For anyone that hasn't checked the site in awhile things on the front page have gone from a dearth of content to a shitton in the last few days.
The Connectivity Compadres: Four Swords Fiesta Feature is really fun so far! Dan of course trying to fuck everyone over the most and not exactly getting ahead when the scoring segment comes around in doing so.
So I haven't gone near any Giant Bomb content in a long time, but when I was searching for the Michael Thornton is a psychopath it turns out they're doing a playthrough.
Alpha Protocol is one of my favourite games, as weird and broken as it is there is nothing else close to it for what it does so I guess I'm in for this.
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
It's funny because Dan was actually doing a pretty impressively functional job with the core tenets of the game his first time around, but obviously by his second time around that has entirely sailed out the window during a huge number of decision critical moments lmao
Heard there was layoffs going on at Vice but I didn't see anything out of Waypoint so I figured they skated by again due to their subscription. That really seemed like the thing that would keep them going for a long time. Really hoped I when I saw a post in this thread it'd be something else.
Sadly I'm not sure if they all could make the pivot to Patreon so I doubt they'll be able to pull a Nextlander/Gerstmann.
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
I mean hypothetically speaking they built themselves an extremely dedicated community part of whom have already been providing a subscription to support their model of content/journalism, so it wouldn't be an especially dramatic transition to do it independently
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Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
edited April 2023
Oh goddammit. I just listened to them talking about it on the podcast today. RIP waypoint.
One thing that was absolutely baffling to me was how they basically stopped doing Quick Looks during the pandemic. Quick Looks were the content that got me into Giant Bomb. I used to come home from work excited to see what was on www.videogames.com, and they basically just stopped doing them. I feel like it's the effort to payoff ratio on Quick Looks has got to be phenomenal.
One thing that was absolutely baffling to me was how they basically stopped doing Quick Looks during the pandemic. Quick Looks were the content that got me into Giant Bomb. I used to come home from work excited to see what was on www.videogames.com, and they basically just stopped doing them. I feel like it's the effort to payoff ratio on Quick Looks has got to be phenomenal.
i miss that level of "surface access to a huge swath of the video game landscape" a lot. i feel very disconnected from the hobby since giant bomb more or less died.
Their various buyers and the pandemic certainly have done their best to try and put an end to Giant Bomb, but I think that they have done the best with the various shitty hands that they keep getting dealt given the severity of said shitty hands. And I like the rotating cast of characters that keep popping up in content like Mike Minotti, Alex Boniello, and Abby Russel. Ideally Tam and Lucy could just come on full time like Grubb and Bakalar because if that happened I think the amount of Quick Looks and everything across the board would become easier and simply better by virtue of them just being there reliably.
it sounds like waypoint was just one casualty of many at vice as it's rumored that the company is going to file for bankruptcy soon. That sounds about right for vice.
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
Yeah Waypoint shutting down I don't think was ever an indictment of Waypoint specifically, because Vice simultaneously shut down a whole load of departments/employees across the board. It just happened that videogame journalism was part of the spreadsheet and they couldn't give a shit about it
Things do feel really grim for games journalism in particular and journalism at large in general. Supposedly it's cyclical so in a few years people will remember there's money to be made there and we'll get more investment in it again, but it's really just an exhausting reminder of the apathy of the general public and the evils of capitalism. It just doesn't feel like it's possible to have any sort of journalism here that's not subservient to the whims of some rich asshole, able to be thrown away with a wave of the hand or passed around like trading cards. I guess that's more a generic complaint than anything specific to Waypoint/games journalism, though.
General public has got nothing to do with it IMO. What are we supposed to do, buy out the investment firms that control these companies and demand ridiculous eternal exponential growth or they burn the company down? It's entirely on the heads of the insane vibes-based investment class.
Yeah I don't think the general public is apathetic at all. They just feel helpless because frankly there's nothing they can do to stop this self-destructive bullshit.
