Gamebomb

Gamebomb is an American Let's Play webseries originally created and hosted by Chris Bartoldus, Jake Mackay and Matt Whelan on YouTube. The three play various video games from various consoles while doing live comedic commentary. The first episode of Gamebomb aired on January 9, 2014. On June 5, 2016, the channel announced the addition of Tony Preldakaj and Joe Gemino to the series, both of whom had been guests on the show in past episodes. On January 1, 2017, it was announced that Preldakaj would be leaving the series, but would return in the future as a guest. On June 5, 2017, in another update video, it was announced that Mackay would no longer be a member of Gamebomb, in order for him to be able to focus on other priorities.

Content
Each day, Gamebomb publishes ten-minute episodes of the hosts playing a video game while giving commentary. They often speak of their experiences with the game as well as stories about the game, and their opinions of the game. More often than not, the hosts will go on a tangent and tell stories that are not relevant to the gameplay.

The current hosts of Gamebomb are Chris Bartoldus (born December 20, 1996), Joe Gemino (born January 29, 1996), and Matt Whelan (born August 2, 1996). The three are also friends outside of the webseries.

The hosts of Gamebomb sometimes feature their friends as guests, usually playing multiplayer games with them. After Preldakaj left the series, there have been three guests: Preldakaj, Jimmy McElwain, and Jack Braun (appeared only in a live stream).

History
In mid-2013, the Gamebomb channel began as an idea inspired by another Let's Play series, Game Grumps, which Bartoldus and Whelan were both fans of. Whelan has stated that he knew how to capture game footage but did not know how to edit video, and Bartoldus knew how to edit video but did not know how to capture game footage. So in 2013 when they met through a mutual friend, Mackay, the three decided to start a Let's Play series in conjunction with their skit channel, Facebomb Productions. When the series began, the episodes were recorded in a living room with sub-par capture software and hardware. The episodes were edited by Bartoldus, who continues to edit the episodes currently. The channel was created on September 20, 2013, not long after Bartoldus, Mackay and Whelan had decided to form "Facebomb Productions" (known simply as "FACEBOMB" at the time). The channel was announced via a video titled "Super Awesome Gamebomb Announcement!", which was uploaded to Facebomb and depicts Mackay and Whelan pretending to come up with the idea of starting a Let's Play channel, followed by a voice-over by Bartoldus. On January 9, 2014, the channel uploaded their first serials: Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii, Banjo Kazooie on the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64, and Jak 3 on the Playstation 2. The channel had no episode schedule, and would upload at random.

On January 28, 2014, the channel uploaded it's first series with a guest: Mario Party 2, featuring Joe Gemino, who would eventually become a permanent member on June 6, 2016.

In May 2014, the channel received a makeover, complete with a new icon, banner, and intro. This makeover also introduced new serials: Crash Bandicoot: Warped on the Playstation, Kingdom Hearts II on the Playstation 2, Pokémon Stadium 2 on the Nintendo 64 (again featuring Gemino as a guest), and their first modern console serial: Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U. Gamebomb went on hiatus from September 2014 to January 2015 due to Bartoldus, Mackay, and Whelan working on the pilot of their webseries, Jersey Coast, as well as Whelan attending his first year of college. During this period, only a few episodes were uploaded to the channel. Gamebomb episodes continued to be uploaded sporadically during the spring and summer of 2015. In October of 2015, Gamebomb uploaded serials of Whelan and his friends from college: Slightly, Andrew, Justin and "Other" Chris. These serials included Cloudberry Kingdom, Shovel Knight, Undertale, and Elmo's Number Journey. These episodes were edited by Bartoldus, but did not feature him or Mackay providing commentary in any of the episodes. During this period, Gamebomb also released "Best of Gamebomb: 2014", a compilation of all of the episodes that were recorded in 2015.

In December 2015, Gamebomb uploaded three episodes of New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U, featuring Gemino as well as a new guest, Tony Preldakaj. Following these episodes, Gamebomb went on a second hiatus due to all three of its members attending college. On June 6, 2016, after over six months with no new content, a video was uploaded to the channel titled "GAMEBOMB UPDATES!!! NEW PEOPLE!!!". This video depicted Bartoldus, Mackay, and Whelan announcing the addition of Gemino and Preldakaj as members of Gamebomb, as well as the prospect of becoming more consistent on both Gamebomb and Facebomb Productions. The description of the video states their new upload schedule: every day at 2pm eastern-standard time, and Tuesdays and Fridays at 2pm and 5pm eastern-standard time. This is the first time that Gamebomb has announced an upload schedule. This announcement accompanied the redesign of the channels logo, the addition of Gemino and Preldakaj's faces in the intro and icon, and eight new series. This also introduced a new type of video: the "Best of Gamebomb" compilations. On January 1, 2017, Gamebomb uploaded a video titled "A Gamebomb Update! And a farewell...", where Bartoldus, Mackay, Gemino, and Whelan expressed thanks to their viewers and announced a more consistent future in regards to uploding episodes. They also announced another redesign of the channel, removing all video game characters from the intro and logo, remaking the intro, and updating their headshots. They also announced that Preldakaj would be leaving the series to attend school in Florida, but has since returned as a recurring guest. On February 9, 2016, Gamebomb uploaded a video called "300 SUBSCRIBERS! & TWO VIDEOS A DAY!", in which Bartoldus thanked their subscribers for watching and announced that Gamebomb would be uploading two videos a day, with three videos on Tuesdays and Fridays.

