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[popo]

NPD is fine as a benchmark. It doesn't give true numbers but the sample size is more than big enough to make it significant.

What would be a better judge of who is "winning" would be if you had access to all the financials. e.g. Sony were taking a bigger hit out of the gate on cost but then MS slashed bundles with Titan Fall and looks like xbone has a slightly better attach rate.

The press should not be afraid to point to the figures and say that Sony is doing better in sales but then the NPD thread is full of people on the other side declaring that the war is over just because xbones are moving 30% fewer units. The same people likely declared the PS3 dead in the water on release too.

 

[Ventilaator]

PS3 launched with a way bigger price tag but without any games. Console sold a ton.
360 launched and half of those randomly exploded for no reason. Console sold a ton.

But now that the Xbox One is selling less than the PS4 in the first year of release, the console war is definitely over.

 

[bigkrev]

PS3 launched with a way bigger price tag but without any games. Console sold a ton.
360 launched and half of those randomly exploded for no reason. Console sold a ton.

But now that the Xbox One is selling less than the PS4 in the first year of release, the console war is definitely over.

This is the first time all the Next-gen consoles launched at the same time though. In all other generations, there was one that launched before the others.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

This is the first time all the Next-gen consoles launched at the same time though. In all other generations, there was one that launched before the others.

There's a Wiiu joke in there somewhere but i dont have the energy to make it myself.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

I think there is a happy medium somewhere between 1up Yours era fanboy wars game journalism and the modern we don't comment on NPD's rumors and speculation non-committal take. That said, listening to old 1up Yours episodes does highlight how pointless talking about the industry is. But obviously plenty of people do enjoy talking about it since we just had the longest NPD thread ever

 

[Dragon]

PS3 launched with a way bigger price tag but without any games. Console sold a ton.
360 launched and half of those randomly exploded for no reason. Console sold a ton.

But now that the Xbox One is selling less than the PS4 in the first year of release, the console war is definitely over.

What a very reductionist view of things.

The Xbox One is getting outsold in a country where it had a 15 million console lead last gen. That's why people are saying things look dire in comparison. Do you have a counterargument? Besides it's the first year?

 

[AuthenticM]

This is the first time all the Next-gen consoles launched at the same time though. In all other generations, there was one that launched before the others.

I see what you did there.

 

[Red UFO]

What a very reductionist view of things.

The Xbox One is getting outsold in a country where it had a 15 million console lead last gen. That's why people are saying things look dire in comparison. Do you have a counterargument? Besides it's the first year?

It's still selling well, and software is also selling for it. Saying it looks "dire" is some next level hyperbole.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Unfinished: Secrets of Grindea 04/21/2014 (Giant Bomb New York + Chicago Co-Promotion)

 

[Jimmyfenix]

So Pat Baer posted the videos that he did not want to show at PAX

http://404ingit.tumblr.com/post/83420444862/these-are-the-things-i-felt-weird-about-showing

 

[sixghost]

Unfinished: Secrets of Grindea 04/21/2014 (Giant Bomb New York + Chicago Co-Promotion)

Maybe I don't have the same nostalgia for the art in that era of RPGs, but I don't really see what Patrick was talking about. He was selling that shit hard.

 

[Mesoian]

So Pat Baer posted the videos that he did not want to show at PAX

http://404ingit.tumblr.com/post/83420444862/these-are-the-things-i-felt-weird-about-showing

...welp.

I guess that makes sense.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

It seems like GB is drifting again, unfocus, and it seems like they shouldn't. I expect the typical drift in the first quarter of the year when the industry takes a break but things are heating up again and it seems like they aren't just there.

 

[Zaph]

I think there is a happy medium somewhere between 1up Yours era fanboy wars game journalism and the modern we don't comment on NPD's rumors and speculation non-committal take. That said, listening to old 1up Yours episodes does highlight how pointless talking about the industry is. But obviously plenty of people do enjoy talking about it since we just had the longest NPD thread ever

Rightly or wrongly, I think it stems from the need for vindication. There are a lot of people who felt, prior to the release of this gen, the enthusiast press in general (not just GB) were very quick to hand-wave a lot of Microsoft's nonsense and just as quick to insist Sony would either do the same or the vocal consumer feedback was irrelevant because their minds were made up on a boardroom somewhere a long time ago.

