New to Premium? What to Start Watching!

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nightriff

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Edited By nightriff

I decided to write this as it seems every few weeks there is a new thread started asking which content a new premium member should approach. I’m fine with the threads, I’m more annoyed of writing things up over and over again, and find myself being less informative as I just suggest the basic top 3 content. So with the influx of new Premium users coming in off the BLLSL I thought this might help some users hoping to learn where to start watching content.

First off, the best content on the site that has ever been produced is the Persona 4 Endurance Run featuring Jeff and Vinny. It’s free so anyone can watch, only issue people might have is that is about a 96 hour investment from beginning to end.

I would like to note that qlcrew.com is a great tool and they are doing Gods work for us. I have run into some issues and it seems that you can't just vaguely search for something rather you must know the exact game to find that video, and even then some of the older content hasn't been cataloged i.e. searching for "Home Alone" should bring up the SNES Members Stream part 2, but it brings up nothing. So for new content it is great/fantastic, but in my experience it isn't a reliable tool to find older content. Looks like they took my criticism to heart, the SNES stream was added with time stamps and I could even search SNES and pull up the stream. I meant no hard feelings by it guys, I love what you do and glad to see you continue to improve what is a fantastic tool.

In regards to Premium Content, a lot of this is personal taste, everyone has different opinions. One feature I find boring, others think it’s the greatest piece of content they have ever done. My goal is to highlight the best of the best that most users agree is the greatest, then I will suggest what I personally think is great, and what others really enjoy but not be my cup of tea. So let’s get started.

  • Fortune Street TNT (Part 1 and Part 2) – This feature is about 3 ½ hours but is completely worth it. Others today think Mario Party Party are the best videos they have ever done. WRONG! This was the original MPP, except substitute mini games for timely economic jokes. Even for how long the feature is, it’s crazy how entertaining it is throughout the entire run time. Every time I find myself losing interest, something happens that brings me back in. Easily this is the feature I have watched the most over the years and come back to every few months. Vinny fumbling his way into second place while playing possum, Ryan’s complete control over district D, the quick rise and drastic fall of Patrick and district A, and Jeff dropping knowledge on how to play stocks in real life. So many great moments and laughs, also Nintendo metal.

  • Random PC Game: Phantasmagoria (Part 1 and Part 2) – This feature is about 4 ½ hours and again, completely worth it. Vinny and Dave are a great duo together (personally my favorite) and their reactions to everything in the game is fantastic. What started as a RPCG feature eventually turns into an Endurance Run as both Dave and Vinny want to find out what happens next in this weird and charming game. Remember to fix your hair when you come to a mirror everyone.

  • Cards Against Humanity TNT’s (CAH and Star Trek; CAH featuring Brad Muir) – There are two and are worth your time. Range between and 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes. Extremely funny and inappropriate (don’t watch out loud around sensitive people or places) but some of the legit funniest things they have done. The second features the amazingly happy Brad Muir who, god dammit, doesn’t know how to keep his beer quiet in the theater.

  • Dead Island TNT – Runs at about 1 hour and 30 minutes, but for all it’s worth the first half is constant laughs. Within the first minute Ryan has to remove his ear piece because Jeff and the gang are laughing too hard at what was happening. What was happening? Trucks.

  • Mario Party Party Series – One of the best series in a while that they have done. Range between 3 and 4 hours so a big time investment. I personally prefer MPP2 and 4, 2 was a big nostalgia piece for me but Brad’s breakdown at the end was great, 4 is where Dan got what was coming to him and it’s great to watch. What defers between this and the Fortune Street TNT is that I find myself losing interest in the MPP for long stretches, not that it isn’t necessarily bad but it just doesn’t keep my attention. Eventually something hilarious happens and it’s great again but it’s only a matter of time before it happens again sadly. A lot of people love the series and might disagree, again this is how I feel about the feature and hope to give a balanced view of the content.

  • The Running of the Lanterns (1, 2, 3) – Was a 3 part series where Brad, Ryan, Patrick and THE Will Smith play a co-op mode of INSANELY TWISTED SHADOW PLANET (said in loud, echoing voice). Each one is around 1 hour and 30 minutes and have a lot of laughs and just a really good feature. Sadly they never continued after the 3rd attempt (never figured out if it was a scheduling thing or if it was because of Ryan’s inadvertent slip of the tongue) but it’s a feature that I think some forget about but is something everyone should watch.

