Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host this week as we look back at the best community offerings from the last week! Over the years, I have tended to stay away from "themes" outside of the E3 and GOTY versions of the Spotlight. The sole exception, of course, is whenever the anniversary of Ryan Davis' passing rolls around. Seven years is an absurd amount of time to think about, but that's where we are at. I know there are many of you who joined the site after Ryan's passing. I'm not going to use this Spotlight to shame you or make you feel like you are not a valued part of this community. I do however hope that in sharing some of my favorite Ryan moments that you understand how great of a person he was and how his spirit lives on in how this site has evolved over time. As always, feel free to share your thoughts and thanks to Ryan in the original tribute thread by Rorie on the day of his passing.
- CORRECTION: Last week I suggested Abby was logging off from social media forever, and have been corrected by several community members that I was wrong and her Tweet only meant that she would be offline for the week of their vacation. I apologize for the misinformation.
- In response to recent events, Ben is cancelling their video series on Them's Fightin' Herds, and the series in general has been re-titled.
- If you are in need of some GOOD NEWS, it honors me to inform you the speedrunning community has embraced Vinny's back-flipping and backwards walking technique for BioForge and dubbed it "The Caravella Method." I guess we can look forward to Vinny appearing in an episode of Summoning Salt.
Tweets Of The Week
I will always cherish this clip of Ryan Davis JAMMIN' to the Famicom version of Dragonball's Makafushigi Adventure ("Mystical Adventure"), taken from the "No, This Won't Be Archived" Final Live Free-For-All of 2012 stream.
— Scott Cameron (@Young_Scott) July 3, 2020
To absent friends. <>@giantbomb pic.twitter.com/r1VNhA8G19
Giantbomb Nighthawks, illustrated this a year after Ryan passed. Miss hearing that dude he's the reason I got in shape. I took a deep look at myself and decided I needed to be better. He never knew me but he helped me through tough times. Thank you Ryan Davis.#giantbomb pic.twitter.com/Sei2TXy7DW
— Sam Filstrup (@SamFilstrup) July 3, 2020
Miss you, Ryan. You agreed to be on my very first PAX panel when were barely knew each other and helped define the last decade of my life. pic.twitter.com/vdZnKXwEcY
— Pat Baer (@patbaer) July 2, 2020
— Brad Lynch (@MarinoV1) July 2, 2020
it is Friday. we lost Ryan Davis seven years ago now, so blast a fuckin' summerjam
— 🏳️🌈wren🏳️⚧️ (@Faux_Wren) July 3, 2020
blast eighteen hours of summerjams https://t.co/71DgGyFq3X
Lost a good friend seven years ago. I think about him every day. Mostly I hear his laugh in my head. That maniacal one that trailed into a giggle. I take comfort knowing that thousands of people know the laugh I'm talking about. It's a good spike of life to carry around. pic.twitter.com/K3r7gDl4PI
— Dave Snider (@enemykite) July 3, 2020
Ryan Davis passed away 7 years ago today. This is my favorite memory of him and I will never forget it. The sheer joy! Rest well, Ryan. :'Dhttps://t.co/V2OJ0yJ95K
— Brad Muir (@MrMooEar) July 3, 2020
It's been seven years, and I know it's supposed to get easier, but I still miss you buddy. pic.twitter.com/XesKy3NdUh
— Will "techpod.content.town" Smith (@willsmith) July 4, 2020
Clips Of The Week
Much like the Tweets section, I decided to share some of the best representation of Ryan's character from YouTube. Obviously, I likely missed some classic Ryan moments, so feel free to post your favorites I may have missed in the comments!
Galleria Of Art
What We Do In The Beastcast (By: @jearum)
Art master jearum combined the Beastcast crew with what I consider the best comedy TV show still on air! And before you ask, I like the What We Do in the Shadows TV show more than the movie. Bite me.
Jan Snap(By: @JDavidsen)
Jan's new series on Pokémon Snap really struck a cord with the community as we have TWO Jan-inspired works of art this week. This one comes from JDavidsen and I have to say the background texturing is amazing.
Jan Can Snap (By: @monkeyman04)
Monkeyman04 went ahead and made this tribute to Jan as a big "THANK YOU" for covering Pokémon Snap on the site!
EVA x Giant Bomb (By: @webnet)
... disgusting
Jeff Animated .GIFs (By: @fam)
If you use the link provided above, you'll find many other animated .gifs to tickle your fancy.
Community Activities
Giant Bomb TrackMania Club Available (By: @daltaaan)
We now have an unofficial community run TrackMania Club! Here's the link to use if you are interested in learning how to join it!
