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 latest community creations from the previous two weeks and for the first time in 2024!
This weekend marks the end of Giant Bomb GOTY 2023 content on the site. If you have enjoyed the return of the Guest Lists, please send a HUGE "THANK YOU" to @marino! He put in hours of hard work editing lists and adding media to them to make them beautiful! So, if the return of guest lists brought you joy, thank him for transforming them from Word docs and emails to what you see today.
The Community GOTY results will be posted on Sunday as the true ending of GOTY 2023.
Speaking of which, Marino published a new blog that breaks down all of the cool stats associated with the Giant Bomb staff's GOTY lists as well as some fun stats associated with the guest lists. Did you know that both Grubb AND Jan made changes to their GOTY lists? Yep! Their lists are different from what they said in LA. Learn all about it by clicking that link!
You might have heard that Dan is suffering through a broken finger as a result of a tragic mac-and-cheese-related injury. To make sure he remains in good spirits, the Giant Bomb community is encouraged to flock to the Giant Bomb Discord and record a voice message in the q-and-a-questions channel on the Discord. If you are not already a member of the Discord, here's an invite link.
Likewise, Jan has been out sick and injured this past week. If you have any spare time, please wish him a speedy recovery!
When it comes to bug reports and customer service issues, @dtoast and the rest of Fandom's engineering team have returned from a Holiday and New Year break. While many of the bugs and issues with the site have already been logged and continue to be a priority, Dylan is now available to log issues with notifications being unresponsive, the Premium Podcast feed sending people the ad version, and video player issues.
In positive programming news, the "lost" third season of Friday Night Forking is live now on YouTube and efforts are being made to make it grace the Giant Bomb site as well.
2023 GOTY Roundup!
Staff GOTY Roundup
- Here's What Won - GOTY 2023 (By: @marino) - Want to see which games won every single one of Giant Bomb's 2023 GOTY categories? If so, this article by Marino is for YOU!
- Data Dump: GOTY 2023 Staff & Guests Breakdown
- Dan Ryckert's Top 10 Games of 2023
- Tamoor Hussain's Top Games of 2023
- Lucy James' Top 10 Games of 2023
- Jeff Grubb's Top 10 Games of 2023
- Bailey Meyers' Top 10 Games of 2023
- TurboShawn's Top 10 Games of 2023
- Mike Minotti's Top 10 Games of 2023
- Jeff & Dylan Bakalar's Top 10 Games of 2023
- Jan Ochoa's Top 10 Games of 2023
- Giant Bomb Moderators' Top 10 Games of 2023
- GOTY Day One Podcast [Day One Video]
- GOTY Day Two Podcast [Day Two Video]
- GOTY Day Three Podcast [Day Three Video]
- GOTY Finale Podcast [GOTY Finale Video]
- BONUS DAY | Best Game Music Podcast [BONUS DAY | Best Game Music Video]
- Giant Bomb at Nite: The Game Awards Podcast [The Game Awards VOD]
Community GOTY Lists
Author's Note: Did you write a GOTY blog or list that I missed? For now, feel free to drop a comment with a link to your GOTY list or blog and I promise to get it on the next edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight!
- Top 5 Games (That I Played) Of 2023 (By: @totalpatoot)
- 2023 Game Of The Year (By: @mrcropes)
- Game Of The Year 2023 (By: @gravitypenguin)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @majormitch)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @mrmckrinkledink)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @bowl-of-lentils)
- 2023 GOTY (By: @rodin)
- Game of the Year 2023 (By: @businessisblooming)
- Contractually Obligated Game of the Year List 2023 (By: @devoureroftime)
- Top 10 Games Of 2023 (By: @shami_sansi)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @tatsuyarr)
- 2023 Faves (By: @extintor) #
- teddyB’s Game of the Year 2023 (By: @teddybber)
- 2023 GOTY Picks (By: @frankme)
Community GOTY Blogs
Ranking The Games Released In 2023 That I Played (By: @bigsocrates)
Instead of writing the standard Game of the Year blog, bigsocrates took all of the games they played in 2023 and ranked them! As the host of Giant Bomb's Game Pass Game Club, you will not be surprised to know that they have 25 games to rank!