Those are the must see and probably the features you should seek out first to watch. Next will be my personal favorite videos/series that I hope to persuade you to check out.

  • Matrix Online: Not Like This Series – this is free content but people should watch. All 5 features together around about 5 and ½ hours so you could enjoy over several days or weeks. Features Ryan, Vinny, and TonkaTruck as they explore the world of the Matrix Online. Probably what I enjoy most of the feature is that the community hated them in the beginning but slowly began to appreciate what they were doing by the final episode or two. Really wish the entire stream of the final episode was available but oh well.

  • Members Only SNES Party (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) – This was the feature that originally made me want to subscribe to the site, and once I did it was the first piece of content I sought out. I love when they play old games and I also love long streams, this runs at about 7 and ½ hours, feature and great number of the crew and Whiskey Media personalities and playing the greatest console to ever come out. So many enjoyable moments in this feature that I couldn’t name them all.

  • Contradiction: Spot the Liar! (QL (free), QL Supplemental (Free), GBE Playdate Part 1, 2 (Premium)) - GB is at its best when the crew accepts whatever the game wants them to and they just enjoy the ride (with their great humor of course). Their best content usually has this rule of mine, from Phantasmagoria, Fortune Street and a few of the MPP. Contradiction is the first game to do this for them since Bioforge and its great to see them have some enthusiasm for a single game where they all are engrossed and want to see the outcome. It took over an hour to get to that point but it seems they can't stop, hope they finish the game!
  • 3DO Catalog TNT – 3DO is a weird system and this shows off why. Lots of good laughs at games and Jeff’s disgust over Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties is fantastic. Runs about 1 and ½ hours. Probably my favorite TNT besides the ones already recommended.

  • Random PC Game: Police Quest: SWAT – Vinny and Dave, 1 and ½ hours, crazy grandma, slice the pie….

  • On the Green with Sim Golf (Part 1 and Part 2)– I’m a sucker for the crew playing old games but this is a feature I really enjoyed. You get to hear from the man himself, Sid Meier which is awesome to hear him talk about at this point a 10 year old game and his thoughts on it. I’m not going to say its particularly hilarious or amazing moments, but just overall I loved the stream for showing me a great game and spending a few hours with it rather than 20 minutes or so.

  • GB Unplugged: Pathfinder (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4)– so far the D&D one hasn’t done it for me, could be a lack of Vinny and Dave but regardless, the Pathfinder feature is fantastic. Everyone actually role playing as there character despite real world knowledge, great laughs, betrayals, statue arms and dead parrots. All together the 4 episodes are about 8 hours but is entirely worth it.

  • Random PC Game: Ripper – Very funny moments as they play this old FMV game. It was fun to have Jeff and Ryan (who also appears in the Burn: Cycle RPCG). Specifically the bad acting, bar tender and aggravating puzzles make this a fun feature. Runs around 1 hour and 45 minutes.

  • GB Unplugged: Avalon – really wish they would do this again with additional people but it’s a lot of fun watching how they lie to one another. Is about 1 and ½ hours and DON’T trust Danny and Mary, holy shit can they lie (but when are they lying? He he he….)

  • Pokémon Snap & Friends – Features Ryan and Patrick and runs for about 2 hours. Mainly this was a huge nostalgia piece as a fan but there are some good laughs as they play the game and talk about Pokémon in general. Like Sim Golf, it was just different from anything else they were doing at the time that it has stuck with me.

  • GB always does an End of Year stream and all are fun and enjoyable to watch. Usually between 3 and 5 hours but I would check them out. I personally lean towards 2010 and 2011 as my favorite but they all of fun moments. Thanks to GB Unarchived on youtube, you should be able to watch all of them easily rather than having to piece together 30 minute chunks of 2012’s stream (which I had to do).

