Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @mento, am taking over host duties this week. @zombiepie can't join us because his laptop died after streaming Final Fantasy X-2 (along with ZombiePie's soul, from what I was able to tell), but he should be back next week if all goes as planned.
While the community is still buzzing about looting hospitals and hiding in bathtubs in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, that game evidently had some competition of late in the form of Splatoon 2 and the Destiny 2 beta, both of which were launched this week. Whether you're out murdering or splatting or just soaking up the Sunshine, we've got some great community content for you to peruse. First, some site announcements:
- Our new chat has some amazing additions, but is still working out the kinks. If you've been running into any issues, the engineers would like to hear about them over here in its official bug reporting thread.
- PAX West 2017 is still several weeks away, but we're already getting some schedule confirmations via Twitter: Sunday the 3rd of September will host both the PAX Wrestling Rumble in the morning and the Giant Bomb panel at night.
- Engineer Will Carle reports that we now have thumbnail previews for Giant Bomb videos! Check 'em out.
Giant Bomb Galleria
The image at the top of the Spotlight this week comes courtesy of graboids. Make sure this rad design doesn't get a chilly reception by visiting the thread and leaving him some feedback!
Dilbrad (Continued) (By: Odd_Particle)
Odd_Particle has made a few more of these drollbert Dilbert/GB crossover comics.
@giantbomb @bradshoemaker @jeffgerstmann @drewscanlon #dilbrad In this episode, a visit from an old friend! Who's judging you. In the loo. pic.twitter.com/ZSn75QE9vI
— Daniel Fu (@Odd_Particle) July 20, 2017
Twitter user Aforextreme / Junkfoodking really captured Ben's laid-back essence with this caripackture.
Bridge Crew Ben (By: Myrrh_anda)
And the Ben love continues to flow in from Twitter with this sketch of Bensign Pack goofing around at the helm of a Federation Starship.
Clips of the Week
Vinny and Alex on Waypoint's Breakfast & Battlegrounds (By: Crowbar & Sickle)
Vinny and Alex finally joined Waypoint's murder-happy family in their regular weekday morning PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds feature. See how "Grampa Multicaravella" and "Gruncle Buttpan" fared alongside their former GB co-workers Austin "Crowbar" Walker and Patrick "Sickle" Klepek on Murder Island, below.
Giant Bomb X Star Trek: The Next Generation (By: Mystic_Mile / @death_metalist)
Death_Metalist (a.k.a. Mystic_Mile on Twitter) put together a short clip of what Star Trek TNG might be like if Giant Bomb West was calling the shots.
My preferred way of watching Star Trek @jeffgerstmann @bradshoemaker @PackBenPack @willsmith pic.twitter.com/JwIGfIlTig
— Mohammed Abdullah (@Mystic_Mile) July 16, 2017
Best of Giant Bomb's Deadly Premonition Endurance Run 09 (By: @clagnaught)
Clagnaught (a.k.a. MichZurek) continues his series of compilations made of the best moments from Giant Bomb's two concurrent Deadly Premonition Endurance Runs.
Best of Blogs
Creating a Sign For the GB Crew (By: @hateeveryone)
HateEveryone is making a new sign for the Giant Bomb duders to hang up, or possibly place alongside the metalcraft sign on the Bombcast table. See how he got on with this picture gallery of the crafting process.
Having your kill stolen in a SINGLE PLAYER game is some hot garbage from a garbage butt (an HZD story) (By: @bigsocrates)
Read Big_Socrates's tale of woe of a sour Horizon: Zero Dawn moment and ask yourself if you've ever suffered the ignominy of having your kill stolen by a video game NPC.
Thoughts on Dishonored 2! (By: @rorie)
Mod boss, wildcard UPF fixture, puppy aficionado, and all-round good writer person Matthew Rorie detailed what he liked and didn't like about Arkane Studios's Dishonored 2.
The Man, The Myth, The Zombie King George A. Romero 1940-2017 (By: @themist997)
TheMist997 eulogizes legendary horror director George A. Romero, who sadly passed away this week, with this thoughtful obituary. To think, without him we'd probably have no Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, Dead Island, Dying Light, The Walking Dead and many other games with equally chipper names.
Finally finished this game (By: @sam_lfcfan)
Sam_lfcfan recently completed Persona 5 and had plenty to say about the occasionally troubling ways the game conducts itself. See if his views line up with your own by checking out his blog.
Deep Listens: Persona 5 Deep Dive: Part 1 (By: @thatpinguino)
ThatPinguino has embarked on a multi-part look at Persona 5 as part of his Deep Listens podcast series. See what he and his podcast companions thought of the game's opening act.
All-New Saturday Summaries 2017-07-22 (By: @mento)
That Mento guy is back with another round-up of blogging content, looking at Onimusha 2 (in brief), the balletic Bound, and what might end up on a N64 Classic Mini.
Join the Discussion
Atari are making a new console, are you interested? (By: @beachthunder)
Atari, or the company currently using its name, has revealed a new retro console it's working on. What's your take on this mystery box? Is it a better or worse idea than a speakerhat?
64 vs. Sunshine (By: @nagareboshi)
Super Mario Sunshine's 15th anniversary and new gambling-heavy GBE feature has prompted another debate on whether it or Super Mario 64 have held up better. Where do you land in this dispute? Is F.L.U.D.D. a dud, or is 64 a crusty bore?
Destiny 2 - Beta Impressions (By: @glots)
Destiny 2's pre-order and open betas happened (and are still happening) this week. If you got in, how are you enjoying the new and improved moon wizard action? Is it shaping up to be everything the original version of Destiny wasn't? Put those musings in this thread and shine some Light on what you've discovered.
First Impressions (By: @alphaknowledge)
We also have an impressions thread for the new Indie strategy RPG Children of the Zodiarcs. Share your early thoughts here, and let friend of the site Aurahack know if you particularly enjoy the art direction.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles (By: @glots)
Prideful Sloth's Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles also came out this week. What's your take on this open-world resource-gathering, crafting and fishing game? If you've had the chance to play it, let others in the community know what you think over yonder.
How have your gaming habits changed over the years? (By: @kittentactics)
How much time do you have for games these days? Does that influence the type or number of new games you buy? Has your backlog become unmanageable as new priorities take over? Spill the beans in this discussion thread, and let others know how you've adjusted your game playing around your various grown-up responsibilities.
Do you spec for convenience or power first? (By: @bigsocrates)
In games with skill trees, which do you prioritize first? Those that make your character stronger, or those that make life easier on yourself? Whether you go straight for combat upgrades or item capacity and XP boosts, vote for your preference in this poll and see how much of the community agrees.
What are your favorite original Xbox games? (By: @bartok)
E3 brought news that Microsoft is working on including the original Xbox in their Xbox One range of backwards compatible games. What are your favorite console exclusives for the system that you'd perhaps like to play again on the Xbox One?
Murder Island name game (By: @phoenix654)
Giant Bomb have had no trouble in coming up with imaginative B-movie names for their (mostly) weekly Murder Island premium feature, but all the same the community's willing to help out with some suggestions. Do you have an idea for a future Murder Island title?
Useful User Reviews
- @riostarwind revisited Super Mario Sunshine as part of his series of retro reviews. Does it still stack up? Is it really as difficult as Giant Bomb East makes it seem?
- @junior_ain took a look at Resident Evil 6 to figure out what went wrong.
- @justin258 talks about how Prey is a worthy spiritual successor to the likes of System Shock 2.