Help us build this GIANT BOMB... wait, that came out wrong.

Who Is Giant Bomb, Really?

From top to bottom, Giant Bomb is a collection of dudes who freakin' love video games. Our editorial team has collectively played and written about video games professionally for over 30 years, and they're not looking to quit anytime soon. I mean, what else could they do at this point, really? We're based in scenic/expensive Sausalito, CA, and we're part of that whole Whiskey Media posse, which includes a strike team of unnervingly fast and efficient engineers and business guys.

What's the Deal With Your Rating System?

Giant Bomb reviews games on a five-star scale that does not include half-stars. We feel that this benefits our reviews for a number of reasons. Five-star rating systems are a widely accepted standard outside the field of video games, from Amazon.com to The Source, and we feel that the pervasiveness of the five-star system makes it more intuitive for the reader.

It also helps avoid the hair-splitting that can occur within more granular rating systems. A score is designed to provide the most basic at-a-glance information about a game for those considering making a game purchase--it is not there to justify/attack anyone's entrenched position on the relative value of one video-game franchise, developer, publisher, or hardware manufacturer versus another. We include the full text of the review for those looking for more detail.

We do not use any algorithms to reach our final scores, relying instead on the experience of the reviewer. While fundamental issues such as graphical performance and gameplay originality will almost always be factors in determining a final score, it ultimately comes down to how worthwhile the reviewer found the whole experience to be. If that's not enough, here are some simple illustrations we think you'll find helpful:

While we don't believe any game is perfect, we recommend this game without reservation.

Still very good and easy to recommend, though it doesn't quite live up to its full potential.

The halfway point. An inherent appreciation of this game's specific gameplay style, characters, subject matter, and so on may play as big a role in your enjoyment as the actual quality of the game.

This game's problems outweigh its good qualities.

This game will make you wish you had died in a fire moments before turning it on.

How Come You Don't Review Every Single Game That Comes Out? Are You Lazy?

Well, yeah, but the point is that Giant Bomb isn't interested in the fire-hose approach to video game coverage. Our editorial team is small and experienced, and our job is to highlight the stuff that we feel is significant, either to us on a personal level, or for video games at large. That's not everything, but it's still a lot. Though, we're not real big on sports games, so don't expect too much meaningful/informed Madden coverage.

Hey Giant Bomb, How Should I Hit You Up?

If you're a video-game publisher or developer and you wanna send us awesome games for review or preview purposes, or you've got some crazy beverages that need taste-testing, our mailing address is:

Send your mail to: Giant Bomb 1001 Bridgeway, #226 Sausalito, CA 94965 Direct your community questions to: gb_community@giantbomb.com Direct your news, reviews and previews questions to: gb_edit@giantbomb.com

How Can I Contribute to Giant Bomb?

In addition to our World-Class, Best-of-Breed, Top-Shelf, AAA, Marquee Editorial Product, Giant Bomb features a massive database powered by user submissions. Those submissions are subject to an approval system that involves heavy moderation for new or anonymous users that gradually opens up more options as the user contributes quality data to the site. It's like an RPG, except instead of grinding orcs, you're contributing to a great community of like-minded enthusiasts. How seriously awesome is that?

Until a user accumulates enough points (1000) to gain the ability to make live edits to the site, that user's submissions will go through a moderation queue that is monitored by the Giant Bomb staff, as well as a team of volunteer moderators from the community. Our aim is to have new submissions moderated within 24 hours. You will receive a private message on your Giant Bomb user profile once your submission has been approved or rejected, and a history of your submissions can be accessed at anytime from within your profile.

What are points, how do I earn them?

Points are awarded to users who submit quality content to the site. Each time any of your submissions are approved, you gain points. Accumulate enough points over time and you gain access to various abilities on the site, listed below:

under 1000 points

• All submissions are sent to moderation

1000 points

• You can make live edits to existing pages without need of moderation
• Can request for new pages to be created, but those pages must still be moderated.

5000 points

• Can create new pages without need of moderation
• Can set the default image for a page (look for the ribbon icon)
• Can remove images from an object

What are the most common reasons submissions are rejected?

• Content is copied from another site (Wikipedia..etc)
• The images you upload contain watermarks from another site
• Poor grammar or spelling
• You tried to add a page we already had, and didn't bother to browse for the page if it didn't show up in search.
• You included guide or cheat level information in the main body of a page
• You included custom formatting into a page that causes the layout to break

Hey, I Noticed You're Missing [insert page], What's Up With That?