That is what I’m initially going to suggest to new users. Here are some other thoughts on content:

  • The GB Flight Club videos (here's a list, no idea if its up to date) are great but I’ve lost my list of all of them and for the most part, they are videos with 1 or 2 amazing moments and the rest is….ok. Turboman’s Best of GB videos highlight the best of those features in my opinion without all the filler that can happen.
  • I really love the Olympic Games Olympiad (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). I could see why some may find them boring, its just Ryan and Brad playing all the Olympic games. I just found it incredibly interesting in seeing the quality between the games since the beginning. Also Jeff falling in Part 4 is hilarious and I can't believe I missed it the first time.
  • There’s also a lot of great TNT’s throughout the years but my knowledge of what are the best ones really only start in mid-2011 so if others have suggestions on which to seek out I would be most appreciated.
  • A lot of the RPCG are great but can’t find myself to suggest them all. RPCG also contains other FMV games as well as other PC games that I’m unfamiliar with.
  • I suggest checking out Dave and Ryan’s venture into Elder Scrolls 3 (Part 1 and Part 2) and 4 (Part 1 and Part 2) that happened before the Skyrim stream, both are tired and play off each other very well in humor.
  • A lot of users love the Metal Gear Scanlon stuff, I couldn't care less as I personally find it frustrating to watch Drew play the game, that's more on me not enjoying them rather than it being bad content.
  • Jeff's Jar Time videos (Here's the best place to find them all) are great and informative, he just doesn't do them all that often and it fucking sucks.
  • Spookin with Scoops is hit or miss with me, I personally really liked the Oculus one (There's actually 2 (1 and 2), I don't remember which I liked more but I think I enjoyed both), actually freaked me out and some good Patrick scares.
  • Bot Colony video has to be the first recorded instance of Vinny rage quitting a game.
  • Vinny is also really good at Dark Souls guys, just not at jumping (Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

Any suggestions, questions or comments are always appreciated and I will edit this constantly making sure it is up to date with what I feel is the most important content that they have done, but let’s be real, they have never really done any bad content; rather its content that just wasn’t my taste. I hope this helps people discover what makes Giant Bomb and the crew so great, just as I did.

EDIT: 7/19/15 - Added Contradiction: Spot the Liar!

EDIT: 9/3/15 - Added Contradiction Premium Part 2, MPP5

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FinalDasa

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#1 FinalDasa  Moderator

Good stuff, I'm actually going to put some of this stuff on in the background.

I always forget just how much content has been produced over the years.

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Dingofighter

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The Drew returns from North Korea video is really great and something I've thought since I first watched it should be free content just so everyone can watch it. Very fascinating and informative.

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cornbredx

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There's already a great thread here about this. I have an extensive post there which I update occasionally (although I haven't done it in a couple months).

Rather than constantly reposting it I just link to that thread every time this is brought up. If we make this an official thread about this or whatever I'll repost my response to that here, but really there's so much good content on this site at some point you can only say- really- just watch everything haha

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nightriff

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@finaldasa: It was a fun write up as I had to remind myself of why I loved "x" video and at least try to make a case for it.

@mafolu:It's a good video, but something I watched once and never returned to again. Everything I mentioned I have personally downloaded so that I will always have it and try to rewatch at least once a year.

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nightriff

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@cornbredx: Main reason behind writing it was so that if I come across one of those threads I can just post a link to this blog (as you do with that thread). Since its a blog I'll be more keen to update and improve upon. With new users from yesterday I'm going ahead and assuming that there will be a large amount of "What should I watch" threads and comments.

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Dragon_Puncher

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Great first post, Giant Bomb really has become a treasure trove of a great videoes over the years.

I'm on mobile right now so can't link, but some other really great premium videoes include:

All the Demo Derby's, especially the later ones where Jeff becomes a regular and always drops some real crazy old school gaming knowledge.

Vinny bought Bot Colony. Now what? Basically one man's descent into madness. Few videos can send me to tears like this one.

Backflips 'n Bioforge. Which is just one of the best pseudo endurance runs they have ever done. Don't forget to watch them playing through the first part of the game, which was part of Unprofessional Fridays: 04/12/2013.

Load our last Souls. Which is Vinny playing through a good chunk of Dark Souls + DLC, with an awesome/terrible support crew.

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nightriff

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@dragon_puncher: Wasn't my first post but thanks for thinking I'm so young. I'll add links for Bioforge, Bot Colony (if not for finally seeing a game break Vinny) and Load Our Last Souls. I love all those features but don't think they are classic in the way some of the ones I mentioned are.

