Latest Spotlight is up here. 

i wrote a blog about games that have clever anti piracy

I wrote a review of Thomas Was Alone. Nifty little game.

So, I did a video blog discussing Arthur C. Clarke's book Rendezvous with Rama, which in turn inspired a video game.

Little bit of a last minute thing but here is part 1 of my journey to EVO 2012!

As always, my latest blog.

Thanks to the pointer to the La-Mulana wiki. Whole thing may be out of date now with the remake. I got really into the freeware version a while ago and decided to write it up one afternoon. It's pretty damn awesome, though can be maddening at times.

I'm hoping more people check the game out now that it's released, but with the mess to get it released and the fact that it's on some strange new indie site and not Steam has made even me wary. I'd actually recommend people check out the freeware version to check it out if they don't want to spend the money.

@ZombiePie said:

@Jay444111 said:

@Video_Game_King said:

@Jay444111 said:

...I am unhappy that my blog about Fragile Dreams isn't here.

Much of the time, you have to alert @ZombiePie to the thing you've done. Why do you think my blogs are always here? I don't think he ever reads them.

That seems... counterproductive. One would think while moderating that they would also read anything currently in the boards... Instead I just have to ask, that's no fun. I want well written blogs up there! Not ones just anyone can get in here!

At least. In my opinion anyway.

Calm down. I peruse and look over the boards all the time and promote content that is well written and original all the time but encourage users to contact me in order keep me updated on the latest happenings on the site. Most of the promoted content is hunted down by myself as opposed to content that is recommended to me anyways.

I'm not paid to be on this site and do what I do. I do it on my own prerogative. I have a limited amount of time to get what I can with the time that I have, but it is always possible for stuff to pass my radar. If you read some of my own posts from the previous Spotlight you might have seen that I took a day off n order to move my own grandmother into a retirement home.

I'm not angry or anything. Just wondering out loud. No offense. But yeah. I do see how there is just too much on this site to get through. I wonder, how many blogs are even made per day? That has to be nightmarish to govern over.

@Jay444111 said:

@Video_Game_King said:

@Jay444111 said:

...I am unhappy that my blog about Fragile Dreams isn't here.

Much of the time, you have to alert @ZombiePie to the thing you've done. Why do you think my blogs are always here? I don't think he ever reads them.

That seems... counterproductive. One would think while moderating that they would also read anything currently in the boards... Instead I just have to ask, that's no fun. I want well written blogs up there! Not ones just anyone can get in here!

At least. In my opinion anyway.

Calm down. I peruse and look over the boards all the time and promote content that is well written and original all the time but encourage users to contact me in order keep me updated on the latest happenings on the site. Most of the promoted content is hunted down by myself as opposed to content that is recommended to me anyways.

I'm not paid to be on this site and do what I do. I do it on my own prerogative. I have a limited amount of time to get what I can with the time that I have, but it is always possible for stuff to pass my radar. If you read some of my own posts from the previous Spotlight you might have seen that I took a day off n order to move my own grandmother into a retirement home.

Did I miss the window for changing my avatar? I just changed my avatar. :(

@Jay444111: You need a sweet banner, obviously. I can't differentiate between blog posts and regular posts on here, which means as far as I'm concerned, Video Game King is the only blogger on this site. I sort of agree, though. Asking seems like cheating, but I guess it would be infeasible that he read every blog that shows up.

@Jay444111:

I'd say that he's busy having a life, but he's a zombie...and a pie.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Jay444111 said:

...I am unhappy that my blog about Fragile Dreams isn't here.

Much of the time, you have to alert @ZombiePie to the thing you've done. Why do you think my blogs are always here? I don't think he ever reads them.

That seems... counterproductive. One would think while moderating that they would also read anything currently in the boards... Instead I just have to ask, that's no fun. I want well written blogs up there! Not ones just anyone can get in here!

At least. In my opinion anyway.

@Jay444111 said:

...I am unhappy that my blog about Fragile Dreams isn't here.

Much of the time, you have to alert @ZombiePie to the thing you've done. Why do you think my blogs are always here? I don't think he ever reads them.

...I am unhappy that my blog about Fragile Dreams isn't here. Very much so. But I am happy to see VGK blogs here.

I wrote a review of Outland, and it would be awesome if it could get spotlighted next week!

Good Luck Have Birthday

Happy Birthday GB!

Ah, I missed my chance to spotlight Hector's page on Giant Bomb's birthday. AV and summer school is overworking me to the bone.

Happy 4th anniversary everyone!

Hey, thanks for the shout-out once again! As for Giant Bomb's birthday, i thought I'd put on a little soul music, make us up some oysters and durgers, and whisper sweet, sweet nothings into the wiki's ear. Big daddy Sparky sure does know how to treat his video game websites right. Awwwww yeah.

