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Press Reset: The Story of Polygon - financed by Microsoft for $750,000

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J

John Rabbit

Banned
Yaboosh said:
Except that isn't what Lee seemed to be railing against. Sure, he hates that the trailer is pretentious, which is obviously valid. But then going on to say that was wrong because they don't make it all about the games and the passion of its creators is ridiculous.

What you said is why you would like Giant Bomb over Polygon, and is obviously inarguable, you like what you like. I certainly like Giant Bomb but have no experience with these guys and I doubt I will ever visit their site.

But you can't say it should be all about the games and the passion of its creators and not write off Giant Bomb as well.

You can say that video games shouldn't be a bunch of pretentious bullshit, which I would get behind. But that isn't what Lee seemed to say in the limited space of two twitter posts.
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as bgamer90 sort of touched upon above, it's not so much that it's personality-driven, its the personalities themselves, or rather the method in which they're being presented.

giant bomb produces content that heavily features the personalities of the site's staff. they do not go out of their way to "sell" you on the idea that they (as people) are worth liking and that what they are doing (as a website driven by personality) is something you should pay attention to because they got a tattoo, moved across the country, took on a 2nd mortgage, etc. the content speaks for itself. there is no content in the documentary trailer aside from the personality. it's not paired with anything, it does not exist to serve anything (in the trailer) other than personality itself.

giant bomb eschews this kind of navel-gazing for the most part, and usually they toss in a healthy dose of self-deprecation and self-awareness (of how silly their website can be) to balance it out. bickering on twitter like children and calling your potential audience "assholes" is not really the same thing.
 
G

Gannd

Banned
I like the way Idle Thumbs guys do it. They all have personalities, give very insightful criticism but they don't forget that this is about video games. They aren't smuggy.
 
S

see5harp

Member
Red UFO said:
Yep, not to mention that Giant Bomb was also built around a giant wiki that encompasses games, creators and concepts.
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I don't like the way they went about doing this but SB Nation and Verge have been pretty decent for new sites. Both are so large that I'm not sure creating something like Giant Bomb is even possible. Part of the reason Giant Bomb has so much pull is from necessity...they have to film, edit, and create all of the video content. I think for a large site, Verge/Engadget did a fairly decent job at making it more about Nilay, Josh, and Ross though. I like the Verge video reviews. /shrug
 
G

Goldmund

Member
Gannd said:
I like the way Idle Thumbs guys do it. They all have personalities, give very insightful criticism but they don't forget that this is about video games. They aren't smuggy.
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One of them constantly weinhändlers the others. It's despicable.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
iLIrVViBEmNmq.gif

BLOODY TATTOO SO REAL
 
P

Patryn

Member
I really wonder how Polygon felt that this trailer would be received. Because the whole thing just reeks of trying way too hard to be important.

I also hold out the possibility that the entire thing may be one giant parody of the trailer for "Indie Game: The Movie."

Of course, I was actually interested in the content of Indie Game.
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
People raising the 1Up Show have also made me recognise why this is so at odds with what anybody should want from this lot.

So they've presumably got a camera crew, editing suite, music and more ready to roll. What do you use that for?

- Getting together and playing their favourite games on camera, letting you know where these people are coming from and showcasing VIDEOGAMES.

or

- A personal tale filled with arty angle location filler shots of their personal sacrifices and struggles to put up words and content about games onto the internet while moving into new houses and whatever without even showing a goddam videogame at any point in the teaser.

I mean not even a wide angle depth of field pixellated close up of some retro game on an old screen or anything. For shame.


Mister Saturn said:
Care to explain this one, Zia, or are you content with slinking away after a shit post?
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Zia is kinda well known around GAF for being attached to the whole indie creator thing as if by an umbilical chord. That teaser was probably like a crack rock of the purest pedigree to her.
 
R

RichyDevil

Member
Oh.

My.

God.

Just watched this trailer and honestly - no kidding - I thought it was a joke until the end. Seriously, this is an SNL Digital Short.

Could anyone possibly be more obnoxiously self-important?

I mean, I love video games. I love good writing. I love me a good website.

But this, this....thing is almost insulting to me and is an embarrassment to all of us that love games. If I showed this to anyone outside the business they would laugh.
 
Z

Zia

Member
GhaleonQ said:
Nah, The Gameological Society, Scroll, and Gamespite (among others) all push themselves as quasi-highbrow or at least well-informed. I think it's just that organizations like Kill Screen and Polygon demonstrate the risks of pushing that extreme better than THE CAPE FEATHER: A NINTENDO FANBLOG or whatever does for its extreme.

I love pretentious criticism. I do not like this. (To be fair, I decided that I did not like this back when people like Matt Leone appeared lower on the masthead than people like Arthur Gies did.)
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I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said. I thought it interesting that people would respond to a(n embarrassingly premature) doc attempting to prop up a website without a whole lot of personality as a personality-driven venture, by suggesting another outlet which I find equally white bread more deserving. Self-serious bloggers versus schlubby bros sitting around shooting the shit. I don't have a problem with either. Just an observation.
 
S

see5harp

Member
Pie and Beans said:
People raising the 1Up Show have also made me recognise why this is so at odds with what anybody should want from this lot.

So they've presumably got a camera crew, editing suite, music and more ready to roll. What do you use that for?

- Getting together and playing their favourite games on camera, letting you know where these people are coming from and showcasing VIDEOGAMES.

or

- A personal tale filled with arty angle location filler shots of their personal sacrifices and struggles to put up words and content about games onto the internet while moving into new houses and whatever without even showing a goddam videogame at any point in the teaser.

I mean not even a wide angle depth of field pixellated close up of some retro game on an old screen or anything. For shame.
Click to expand...

I'm just saying it looks like they are trying to produce content with that sorta tone. I have no idea what the content will actually be but if it's 1up Show/Double Fine doc sorta quality on a biweekly or monthly basis along with the awesome McElroy weekly podcast, I have no reason to dismiss them. This could just be a big production that the investors and Vox approved as part of a business plan.
 
G

Glix

Member
Mister Saturn said:
Typical douchebag. He's all brave and ready to talk shit until somebody "real" calls him on it, at which point he's all jokey and okay with it. Arthur Gies is the definition of awful.
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I was trying to think of how I wanted to express this exact thought, and you expressed it for me. Thanks.
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
The accompanying article sounds like its heralding the founding of a new country or the American constitution or something.

Must be a pretty important website, guys!
 
7

7threst

Member
That Arthur Gies guy isn't seriously pissed at Ryan Davis right? I mean, no matter how serious and important you think you are, that edit was great. You can't hate it.
 
T

Team Filler

Member
Glix said:
I was trying to think of how I wanted to express this exact thought, and you expressed it for me. Thanks.
Click to expand...

What puzzles me is where he finds the rocks to talk that way to Garnett Motherfuckin' Lee. Man was making his bones in the game while Arthur was still wetting the bed.

Also, I bet Garnett Lee knows how to play Hydro Thunder.
 
I

illmatic19

Member
Giant Bomb

It's a website. About video games.
Click to expand...

Polygon

Polygon is a new kind of website, built on new technology, backed by a new kind of media company. Its designers hope that the new technology driving it will turn web publishing on its ear. Its backers, Vox Media, hope their business model will wake up the web to the possibilities of passionate voices creating quality content. Its founders, some of the most accomplished journalists working in the medium, hope it will broaden the possibilities for video game media, bringing new eyes and attention to an industry on the cusp of a revolution.
Click to expand...
 
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