Since the whole community drive started, I've been trying to get involved with other users a lot more. Last week, my influence within the Giant Bomb community didn't stretch any further than a few posts in the forums and reading the occasional blog post. Now I'm using the Giant Bomb IRC, participating in the Let's Play events, listening to the community podcast and just generally trying to have more of a community presence both on and off the site. I've been at Giant Bomb since the beginning, and it's been really interesting watching it grow into this community, filled with interesting users. It's also been great to see new site content springing up, and last night marked probably the biggest change since launch back in July.

Last night, I stayed up til around 2am waiting for the new content to go live. I knew what to expect - a white skin for the site, a new homepage design, and the long-awaited guide function. Thanks go out to all the guys in the IRC last night who helped me to stay awake, especially Jeff for his unofficial BradFeed. I've got to admit, it was well worth the wait to see the new stuff. I'll break down my opinions in more detail below. What really excites me, though, is that apparently this is only the tip of the iceberg. If the inclusion of the Guide function is just a taste of what's to come, then I daren't even hazard a guess as to what's coming in the future.

So, on to the new content, and I'll start with the white skin. I had a brief session with it last night, and I don't think I'll be having another. It's just not for me. That being said, I think it's great that other users who wanted a white version now have it. The new homepage, on the other hand, sits very nicely with me. The new layout is great, and the wiki section near the top is awesome (try hovering over the different categories, if you haven't already!). It seems to offer about ten times as much information as the old homepage but in the same amount of space, without looking cluttered.

Then there's the guides. Giant Bomb's guide system is phenomenal, I really can't put it in any other way. It makes you wonder why GameFAQs has rested on its laurels and treated the wall-of-text FAQ format as if it's the pinnacle of online guide creation. Giant Bomb's guide function is all about pushing the boundaries. Images, videos and tables can be effortlessly included, allowing for guides that cater for everybody's needs. The ability for multiple users to work on a guide is also a brilliant idea, which I foresee will only serve to further enhance the community-driven nature of this site. To sum it up, it makes GameFAQs look incredibly outdated, and as soon as guides start pouring in it'll only further assert Giant Bomb's place as the definitive online gaming encyclopedia.

Right now (literally, right now) I'm playing some Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. I'm nine and a half hours in and still enjoying the mindless slaughter of fantastical creatures as much as I was a week ago. I'm also playing Pokémon Gold, which I'm eight hours and four badges into. I'm going to do a blog write-up on it soon, but it won't be the conventional Discovering Gaming Greatness kind, so keep an eye out for that one. Then there's Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, which I'm still plodding on through, and I've restarted Jak 3 with the intention of writing a guide for it. If anybody wants to get involved in the creation of a Jak 3 guide, leave a comment or PM me and I'll get back to you. It'd be nice to work with somebody else, seeing as I don't have enough time to get a guide done quickly by myself. I've already laid out an outline for the guide, and I'll be gradually working on it over the coming months.


DanK

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Currently playing - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2)