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cornbredx

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@nightriff: Sure. Makes sense. If you want to use any of my stuff feel free (if you copy and paste on the forums it even copies the links which is nice). It's post #19

I just mention it because it could save you some time. There's a lot of good stuff haha

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joshth

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This is a HOT LIST. You hit all the big ones I can think of except for Backflips 'n Bioforge, that ranks up there with Fortune Street and Phantasmagoria for me.

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khazo

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#10  Edited By khazo

I'm just going to throw some of my favourite videos and shows out there

First of a great site to search and filter Quick looks and premium videos: Quick Look Crew. You can search for specific guest appearances or games or even search for highlights(for example: FMVinny, a collection of all live shows that include Vinny playing a FMV game).

If you're looking for shows that are more focused on a single game, I recommend the various Breaking Brad videos. I especially enjoyed Demon's Souls and Volgarr the Viking.

Another show that's focused on a single game(series) that has been absent for a while but is about to come back from the Giant Bomb East studios is VinnyVania. Including one of my favourite live shows featuring John Drake that spawned the infamous Barkerville: Simon's Quest Part 1

A great 3-Part series featuring Patrick, Vinny, Danny and Drew is Backflips 'n BioForge:

Some more random live shows:

Other than that, if you're still looking for stuff. Just start digging into old UPF or TNT shows. They are almost always great.

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lead_dispencer

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#11  Edited By lead_dispencer

just followed this. hopefully this is the go to for all great content!

thank you, sire

PS please include celebrity poker on this list. you all what im talking about! not premium but hall of fame worthy nonetheless

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Dragon_Puncher

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@nightriff:

First post as in "first post in the thread" :P And I think Demo Derby is shaping up to be a classic series with Jeff onboard, but obviously not everybody will rate GB stuff equally.

Anyway, great idea. Hopefully new members see some of the awesome old stuff that's out there.

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nightriff

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@dragon_puncher: Haha, my bad. I was confused why you thought it was my first post, makes sense now. I need to get around to the demo derby stuff, first few were good but I didnt stay. Just seeing that they are 2+ hours scares me as I think it should be limited to not much longer than an hour, just my perception.

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SaberLion

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Mario Party series made me laugh so hard, I felt my jaws pop at one point

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ArbitraryWater

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You got pretty much everything I'd recommend, though I'll also throw in the Bioforge playthrough. A Fork.

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mtfikhan

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Well done. I might be going through this list.

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FLStyle

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@nightriff:

"I could care less"

Loading Video...

Other than that, great blog!

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ilikepopcans

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#18  Edited By ilikepopcans
  • I think Drew's NK trip is top 3 in favorite videos for me personally.
  • Fortune Street TNT was indeed fantastic and better then the MP streams, which are fine but have diminishing returns.
  • For RPCG, I agree Phantasmagoria and Ripper and Swat are good ones, me liking ripper more. Other ones I like are DaggerFall, Omikron, blade runner.
  • Was not the biggest fan of the CAH stuff so i would say skip, also skip just about all the TNT's. That 3DO one is good though. Also this TNT is fantastic
  • The Running of the Lanterns was fine but I was more of a fan of Breaking Brad stuff, the best being Doom and Volgarr.
  • Matrix online was fine, SNES party was fine, Sim Golf was fine.
  • All the unplugged stuff was meh IMO.
  • Pokemon Snap was good.
  • End of the year stream huh, wonder if someone put together the links somewhere else.... cough. weird
  • Agree, flight club is meh. And Freedom fighters was good.
  • I like the MGS stuff, but I think you liking it depends if you played the games before or not.
  • Also I really really like the demo derby stuff, but that is maybe more a personal taste.
  • Also check out the game show QL's.
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nightriff

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@flstyle said:

@nightriff:

"I could care less"

Loading Video...

Other than that, great blog!

That's really funny, I have never seen that before

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FLStyle

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SchrodngrsFalco

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Thank you for this!

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poobumbutt

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This serves not just as a newbie's guide, but also as a good list of all the weird, nostalgic and/or irreplacably memorable content they've ever produced, for new and old members alike. A few on here that I never got around to watching in the first few months of subscribing and kind of forgot about; Phantasmagoria, Fortune Street, Matrix Online (what made the community so angry in the beginning?) Thanks!

I know when Persona 5 comes out, I'm probably gonna spend a good deal of my level-grinding time watching the P4 ER. For the third time.

