Bitmob.com

We have questions. But they're not necessarily easy questions to answer.

They have answers. But do they want to give them up?

Welcome to "21 Random Qs: Getting to Know..." -- a biweekly series of interviews where the norm ("What's it like working on your game? And just how awesome is your game, by the way?") is out of the question. We have way tougher things to ask.

And just who are "they"? Game developers, executives, professional players, journalists...or just plain nice guys in the industry.

David Jaffe does not fall into the latter category. The game director, designer, and co-president of development studio Eat Sleep Play (you may better know him as the creative mind behind God of War and Twisted Metal) is one outspoken SOB.

He's not afraid to tell you that you suck -- he's even got the balls to call out the press on stuff he doesn't agree with. We know. We've been on the receiving end back in our EGM days.

Jaffe has nothing new to promote right now (Sony's not letting him talk about his upcoming PS3 projects yet), but that's OK, because "21 Random Qs" was not designed to be a promotional vehicle for anyone. Instead, we want to get to know Jaffe as a normal human being.

Who's his favorite superhero? What's the best prank he's ever pulled? And -- for you God of War fans out there -- has he ever been in a real-life three way?

Let's get to know...David Jaffe.

---

1.  Who's your favorite comic-book superhero?

David Jaffe: Spider-Man.

 

Read more >>

This is it, the debut episode of the Mobcast, a podcast that is destined to be described by iTunes commentators as "Five guys in a room? Really?" and "No 97.5 the Brodeo."

Our first show was recorded a bit over a month ago, during the Game Developers Conference, so pardon a few out-of-date references to the revolutionary telegraph machine. Aside from Dan 'Shoe' Hsu, who you'll hear on most episodes of Mobcast, special guests on Mobcast 001 include former EGM and 1UPers Mark MacDonald, Che Chou, Chris Johnston, Bryan Intihar, and Shane Bettenhausen. We also have Robert Ashley of A Life Well Wasted adding some additional commentary as the disembodied voice of God. Special thanks to Robert for handling production duties as well.

We could go into detail about the many topics this show actually covers, but we'd rather you stop reading and start listening!

Direct Download (right click save as)

Subscribe via RSS

Read more >>

We here at Bitmob know it's difficult keeping up with the fast-paced, new-post-every-second videogame blogs. So we're making it easy: Instead of sifting through dozens of posts everyday just to digest your daily dose of news, we decided to compile all the best blips and post them in one easy-to-read post. So, essentially, we're keeping busy so you can stay lazy.

News Blips:

• Duke Nukem Forever is apparently coming out, well, never. Shacknews reports the long-awaited sequel will not be released because developer 3D Realms is shutting down. Guess that's how the bubblegum pops. [Shacknews via Kotaku] Update: BBC News confirms 3D Realms is no more, thus the developer will be officially remembered for creating a 12-year case of videogame blue balls.

• Eminem fights brain-eaters on iPhone. The rapper is starring in a zombie-filled iPhone game based on his latest video. Real slim chance we'll play this one. [MTV via Joystiq]

• Piston Honda continues to combat Japanese stereotypes on the Wii. Nintendo confirmed that the bandanna-wearing boxer (now named Piston Hondo) will appear in the upcoming Punch-Out!! sequel. [Kotaku]

• Namco is hungry; registers trademark for God Eater game. Not much is known about what the game will be about, but after using our keen deductive skills, we're assuming it probably involves a god that is a, uh, eater. Yeah. [superannuation via Joystiq]

• Prototype pre-orders net you tons of trinkets. Depending on where you pre-order the upcoming open-world action game, you'll get a variety of cool stuff (art book from Gamecrazy, comic book from Amazon, and an action figure from GameStop). Or you can just buy it at Best Buy and get nothing. Your choice. [Destructoid]

Click that "Read more" button for the morning's video highlights (Bionic Commando high-fives a guy's arm off!), candy Pac-Mans, and the KU (do they call themselves that?) drumline riffing on Mega Man 2, and...more.

Read more >>

Whether you're here because of Sore Thumbs Blog, because you're a fan of our previous work on 1UP.com and Electronic Gaming Monthly, or because of a series of totally unrelated and random events...welcome! Welcome to super pre-beta Bitmob 1.0.

About Us

We're a bit "off the grid" here at Bitmob. Plenty of other sites do a great job of delivering the same news, previews, and reviews you've been used to for years. We're here to do something a little different...to offer an alternative. Instead of covering games the way we're supposed to, we'll cover them the way we want to. That means finding new angles on traditional stories, having conversations surrounding a game well after it's released, looking more behind the scenes, and exploring gaming culture in interesting new ways.

Stay tuned to Bitmob -- what you see now is only the beginning. We have many fixes and small improvements coming soon (profile pages with bios, a voting system, friending, etc.) and much, much cooler things planned for down the line once we grow big enough, so we hope you'll continue to support us as we evolve.

About You

At Bitmob, we believe in working with the community to create great content. Hell, you understand gaming just as much as we do...perhaps even more. So when you register with us and become active on the site -- whether you write a profile post or create a video show, an audio podcast with your friends, or maybe something we haven't even thought of yet -- if we like it, we'll do our best to make sure people see it.

We want Bitmob to be the best place for great content creators to build a reputation and get noticed -- by their peers, by our staff, and by the big world outside of Bitmob. Which bring us to...

How Bitmob Works

First of all, whenever you post something to Bitmob, a quick teaser of your story will go to the Mobfeed, a catchall for every update from anywhere on this site. Then, if your content grabs our attention, we'll take a closer look. If we feel your stuff is top-notch material, we'll editorially vet your post for quality control, then promote it to the front page to sit alongside our own content.

Of course, all posts (from you or from us) won't be suitable for front-page promotion -- maybe you feel like bitching about how confusing last night's episode of Lost was, for example. Don't worry...they still have a place here. Think of Bitmob as a blog network of sorts, so anyone can stop by and check out whatever it is you have to say.

So you can see why we want you to register with your real name and email address! It would sure suck if we (or some other organization) were to recognize your awesomeness and wanted to hire you for some freelance or full-time work, only to not be able to get a hold of the real you. We also hope that real names will make our users more accountable and less likely to recommend death by fire to those with differing opinions.

Submission Guidelines

We're looking for smart, funny, and insightful content that complements what we're doing on Bitmob. That's about as guideline-y as we're going to get. Explain how 15 minutes of Street Fighter 4 a day can lead to a slimmer, more youthful you, post an interesting video and add your commentary, confront your Peggle addiction, whatever.

Spell check is your friend who really likes you, and we stop reading after the first "teh" or "lol" or lower-case letter used to start off a new sentence. Offensive stuff gets deleted.

What else?

Well, we'd like to thank these few specific folks:

Rich McGrath of GameTopius (our developer)
Derrick Hopkins of Dead Pixel Live (our other developer)
Karen Chu of Chu Chu Rocketeer! and Karen Chu's Twitter (our designer)
Jeff Buczek of...himself (our CSS dude)

...and everyone else who helped us out in any and all capacities -- but seriously, that would take a few hours and a few thousand words...and we're deathly afraid of leaving someone out. So better (and easier) for us to say: Thanks everyone who helped us out in any and all capacities!

We hope you enjoy our site. Leave your constructive feedback in the comments of our posts, or send all your non-porn emails to: letters@bitmob.com. Also, please join us on Facebook and Twitter for bonus fun times.

Dan "Shoe" Hsu and Demian Linn
Co-founders, Bitmob.com

Read more >>