Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the best community-created offerings from the last week. This coming week the site will be a little short staffed due to Danny and Jeff being on vacation. Danny will be in Ireland whereas Jeff will be moving to his new home. That said, Danny is planning to air this week's new Guilty Pleasure episode featuring none other than Matthew Rorie!
Speaking of premium content providers, Two Minutes To Late published a new episode of Albummer about Danzig sings Elvis, but also, they recently collaborated with the Cancer Research Institute! Click the link to see how you can help support their charity effort as well as enjoy some of the metal covers they have made for CRI! Additional premium content on the site includes:
- VoidBurger's Hot Takeouts: The Mario Bros. Movie Should Be Canon [Episode #1 is Free For Everyone]
- Bak 2 Skool 01: Electricity [Episode #1 is Free For Everyone]
- GrubbSnax Ep. 07: New Call of Duty, Crunchyroll Deal, and the Pizza Police [Full Episode Only Available For Premium Subscribers]
- The Very Online Show 02: The Emoji Illuminati [Full Episode Only Available For Premium Subscribers]
To double back to the Rorie and Jeff B., the two of them tested Discord Stages on the Official Giant Bomb Discord! There were a handful of hiccups and technical issues, but overall it was a fun attempt to have the staff interact with the greater Giant Bomb community. If you are interested in participating in future sessions, here's a link to the Giant Bomb Discord.
With all of that in mind, let's jump into the good stuff!
Galleria
Giant Bomb Presents: Bak to the Future (By: @Howling_techie)
A lot of Giant Bomb users have pointed out the growing presence of Jeff Bakalar on the site and with their new series with Dan, Howling_techie decided to whip up some Jeff B. fanart!
Honey Bucket x Giant Bomb Logo (By: @Psykus0)
For reasons I am still not entirely clear on, the Honey Bucket themed Giant Bomb fanart is still coming in! First, we have Psykus0 on Twitter making a new logo for Giant Bomb themed to Honey Bucket's color scheme.
Honey Bucket Tribute (By: skullmillione)
But the Honey Bucket fan art doesn't stop there! skullmillione also had a go at making a fitting tribute to everyone's favorite Summer-time Giant Bomb meme.
Videos
HUGE UPDATE! I'm Making A Show For GIANT BOMB!! (By: @voidburger)
VoidBurger made an official announcement/update video on their new series on Giant Bomb and in it explains what they hope to accomplish and how they plan to reach out to the Giant Bomb Community. Give it a read if you are still on the fence about their plans!
Tweets
Too many great new @giantbomb shows to keep track of but the latest one, Bak 2 Skool with @jeffbakalar and @DanRyckert, has one hell of a first episode. #GiantBomb pic.twitter.com/7ZkNs9IY7H
— Digital Logjam (@DigitalLogjam) August 13, 2021
shouts out to the @giantbomb subreddit pic.twitter.com/i3NbUqbxy8
— jeremy (@jeremythunder) August 9, 2021
12 years ago, we did a 48 hour marathon set of segments on QVC for The Beatles @RockBand (and met Joan Rivers!)
— johntdrake (@johntdrake) August 9, 2021
It was easily one of the weirdest 2-3 days of my life. This video documents the descent into madness. https://t.co/H2ypao0F8R
cc @aarontrites @MrPope @alex_navarro
The Only Way to watch The Very Online Show at @giantbomb with @tamoorh @lucyjamesgames and @jeffbakalar pic.twitter.com/BXIVDVu19h
— 16_philo (@16_philo) August 13, 2021
pitching this new giant bomb show pic.twitter.com/qOnuJZcWid
— skull (@skullmillione) August 13, 2021
It's tough to explain just how much hard work @_janjerome has put into Bak 2 Skool, The Very Online Show, Armed & Rangerous.. the list goes on. Not to mention Bombcast and UPF. He's the glue making sure we all look good and none of this happens without him. Thank you Jan!
— Jeff Bakalar (@jeffbakalar) August 14, 2021
That'd be cool, to blow up the moon!
— Giant Bomb Out of Context (@giantbomb_ooc) August 12, 2021
- Jan Ochoa, 2020
Blogs
Disgaea 6, And Why It's Both Great And Mediocre (By: @sparky_buzzsaw)
sparky_buzzsaw is one of the biggest Disgaea fans you will meet on the internet and they share on Giant Bomb why Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is a good entry point for newcomers, but a disappointment for long-time fans.
