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 and review the best community creations from the previous week.
First, Niki Grayson has been hired to work on the site as an on-screen personality and will be in charge of the site's social media accounts. You may recall Niki being present on the Not-E3 couch last month. Or, you may know them as the person who set all the prices in the Fanbyte store to zero. Feel free to welcome them to the team if you have not done so already.
Second, after promising to do so, I finally got around to making a new guide on what you should do if Giant Bomb Infinite breaks or becomes unresponsive. The important thing here is that if Infinite even goes offline on the weekend, you have options on how to get it back up and running!
The Giant Bomb Store just launched new Jeff Grubb themed hot dog merch on the store! Just in time for National Hot Dog Day! Here's what the new t-shirt design looks like in Bondi Blue!
If you are not in the mood for t-shirts, then consider buying the new stickers that use this design! For $6 plus shipping and handling, you get TWO AMAZING hot dog themed stickers! These designs, including the t-shirts, are by 1upVSCPU!
Finally, if you enjoyed watching Dan and Jake Dekker going to Belgium to check out Baldur's Gate 3, then you should be aware that there's more of that content on our sister site, GameSpot. In fact, there are three additional videos for you to enjoy and here they are:
Finally, the site's store partner is saying that virtually everyone that ordered an Assemble! t-shirt during its first week of availability has been fulfilled or is on route to be delivered. If you do not get your shirt within the next week, send an email to support@giantbomb.com. Also, the shirts sure look nice!
Tweets
For you perfect loop perverts. pic.twitter.com/3BNmlvkHrY
— Kone (@KoneBomb) July 20, 2023
“To the Grubb cave!”@JeffGrubb @giantbomb @Tolkoto @DanRyckert
— "It is I, Jearum!" 🇵🇭 (@jea_rum) July 17, 2023
(Yes. I’m doing the whole intro mashup so stay tuned.) pic.twitter.com/AqtbtD0XGE
“Gotta go phast!”@giantbomb @DanRyckert @JeffGrubb @Tolkoto #blightclub pic.twitter.com/OKC9KtvwED
— "It is I, Jearum!" 🇵🇭 (@jea_rum) July 18, 2023
In love with my new @giantbomb tee; I’m no artist but may I suggest a ‘BatGrubb vs Robomitch” follow up design @JeffGrubb @Tolkoto pic.twitter.com/sfx3iklJkX
— MrMat (@MrMat) July 21, 2023
The hottest in Summer 2023 fashion is here! My hot dog designs are on the @GiantBomb store now. They have @DanRyckert and @JeffGrubb's faces on them and a bunch of hot dogs. 🌭🤣
— 🎃 Al 🎮 (@1upVSCPU) July 19, 2023
stickers - https://t.co/C4Amva8Jru
shirt - https://t.co/TBsLeOxngw pic.twitter.com/v1NIfJcgXb
— Giant Bomb Out of Context (@GBombOOC) July 18, 2023
Activities
Ravenlok Is The 15th Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC! Finish By July 31, 2023! Mark All Spoilers! +
Dordogne Is The 14th Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC! Finish By July 17, 2023! Spoilers OPEN! (By: @bigsocrates)
Ravenlok by developer Cococucumber is the 15th selection of Year 2 of the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club! If you have any non-spoiler gameplay impressions of the game, feel free to share them in the first thread linked above!
Additionally, the site has opened its discussion of Dordogne to SPOILERS! If you have any thoughts about the game's twists and turns, feel free to share them!
The GB Album Club Presents... What's Your Favorite Album That You've Listened To This Year? (By: @unclejam23)
The Giant Bomb community Album of the Week Club welcomes you to share your favorite tunes and tracks in 2023! Whether it be an oldie or a new release, feel free to share the albums with the summer bops you've enjoyed the most!
Art
Battgrubb Meets A Giant Bomb (By: @buzz_clik)
buzz_clik is back and he's inspired by the latest Blight Club with Jeff Grubb and Batman: Dark Tomorrow. He's decided to throw things back to the best Batman movie ever made.
Blight Club, Assemble! Sonic & RoboMitch (By: @jearum)
If you check out some of their Tweets, jearum seems to be planning a Blight Club themed animation and here are a few hints on what to expect with the finished product.
Blogs
The Famicom at 40 - Pioneering the Digital Frontier (By: @pauljeremiah)
The Famicom turned 40 this week and pauljeremiah penned an incredibly compelling primer on why the console is incredibly important to the industry and how its impact is still felt today.
Street Fighter 6’s World Tour Mode Is Actually Pretty Neat (By: @purpleshyguy)
PurpleShyGuy has been playing Street Fighter 6 for a while now and is here to share why they continue to be enamored by the game's World Tour mode. What sorts of crazy hijinks have they got into? Read all about it over here.
Right Hook: Melee Attacks In Halo Infinite (By: @gamer_152)
When should you use your melee attack in Halo Infinite? It sounds like an easy question to answer. It's not and you can read moderator Gamer_152's latest blog to learn all about the nuances and possible scenarios.
Pendulo's Alfred Hitchcock – Vertigo Is Possibly The Most Bizarre And Offensive Modern Failure I Have Played In Years (By: @zombiepie)
Moderator ZombiePie returns to pen a massive essay about Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo and why it might stand as one of the most bizarre and offensive modern video game failures they have played in years.