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nightriff

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@poobumbutt: Thanks for the complement, really appreciate it.

The community of Matrix Online thought they were being disrespectful and were just there to make fun of them as the game was ending. While they were having good laughs about the game, they were really just trying to capture the MMO and give it its due which they soon realized and the community had a lot of fun fucking with them for fun rather than out of anger (the developer I believe even put a mark out for TonkaTruck so one epsiode they are dying every few minutes as people kept spawning to their location). The last 2 episodes are pretty much random shit happening to Ryan and Tonka as people are both trying to kill them and buff them up.

Enjoy Phantasmagoria, I remember when it was streaming live, one of the few times I have ever been able to watch anything live and I was just planning on having it on in the background while I did other things, but as the story started to happen the the mood went from "this is a weird old game" to "this is kinda interesting, funny, and charming" I was hooked. That is one stream where the chat along with the stream would be great to see now.

Enjoy Fortune Street, can't recommend that video enough, its one of those videos that after its been a while since I watched it I don't believe its as funny or memorable as I remember; couldn't be more wrong, still funny and relevant today.

Last year I played through all the Persona games to prepare for 5 coming out, that included watching the ER. Since I first watched it in 2012, I have watched it twice a year since.

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poobumbutt

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@nightriff: No problem, man. You're very welcome.

Also, ALL the Persona games!? Better than me. For all I tell people the Persona series is my favorite RPG series, I jumped into 2 but still couldn't get into it past the underground shelter dungeon; despite knowing I had Nazi enemy types to look forward to. Maybe I'll try again when P5 gets a release date.

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nightriff

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#25  Edited By nightriff

@poobumbutt: Alright I skipped 1 because it was virtually unplayable. I played IS, EP, FES, The Answer, watched ER, Golden, then tried Arena but couldn't get into the structure/gameplay so elected to just read what happened. I also suggest a guide for the P2 games, I was extremely late to the RPG party so older RPGs are on another difficulty level for me, its worth playing through those games for the characters and moments just like 3 and 4. I can't complement the Persona Team enough with how charming, funny, serious, sad, happy their games are. No other series comes close to covering that range of emotions, nor do they do it on a level like they do when they try.

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deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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My suggestion is the cd-i stream. The cd-i stream brought me back to the 3DO stream, and the old holiday streams playing Sega CD games. Those were fancy things full of weird, new experiences that pushed the limits of what technology was capable of, but I was a poor kid in the early 90s and I had to just enjoy my NES and occasionally a little arcade action... so streams that focus on the old systems and how BULLSHIT they are just soothe a twenty year old wound.

Apparently the cd-i stream is free..! Actually, it might have made me resub.

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@khazo said:

I'm just going to throw some of my favourite videos and shows out there

First of a great site to search and filter Quick looks and premium videos: Quick Look Crew. You can search for specific guest appearances or games or even search for highlights(for example: FMVinny, a collection of all live shows that include Vinny playing a FMV game).

If you're looking for shows that are more focused on a single game, I recommend the various Breaking Brad videos. I especially enjoyed Demon's Souls and Volgarr the Viking.

Another show that's focused on a single game(series) that has been absent for a while but is about to come back from the Giant Bomb East studios is VinnyVania. Including one of my favourite live shows featuring John Drake that spawned the infamous Barkerville: Simon's Quest Part 1

A great 3-Part series featuring Patrick, Vinny, Danny and Drew is Backflips 'n BioForge:

Some more random live shows:

Other than that, if you're still looking for stuff. Just start digging into old UPF or TNT shows. They are almost always great.

thank you for the link to quick look crew it kicks ass.

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flameboy84

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Still reminds me how despite being a subscriber for close to a year now I have a ton of stuff to still catch up on.

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mcmax3000

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#29  Edited By mcmax3000

Been a subscriber for a few years now, and I never knew about that Fortune Street video. That sounds like something I would very much enjoy watching. Going to have to start that today while I work, after I finish this WWE Network Chris Jericho podcast from last night that I've been watching today.

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gaminghooligan

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For those interested in the Persona 4 Endurance Run, but without 96 hours to spare, there are great "Best of" compilations on Youtube.

