forever... and I'm struggling to remember any other quests in that game. I didn't finish most of them because they were so damned dull.
I'm an expert
Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Brad said many times on the podcasts he played the game for like 65 hours and hadn't played it once since the release date. Real goty right there when it doesn't even draw you back with all that limitless content and amazing combat, eh?