Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host as we look back at the best from the community. This week, we have a lot to review in terms of staff and site news, so let's jump right into it!
Calvinball just published a moderate update to the Giant Bomb QoL app. For those that do not know, this app provides an assortment of quality-of-life improvements you can read about in the thread linked above.
Mike Minotti was a guest on a MinnMax Trivia Tower wherein the winner got $1000 and it was a fun time. But, be warned. Mike was in his peak form. Click the link if you are interested in watching the archive if you missed it live.
Speaking of fun things the staff are doing elsewhere, Evil Uno announced that Mystery Wrestling 4 is LIVE on October 22nd and his guest on that date will be Dan! This is a live, in-person event at Centre Aydelu in Gatineau, Quebec. You can buy tickets over here!
Fandom's Senior Producer, Emma Fyffe has been on the site this week and that will continue into the future as well. You can catch a new video essay that she posted on GameSpot to get her style and gaming mindset. While it might be a shock to see new faces leading podcasts and Quick Looks, the Giant Bomb Moderation team expects civility and respect to all staff and guests that exist in any editorial or video content. Constructive criticism is certainly appreciated, but always keep it civil.
Finally, here's an incredibly exhaustive update from Bakalar about the issues with the Premium podcast feeds still giving people podcasts with ads from the Giant Bomb Discord! Currently, GMM Premium should be fixed. You must be logged into the site in a Premium environment to grab the RSS feed on any GMM published show page with "Premium Audio" selected. As mentioned last week, any reports of issues will be Tier-2 Priority (highest priority without alerting everyone in Fandom). If any premium feed is sending you podcasts with ads, you have three choices on how to report the issue:
- Go to the Giant Bomb Discord and drop a comment in "site-tech-issues" but please ping @dtoast.
- Go to the Bug Reporting Boards on the site and file a report (still ping dtoast)
- Use Zendesk: https://giantbombhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
Tweets
Working on a little @giantbomb fan art to practice my modeling skills. Will post the final results this weekend! pic.twitter.com/xCNC6kyMIO
— Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken) September 22, 2023
— Giant Bomb Out of Context (@GBombOOC) September 21, 2023
Big @lucy pic.twitter.com/SjYjmzaNJ0
— ogto (@ogto_rt) September 20, 2023
Can you guess the game based on its Steam tags?
— MinnMax (@MinnMaxShow) September 20, 2023
Check out the new episode of Trivia Tower with guest cohost @Tolkoto from @giantbomb and @GamesBeat! https://t.co/jGHcfdWTUy pic.twitter.com/CwXXFqkLpd
ANNOUNCEMENT
— EVIL UNO of DARK ORDER (@EvilUno) September 17, 2023
Mystery Wrestling 4 is LIVE on October 22nd!
Feat. @DanRyckert & @EvilUno as hosts.
Tickets / Billets: https://t.co/Pupqk6AgeD pic.twitter.com/zDpqzBDKEs
Activities
Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Voting Thread For Cycle Starting September 25, 2023
Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club Suggestion Thread (By: @bigsocrates)
We have A TON of video games to pick from for this edition of voting for the Giant Bomb Community Game Pass Game Club! To the right you can review the nominees but remember, you can vote for TWO GAMES on this list!
Also, don't forget that Goat Simulator is the 20th selection of the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club! To join the discussion, try to finish the game by September 25, 2023! Until that date, mark spoilers!
Finally, the Giant Bomb Community Game Pass Game Club is interested in YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS of what they should play next! Are there any GP titles that deserve a spotlight?
The GB Album Club 04 - Decemberunderground by AFI (By: @unclejam23)
The latest edition of the Album Club discussion thread is for Decemberunderground by AFI! What do you have to say about the seventh studio album by American rock band AFI?
Are there any tracks you jam to from it?
Art
Giant Bomb Movie 2023 (By: @ogto)
Inspired by comments made by Jeff Grubb and Jan, ogto decided to imagine a world where Giant Bomb circa 2023 gets adapted into a film or TV series. Check out their fantasy casting, which I think we all agree are pretty spot-on, and feel free to share alternative actors for the staff in your role-call.,
Grubby Steps (By: @kone)
Hey, it's a new Giant Bomb series coming to you in 2024! I... hate it, but I had to see this and now you do as well.
He's Just A Toy (By: @jearum)
Here we have another person taking something Mike, Jan, and Grubb said in an off-hand comment and then just ran with it. If you are confused by the context, click the link.
Mike Minotti x Cammy Stretching (By: el_paolo_loco & @zombiepie)
Over on the Giant Bomb Discord, el_paolo_loco tried their hand at making an emote where they photoshopped Mike Minotti's head onto Cammy's stretching pose in Street Fighter 6. Seeing no other logical thing to do, I went ahead and ran that emote through an image upscaler.
Grubb Staring At A Case Meme Attempt (By: @KinguAmoz)
Recently, I put out a call to the internet to turn the photo of Grubb staring creepily at a display case into a meme. So far, King Anthony/KinguAmoz has been the only one to answer the call. I definitely think this has a lot of meme potential.