This also plays into the overall general feeling that the enthusiast press have forgotten who their customer is, who they're here to serve (as Jeff so eloquently put it "No, you're not in the games industry, you cover the games industry."), are too quick to dismiss the gaming community as whiny/entitled/uninformed and have a general disdain for their audience (who just happen to be the reason they have a job to begin with).

So yeah, for a lot of people I think those NPD numbers carry a greater meaning - a quantifiable "I told you so".

 

[firehawk12]

I need dates here people, dates! Got a long car ride home today.

The narc one was 07/12/11 I believe. They went in 2010 and 2012 as well, around the same time.

It makes sense that they didn't go last year, but I wonder if they're going to go this year or if they are even into arcade machines any more.

 

[Mesoian]

It seems like GB is drifting again, unfocus, and it seems like they shouldn't. I expect the typical drift in the first quarter of the year when the industry takes a break but things are heating up again and it seems like they aren't just there.

I mean...are things really heating up?

 

[cdViking]

It seems like GB is drifting again, unfocus, and it seems like they shouldn't. I expect the typical drift in the first quarter of the year when the industry takes a break but things are heating up again and it seems like they aren't just there.

What does drifting/unfocused even mean? The morning show happens twice a week, and while I can understand why people don't enjoy it, it is incredibly focused and covers the spectrum of things that are most important to video games. The Bombcast is irreverent and always has been, but has seemed as focused as ever. QLs are happening for every relevant title. The fact that ancillary podcasts are appearing doesn't mean that videogame content is disappearing.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I mean...are things really heating up?

Yeah, these are the doldrums of the year, the spot between GDC and E3. Then, it's quiet for another couple of months or so until around Madden-ish. You just can't make some people happy.

 

[pelican]

It seems like GB is drifting again, unfocus, and it seems like they shouldn't. I expect the typical drift in the first quarter of the year when the industry takes a break but things are heating up again and it seems like they aren't just there.

Just like my interest in the site and podcast. Comes in waves.

Last thing I really enjoyed were the ps4 and Bone launch streams. No doubt I will watch their E3 live streams too.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Yeah, these are the doldrums of the year, the spot between GDC and E3. Then, it's quiet for another couple of months or so until around Madden-ish. You just can't make some people happy.

It's not like its anything new, it happens year on year. A normal person would plan something for the lulls, but not Giantbomb, take peoples money and do nothing about it.

 

[Mesoian]

Yeah, these are the doldrums of the year, the spot between GDC and E3. Then, it's quiet for another couple of months or so until around Madden-ish. You just can't make some people happy.

Yeah. The most high profile release we have that isn't multiplat is Octodad 2.

May has some interesting stuff but, it's all indies, reduxes, or catchup multiplats for the rest of the month.

It's not like its anything new, it happens year on year. A normal person would plan something for the lulls, but not Giantbomb, take peoples money and do nothing about it.

...Daily live streams, quick looks of everything released, finished or not, a live recap at the end of the week and weekly podcast.

Yes, they're taking people's money and doing nothing about it.

Really can't please some people.

 

[pelican]

It's not like its anything new, it happens year on year. A normal person would plan something for the lulls, but not Giantbomb, take peoples money and do nothing about it.

Yeah, I would never sub to the site. The content is pretty hit or miss.

 

[Jimmyfenix]

Unfinished: Secrets of Grindea 04/21/2014 (Giant Bomb New York + Chicago Co-Promotion)

Que? Did they remove the video getting a 404 here.

 

[Mesoian]

Que? Did they remove the video getting a 404 here.

They may be fixing the sound. It cut out for me in the middle of the video.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

...Daily live streams, quick looks of everything release, finished or not, a live recap at the end of the week and weekly podcast.

Yes, they're taking people's money and doing nothing about it.

Really can't please some people.

Daily live streams, free. Quick Looks, free. Unfinished, free. Podcast, free.

Unpro Friday, not free but is rarely interesting or entertaining, 2 hours of playing RBI baseball on the NES, how is that worthy of charging a subscription.

Getting fed up of people having a go at people who criticise Giantbomb, they don't need a defence force they can speak for themselves, if all people did was blow smoke up their ass they wouldn't know what issues subscribers have.

