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The Community Spotlight 2023.03.25

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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-created works from the previous week.

Every edition of the Community Spotlight has a slight theme and for this one, it's clearly site-related news. There's a lot to review and if you missed some of these announcements or updates don't blame yourself, so, let's jump into it.

Last week, Giant Bomb hosted a Town Hall meeting in the Discord and answered a handful of questions from the community. During this, Dan, Grubb, Bakalar, and Jan discussed how the site's budget is growing, they are interested in hosting community-oriented streams that Rorie once hosted, and the direction of the site overall. For example, the missing chairs for existing shows will rotate as they have and Mike Minotti is being paid for the air-time he's providing for Giant Bomb.

Speaking of the Discord, the bot in charge of the Premium Channel on the Giant Bomb Discord has gone haywire. The result is that the Discord removed the Premium tag from some folks who are actually premium. If that is the case, head on over to bot-linkdump and run the /Premium recheck command to get it all fixed up. If that doesn't work, DM a mod that is available.

For those of you wondering about why GameSpot After Dark appeared on the site, and without warning, there was a reason. GameSpot is editing and updating their normal video and podcast host and needed to switch hosting services. In the mean time, they still needed to post shows and podcasts for RSS Feed and content deadline purposes. The Giant Bomb staff offered to host their show until things get resolved and hopefully you all use this as an opportunity to check their shows out.

Fandom and Giant Bomb announced that Giant Bomb is returning to the convention circuit! If you plan to be in San Diego from April 7-9, you will have the opportunity to watch Jan, Grubb, Dan, and Fandom personalities in-person! In fact, the Giant Bomb-led panel will be a LIVE Voicemail Dump Truck. They're asking that all call-ins be gaming related.

For those of you that rely on the site's front page to locate new videos and content, the site is getting mixed reports about bugs and issues with the front page carousels. If you have had issues, file a comment/report over here. Dylan alone has re-filed over twenty-five support tickets and we are reviewing how to make bug reports easier and more user-friendly. Also, the deployment of the store is TBD right now.

Finally, last week was Jeff Grubb's birthday. If you have not already issued him a belated "happy birthday" feel free to do so in the comments section of the 03/24/2023 UPF.

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Tweets

Art

Mike Minotti Vying For Margaritaville (By: @MichaelROLeary)

During a recent Game Mess Mornings, Mike Minotti relayed that he is a fan of margaritas and Mikey O'Leary decided to run with this and imagine Mike as a legendary margarita hunter looking for a drink to end all drinks.

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Activities

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion Is The 6th Year 2 Game Of The UUGPGC. Finish By 3/27/23. Mark All Spoilers! +

UUGPGC Voting Thread For Cycle Starting March 27, 2023! All Are Welcome. (By: @bigsocrates)

If you have anything to say about this charming pixel action game, feel free to chime in!
If you have anything to say about this charming pixel action game, feel free to chime in!

Don't forget that the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club is for Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion! Do you have any early impressions of the game? Likewise, the next edition of the Community Game Pass Game Club is taking votes for their next game! Here are the choices and remember you can VOTE FOR TWO you think would make for a fun time!

The GB Album Club Cycle 3 Theme Is... "Artist You Discovered In a Video Game Soundtrack" (By: @unclejam23)

Some solid nominees all around!
Some solid nominees all around!

The third cycle of the Community Album Club has an interesting theme for its next cycle: Albums you discovered thanks to video games! If you want to share your examples and send in a pick, here's the link!

Blogs

All Saturn Games In Order: January 1996 +

All Jaguar Games In Order: Intro (By: @borgmaster)

Still a good time? Read imunbeatable80's latest blog to find out.
Still a good time? Read imunbeatable80's latest blog to find out.

How are Wing Arms, NFL Quarterback Club 96, Mortal Kombat II, World Cup Golf: Professional Edition, Darius Gaiden, and Hang-On GP on a Saturn? read borgmaster's latest blog looking at every game to come out for the platform in North America. Additionally, in an announcement that NO ONE on Giant Bomb was asking for, borgmaster is doing a retrospective for the Atari Jaguar! That's right, they are going to play EVERY SINGLE GAME that ever came out for the Jaguar for your reading pleasure!

What's the Greatest Video Game: Final Fantasy 10 (By: @imunbeatable80)

It's time to tackle a JRPG classic with imunbeatable80's latest "What's the Greatest Video Game" blog on @giantbomb ! This episode is all about Final Fantasy X! Do they think the story, CTB system, and Sphere Grid hold up? Click to find out!

