Savestate: Giant CES

GiantBomb 2014

It’s been a weird year for GiantBomb. Vinny, one of their talented video producers left for New York City to join Alex Navarro in New York City to form GBEast. The decision was motivated by family reasons but they’re making it work. I’m enjoying every piece of content from that two man crew.

GiantBomb filled the video producer role and Ryan Davis’ vacant spot with ex-Game Informer editors, Jason Oestreicher and Dan Ryckert. They (unsurprisingly) were excellent additions to the lineup.

At year’s end, Patrick Klepek, their news editor and horror game aficionado left at the end of this year for Kotaku.

Nothing lasts forever but despite the massive shuffling of the deck, I feel GiantBomb managed to maintain quality throughout the process.

I felt their 2014 Game of the Year videos didn’t hit as well as they did in the past but it had its share of memorable moments. The emergence of Drew Scanlon and the introduction of Dan Ryckert yielded the “Endurance Runs” that people were clamoring for.

Metal Gear Scanlon, the series in which Drew plays through the Metal Gear games is entertaining and enlightening. I don’t watch “Let’s Play” videos for the sake of the game or the “entertainment” value alone. They have to be entertaining and enlightening. It’s great that they have Dan, a bonafide Metal Gear fan, on hand to drop trivia throughout this playthrough. I’m a fan of the series but not one who knows everything about Metal Gear.

It’s also interesting to see how a new comer to the series approaches and reacts to Metal Gear and its idiosyncrasies in 2014-15. It’s such a weird series and no one has come close to emulating it.

2014 was quite the year for GiantBomb. Let’s hope 2015 is even better.

CES 2015

Here are three products from CES 2015 that I think you should check out:

1. Intel Compute Stick – Could lead to a small but very capable streaming and emulation solution.
2. LG’s Twin Wash System – This falls under the category of “Why did it take so long for them to do this?” I have a “Twin Oven” and it’s perfect for small tasks. So why not a Twin Washer? If it’s as effective as the full size one but for much smaller loads, this will be a winner.
3. Sony’s XBR-X900C – Thin for the sake of thin is idiotic because it often means quality suffers. However, I’m glad efforts like this are made because it paves the way for thin and quality solutions. Also it looks bonkers.

Re: Steven Gerrard Leaving Liverpool for MLS

I don’t know if MLS embraces the fact that it’s the place where fading stars of European soccer go to live out their days but moves like Steven Gerrard’s doesn’t help its cause. I haven’t watched soccer for very long but I was impressed with what I’ve seen of Steven Gerrard and I wish I got into soccer sooner to see the Englishman play during his glory days.

For the L.A Galaxy’s sake, I hope he actually plays there and we don’t have another Frank Lampard situation.

Does a move like this make me want to watch MLS? Kinda? I mean, I’m considering it but when I hear how unimpressive Jermaine Defoe’s tenure was/is on Toronto FC, I’m hesitant.

Random Quote of the Week

“And he’s off like prom dress!”

One of Ray Hudson’s many metaphors and similes during Athletico Madrid vs. Real Madrid’s cup match on Tuesday.