Blog
I Prefer, When Possible, To Play All Games From A Series On One Platform And I Don't Really Know Why
Playing Wild Arms Helped Me Better Understand What I Felt Was Missing From FF XVI (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates penned an essay that they tend to play all games from a series on one platform, but aren't sure why especially if the games don't check for saves. Are you the same?
Additionally, bigsocrates finally got around to playing the original Wild Arms and relays on this post why they not only were in the mood for a classic JRPG this week, but still are going into next year.
A Better Way To Charge Seventy Bucks (By: @infantpipoc)
infantpipoc was a massive fan of Resident Evil 4 Remake, so they immediately thought about their hopes for the Separate Ways DLC while also wondering if this is the best way to support a remake post-release.
Indie Game of the Week 338: Glass Masquerade 3: Honeylines +
64 In 64: Episode 34 (By: @mento)
Moderator Mento graces Giant Bomb with another edition of the "Indie Game of the Week" and this one is all about the third game in the Glass Masquerade series, Glass Masquerade 3: Honeylines! Did they enjoy this stained-glass themed jigsaw game? Read to find out!
Additionally, Mento has another blog where they look at Nintendo 64 games in 64 minutes! This week they tackled Tetrisphere and Mahjong Mahjong Hourouki Classic!
RGG Direct 2023 (By: @dochaus)
Did you know that the the folks at Ryu ga Gotoku Studio did a preview of their latest Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku/Like a Dragon titles coming out soon? No? Don't worry, DocHaus has you covered with this blog post summarizing everything notable!
All PS1 Games In Order: Mid-1996 Round-Up (By: @borgmaster)
It's time for a a new post from borgmaster about the wonderful games that came out on the PlayStation. This week, they decided to do a round-up of every game that came out for the original PlayStation in the first half of 1996.
Lo-Fi Plays VI: Five Tiny Indie Games (By: @gamer_152)
Moderator Gamer_152 played and blogged about five indie games! The games include Baba Files Taxes, A Date in the Park, Machinaria, and The Password Game! Read about their experiences with all!
What's The Greatest Video Game: Tinykin (By: @imunbeatable80)
imunbeatable80's latest blog as part of their "What's the Greatest Video Game" series is all about Tinykin by Splashteam! How did it compare to the rest of the games they have played during this series?
Discussion Threads
The Last Hurrah! Marvel's Avengers Discounted To $4 Before It Gets Delisted At The End Of The Month (By: @zombiepie)
Marvel's Avengers is on sale for $4 until it finally gets delisted from all marketplaces? Do you recommend the game at this price? Also, how long do you think the online servers stay up?
What's Been Good In The World Of Anime In The Last... Three Years? (By: @sombre)
We have someone asking for anime recommendations as someone who has been out of the loop for the past three to four years? What are the BEST anime for someone trying to get back into the medium the past five years?
Highly Confidential Documents from FTC v. Microsoft Leaked. Purport To Detail Console Revisions And Future Games (By: @zombiepie)
Let's discuss the FTC v. Microsoft document leak. Is there anything that sticks out to you? Considering how old some of the documents are, what parts do you think have changed and which parts are the same?
All Games Should Be 60FPS+ As A Default Or They Should Not Release Until They Are In 2024 (By: @topcyclist)
How much of a stickler are you actually for games to maintain 60 FPS during gameplay? Are you always someone that enables the "Performance Mode" in a game when prompted? Will you take 30 FPS?
Hot Lap Racing For Nintendo Switch, Appearing To Be An Alternative To Gran Turismo 7 & Forza Motorsport 2023 (By: @gtxforza)
Hot Lap Racing is coming out for Switch and PC (Steam)! This "simcade" racing game is coming from Zero Games Studio. You can watch the teaser trailer and read up on all of the game's details in this thread.
Lists
GameCube Throwback Games (By: @xtian0104)
Last week, I shared xtian0104's list of favorite "throwback PS2 games" and, this week, I share their GameCube version of the same list. What are their favorite games that remind them of the early 2000s? If you can think of at least five games, consider making your own list!
MK 1 Guest Character Wishlist (By: @badassbeck)
Mortal Kombat 1 seems like it is a bunch of crazy and ridiculous fun! So, badassbeck decided to try their hand at creating a wishlist of guest characters they hope to see in the future. Some character picks are based on previous appearances in NetherRealm Studios' games and others are pie-in-the-sky hopes for the future.
User Reviews
@pauljeremiah just published a pretty exhaustive review of the Wizard's Edition of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch! Is there still good reason to go back to this JRPG marriage between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli? Read to find out!
Wiki Of The Week
People sure seem to be excited for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but for this edition of Wiki of the Week, let's take a step back and appreciate Giant Bomb's franchise page for the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series! Every major character and spin-off is covered and it even has a fun abbreviation of every game!