It's going to be the same shortly, preparing for E3 which means putting out content when they can be bothered and half assing their weekly live show.

What happens when the summer drought hits and there are very little games to Quick Look, do we just get 1 podcast and 1 show a week until the fall?

 

[Dragon]

It's still selling well, and software is also selling for it. Saying it looks "dire" is some next level hyperbole.

I said dire in comparison. Something which you conveniently left out.

 

[Backfoggen]

That UPF preview pic is weird everyone has their eyes closed only Brad is fully aware of whats going on.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

I mean...are things really heating up?

There seems to be quite a lot going on in regards to announcements, games getting released, the evolution of the the platform holders, and the build up to E3. Its like none of that's happening as far as GB is concerned. Hats off to Klepek, who is almost single handedly supporting the site. However the rest of them appear play less games than I do and I have a full time job which isn't industry related, a wife and 4 kids.

I guess I'm looking for coverage that was a bit more meatier like they use to do 2 or 3 years ago. A little more enthusiastic. It seems like they've got it in their heads that all they have to do is record themselves unenthusiastically playing oldish games and they've earned their paycheck. Thats stuff is cool sometimes but when it makes up most of your content, especially subscriber content, its disappointing to me the viewer.

 

[NumberThree]

Unpro Friday, not free but is rarely interesting or entertaining, 2 hours of playing RBI baseball on the NES, how is that worthy of charging a subscription.

Getting fed up of people having a go at people who criticise Giantbomb, they don't need a defence force they can speak for themselves, if all people did was blow smoke up their ass they wouldn't know what issues subscribers have.

Well maybe people have a go at those people when they criticize the content of UPF without having watched it?

 

[kmz]

There seems to be quite a lot going on in regards to announcements, games getting released, the evolution of the the platform holders, and the build up to E3. Its like none of that's happening as far as GB is concerned. Hats off to Klepek, who is almost single handedly supporting the site. However the rest of them appear play less games than I do and I have a full time job which isn't industry related, a wife and 4 kids.

What game releases and announcements are you referring to?

 

[Mesoian]

There seems to be quite a lot going on in regards to announcements, games getting released, the evolution of the the platform holders, and the build up to E3. Its like none of that's happening as far as GB is concerned. Hats off to Klepek, who is almost single handedly supporting the site. However the rest of them appear play less games than I do and I have a full time job which isn't industry related, a wife and 4 kids.

I guess I'm looking for coverage that was a bit more meatier like they use to do 2 or 3 years ago. A little more enthusiastic. It seems like they've got it in their heads that all they have to do is record themselves unenthusiastically playing oldish games and they've earned their paycheck. Thats stuff is cool sometimes but when it makes up most of your content, especially subscriber content, its disappointing to me the viewer.

I think, like most things, the site is better when there's more news to talk about and more games to play. Things more than likely will pick up the closer we get to e3, but even on GAF there's barely any new news to speak of. I think this is probably just the symptoms of loaded februaries pushing the natural lull of new games further into the summer. And like I said, May has a lot more high profile releases than April has or will, so that'll be the time things should pick up, but not now.

And you have to remember most of the gold that comes up on Giantbomb are some of the things that you never see coming. I don't think anyone expected the QL of Ashes Cricket 2013 to be the gold it was. And as for subscriber content, I don't know man. If watching the guys pull random ass bad NES games out of a box and play them for two hours isn't your idea of ideal content, Giant Bomb may not be for you. ::Shrugs:: There's not much else I can say, that stuff has been gold. Hell, I didn't even know about the Famicon Twin card system until last friday.

I bet we'll see something like a Breaking Brad or a Daily Dota in the not too distant future. Though I bet a very real mindset they have right now is "do we want to continue making all of the daily content the same thing from the same source and hte same pool of games or their iterations that we've done for the past year?"

 

[RE_Player]

Content is hit and miss in my opinion now. I miss the more steady stream of regular quick looks and I'm not the biggest fan of the daily streams or Unprofessional Fridays. I know they kind of fell out of love with the Thursday Night Throwdown concept but it had some of my favourite moments.

