The Community Spotlight 2023.11.04

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 efforts from the previous week.

However, before we get into that, there's no denying that the big news this week is that Giant Bomb's Extra Life 2023 programming has BEGUN! For those of you interested on what's being streamed, when, and where, check out the AMAZING article TurboShawn published on the site! The biggest question that many of you have is when the staff Extra Life streams will take place, so here's the plan:

• Saturday, November 11th
  • 9AM-3PM Eastern: Grubb & Friends
  • 3PM-3AM Eastern: Giant Bomb West ft. GameSpot Friends
• Saturday, November 18th
  • 12PM-8PM Eastern: Giant Bomb Midwest ft. The Windbag - Live from the Dancave

For November 3-5 the site will be running community-based charity streams that you can watch and support in chat! Also, don't forget about the request and pledging mission we have with every single Extra Life, which is to make sure that everyone on the team has at least one donation! Right now, the team is 55 members strong, but we have 14 people with their donation pages still hovering at $0. So, if possible, please go to Team Page and send even a small donation to these pages.

And remember, Extra Life 2023 donation pages stay active until the end of the year! So, if you can't donate today or even this month, you have until December 31st, 2023 to send in your love and appreciation!

Moving on to the non-Extra Life news, the new podcast supplemental to the Giant Bombcast came out this week. For those that missed it, every Friday, you'll get a podcast titled "R" or "Revengeance." This podcast will be focused on one specific topic or will continue discussions from the main podcast that could not be completed due to NDAs or other obligations. This new production is not a replacement of the main Bombcast, and the average length will be 60 to 90 minutes. Also, the members of this podcast will be a rotation.

Giant Bomb's Extra Life 2023 Information

If you are unable to stream during "Game Day" or this weekend, don't worry. You can stream any day, so don't worry about it.

Also, to anyone streaming for Giant Bomb's Extra Life team, feel free to add me to your announcement Tweets by tagging me. On Twitter I am @GBDudersFeed, and for those wanting an alternative, I am @gbdudersfeed.bsky.social on Bluesky.

Speaking of which, if you enjoy this Spotlight feature and my activities on social media, please consider donating to my Extra Life page. No worries if you can't donate!

• Giant Bomb's Extra Life 2023 Team Page - JOIN NOW!
• Giant Bomb Extra Life Updated Article - Has EVERYTHING about the site's plans for the next three weeks!
• Giant Bomb's Individual Donation Page - Donate HERE during the main Giant Bomb Extra Life Streams!
• Giant Bomb's Extra Life 2023 Announcement Thread - Now being updated DAILY with details!
• Dan Ryckert (Giant Bomb Staffer) - DONATION GOAL OF $7,440
• Shawn McDowell (Giant Bomb Social Media & Team Captain) - DONATION GOAL OF $100
• ZombiePie (That's ME!) - DONATION GOAL OF $1,000

Tweets

Activities

Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Voting Thread For Cycle Starting November 6, 2023 (By: @bigsocrates)

It's time for another wave of voting for Giant Bomb's Game Pass Game Club! Here are the nominees and don't forget that you can VOTE FOR TWO GAMES after you click the link above and drop a comment!

Ghost Song Is The 23rd Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC! Finish By November 6, 2023. Mark All Spoilers! (By: @bigsocrates)

Don't forget about the most recent SPOOKY pick for the Game Pass Game Club, Ghost Song! If you want to join the early discussion of the game, here you go!

Art

Blight Club - Version 2.0 (By: @jearum)

Now that we have seen Grubb get bad to the bone, jearum decided to do a quick "edit" of their Blight Club Superfriends banner! At least the Super Friends now have someone with an incredible pompadour.

Blogs

I Got My Mech Fix From A Pokémon Clone On The Neo Geo Pocket Color Instead Of Armored Core VI And I Don't Regret It! (By: @zombiepie)

Instead of getting their mech fix by playing Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, moderator ZombiePie decided to check out Biomotor Unitron on the Neo Geo Pocket Color! Read why they ended up loving it more than they expected and why they miss handhelds.

All Saturn Games In Order: June 1996 (Part 1) (By: @borgmaster)

It is time for a trip down memory lane with borgmaster as they continue their quest to play every single Saturn game that came out! This week they discuss Virtual Open Tennis, NBA Action, Primal Rage, and MORE!

What's the Greatest Video Game: Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (By: @imunbeatable80)

This edition of imunbeatable80's "What's the Greatest Video Game" blog series tackles Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare! Do they have theories as to why this failed to reboot the Alone in the Dark series? Read to find out!