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poobumbutt

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@nightriff: Oh, man... Saying P2 is worth it for character dev - and directly comparing it to P3/4! - hits me right in the heart. You couldn't have picked a better way to sell it than saying "yo, but the character development, tho", as I'm someone who thinks characters make the story, not vice versa. Dammit. I guess I have some free time before Witcher.

I think it's a damn shame you couldn't get into Arena, though. I suppose the story mode being on baby-easy could actually be a detriment for some people (not me, I'm garbage at fighters); and obviously, you've already read a synopsis. Still, that game has my personal favorite robot-gains-a-heart story. Plus it gets pretty dark, which I almost always appreciate. The fights are obviously there as a story conveyance tool, rather than actual gameplay, however. Being a visual novel fan and a crap fighter, finding out that Arena's story was just a Persona VN with beautiful looking fights every ten minutes was the absolute best thing I could have wanted from a spin-off. But yeah, it's pretty much the definition of "not for everyone".

I couldn't agree more with your assessment of Persona's emotional range, too. The other series I would say - for me - comes close to matching it is Metal Gear. Even then, MGS4 is supposed to convey the emotion of "the bittersweet departure of a hero", and I thought P4 did that slightly differently, but better. Don't tell Dan, he'll hate me! I, ME THE PLAYER, felt like I was leaving a town with my best friends in it by the game's end, yet finally understood the theme of "it's not so sad, because we're friends, no matter how far apart we are" which everything from the first season of Digimon to Dragon Ball Z had failed to adequately convey to me.

Phew. Sorry, I feel like we've reached a tangent of a tangent of what we were originally discussing!

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ogto

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any premium content with vinny in it is most likely a solid pick, if not fantastic.

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nightriff

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@ogto: Pretty much the motto I live my life by

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Dexboost

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Thank you for this. I jumped right into the Mario Party videos to start but now I have a nice list of videos to watch afterwards. You rock!

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NateArcade

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@nightriff Great list, thank you!

One thing -- I'm watching Fortune Street TNT part 1 and it's pretty low energy, at least in the first 30 minutes. Is there a Ryan Davis-nostalgia factor in your enjoyment of this? For new members, who presumably have no experience with the GB crew, this evokes an "am I missing something?" type feeling. The guys are just kinda sitting there figuring out the game mechanics and rarely joking in earnest.

So ...am I missing something?

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nightriff

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@syncoda: Always some nostalgia but when I say its the greatest stream ever I mean it. That doesn't mean its for everyone. Personally I think the stream shines because of Vinny and Jeff, but I really enjoy the economic jokes and the general tone of the stream. A lot of the MPP streams are generally negative and dark (which works) where this one is a little more light hearted (has a lot to do with Vinny). By all means stop if you don't like it, your only 30 minutes in with another 3 hours left.

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musubi

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#37  Edited By musubi

@syncoda: Its a slow build but its worth it when the big moments happen. There are some real swings in that game and you probably won't guess who actually ends up winning it.

Also thanks for this list @nightriff I never knew the Avalon Unplugged was a thing and just watched that and it was great as well as the 4 hours of Phantasmagoria which I watched for the first time.

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ajroo

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Thanks for doing this....

Ive been a Premium member for a while but have never known what classic stuff to seek out. I cant wait to watch each and every item on this list.

Kudos sir.

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redking56

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@nightriff: P1 was virtually unplayable? Do you mean because you played the Japanese version or the terrible initial American localization?

The 2009 re-release of P1 is a way more playable game than P2 mechanically and is one of the strongest actually balanced Persona games. P2's demon card summoning is a huge grindfest, I don't mind the average RPG grind but card grinding with the "talk to demon" stuff takes it to another level (pardon the pun) and every battle pretty much devolved to using the same fusion spells over and over with no thought to enemy type.

P1 is a bit of a serious old school RPG in that it's a dungeon crawler and there aren't many comedic high school Visual Novel moments where they have a maid cafe or go to a hot spring but as far as an actual RPG game goes it's as good if not better than most of it's time and has all the Jungian psychology that a Persona game needs plus hidden characters and a bonus story mode in the Japanese and 2009 re-release.