Happy birthday Giant Bomb! Luckily I never change my avatar so I'm always using the original one. It's convenient that way.

@Animasta

I can't even remember my original avatar... dang.

Just look at the last page in your Images folder on your profile.

I can't even remember my original avatar... dang.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Animasta said:

I can't even remember my original avatar... dang.

Just think back to your original alignment. EVERYBODY ELSE IS LYING.

my original was a bad bjork picture so fuck it bringing back tuxedogore

@Animasta said:

I can't even remember my original avatar... dang.

Just think back to your original alignment. EVERYBODY ELSE IS LYING.

I can't even remember my original avatar... dang.

Happy Birthday Giant Bomb! I got you something... it's my money

Totally forgot that Giant Bomb and myself share a birthday. That's totally weird.

Happy birthday, you'se guys.

@takashichea said:

@Video_Game_King:

Oh, you have two people following on AV. Just to let you know. My little friend saw me and followed you, too.

I'm quite aware. I got two emails regarding this, presumably to remind me that I still have an account there.

I have been rocking the same avatar since I joined, with a brief period of Hardcore Dave for his birthday. So happy birthday giant bomb.

Congrats everyone in their awesome wiki pages and rad blogs! Happy birthday, Giant Bomb!

Oh sweet, a Mario themed wedding and Ocarina of Time blogs.

@Video_Game_King:

Oh, you have two people following on AV. Just to let you know. My little friend saw me and followed you, too.

First avatar to celebrate being here since the original blog. Happy birthday, Giant Bomb! And, of course, happy GB birthday to all of you duders for keeping this place alive.

Also thanks ZP for featuring the THPS HD page. c:

Woo~ Thanks for the ups =) This and Tricky's Worth Reading tend to round out the end of my week as I cool down. Glad you're keeping with it! Original Avi =P

well, my orignal avatar matches my name font, now. 4 years, eh... maybe they could do a free liveshow or something.

Thanks, ZombiePie!

...And actually, I think this is my original avatar. I only ever changed it once, briefly.

I wasn't even active when I used this avatar! When I first heard about this, my first instinct was to switch back to Zatoichi. Oops!

Hard to believe it's been four years already. I joined on day one, but didn't really get active in the community until mid 2010. I did, however, do a little work on the wiki early on; even created a few pages which I'm amazingly still top editor of.

Anywho, rocking my original (horrible) avatar this weekend to celebrate!

Happy Birthday Giant Bomb!

Cool content picks this weeks duder.

Original avatars, man, ok here goes.

@ZombiePie said:

Video_Game_King continued doing what he did by writing a blog about two old anime games.

I like how you say that as if it's the only thing I do on this site :P. (Not that there's no basis for that statement or anything.)

Hello and welcome to the much belated latest edition of the Giant bomb Community Spotlight! As always let's start this off with some site related news and announcements. Giant Bomb will celebrate it's fourth birthday this Saturday! As the years have passed many users have come and gone, for better or for worse, but this site still stands with most of the same cast and crew that worked on it when it first launched. So please, let's all take the time to thank every person who has helped to make that possible. Giant Bomb mod Marino is encouraging all users to change their avatar to their first original avatar to commemorate Giant Bomb's birthday. As for the site itself Dave and company are still busy working on the re-design. Dave recently Tweeted that he was working on the credits pages for the site wiki database. With that all said please remember to follow the GiantBombSquad Twitter account to stay updated on all of the best user created content on Giant Bomb, and let's get on with the latest edition of the Community Spotlight!

Game Nights and Activities

• Giant Bomb Persona 4 Arena Tournament (Xbox 360) - Set fo August 10th-12th - Sign Up Here!
• PC Gaming Hub - UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT! - Join One of the Community's Many PC Communities Over Here!
• Giant Bomb Community SC2 US Tournament #14 - Set for July 29th - Sign Up Here!

Wonderful Wikis

As the Summer Game Drought Continues the selection of big video game releases dwindles. That said check out the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD wiki page to check out what all in the game. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy has been updated nicely thanks to a wiki task. Still confused as to what in the hell La-Mulana is all about? Check out Giant Bomb's surprsingly detailed wiki page to figure it out, and the smae could be said for Dyad.

