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[sn00zer]

Gametrailers has done the live launch events for both PS4 and XB1 and soon will be running VGAs for the last few years....while it may seem like they are hired PR hitmen, I think its more appropriate to treat them as a sort of TV channel for the industry.

Certainly not journalists, but they are a great way to get games exposed, even small indy games get an interview in every once in a while. They remind me of tv shows like Entertainment Tonight, which is a sort of mixture of news and PR for films and actors/actresses in the industry.

At the very least they are entertaining, and sometimes genuine on a show to show basis. But it is really hard to define them. So what do you think Gametrailers place is in this industry? Are they good for exposing pretty much every major (and minor) game that comes out throughout the year with shows and hosts who sometimes ask and give some hard hitting criticism? Or are they just a loud speaker for whatever PR message they are being paid to sell?

 

[The Grim Heaper]

To pay Wario.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

They're the place where I watch Pach Attack. The end.

 

[Tripon]

To play game trailers.

 

[PorygonVandal]

Where else would we watch The Final Bosman?

 

[viewtiful_dru]

They're the place where I watch The FInal Bosman. The end.

foxed

 

[hypostatic]

I think TV channel for gamers is about right.

 

[tookhster]

The place that makes me wish G4 didn't turn into shit.

In all honesty though, I don't mind them. I like some of their shows/staff and hate others. The only thing that really bothers me about them are their video reviews. It's like they intentionally try to spoil a bunch of scenes from the game just so they can rub it in like "haha we played it first!" I know that's not what they really aim to do(or I hope not) but it really seems like that to me. Which is a shame because their reviews are somewhat decent.

 

[drproton]

Honestly I think some of their critique is more journalistic than other sites, despite being an advertising platform and hype machine.

 

[TheContact]

I think they do a good job at exposing games but they do a horrible job at the VMAs. They're owned by Viacom which owns MTV and Spike but other than corporate greed they don't have some kind of secret agenda which would cause them to be bias. Some of their employees are journalists.

 

[Anticitizen One]

Fun place to go when I'm bored

 

[BassForever]

It used to be where I watched AVGN and VGV's from Screw Attack and watch a pretty decent pod cast. Now it's where I go to watch Final Bossman and that's it

 

[SnakeEyes]

GT is a place to watch game-related videos. And Brandon Jones.

I honestly can't watch any other sites video reviews, because of Brandon Jones' voice.

 

[Silver_DNA]

I watched a bit of their PS4 launch coverage and thought, "This is why Sony and Microsoft don't have to do things like Nintendo Directs." But it was only half serious.

 

[bone_and_sinew]

It's where I used to go to watch trailers before Youtube and Gamersyde.

 

[FairXchange]

I like them a lot, they have lots of room to improve, but overall they're probably the home to my favorite personalities in gaming. Kyle Bosman, Marcus Beer, Daniel Bloodworth, Ryan Stevens, lots more. Great group of people over there.

 

[AsylumX]

It's like most TV channels, a few good things here and there but most of the time they are trying to sell you something that you don't need or really don't like...

 

[Blackage]

The last 10 seconds of their Uncharted 2 review made me run out and buy it, and I had no interest in the series before that.

I don't always agree with their reviews, but their review videos give me a good idea of what a game looks/plays like better then other video reviews on the web, at least in my opinion. Their infamous Final Fantasy XIV review is a prime example of that, a clip of the cinematic and epic battles followed by underwhelming in-game combat.

I also enjoy their smaller segments, Bonus Round, Final Bossman, Pack Attack, etc.

 

[Tuck]

Kyle Bosman.

 

[kurbaan]

I think they replaced G4 and stuff kind of. But they do have reviews but you are right they are more of a TV channel.

 

[misterF]

I agree that they're a great way to get games exposed and I like that all platforms get their share of the coverage. I also like Geoff, he does hype some things up too much and I didn't enjoy the PS4 release event (way too many ads and boring interviews) but I like what he's trying to do and it's a lot more fun watching someone cover games with his enthusiasm than a lot of the other people who just come off as jaded and think that acting overly sarcastic equals being cool. I also like the fact that unlike other websites, their E3 livestreams work flawlessly for me. I really wish their video player was better though.

 

[LiK]

Entertainment

 

[Anura]

It is where I go to watch Kyle Bossman or out of boredom. Just gotta be sure to avoid Patch Attack

 

[Shinta]

When Polygon was hyping up their staff, and new page layouts and premium video content before they went live, I think the ironic part is that Gametrailers was quietly already doing it far better than they ever would.

The only thing Polygon really delivered on is having some long form features, and using very big gifs in some of their reviews. Gametrailers and IGN both still blow them away as far as video content and production quality in the videos.