In the end it is their site and they can do whatever they want. I'll subscribe to support the guys even though I barely consume the premium content anymore because of the Bombcast and entertainment over the years.

 

[sixghost]

Well maybe people have a go at those people when they criticize the content of UPF without having watched it?

Maybe he's subscribed and watched it before?

 

[Mesoian]

Maybe he's subscribed and watched it before?

I think that statement was based off the comment that all they did on UPF last week was play RBI baseball, which is not the case.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

And you have to remember most of the gold that comes up on Giantbomb are some of the things that you never see coming. I don't think anyone expected the QL of Ashes Cricket 2013 to be the gold it was.

And as for subscriber content, I don't know man. If watching the guys pull random ass bad NES games out of a box and play them for two hours isn't your idea of ideal content, Giant Bomb may not be for you.

I expected it. How could you not? Those are always the most memorable kind of Quick Looks Giant Bomb produces. When it was planned for Vinny to play Euro Truck Simulator, I'd argue most fans of Giant Bomb would have told you that would turn out great.

And I don't enjoy watching retro game streams very much, but I do like many other aspects of GB, so I disagree.

 

[HappenstanceUK]

I would only really say that I dont agree that every game released is getting quick looked. I look through the release schedule and see games I would expect to be quick looked which regularly arent. I understand that its mostly down to a lack of staff but its still something that can be commented on.

Also I do think there could be a bit more variety on the subscirber content. I enjoy UPF but I did prefer it as a show where the guys would play games they dont have time for otherwise rather than just weird game after weird game. And as someone who doesnt like Dark Souls, the past few months have been painful. Im just thankful for Vinny and his love of Castlevania which is mixing it up a bit.

 

[alr1ght]

All they need to do is two new series.

Motion Control Monday: Highlighting new and old releases of terrible motion control gimmicks. (Green screen required).

Shitty Steam Saturday: Pick a random game on Steam with terrible reviews and play.

Watching them complain about new releases is not fun anymore.

 

[Mesoian]

I mean, I'd make the argument that the Mixlr streams are a source of new content that most people are ignoring.

 

[Zaph]

I mean, I'd make the argument that the Mixlr streams are a source of new content that most people are ignoring.

I'd second that arguement. The ones with Dave are better than most QL's.

Speaking of Dave, he just (as in 4 minutes ago) launched a Kickstarter for Webhook https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1749618880/webhook

 

[alr1ght]

Can't wait for all the kickstarters to throw a fit once Dave sells his new site for eleventy billion dollars.

 

[firehawk12]

Ahh, so Webhook is a SquareSpace competitor. It makes sense to just take the knowledge from building GB and such and just making it available to any content creator.

 

[Kelas]

I'd second that arguement. The ones with Dave are better than most QL's.

Speaking of Dave, he just (as in 4 minutes ago) launched a Kickstarter for Webhook https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1749618880/webhook

That beard is consuming Ian's head.

 

[Dragon]

Honestly we need Vinnymania to come back. It's the best content on the site over the past two months. Hell I've started going back and watching Extra Life because of the lack of interesting content since GDC.

 

[demidar]

That beard is consuming Ian's head.

Beard needs food badly.

 

[HappenstanceUK]

I mean, I'd make the argument that the Mixlr streams are a source of new content that most people are ignoring.

To be fair I would call that Jeff content rather than Giant Bomb content.

 

[alr1ght]

a wild brad

 

[FStop7]

I wouldn't Kickstart Webhook but if given the opportunity I would probably invest in it. I have a feeling it will do well and eventually get bought for a lot of money. It's a very favorable climate for that sort of thing.

 

[Curufinwe]

It's still selling well, and software is also selling for it. Saying it looks "dire" is some next level hyperbole.

The worldwide sold to consumers ratio is already about 14:9 and it will be 2:1 before this year is out.

That's dire.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I'd second that arguement. The ones with Dave are better than most QL's.

Speaking of Dave, he just (as in 4 minutes ago) launched a Kickstarter for Webhook https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1749618880/webhook

That looks super cool.

 

[bonercop]

Yeah, these are the doldrums of the year, the spot between GDC and E3. Then, it's quiet for another couple of months or so until around Madden-ish. You just can't make some people happy.

I feel like I see variations of this post show up year-round.