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
• La-Mulana
• Dyad

Best of Blogs

The two major highlights of the week hands down are Marino stats breakdown of what it was like moderating the site when it launched and Gamer-152's breakdown of how Halo: ODST's story hearkens to Dante's Divine Comedy. Not to be one upped are Fobwashed who is presenting a handful of Mario themed wedding cards he has made for a friend and EquitasInvictus's blog that compares and contrasts a visual novel to L.A. Noire. User ahoodedfigure explains why the game Slender "got" him whereas user AjayRaz details how the indie-game Ib is a more effective and better told horror experience to Slender. User ahoodedfigure also wrote a blog breaking down everything about Bastion and what he thought about the game. Going back to older games was a reoccurring theme this week as user metalsnakezero finally got around to the Assassin's Creed franchise with the first game. Video_Game_King continued doing what he did by writing a blog about two old anime games. MarkWahlberg explains why he doesn't see the appeal of KOTOR or Bully having finally played both for the first time, and on that note user Alaska_Gamer talks about playing Psychonauts for the first time. ArbitraryWater wrote a massive blog about his passion for Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 and Alphazero asks why there's so much lens flare in futuristic video games. User CJduke evaluated video games as interactive stories, Mento detailed how Rogue-likes are expanding into different genres, Grant Heaslip annotates all the best music from Ocarina of Time and buzz_clik details the great music in the C64 game Lightforce. Mason_M explains why he feels the same as Jeff about Shootmania: Storm having played the Beta, Sarumarine discusses if you should import Anarchy Reigns like he did, and SparkyBuzzsaw writes about the first disappointment in his RPG Retrospective blog series. MajorMitch, Hailinel, and RecSpec all wrote blogs about Theatrhythm and other things they have played. Majormitch and Hailinel also followed up their blogs with MajorMitch concluding his Awesome Video Game Music series and Hailinel detailing the weird and wacky story of Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

• By the Numbers: July 21, 2008 (By: Marino)
• Bungie's Inferno (By: Gamer_152)
• The Long, Strange Road of Final Fantasy Versus XIII (By: Hailinel)
• Ib - A Different Kind of Horror Game (By: AjayRaz)
• Investigations & Storytelling (L.A. Noire / Kara no Shoujo) (By: EquitasInvictus)
• Mario Themed Wedding Card (By: Fobwashed)
• Yesterday's Games: Assassin's Creed 1 (By: metalsnakezero)
• Wait, When Did This Become Anime Vice? What's Going On? (By: Video_Game_King)
• Video Games as Interactive Stories (By: CJduke)
• Roguelikes Gone Rogue (By: Mento)
• My Favorite Ocarina of Time Music (By: GrantHeaslip)
• Syndicate and Our Lens Flare Future (By: Alphazero)
• SID-licious #11: Lightforce (By: buzz_clik)
• Shootmania: Storm Beta - First Impressions (By: Mason_M)
• Going Overboard: Anarchy Reigns (By: Sarumarine)
• RPG Retrospective - Star Ocean: First Departure (By: Sparky_Buzzsaw)
• RecSpec Roulette: July 16, 2012 (By: RecSpec)
• Slender Reflection (By: ahoodedfigure)
• Bastion, With Full-on Spoilers. Stay Away if You Haven't Played (By: ahoodedfigure)
• I Delight in These Games Eating My Soul (By: Hailinel)
• Awesome Video Game Music: Finale (By: MajorMitch)
• Weekly Roundup 07/15/2012 (By: MajorMitch)
• I Play Old Games That Only Came Out in Japan (Part 2) (By: ArbitraryWater)
• [insert title] 7-14-12 (By: Alaska_Gamer)
• Haut Kotor, Bully For You (By: MarkWahlberg)

Fantastic Forums

In lieu of the Name Your Top 3 Game thread form last week there's now a Name Your Top Three Books thread. Seppli opens the floor by asking what your dream setting and genre combination would be (a popular pick seems to be a Game of Thrones RTS). User VaddidBell asks you to recall your favorite use of New Game + in a video game. Finally user allworkandlowpay has created a thread where you can post your Peter Molyneux themed haiku on.

• Moly-ku: Post your best Peter Molyneux Haikus! (By: allworkandlowpay)
• Favorite Use of New Game + (By: VaddixBell)
• Dream Setting and Genre Combination? (By: Seppli)
• Your Top 3 Books of All Time (By: Feanor)

Lovable Lists

User ahoodedfigure has created a list of games that prove that writers and good writing can elevate games. ArbitraryWater is now listing every game that he has espoused positively on the site. Finally user Mento has created a list of Square-Enix games that he thinks are worthy of getting Theatrhythm-esque spin-offs.

• Square-Enix Soundtracks I'd Like To See Theatrhythmicized (By: Mento)
• Games You've Probably Heard Me Endorse/Accidentally Endorse One Time Too Many (By: ArbitraryWater)
• Writers Matter (By: ahoodedfigure)

Useful User Reviews

• therealminime's user review of The Walking Dead
• yellownumber5's user review of Dyad
• Zenogiasu's user review of Xenoblade Chronicles
• Mento's user review of The Amazing Spider-Man
• Nadafinga's user review of Renegade Ops

User Created Podcasts

• The Lincolncast, Episode 12: Endgame
• The Brewcast - Episode 13 - Off Topic