GT is basically VH1 for games. It's totally disposable entertainment most of the time, and nothing worth winning awards. But it is relatively high quality video content about video games. That's it.

 

[Mexen]

I hardly visit Game Trailers, but I think they are a good source of exposure for upcoming games and one of the few notable sites where I can get my video reviews. Their place in industry: showcase game trailers. Lol

 

[JesseEwiak]

They're the E! channel of gaming. Hype and mostly fawning coverage of 'big events.'

 

[Vidpixel]

I enjoy their shows, but for a site called Game Trailers, their video player leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Radec]

The MTV of Gaming.

 

[Blablurn]

Promoting spike tv.

 

[Squirts Macintosh]

They're the place where I watch Pach Attack. The end.

Oddly, this is mostly all I watch there as well. Bosman seems like a pretty cool dude too.

 

[Laieon]

I like their retrospectives. Reminds me a lot of that show "Icons" that used to be on G4.

 

[Valkerionseven]

They are the "Bossman" website at this point. Not sure what else they are for anymore. They have been getting trailers and reviews out later and later than the comp. And their message is very different between members of their own staff, which is great, but really awkward when one guy ranting off bad info about a game or console, then the next video they upload is someone else with different "official" info.

But yeah.

they should change the name to www.finalbossman.com as far as I am concerned.

Used to really like their reviews but they have gotten lazy on those even. And I only watch their live shit when I cant get the streams to work smoothly. Even then I wonder why they do them other than being owned by a major network.

 

[Fried Food]

The funny thing is, their name is still about as fitting as it was when they started.

 

[inner-G]

Their original stuff like the retrospectives and timelines are pretty good sometimes, imo.

Bosman is great and I still watch stuff like Pachter and the bonus round because its entertaining.

Their site videos are broken on android though, so I usually just watch what they put up on YouTube

 

[super-famicom]

To play game trailers.

.

 

[StoopKid]

I guess g4 but for the internet.

 

[jet1911]

I think they have a lot of great video content.

 

[MemoryHumanity]

Video reviews with the slickest production values in the business, plus Brandon Jones' voice.

 

[J-Rzez]

Their purpose is to now provide me the only gaming related videos like Bosman/Bonus Round that I watch anymore since the demise of 1up podcasts and show. Most of gaming related vids/shows I watch now are YT users.

And the narrator's voice is great.

 

[Kageshinzo]

I go for their video reviews and features (Retrospectives, Timelines). That's it.

 

[ZealousD]

I think they generally have the most well put together and professionally done videos in the gaming press.

Shame about the substance, though. At least when it comes to opinion. Pretty lackluster except for Kyle Bosman, who is somehow the funniest, most intelligent, and well balanced personality in the gaming press. Outside of opinion, stuff like Pop Facts and the Retrospectives are really good, I think.

 

[Newlove]

They have shifted to mostly original shows in the last year or so since the update, which is the best call when YouTube is now the go to place for trailers. I wouldn't discredit them as journalists though, as they still have a strong but small team to review, preview, interview and podcast. The core team has noticeably shrunk over the years as new videos that aren't a scheduled show or trailer appear although certainly not as often as other gaming sites. The site is kind of split in two by different production teams. You have video content produced by Spike mixed with the GT Originals, and then the day to day coverage team.

As an admin on the site I just wish they would develop the community features a little more as much of it was stripped back with the site update last year. There doesn't seem to be any plans to make changes in the short term though, and I can't see when any will happen. There is a disconnect between the core users in the forums and social media users who only comment on videos. The community can be brought together and given more personality if blogs returned and the profiles are given more work as there is a strong foundation there. I've already suggested some of this stuff to the team, it just probably will never happen at this rate.

 

[MemoryHumanity]

Oh man, just remembered the Zelda retrospective they did. The production on that thing was nuts.

 

[Doctor Ninja]

Publicity for the most part.

I used to be a GT regular to watch things like AVGN and the screwattack stuff. But I realized how awful the website UI had became and left and never came back ever since.

 

[K.Sabot]

I can see a renaming happening in the next couple of years.

 

[Ultra Magnus]

I think TV channel for gamers is about right.

Man that would be awesome! If only...

 

[NewGame]

To make a platform for Kyle Bosman, the Moses to our Israelites and the savior of the true gamers from the accursed AAA gaming media.

 

[braves01]

Gametrailers is a vehicle for Geoff Keighley and Pachter. Without those two, it would die.

 

[Begaria]

Gametrailers' destiny was to eventually give birth to Kyle Bosman, our Lord and Savior of gaming industry allegory and providing Shuhei Yoshida with a bitchin' twitter avatar.

 

[Rojo]

A website dedicated to hyping shit up.