Mega Archive CD: Part VI: From Batman Returns to Mega Schwarzschild +
Indie Game of the Week 329: Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders (By: @mento)
Oh, will you look at that. Prolific blogger and site moderator Mento is joining Grubb in partaking in Batman video games, but they played the highly questionable Sega CD Batman Returns game.
Mento also has a new edition of their "Indie Game of the Week" feature, and this one is all about Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders! Are you interested in playing a point-and-click adventure game where you play as Di Renjie?
Gunner Witches From Other Dimensions Part 1 of 3 An “Invitation” To Dan Ryckert (By: @infantpipoc)
You hankering for some classic anime content on Giant Bomb? Well, infantpipoc decided to get into the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha movie series and you can join them in their conversation about the first film by clicking the link.
My Mini-Saga To Redeem My "Free" Digital Copy Of Twisted Metal 2 (A Game I Do Not Like) On PSN. (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates reviewed the catalogue of games that would have graced the Intellivision Amico, and explains why they are thoroughly convinced that the console was a scam from the very beginning.
Secondly, bigsocrates had a coupon to redeem a "free" digital copy of Twisted Metal 2 on PSN and they documented the saga they had to endure just to get it. If you have ever had the pleasure of exploring the PSN for classic games, this is a read for you!
Moosey's Return to Hyrule: Part 2. (By: @mooseymcman)
Part two of MooseyMcMan's thorough look at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is up and you can use the link above to read their mid to end-game impressions with its level design and mechanics!
Even After Tom Clancy's Death, Ubisoft Can't Leave His Name Alone (By: @sbc515)
sbc515 fully admits that this "war" was lost years ago, but they still can't help but wonder what Ubisoft gets out of the Tom Clancy label when Tom Clancy games no longer have an identity. Whether you agree or disagree, respond in their blog.
Discussion Threads
Welcome Niki Grayson To The Giant Bomb Team! (By: @zombiepie)
We have a thread on the site officially welcoming Niki Grayson to the Giant Bomb team! If you haven't done so already, drop a congratulatory comment in the following thread!
Should There Be An Option To Skip Or Use A Save File In The Middle Of The Game So You Can Skip Cutscenes? (By: @topcyclist)
How do you react to games that don't allow you to skip cutscenes? What about JRPGs or Souls-like which can force you to rewatch stuff thanks to tough boss battles? Does it get old with repeat playthroughs?
Xbox Live Gold Is Now Confirmed As Becoming Game Pass Core And Losing Games With Gold (By: @bigsocrates)
Xbox Live Gold is now Game Pass Core! What is your impression of the news? To many, it seems like a change that has been years in the works, but does that take away the sting of losing Games with Gold?
Newest Borderlands Thing Will Be Called "Borderlands EchoVision Live" And Is A Bandersnatch Clone But With Democracy (By: @zombiepie)
The next Borderlands thing is going to be a streaming series with viewers/players voting on what they want to see happen next. Is this intriguing enough to get you to care about the Borderlands movie?
Your Thoughts Between The Crew Motorfest And Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown? (As Of July 21st, 2023)(By: @gtxforza)
It's time for an update in the world of racing games from GTxForza! There have been delays and new trailers and you can learn everything there is to know about The Crew Motorfest and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown!
Sony Agrees To 10-Year Call of Duty Deal With Microsoft (By: @pauljeremiah)
Sony has agreed to a 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft! Does this mean this saga is finally over? Do you think it is going to be weird to see Microsoft become Sony's largest third-party game publisher?
Assassin's Creed Mirage To Have A $500 Special Edition That Includes A Vibrating Haptic Gaming Suit (By: @zombiepie)
Who's excited for the release of Assassin's Creed Mirage? How many of you are excited for Mirage enough to consider buying the $500 version that comes with a vibrating haptic suit? Read all about it!
Lists
Great Movie, Bad Game (By: @captainofthestars)
The edition of Blight Club for Batman: Dark Tomorrow inspired captainofthestars to think about the worst movie-to-game tie-ins they have ever played. Here's the list they have made, and think about which games would be on yours!
User Reviews
@pauljeremiah's Ikaruga, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, and Hotline Miami reviews are all worth reading on the site, but obviously I recommend his review of MGS 3 which is part of their weekly coverage of the series.
@yyninja's ROBOTICS;NOTES ELITE review brings some visual novel love to the site! Robotics;Notes is often presented as a seminal work in the genre, but yyninja shares why a few hiccups prevent it from achieving the heights of its predecessor.
@infantpipoc's Dave the Diver review relays why it is the summer game obsession that mostly warrants the buzz, except when it gets a little too extra for its own good. Read to find what they mean.
@sbc515's bad game reviews on continue with a look at 007: Racing! Remember when the 007-themed video games were coming out so regularly that this was a thing that happened? Click the link below to see how it shaped up.
Wiki Of The Week
This is not a targeted attack against Jeff Grubb, but this week's Wiki Page of the Week is the character page for Batman! If you want to read about the many different depictions of the character over the years, give it a read!