I've not done any digging (was abroad), but has there been any mention of refunds from Vice for those with annual subs? I have almost a full year left still.
I've not done any digging (was abroad), but has there been any mention of refunds from Vice for those with annual subs? I have almost a full year left still.
Waypoint says they want to give out refunds, but it's going to be up to corporate. Given the rumor is these layoffs are a prelude to Vice filing for bankruptcy, i, uh, wouldn't count on it.
the waypoint merch store will be 15% off until they close, if you wanted to get anything.
Honestly unless you're really into something specific, it kinda feels like you're bailing out corporate rather than supporting the people you care about if you buy from the Waypoint store.
the waypoint merch store will be 15% off until they close, if you wanted to get anything.
Honestly unless you're really into something specific, it kinda feels like you're bailing out corporate rather than supporting the people you care about if you buy from the Waypoint store.
I think that post was more about "if you wanted anything" than about supporting Waypoint.
the waypoint merch store will be 15% off until they close, if you wanted to get anything.
Honestly unless you're really into something specific, it kinda feels like you're bailing out corporate rather than supporting the people you care about if you buy from the Waypoint store.
the point isn't to give waypoint money, the point is if you just wanted something before it disappears.
admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
buying merch isn't gonna put money into the hands of the CEO/executive fuckos who point them in this position (they already got theirs.) If they do end up declaring bankruptcy it'll probably end up going to pay their debts, which are still financial fuckos but aren't directly responsible for what happened
I made the point in the SE++ thread but I really feel like only 50% of this is the fault of "capitalism." I mean, sure, large companies who only care about the bottom line, and who don't care about the mission of a website itself are inherently bad, but there's the larger problem that advertisers are deciding that ads on webpages aren't worth it.
Journalism as a whole is suffering the same fate as what happened when the category killers swept through and killed all the mom and pop shops. The Bed Bath and Beyonds, the Circuit Cities, the Best Buys, the Guitar Centers, the Walmarts. They moved in, killed all the mom and pop stores who couldn't compete with their prices because of volume, and then when they weren't profitable they closed up shop leaving nothing behind. The mom and pop store owners are already bankrupted, they can't re-open their stores.
There used to be reputable local, state and national broadcast news with their own journalists researching stories. There used to be multiple competing local newspapers in every city, not just the major metropolises like NY, and LA. There used to be a magazine for every interest. Multiple magazines if there were enough readers.
But then the internet killed all of that. The Gamespots, the Giant Bombs, the IGNs, the Polygons, the Kotakus murdered all the print media. Then the advertisers realized that people use ad blockers. So now there's no more money for internet games journalism. So whether or not you like Vice/GB/what ever, they're the ones that killed their predecessors, and the thing that's killing them is just mindless content farms that use the least amount of human input to generate top ten list slideshows to show you the largest quantity possible of ads that probably aren't even paying that much.
Eh, you're just describing capitalism a different way.
The goal is to put out the cheapest, lowest quality product you think you can get away with and charge the absolutely maximum you can for it. That's it, that's the end goal of capitalism. Because it's not about being profitable, it's about being as profitable as you can possibly be, screw everything else.
Eh, you're just describing capitalism a different way.
The goal is to put out the cheapest, lowest quality product you think you can get away with and charge the absolutely maximum you can for it. That's it, that's the end goal of capitalism. Because it's not about being profitable, it's about being as profitable as you can possibly be, screw everything else.
Not really. It's the internet itself that destroyed journalism. People are getting their "news" from bloggers, and that is what's killing journalism. That's not capitalism.
But then the internet killed all of that. The Gamespots, the Giant Bombs, the IGNs, the Polygons, the Kotakus murdered all the print media. Then the advertisers realized that people use ad blockers. So now there's no more money for internet games journalism.
From the PA post, there's plenty of money in advertising still, it's just being eaten by the middlemen (Google, etc).