Nodima Comments on a Nextlander Reddit Thread, Then Shares It Here for GotY 2023 (By: @nodima)
Nodima originally posted their GOTY 2023 write-up on the Nextlander Reddit, but they took the time to share it here as well! Read all about their gaming highs and lows from 2023 by clicking the link!
ZombiePie's End Of The Year 2023 Multimedia Extravaganza! (Part 1) (By: @zombiepie)
Before January ends, moderator ZombiePie finally takes you on a tour of the many sources of entertainment, both new and old, they partook in during 2023. Read on their blog which ones they recommend and which ones they think your should avoid!
My Top Ten Games of 2023 (By: @gamer_152)
In case you missed it, moderator Gamer_152 wrote a GOTY blog and as one of the more active essayists on the site, you should definitely give it a read when you have the chance!
SparkyB's 2023 End of the Year Extravaganza (By: @sparky_buzzsaw)
Sparky_Buzzsaw had some gaming ups and downs throughout 2023 and you can read all about them, including an emotional plea to not forget that Disgaea 7 came out in 2023.
ArbitraryWater's Favorite Games of 2023 (By: @arbitrarywater)
ArbitraryWater is one of the more active bloggers on Giant Bomb and finally got around to making a 2023 Game of the Year blog for your reading pleasure! Check out which games rocked their year and be prepared for some SURPRISES!
My Games of 2023 (By: @kyary)
Kyary has some real fun categories on their 2023 Game of the Year blog! Whether it be old or new games, it seems like they enjoyed a little bit of everything!
Panda Chuchu's Cafe of 2023 Video Games, Anime and Manga! (By: @propagandapanda)
Propagandapanda didn't just write a Game of the Year 2023 blog. They also reviewed their favorite anime and manga from the year! If you want game, anime, and manga recommendations, this is the blog for you!
Mento's 2023 End of Year Old Game, Blog, and Anime Round-Up Rodeo (Plus Alpha) (By: @mento)
Moderator Mento has been a blogging machine on the site all throughout 2023 and instead of taking the traditional approach with their GOTY 2023 write-up, they instead broke things down into their favorite games of every month! Check it out!
Game of the Year 2023 (By: @superharman)
Superharman joined the GOTY fever on the site and shares the games both big and small they enjoyed playing this year. Whether it be indie puzzle games or AAA sci-fi epics, they have a little bit of everything on their GOTY list!
The 2023 Moosies Video Game Awards: Part 1 +
The 2023 Moosies Video Game Awards: Part 2. (By: @mooseymcman)
MooseyMcMan has posted their annual "Moosies Video Game Awards" feature, but has broken into two highly enjoyable parts! For those unfamiliar, this is a fun yearly tradition of theirs where they bestow fun gaming superlatives!
Tweets
My favorite things about putting almost all of the Giant Bomb guest lists into the CMS editor:
— Brad Lynch (@MarinoV1) December 30, 2023
- Choosing screenshots
- Giving the lists a (mostly) uniform style
- Adding Oxford commas while proofreading
- Changing "videogames" to "video games"
- Changing numbers to numerals
🤣 pic.twitter.com/75xIKvMsaH
Look, Jerf might be onto something. pic.twitter.com/pOFzzm7Gef
— 🏳️⚧️ Creaky Legs 🏳️🌈 (@CreakyLegs) January 4, 2024
How it started, how it’s going.
— Jordan Middler (@JordanMiddler) December 26, 2023
It as huge career moment for me to say that my Game of the Year list has been published on @giantbomb. Can’t quite believe it.