On June 6, 2017, exactly a year after the channel had relaunched, Gamebomb upleaded another announcement titled "GAMEBOMB UPDATE: JUNE 2017". In this video, they yet again thanked their fans for the support, and announced they would be starting a Twitch channel. They stated they would start streaming on YouTube and Twitch, albeit with no set schedule. They accredited their recent subscriber boost to a video posted on a channel called GameGrumps Compilations, titled "Best of Gamebomb 2016 -Let's Play Spotlight". This announcement also came with the news that Mackay would be leaving the channel, due to other responsibilities outside of ''Gamebomb. This ended two long running series: Super Mario 64, and Jak 3''. Jak 3 still holds the record for most episodes in a series: 46.undefined This is the first announcement to be uploaded along with a blooper reel.

In September of 2017 Gamebomb started uploading episodes of "GAMEBOMB LIVE", where they livestream a game to their YouTube and Twitch simultaneously.

Style
Each episode begins with the Gamebomb intro, which shows the channel's members and the channel's logo accompanied by a song composed and produced by Bartoldus. After the last beat of the song, the Gambomb logo is shown and the gameplay footage fades in. The players usually tell stories or jokes which can vary from lighthearted humor to dark humor, and some jokes are even censored if the hosts deem it necessary. While recording, the players often ask Bartoldus to add extra edits during the post-production process of the episodes. Towards the end of the episode, a "Subscribe" button appears, along with links to the next and previous episodes within that series. A suggested video also appears, under the title "Watch This Too", as well as links to their social media accounts and Patreon account.

The episodes are usually no more than 12 minutes long unless deemed necessary by the players or dubbed a "single". However, there are only six singles to date. Each series varies players, meaning any given episode can feature any combination of members. Gamebomb has never uploaded an episode featuring only a single member.

The members of Gamebomb have stated that their comedic and stylistic influences include: Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson, Jon "JonTron" Jafari, Will Stamper, Chris "OneyNG" O'Neill, Cory "Spazkidin3D" Beck, Zach "psychicpebbles" Hadel, and Ethan "h3h3productions" Klein. Gamebomb's format is also influenced by the Game Grumps,undefined OneyPlays, and Continue?.

Facebomb Productions
Facebomb Productions is the skit channel associated with Gamebomb and includes Bartoldus, Mackay, and Whelan who edit, write, and direct skits, shorts, and other film content. They are perhaps most well known for the pilot of their would-be webseries, Jersey Coast. The channel has been inactive for over nine months.

Grezz
Grezz is Bartoldus' music alias as well as his YouTube channel where he uploads electronic music that he produces. The channel has been inactive for a few months, but in 2017, Bartoldus released a mashup on a new channel under his own name.undefined

Freebomb
Freebomb is the vlog channel associated with both Gamebomb and Facebomb Productions. It contains many behind the scenes videos as well as videos containing the members of Gamebomb and their friends. It has been inactive for over nine months.

Phase 1
Phase 1 lasted from Gamebomb 's first upload, on January 9, 2014, to May 7, 2014. It had a total of 49 videos, and started 6 series'. Many of the episodes have intermittent red flashing lights, due to a frame rate error while editing.

Phase 2
Phase 2 was characterized by an updated intro, banner, thumbnails, face pictures, as well as new serials. It lasted from May 8, 2015 to June 5, 2016. This phase spanned multiple hiatuses and breaks due to filming for Facebomb Productions, and the members attending different schools. Phase 2 had a total of 44 videos, and started 9 series': 43 episodes and 1 single. Most of the episodes incorporated friends of Whelan as guests due to Whelan attending college far away from both Bartoldus and Mackay. The New Super Mario Bros. U episodes marked Preldakaj's first appearance on the channel.

Phase 3
Phase 3 was characterized by the new daily upload schedule, updated icon and intro, and the addition of Tony Preldakaj and Joe Gemino as members of Gamebomb. This was revealed via an announcement video posted on Gamebomb on June 5, 2016. Bartoldus has stated that the idea to add Preldakaj and Gemino to the roster of members came from his and Mackay's idea to bring back the series from it's six-month hiatus since December of 2015. Due to a new daily upload schedule, Gamebomb tripled the amount of videos on the channel since the end of phase 2. Phase 3 started 26 series' and had a total of 234 videos: 231 episodes and 3 singles.

Phase 4
The beginning of Phase 4 was characterized by the redesign of the logo and intro, updated pictures, and the departure of Preldakaj as a host on Gamebomb. This was explained on an announcement video posted on Gamebomb on January 1, 2017. It is the current phase of Gamebomb. Due to a new daily upload schedule, Gamebomb has exponentially increased the amount of videos they have posted. Phase 4 currently has a total of 416 videos and has started 29 series.

GAMEBOMB LIVE
GAMEBOMB LIVE is a series of livestreams streamed to YouTube and uploaded to Gamebomb 's channel. [Video statistics updated 2/22/18]