The Becoming: Dehumanisation in Scorn (By: @gamer_152)

In case you missed it, moderator Gamer_152 wrote an AMAZING essay about Scorn and the ways that it atmospherically depicts the breakdown of machinery and how that leads to dehumanization, quite literally. SPOILER WARNING!

AtheistPreacher’s Favorite Games of 2023 (By: @atheistpreacher)

AtheistPreacher is completely confident that the remaining games that have yet to come out will excite them at all. So, they decided to publish their 2023 GOTY blog on Giant Bomb fashionably early!

64 in 64: Episode 35 + Indie Game of the Week 344: Guacamelee! 2 (By: @mento)

Moderator Mento has a new edition of their "64 in 64" series where they work to play every single N64 game but only in 64 minutes. This week, they played Iggy's Reckin' Balls and Nushi Tsuri 64: Shiokaze ni Notte!

Additionally, Mento has a new edition of their "Indie Game of the Week" feature and this one tackles Guacamelee! 2! Do they think it is an improvement over the first? Read to find out!

Discussion Threads

Silent Hill Ascension May Be The Worst Piece Of "Entertainment" Of 2023 (By: @bigsocrates)

The launch of Silent Hill Ascension has been a disaster and that's putting it lightly. What do you make of the current situation with the game's live chat, micro transactions, and handling of the Silent Hill name?

WarTales 1.0 And Game Pass Release Discussion Thread (By: @allthedinos)

Wartales is now out of Game Pass! How many have already checked out this fantasy open world RPG? How many of you plan to give it a shot now that it is on Game Pass? Join the community discussion on the site by clicking the link above!

Modern Atari Agrees To Acquire Digital Eclipse, Which Employs A Famous Blinker (By: @bigsocrates)

Atari is acquiring Digital Eclipse Software, Inc.! Did this news catch you by surprise? Do you think their strategy of banking on the retro and remaster game market, especially considering their purchase of Nightdive, has legs?

Microsoft Ends Its 'Hands-Off' Management Of Zenimax; Bethesda, Arkane, id, and Tango Must Report Projects To Matt Booty (By: @zombiepie)

An internal memo from Phil Spencer revealed that Microsoft's 'hands-off' management style of ZeniMax is coming to an end. Do you think this is good news for studios like id Software, Tango Gameworks, Bethesda Softworks, and Arkane Studios?

The Layoff Wave Hits Bungie (By: @bigsocrates)

What is everyone's reactions to the announced layoffs that have hit hundreds at Bungie? What do you think about the timing or nature of the layoffs? Would you welcome more worker advocacy and unionization?

Ubisoft Delays Skull & Bones... AGAIN! (By: @monkeyking1969)

So... Ubisoft delayed Skull & Bones AGAIN and that means it is time to revive Giant Bomb's thread discussing what could possibly be going on with the game and if we will ever see it come out for real. Share your thoughts over here!

Lists

Favorites of 2013 (By: @naptimesleeper)

While most people are mulling over their 2023 GOTY options, NapTimeSleeper decided to go back a decade and re-think their GOTY list from 2013! It's an interesting idea. So, if you like the concept, consider making your own version!

Reviews

@pauljeremiah is plumbing the depths of questionable tie-in games with a review of Jumper: Griffin's Story! Do you even remember the 2008 movie, let alone its video game tie-in?

@pauljeremiah's Heavenly Sword review articulates why he considers it a "flawed gem." Read in his review about why he still thinks its world and production values hold up, even if the gameplay falls short of its initial promise!

Wikis Of The Week

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

With Dan using WarioWare: Move It! to usher what I can only describe as the best UPF this year, let's throw things back to WarioWare: Smooth Moves. It is a game many WarioWare fans still consider the best in the series. What makes it so good? Check out our wiki page to find out!

Giant Bomb Game of the Year Awards

Have you ever wondered which games won all the "Best Styyyyle" awards over the years? Or if all the "Please Stop" winners actually...stopped? Finding all of that info isn't very easy due to it being scattered between the GB forums, Resetera, Reddit, and elsewhere. And many broken links makes it even more difficult... until now.

Marino has built a hub right here on the wiki containing literally everything you could possibly want to know from the 15-year history of Giant Bomb's GOTY. The main hub has listings of every award that's been given multiple times as well as every staff member's #1 picks. But, there is now a page for every year individually that has a full breakdown of every winner and runner-up as well as accurate links to free versions of every podcast, video, and article from each year.

Check it out in preparation for the 16th annual awards, which will be starting sooner than you might think.