Thank you to all Duders but specifically @JeffGrubb. I love that old man endlessly. https://t.co/IFJCjYSZEb pic.twitter.com/iwH1rkGQV1
— Giant Bomb Out of Context (@GBombOOC) December 25, 2023
CONGRATS TO MY BEST BUD @SAMOAJOE pic.twitter.com/xhpDK8huGu
— Dan Ryckert (@DanRyckert) December 31, 2023
Galleria
Yaba Daba Duders! (By: @jearum)
To celebrate the holidays in grand fashion, artist jearum continued a meme of imagining the Giant Bomb staff as characters in The Flintstones. The old school CRT filter is what really makes this work of art pop for me.
Mike Mina'vi (By: @videospacegames)
Mike seems to be the one with impeccable knowledge about the world of Avatar and the cultural practices of the Na'vi that it seemed apt to make him into one!
Dan Meme Reaction Template & Results (By: Chron, @mynameisfatmike, Ratchet, and @alwaysbeclothing)
Over on Twitter, someone noticed fairly "iconic" shot involving Dan on a video and posited if the internet could turn it into a meme reaction template. The wonderful people on the Giant Bomb Discord immediately obliged.
Video
Dan Ryckert - Secret Italians Saga (By: @alwaysbeclothing)
There's a new saga involving Dan and the fact that he might have Italian heritage. AlwaysBeClothing managed to compile all parts of this storyline into a single video in case you missed a part or two.
Activities
A Short Hike Is The 1st Selection Of The Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Year 3! Mark All Spoilers! (By: @bigsocrates)
For their first game pick of 2024, the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club selected A Short Hike by adamgryu! Have you played this relaxing and peaceful exploration game? If you have any thoughts about it, just click the first link!
Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Year End Wrap Up and Change Suggestion Thread (By: @bigsocrates)
It was a fun and eventful year for the Giant Bomb Community Game Pass Game Club in 2023! Here's a directory to EVERY SINGLE GAME the group played this year! Also the Game Pass Game Club is taking suggestions for 2024!
The GB Album Club 046 - The Miraculous Mandarin by Béla Bartók +
The GB Album Club Presents... What's Your Favorite Album of 2023? (Or Thing You Listened to For the First Time in 2023?) (By: @unclejam23)
This week, the Giant Bomb Album Club is listening to The Miraculous Mandarin by Béla Bartók! Are you a newcomer to Bartok or classical music? Give it a shot! Also... THIS WAS MY PICK AND I'M FORCING THE ALBUM GROUP TO LISTEN TO CLASSICAL MUSIC!
Additionally, the Album of the Week Club is taking a break this week and is hosting a discussion about the best singles and albums from 2023! What are YOUR musical highlights from the year? Share NOW in the thread!
Blogs
Kone's Top 10 Liked Tweets of 2023 (#1 Will Shock You!) (By: @kone)
To say that Kone has made some great works of Giant Bomb fanart in 2023 would be an understatement. They practically had something to make people laugh or haunt their dreams every other week of 2023! If you were curious to see which of these works got them the most traction on Twitter, check out this blog!
Metal Gear Scanlon Saved My Life (by: @MakoTitan)
MakoTitan went through a mental health scare and penned an essay thanking Drew and Dan's "Metal Gear Scanlon" series for saving his life. Content Warning: This blog includes discussions of depression and anxiety.
I'm Sure This Was News Years Ago, but MGSV Is Busted (Though Mostly Nicely!) (By: @nodima)
Nodima has been following the scuttlebutt about the second volume of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection and also got a hankering to play some MGS and ended up turning to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Logging The Backlog: 2023 Year End Review (By: @brian_)
At the start of 2023, brian_ made a promise to take their video game backlog seriously. Things did not go according to plan and you can read all about what happened and which classic games they did manage to play.
64 in 64: Episode 37 + Indie Game of the Week 351: Tower of Time (By: @mento)
It's time to return to the wild catalogue of games released on the N64 with moderator Mento on the site! This week they played Mickey's Speedway USA and Cruis'n Exotica? Are either N64 racing games worth playing today?
