The Community Spotlight 2023.07.15

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 creations from the previous week.

BOY is there a lot to appreciate this time around. I have to caution a lot of you that this edition of the Spotlight is going to be short on commentary from me as I have COVID. Obviously, I'm still alive but writing the Spotlight this week was a slight challenge.

The first thing you should note in case you missed it is that Dan and Tamoor went to Belgium to check out Baldur's Gate 3! There will be three videos about this trip across Giant Bomb and GameSpot and the first one is already on GameSpot!

Speaking of GameSpot, our sister site's main podcast, GameSpot After Dark, celebrated its 200th episode! Even if you don't listen to it as part of your regular podcast rotation, give it shot because it features a bunch of GameSpot staff and everyone getting nostalgic about the GameSpot of yesteryear.

For those of you that ordered the new t-shirt and sweatshirt design the first week, they were made available, you should be getting your orders SOON, but many have already gotten theirs! Remember, if you don't get your shirt after one to two weeks, send an email to support@giantbomb.com. You can also still buy the new t-shirt design as well as the sweatshirt version.

Finally, once I recover from COVID, I plan to finally pilot the GB DudersFeed, the Community Twitter account promoting many of the works promoted in the Spotlight, on cohost and Tumblr. I'll likely have some links next week.

Tweets

Activities

Dordogne Is The 14th Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC! Finish By July 17, 2023! Mark All Spoilers!

Dordogne is the 14th selection of Year 2 of the Community Game Pass Game Club! If you have any early non-spoiler impressions of this narrative adventure game, feel free to share them.

Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Voting Thread For Cycle Starting July 17, 2023 (By: @bigsocrates)

Also, learn how you can suggest future picks! However, the more exciting news is that it is time to vote for the next game for the Game Pass Game Club!

Art

Battgrubb The Animated Series (By: @1upVSCPU)

Honestly, I have no words. This logo is amazing and it reminds me of childhood Summers of waiting to watch the next episodes of Batman The Animated series.

RV3: Robomitch vs. Batgrubb + Batgrubb's Call Signal (By: @ogto_rt)

Who do you think would win in a fight? I think this has potential for a skit during the next Bombathon! ogto_rt imagined such a fight AND what the call signal would be for Batgrubb if he attempted to fight "crime."

LEGO Giant Bomb Cinematic Universe +

RoboMitch's Feet Was One Month Ago (By: @kone)

Kone continues with the AMAZING LEGO-based mockups of the current Giant Bomb staff AND reminds us that it has been one month since we saw RoboMitch picking away at his feet flakes.

RoboMitch, Phil Spencer, and Matt Booty +

RoboMitch vs. the FTC +

BatGrubb Joins Homelander's Team (By: @AntiMacro)

Over on Twitter, AntiMacro was on a BENDER in terms of photoshopping RoboMitch and BatGrubb into images, including the Congressional hearings grilling FTC Chair Lina Khan. But that photoshop with The Boys heroes has to be their best work.

Gallery

Lies of G (By: @CreakyLegs)

ONCE AGAIN, the internet interpreted Mike and Grubb shooting the shit as factual evidence and started reporting their casual conversations about the rumored Final Fantasy IX remake/remaster as law. As a jest, CreakyLegs made this photoshop using Lies of P.

Blight Club The Comic: RoboMitch vs. BatGrubb (By: @Nekrowmancer)

An earlier artistic work imagined a fight between RoboMitch and BatGrubb, but what if their fight got its own comic book series?

Dan As Shao Khan (By: @SmashNcrab)

Inspired by the BatGrubb art, SmashNcrab decided to think of a sculpted body Dan could try to emulate, and they went with Shao Kahn.

Blogs

What's the Greatest Video Game: Mario Golf (N64) (By: @imunbeatable80)

Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64 is the topic of imunbeatable80's latest "What's the Greatest Video Game" post on Giant Bomb! Is this a classic golf game you should consider playing in 2023? Read to find out if its links are worth hitting!

Game OVA Season 2: Episode 1 - Devil Hunter Yohko + Indie Game of the Week 328: Sable (By: @mento)

It's time for the return of moderator Mento's Game OVA series! In this series, they look at the anime/OVA-to-video game pipeline during the Japanese Bubble Economy. This week they tackled Devil Hunter Yohko/Mamono Hunter Youko!

Also, Mento played Sable for their latest "Indie Game of the Week" and rundown if the game's technical issues have gotten better.

I (Mostly) Enjoyed Final Fantasy XVI But I Am Definitely On Team "It Does Not Feel Like Mainline Final Fantasy" (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates finished Final Fantasy XVI recently. While they enjoyed the game, bigsocrates has joined those who say that it doesn't feel like a "real" Final Fantasy game.

Moosey's Return to Hyrule: Part 1 (By: @mooseymcman)

MooseyMcMan is starting a new series wherein they pen essays about their time with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, experiences with its mechanics, and the fun customization systems they have played around wit their version of Link. Here's part one!

My Top 15 Favorite Fighting Games Of All Time (2023 Update) (By: @stratogustav)

stratogustav has been impressed by the launch of Street Fighter 6 so much they decided to re-assess their top fifteen fighting game list. Read which games did and did not make the cut.

Discussion Threads

FTC's Injunction Is Rejected; Microsoft Moves To Buy Activision Blizzard (By: @zombiepie)

The FTC's preliminary injunction has been rejected by a federal judge in California and the CMA is reopening negotiations related to Microsoft's proposed purchase of Activision Blizzard. What is your reaction?

Microsoft And Call Of Duty... Am I Missing Something? (By: @topcyclist)

Do you put as much weight in the market dominance of Call of Duty that Sony and the FTC did when supporting blocking Microsoft's purchase of Call of Duty? Is the market different enough that it is not a monolith?

Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, Is Leaving Microsoft After 20 Years (By: @zombiepie)

In news almost no one saw coming, Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) has announced he is leaving Microsoft. To thank him for the many years of providing Xbox news, community-oriented events, and customer outreach, share your favorite memories of him!

Your Speculation On PS5 And Xbox Series X's Slim & Upgraded Variation? (By: @gtxforza)

There's been a lot of rumblings about the PS5 and Xbox Series X's slim and/or upgraded variations. What do you think are realistic expectations for both consoles in the next two to three years?

Do You Hate Well Received Games? (By: @topcyclist)

When does the universal love for a game start to rub you the wrong way? Have there been any well received games that you felt like you were on the opposite end of the spectrum? Vote and discuss this matter in the above thread!

Lists

Fallout Games Ranked (By: @fromspace)

As one of their first lists on the site, fromspace decided to rank all of the Fallout games they have played from best to worst. If you feel like you are up for a similar challenge with this series or another, feel free to make your own list and keep me posted.

User Reviews

@thugg1280's Mortal Kombat II and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic review put two games from their childhood to the test to see how well they have faired against Father Time.

@pauljeremiah's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Gris reviews are both eloquently written and worth checking out, but his review of MGS2 is a must-read as it goes into why it was and still is such a revolutionary video game sequel.

@sbc515's bad game review roundup continues with the N64 port of John Romero's Daikatana, Night Trap, and Back to the Future Part III. Now, I know what you are about to say with their inclusion of Daikatana, but remember, this is the N64 port, which is notoriously scuffed.

Editor's Note from Marino: The Game Boy Color version of Daikatana is the only one that's half-way decent.

Wiki Of The Week

Larry Hryb

This was another easy one. With Larry Hryb a.k.a. Major Nelson leaving Microsoft and possibly gaming in general, it seems appropriate to highlight our wiki page for the man which documents his long and storied history working with the Xbox brand.