Indie Game of the Week 312: Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (By: @mento)

Pray for borgmaster.
Pray for borgmaster.

It's time to get tactical with moderator Mento's latest "Indie Game of the Week" blog as they look at Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden! The game has the reputation of being a bit of a "hidden gem" by its fans and Mento is going to see if that's true.

Discussion Thread

Diablo IV Beta Discussion Thread (By: @atheistpreacher)

How many of you are excited for this game?
How many of you are excited for this game?

Who's playing the Diablo IV beta over the weekend? What did you think about the game's UI/UX? What's your favorite class so far? Are you standing by calls to boycott the game?

Hi Fi Rush's Success Is An Outliner (By: @topcyclist)

Here's an interesting discussion thread on the forums: how many games can pull-off Hi Fi Rush's "HEY! This is available... NOW!" strategy? Is Hi Fi Rush an outlier? Do most games benefit from a "normal" cycle of press and demoing?

Your Thoughts On The Coming Up DLC Story For Fire Emblem Engage? (By: @gtxforza)

Can future indie titles replicate Hi Fi Rush?
Can future indie titles replicate Hi Fi Rush?

To everyone that bought Fire Emblem Engage, what are your thoughts about the upcoming story-based DLC? What are your hopes for where the story goes next and do you expect any significant gameplay changes?

Atari Is Spending $10 million For Nightdive Studios (By: @zombiepie)

Atari is buying Nightdive Studios! Were you a fan of Nightdive Studios' previous works in terms of bringing classic PC games back into the fold? Are you concerned about their future direction?

Octopath Traveler II Discussion Thread (By: @wollywoo)

Is the news surrounding Nightdive and Atari a cause for concern or excitement?
Is the news surrounding Nightdive and Atari a cause for concern or excitement?

The game has been out for a while, but what is everyone's thoughts about Octopath Traveler II? Join the rest of the community in discussing if it improves upon the original or not and if the series has legs following this game.

I Guess Most Gamers Seem To Prefer More Arcady Than Realistic In Terms Of Pacing... (By: @gtxforza)

Are we in the midst of an arcade-gameplay revival? It seems like many of the games that get the most buzz these days are retro-throwbacks or games that borrow heavily from arcade game conventions.

Do You Think People Who Play Games Have Become Cynical Or Negative Today More Than In The Past? (By: @topcyclist)

How many of you have noticed a rise of cynicism within the gaming community? For those that say "yes," hoe much of this do you direct at social media? How much is directed at Reddit?

Xbox 360 Games Delisted (By: @beyonderror)

Are you ready to re-engage with Fire Emblem Engage?
Are you ready to re-engage with Fire Emblem Engage?

A lot of people are still upset about the closure of the Nintendo 3DS eShop and that has led to a new discussion thread on the forums thinking about games that have been delisted from other console marketplaces. Can you think of any Xbox, 360 or Xbox One games that are no longer available?

Lists

Top 10 Favorite Games Of All Time (By: @odysseyrpg)

Have you updated YOUR all-time list on Giant Bomb recently? If you do, keep me updated and I will promote it in the future.
Have you updated YOUR all-time list on Giant Bomb recently? If you do, keep me updated and I will promote it in the future.

OdysseyRPG has been doing some thinking and felt like a game from last year rightfully justified being on their all-time favorite video games list! Click the link below to discover which game that might be and think about updating your own list.

The eShop Is Closing. Here Are My Favorite Games That I Purchased Digitally On Wii U & 3DS. (By: @brian_)

The eShop is closing soon, and brian_ went ahead and made a list of the Wii U & 3DS games available on the digital marketplace they strongly recommend nabbing before it shuts down forever!

User Reviews

What even is this game about and how does it play? Read the review to find out!
What even is this game about and how does it play? Read the review to find out!

@infantpipoc's Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon review on the site gets to the bottom of what the game is and why it is as easy a recommendation for Bayonetta fans as a mainline entry in the franchise.

@infantpipoc's Resident Evil 2 review declares the game the "'Die Hard' of the video games" and you read what they mean by reading their review by clicking the link!

@yyninja decided to revisit Enslaved: Odyssey to the West to see how well it has aged, and as you can see on their review for the game why they don't think it is one of Ninja Theory's pre-Senua's Sacrifice highlights.

Wiki Of The Week

Leon S. Kennedy

It goes without saying that Leon has seen some shit.
It goes without saying that Leon has seen some shit.

With everyone over the moon about Resident Evil 4, this week's Wiki Page of the Week is for the game's titular lead: Leon S. Kennedy! If you want to read all about the many different incarnations of Leon we have seen over the years, look no further than this character page!