Additionally, Mento has a new edition of their "Indie Game of the Week" feature and this one looks at the indie tactics game, Tower of Time. Is there room for an indie tactics game when there are so many high budget ones? Read to find out!
2023's Best "Sicko Game" Is Eternights Because You Have To Be Truly Sick To Enjoy It. I Am And I Did And I'm Not Ashamed (By: @zombiepie)
Moderator ZombiePie continues to look at their 2023 gaming highlights with a blog on about Eternights! Click the link to read why they think this game is 2023's "Best Sicko Game" and how they mean that as a term of endearment.
Discussion Threads
What Games Are You Looking Forward To In 2024? (By: @atheistpreacher)
It is the first days of 2024 and to start things off on a positive note on Giant Bomb, what are your most anticipated games for this year? Whether it be Hades II or Persona 3 Reload, share the games you can't wait to play in 2024!
Gaming Resolutions 2024 (By: @bigsocrates)
How many of y'all are setting 2024 video game resolutions? Do any of you have retro video game "White Whales" you'd like to tackle in 2024? Feel free to share on the forums after clicking the link above!
Were You A Nintendo House Growing Up? (By: @sombre)
It is a reputation that has defined the company for decades, but was Nintendo the first video game company that led you into video game enthusiasm? When you were young, were you a "Nintendo Kid?"
Amazon Prime Video Introducing Ads Starting Jan 29 (By: @atheistpreacher)
Amazon Prime Video will be introducing ads in 2024! Get the details and feel free to share your thoughts about it! Did Netflix and Hulu set a precedent for all future streaming services and platforms to follow?
What Was The First Videogame You Played? (By: @sombre)
Do you remember your first game? Was it a good intro to gaming? If you do feel free to share it in the discussion thread about the topic? Don't quite know the name of it but know what you did? Some others will help you out!
What Are Your Best "Podcast" Games Of 2023? (By: @bigsocrates)
2023 was a STACKED year for games but what were your favorite "podcast games" from the year? Were there any games that were perfect compliments to podcast listening?
Lists
10 Games I'm Looking Forward To The Most In 2024 (By: @beachthunder)
2024 is upon us! That means beachthunder has whipped up a list of games that are their most anticipated for 2024! Consider making your own list of games you can't wait to get your hands on in 2024!
2023 Best Old Games (By: @shami_sansi)
Shami_Sansi played a decent amount of games on their backlog during 2023 and discusses their favorite old game experiences they had during the year! If you also played a decent amount of old games last year, consider making your own version of this list!
Welcome To The Pub, Those Came Along When I Was 14 (By: @infantpipoc)
As most of us welcome 2024, infantpipoc thinks back to 2004 and the games and platforms they were obsessed with twenty years ago? Remember how excited people were for Halo 2 and the PSP? Experience a trip down memory lane here!
User Reviews
@geimers gave Heavy Nova on the Genesis a shot after hearing several people call it one of the worst games on the console. Check out their review to find out why they ultimately agree the game is a failure despite its innovative ideas.
@pauljeremiah's Borderlands 2 review defends the game as still standing as one of the preeminent co-op experiences in video game history with plenty of legs. Get the details on why by clicking the link!
@sbc515 is starting a new bad retro game review series on Giant Bomb that would make even Dan turn pale! That's right, they are going to play every single Terminator video game and they started things off with The Terminator on NES, Terminator Salvation, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day on the SNES!
Wiki Of The Week
Giant Bomb Game of the Year 2023
This being the final week of GOTY content means there's one final reminder to enjoy on Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2023 concept page! For those reading this after the fact, feel free to use this page to keep track of all the cool and wonderful guest lists that hit the site and remind yourself of what won Giant Bomb's awards in 2023! The programming agenda is PACKED this year!