Timely, Positively Timely: Scarlet Nexus Impression (By: @infantpipoc)
infantpipoc has played a good amount of Scarlet Nexus over the past few weeks and they share the good and bad of their time in the game, with detailed impressions of the gameplay and story, on their latest blog!
Cris Tales: Time Well Spent? (By: @jeremyf)
jeremyf recent completed Cris Tales and pens on the site why they are struggling to view their experience with the game as "time well spent." Why is a charming indie game so hard to justify? Click the link above to find out!
Indie Game of the Week 232: Another Perspective +
To Live and (Mostly) Die in the Underrail (By: @mento)
First, Mento has a new episode of their "Indie Game of the Week" series on Giant Bomb and this episode is all about Another Perspective. Use the link below to read why they were only partially impressed by the perspective altering game. They also made one of the most exhaustive looks at all of the enemy types in Underrail you will see or read on the internet. If the game has been kicking your ass, this is the blog for you.
A Better Difficulty III: Hitman (By: @gamer_152)
Forza Motorsport and Hitman are very different video games, but many of the same design principles appear in both. Here is the last part of Gamer_152's series on games that grow our skills.
Discussion Threads
Axiom Verge 2 Discussion Thread (By: @glots)
The release of Axiom Verge 2 caught most people by surprise, but have you checked out the game yet? Share your impressions of what you have played of it thus far with the rest of the Giant Bomb community!
Will 'Steam Decks' 2022 Fare Any Better Than 'Steam Machine' 2015? (By: @monkeyking1969)
A lot of community members are confident that the Steam Deck will pan out better than the Steam Machine. Which leads to the question of "Why?" Share your two cents with the rest of the community using the link below!
How Will People Judge Graphics When They All Become Photorealistic In Around 2030-2040? (By: @topcyclist)
With new tech around the horizon, be it new platforms, marketplaces, or graphics cards, do you feel like there is a growing move towards photorealistic video game graphics?
Sounds Like Diablo II Remastered Is Losing Local Connections (By: @rorie)
The current rumor going on about Diablo II: Resurrected is that if you have someone over at your house you will not be able to make a direct local connection with them. What's your reaction to this news?
Do You Prefer "Button-only" Or Motion Controls In Skyward Sword HD? (By: @sweetz)
The game has been out for a while, but do you prefer "button-only" or motion controls in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD? Which control scheme do you find to be the most comfortable on the Switch?
What Are Your Favorite Japanese Shows (Game Related Or Not) (By: @tempa777)
Here's a fun discussion thread on the Giant Bomb forums: what are some of your favorite live-action Japanese television shows? They can be gaming or non-gaming!
What Was Your First BAD Videogame That You Bought After Looking Forward To Playing It? (By: @topcyclist)
Here's an interesting topic on the Giant Bomb forums: what's the first game you bought with your own money that was truly bad? We all have plenty of games that we asked our parents to buy that turned out to be trash, but what was the first game to burn you after you hade bought the hype?
Would You Love To See A New Installment Of The Burnout Franchise For Next-gen Consoles? (By: @gtxforza)
If you were in charge of a Burnout series reboot, how would you approach it? Would the game go back to Burnout 3 and Takedown or return to the open-world format of Paradise?
Lists
PSP Collection (By: @zeldinho)
Zeldinho dusted off their OG PSP recently and annotates on this list the games they have enjoyed re-playing the most as well as the games they want to get back to when they have more time. If you are looking for PSP suggestions, this is a treat.
User Reviews
- @riostarwind returns to reviewing games on the site with a review of Omno from StudioInkyFox! Use the link to read why they really enjoyed getting lost in the game's world.
- @yyninja uses their review of 2016's The Turing Test to give it credit for punching above its weight class, but also condemns the game for being "painfully derivative."
- @yyninja also shares how they avoided Little Nightmares until now and discusses why they fell in love with the game despite an unmistakable feeling of déjà vu.
- @infantpipoc's Mass Effect: Legendary Edition review discusses why the remaster made them better appreciate the overall ambition that guided the Mass Effect trilogy.
- @greenmonstah briefly reviewed The Forgotten City on the site. If you have never heard of the game, give their review a shot.
- @grumbel's retro review of Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the SNES shares why they think the charm of the game still holds up, but not its gameplay.