Jeff Gerstmann on GameSpot, Giant Bomb, and snark

GR: So - Giant Bomb, bringing the posititvity back to gaming journalism?

JG: We just like games! As simple as that sounds, there are so many outlets out there that seem to have forgotten the core of why we all do this.

GR: It's a joke we make all the time - that gamers hate their hobby more than any other hobbyists.

JG: Right, yeah, exactly!

GR: Generally you don't see fishermen on the forums arguing about which fishing pole company sucks more than the others.

JG: Right. I think it's all technology. I remember having arguments about PC versus Amiga and crap like that back in the day. The PC versus Mac thing is still raging on. I read this really insane HD-DVD versus Blu-ray forum thread like, right before HD-DVD went under. It's completely insane.

GR: We posted an article a while back explaining why your HD-DVDs were still good, despite the format losing the war. The Blu-ray kids came out angrily against it, despite the fact that we didn't bash Blu-ray at all. It's interesting how technology divides people like that.

JR: It's people that have to, in some sense, justify their purchases. That's what it has always been. Guys like you and me, we're surrounded by every single game console, we have PCs that can play games, it's just not an issue. But if you're some kid who saved up all summer to buy a PlayStation 3 and you get on the internet and there's people effectively saying that you wasted your entire Summer saving all this money and buying this system, you're going to get pretty pissed off. So I think that's what a lot of it is - people out there spending real money on these products and then taking it really personally when someone talks bad about the thing that they chose.

GR: Speaking of forums - you mentioned that you will be hosting forums on Giant Bomb. Are you planning to launch any features early, or will it be "all in one go?"

Above: Jeff prepares to set off a giant flea bomb in an assault on the office's used couch

JG: I think we're going to go "all in one go." Because there has been a demand for it we were thinking of launching forums early, and that's still possible, we haven't made the decision one way or the other just yet. But if it's gonna take away from the development of the full site it might just be easier to do it all at once. One thing I do want to do before we're ready to go is launch a user registration so people can claim the usernames they want to use, so people who have been following the blog really religiously can be rewarded with the name that they want.

GR: Well, the site looks great - we're all pulling for you. We have friends at Gamespot, and [your firing] was clearly a shock for everyone.

JG: Yeah, it's been weird watching people I've worked with for years and years and years scatter into new jobs and different locations. It's been hard to keep the posse together. We want to hang out socially and all that stuff but it's like everyone's running away and all that stuff.

GR: So, final comment - What will make Giant Bomb a success, and why should everyone check it out?

JG: The big thing with Giant Bomb is that we want to bring the fun back to videogames on the Internet, you know? We want to get away from all the negativity and all this other stuff and really focus on what matters, and that's the games themselves, the people that make them, the people that play them, and that's what we're going for this Summer.

GR: Oh - and you'vegot the fleas gone?

JG: Yeah, we actually, we didn't video it this time, but a couple of days ago we did bomb again. So, no new bites on people so far. So, fingers crossed. We have an office dog, but we're pretty sure it didn't come from there which I think means it has to be this free couch we got from Craigslist.

GR: Gotta watch out for Craigslist.

JG: Yeah, you'll catch all kinds of diseases on Craigslist!