Just like the universe, Giant Bomb's database is always expanding, and while we are perpetually on the verge of cataloging man's infinite knowledge, there are always going to be some holes. Giant Bomb divides its data into a few different categories, which you should keep in mind when making your submissions.

Add a Game

A game is a collection of releases. This is a useful page for those looking for information that is applicable across multiple releases, including general wiki information, the Giant Bomb staff's own reviews, previews, news, and videos, screenshots, and more.

Add a Franchise

Franchises are collections of games with a unifying theme. This loose definition means that franchises and games need not be exclusive, and can often be nested on multiple levels. For example, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 belongs to three separate franchises—Tom Clancy, Rainbow Six, and Rainbow Six Vegas.

Add a Character

The stars of the games you play, characters must be specifically named, and must display unique personality within either the gameplay or the story of the game to merit a page. Variations on a specific character do not merit their own pages. For example, Mega Man, Mega Man X, and MegaMan.exe are all listed under a main Mega Man page.

Add a Location

Where the events of a game take place. In cases where one location encapsulates another, the association should be made to the more specific location. For example, Resident Evil 2 would be attached to the Raccoon City page, rather than the Earth page. While it's possible to have a mobile location, if its primary role is that of transportation, it should be an object.

Add an Object/Thing

Like franchises, in-game objects can be very broad or very specific, allowing for object pages as general as Sword and as defined as Master Sword. Objects include vehicles, weapons, and basically any piece of technology that lacks sentience.

Add a Concept

Concepts are the most loosely defined data type, serving as kind of a catch-all for pages and associations that don't currently fit into one of the other data types, such as a race of creatures, a specific in-game event, character abilities, and gameplay characteristics.

Add a Person

These are the names that roll after you blow up that final boss. A person must be credited in at least one game to merit a page.

Add a Company

These are the publishers and developers that put the games in your hot little hands. In the cases of publishers that have since been acquired and folded into other companies they will be credited as their most recent incarnation. Discrete development studios that exist within larger organizations will retain their identity.

How to combine, delete or re-name pages.

Often you'll find pages that need to be combined, deleted or renamed on the site. Combinations and deletes are possible but can only be handled by someone with staff or moderator privileges. You can either contact us directly or leave a note on the Delete/Combine boards that describes the problem and we'll try to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Image upload best practices

Do not submit images with watermarks! Submit high rez images under 1 meg in size whenever possible.

• Images can include box art, screenshots, concept art, fan art, and more. When uploading images, we strongly encourage users to either associate their images with an appropriate gallery, or create a new gallery when necessary.
• Avoid adding images tagged or watermarked with other sites' URLs.
• Nudity is not allowed in the message boards. Hentai or nude images are only allowed in the wiki or the wiki's gallery IF it is official art from the publisher ( So no hentai fan art in the wiki or wiki galleries ). Hentai, unofficial art and unofficial hentai are allowed on profile image galleries.

Article writing tips

Do not plagiarize content from other sites like Wikipedia. Giant Bomb is a unique resource.

Overview - Main Article

• The "deck" should contain 1-3 sentences that start with "Pagename is...". It should be historical and not topical.
• The original creator(s) should be mentioned early in the article.
• The main article should be written chronologically, with newer events at the bottom of the document. Imagine you're telling a story with a beginning, middle and end.
• All that said, long pages are fine. We're a community of video game nerds! Embrace the info overload.

Page to page relationships (friends, enemies, teams)

• All relationships cross reference. Adding Kaneda to Akira adds Akira to Kaneda as well.
• Write the description about the relationship, not the individual!
• Do not copy text from overviews. Write original content about the relationship.
• Only add significant relationships. If there is no story to tell, there is no need for the relationship to be listed.
• Characters that appear in fighting games do not automatically qualify as enemies.

What powers Giant Bomb?

Giant Bomb is powered by an in-house, structured wiki platform designed specifically for and by Whiskey Media.

The "Whiskey Powered" platform benefits from the following open source technologies:

• Django - A python based web framework.
• Postgres - Database.
• Solr - A java powered search engine based off Lucene.
• MooTools - A JavaScript framework.
• Sass - Sass makes CSS fun again.

Is there a Giant Bomb API available?

It's in the works. We plan to provide free access to a large portion of our database for non-commercial projects.