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nightriff

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@redking56: It was the PSP version that I tried and it was just the whole thing overall that didn't work for me. The whole first person perspective thing was terrible and found the whole combat and dialogue system un-penetrable as a RPG lite person. P2 was immediately more engaging to me as I didn't have to deal with the dialogue side of things as you can use your starting Personas and upgrade them throughout the story. And a lot of what I love and adore about the Persona series is the visual novel-esque story telling, P1 (how I remember) jumps straight fucking into the story with very little to no explanation as to what was going on. P2 is a little more gradual into introducing the story.

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redking56

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@nightriff: Yeah P1 could be considered more of a "Megami Tensei" game with a lot of holdovers from that, P2 set up the series for what it is now synonymous for.

P1's plot is defiantly a lot more subtle with it unfolding slowly with no major shake ups until near the end and the only character in it is Maki with the others being cardboard cutouts with as many dimensions.

I may have been able to stomach the dungeon crawl FPS a bit better because I listened to a lot of music while playing and I could concentrate on the music more than the screensaver-esque gameplay although strangely I found them more palpable than P2s dungeons which felt way too long at times (still have flashbacks of riding a raft), the only P1 dungeon that felt too long was the Harem Queen's. I still hold that the actual battle system and demon summoning is better in P1s but understand that isn't what you're looking for in a Persona game and I do prefer how P3 handled things.

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Onemanarmyy

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The only thing i miss is the Velvet Sundown stream. That was pretty much on par or slightly better than Bot Colony IMO

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nightriff

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@onemanarmyy: I still have yet to watch those videos. I don't know what is wrong with me.

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Y2Ken

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#44  Edited By Y2Ken

I feel like I don't bring this up enough but one of my favourite Giant Bomb videos is the Burnout Paradise TNT. They make a slight tweak to the game settings before starting (specifically turning off all songs except for Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend) which makes for a video which borders on being a 1 hour 26 minute piece of performance art.

I might actually recommend watching the TNT Reanimated video that was put up on YouTube because it's fascinating to watch the chat react as they slowly begin to comprehend what was happening. As someone who had played a ton of the game, I clocked on instantly to what was going on but watching people realise over the first ten minutes or so and then all slowly, collectively lose their minds after the rest of the show is really something else.

If you don't have time for it all you should definitely jump to the 1hr09 mark onwards (around 1hr38 on Reanimated) for one of Vinny's finest moments on the entire site. That's all I'll say for now.

@nightriff said:

@onemanarmyy: I still have yet to watch those videos. I don't know what is wrong with me.

Both Velvet Sundown videos are fantastic, but the one with the full crew (which I think is just a Quick Look so it's probably free) is incredible.

I'd also join @mafolu in highly recommending Drew's NK video. It's not something you're going to watch over and over (though I've been contemplating re-watching it recently), but it's one of the most compelling videos I've ever watched on the site. The Iceland journal he did with Patrick is pretty fantastic too, and a lot shorter so should be easy to squeeze in.

I consistently have the Persona 4 Endurance Run on loop. I don't watch it all the time, but I cycle through the series slowly and when I finish it I load back up Episode 1 and go again. Been re-watching Deadly Premonition lately too, that's a fun time.

Anyway, thanks for the list! I'll definitely have to go back to some of these classics.

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shodan2020

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Thanks for making this list! I've been a subscriber ever since they've offered it and this list has really helped me track down my favorite videos too! Keep on rocking, Duder! :)

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betaband

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@nightriff Thanks for this! I went Premium late last year and have done my best to go back to the old stuff, but seems like I've missed a bunch!

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zokamoka

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All I gotta say is BioForge and "Put down the pepper grinder......."

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bceagles128

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#48  Edited By bceagles128

I have a tendency to forget what is sub only and what isn't, but I'd def recommend the Playstation Home closing stream. One of my favorite streams in a very long time.

Also, here's one that seems to get forgotten alot: The Olympic Games Olympiad from 2012. I played WAY too many terrible Olympic games growing up. They are virtually all awful, but it is NEVER not amusing to watch other people suffer through intense button mashing for hours.

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/the-olympic-games-olympiad-part-i/2300-6463/

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TwoLines

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@nightriff: Yup, the Flight Club list is up to date. It has all the "official" flight club videos. Sigh, we haven't had one for a while now. Except for that Big Live Live Show segment that is.

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Fantastic roundup! I've been a premium member for nearly a year but still found this super informative! Time to watch some stuff that's new to me instead of rewatching my favourites for the umpteenth time, heh.