As far as advertisers go, ad blockers are no different from people ignoring adverts in real life (the only real difference is that it can be measured), which we all do, all the time. And adverts haven't died in the real world yet either, so clearly advertising still works.
I also wonder what percentage of people online use ad blockers (does anyone over the age of 50 even know they exist?), and all of that is assuming that people savvy enough to use ad blockers convert to paying customers at the same rate as those that do not, which is a big question mark.
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oh no
The Connectivity Compadres: Four Swords Fiesta Feature is really fun so far! Dan of course trying to fuck everyone over the most and not exactly getting ahead when the scoring segment comes around in doing so.
What hath god wrought
Alpha Protocol is one of my favourite games, as weird and broken as it is there is nothing else close to it for what it does so I guess I'm in for this.
I want the guy that makes these videos to do one titled Every Time They Say Shoot just to see how long it ends up being.
With this I think I’m out of gaming media that I enjoy. Even 3MA has felt like it’s running on pilot light for the past year.
Sadly I'm not sure if they all could make the pivot to Patreon so I doubt they'll be able to pull a Nextlander/Gerstmann.
I hope that Ren doesn't have to go back to working at Starbucks or something.
i miss that level of "surface access to a huge swath of the video game landscape" a lot. i feel very disconnected from the hobby since giant bomb more or less died.
Jan is literally the only producer left.
Today's comic couldn't possibly be more apropos of the situation at GB.
I'm just surprised that GB hasn't become a top 10 slideshow content farm like Kotaku and Polygon.
Waypoint says they want to give out refunds, but it's going to be up to corporate. Given the rumor is these layoffs are a prelude to Vice filing for bankruptcy, i, uh, wouldn't count on it.
Honestly unless you're really into something specific, it kinda feels like you're bailing out corporate rather than supporting the people you care about if you buy from the Waypoint store.
I think that post was more about "if you wanted anything" than about supporting Waypoint.
the point isn't to give waypoint money, the point is if you just wanted something before it disappears.
https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2023/05/01/all-s-well
Journalism as a whole is suffering the same fate as what happened when the category killers swept through and killed all the mom and pop shops. The Bed Bath and Beyonds, the Circuit Cities, the Best Buys, the Guitar Centers, the Walmarts. They moved in, killed all the mom and pop stores who couldn't compete with their prices because of volume, and then when they weren't profitable they closed up shop leaving nothing behind. The mom and pop store owners are already bankrupted, they can't re-open their stores.
There used to be reputable local, state and national broadcast news with their own journalists researching stories. There used to be multiple competing local newspapers in every city, not just the major metropolises like NY, and LA. There used to be a magazine for every interest. Multiple magazines if there were enough readers.
But then the internet killed all of that. The Gamespots, the Giant Bombs, the IGNs, the Polygons, the Kotakus murdered all the print media. Then the advertisers realized that people use ad blockers. So now there's no more money for internet games journalism. So whether or not you like Vice/GB/what ever, they're the ones that killed their predecessors, and the thing that's killing them is just mindless content farms that use the least amount of human input to generate top ten list slideshows to show you the largest quantity possible of ads that probably aren't even paying that much.
The goal is to put out the cheapest, lowest quality product you think you can get away with and charge the absolutely maximum you can for it. That's it, that's the end goal of capitalism. Because it's not about being profitable, it's about being as profitable as you can possibly be, screw everything else.
Not really. It's the internet itself that destroyed journalism. People are getting their "news" from bloggers, and that is what's killing journalism. That's not capitalism.
As far as advertisers go, ad blockers are no different from people ignoring adverts in real life (the only real difference is that it can be measured), which we all do, all the time. And adverts haven't died in the real world yet either, so clearly advertising still works.
I also wonder what percentage of people online use ad blockers (does anyone over the age of 50 even know they exist?), and all of that is assuming that people savvy enough to use ad blockers convert to paying customers at the same rate as those that do not, which is a big question mark.