Blogs
The Last Of Us Part 2, Addiction, And Mental Health (By: @jasonr86)
JasonR86 writes about The Last of Us Part II and examines the game's depiction of addiction and mental health issues as a person who works as a mental health therapist.
Indie Game of the Week 177: Ara Fell +
2020: The Mid-Year Check-In (By: @mento)
Moderator Mento has a new episode of their "Indie Game of the Week" series and this one is all about Ara Fell from Stegosoft Games! Read why they consider it an excellent debut from the Akron-based indie developer! Secondly, they wrote an over-long thing about all the games I've played in 2020 so far.
LOG 4/5: MAY/JUNE 2020 (By: @mccash4gold)
MCCash4Gold returns to blogging on Giant Bomb by looking back on the high and low points of their gaming from May to June! Read which games they loved and hated using the link.
Naughty Dog And Multiplayer (By: @purpleshyguy)
PurpleShyGuy uses the backdrop of The Last of Us Part II to write a retrospective on the history of Naughty Dog's attempts at multiplayer modes and why they cannot help but wish for them to have another got at it.
The Wheel of Dubious RPGs Episode 008: Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession (By: @arbitrarywater)
Ravenloft is a beloved adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons, so, ArbitraryWater decided to give one of the earliest attempts to adapt it into a video game, Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession, a shot!
WWE Games Ranking... Doing The Double (By: NUTTA27)
nutta27 continues their highly scientific ranking of wrestling games with the big highlight being WWE All Stars. Read why they find parts of it timeless and other parts downright unplayable.
Days Gone Quietly Has Some Of The Most Messed Up Political/Moral Elements In A Video Game +
Batman: Arkham Origins Is A Decently Fun Time And Should Have Been In The Return To Arkham Collection (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates continues their retrospective on Days Gone with an in-depth discussion about the game's morality system and why they not only hated, but found it to be one of the worst in video game history. bigsocrates also struck Batman: Arkham Origins from their gaming backlog and shares why they enjoyed the game and do not understand why it was not included in the "Return to Arkham" collection.
Discussions & Threads
Ready To Pay 70 Dollars For New Games? (By: @tp0p)
The big discussion thread on the site is about whether or not people will pay $70 for new AAA games. Where do you stand? Which games do you think have an easier time justifying a jump in price? Where do season passes stand?
Hyper Scape Discussion Thread (By: @madmatt213)
Have any of you tried out Hyper Scape? Here's a link to the community discussion thread for Ubisoft's sci-fi tinged battle royale game! Share what you like and dislike with your fellow users!
Improve-a-thon During COVID-19 (By: @paulwgraham)
Have you picked up a craft during the pandemic? What have you done to better yourself? Do you have any tips or tricks about keeping calm during these stressful times?
Trackmania Tier Access & Features Discussion Thread (By: @savutano)
The community is decidedly excited to play the new Trackmania, but the game's tiered accounts are proving to be a controversial and confusing sticking point. Share how you feel using the link above!
Games With In-Game Audio Commentary? (By: @hibikirush)
Do you miss games with in-game audio commentary? Which games today or coming up do you most want to be able to close read with the developers while playing it?
New PC or New Graphics Card? (By: @tofford)
Here's a thread asking for the input of the PC hobbyist community! The topic: how/when do you decide to upgrade your PC's graphics card versus building an entirely new PC?
Has Anyone Else Seriously Chipped Away At Their Backlog? (By: @darksouls1988)
How has your gaming backlog fared during the pandemic? Have you made major progress, or are games impossible to play in your set-up? Share and discuss the classic games you have finished off with the rest of the Giant Bomb community!
Mid-Year Check-Up: Your Game Of The Year So Far? (By: @liquiddragon)
We are basically halfway done with 2020, so, how have your predicted 2020 GOTY releases panned out thus far? Which games were hits, and which ones were misses?
Sounds Like They Might Announce Another Xbox Model In August? (By: @rorie)
What are your thoughts about the rumors of Microsoft selling a cheaper Xbox Series X console? Will it garner more sales for the platform overall or run the risk of splitting the consumer-base?
Dark Netflix Series - Season 3 Discussion (SPOILERS) (By: @humanity)
It might not be gaming related, but the community is practically BUZZING about the season 3 ending of the Netflix series Dark! If you want to have a SPOILER discussion about the show here's the link!
Lists
Every Party Member From Persona 3, 4 And 5 - Ranked (By: @seriuzbiznus)
SeriuzBiznus has been a fan of the Persona franchise since the third game and scientifically ranks every party member from games 3 through 5 from best to worst. Though, I must warn you there will be puns.
List Of Possible Names For Resident Evil 9 (By: @rejizzle)
If you are in need of a good laugh, might I recommend Rejizzle's list of "possible" names and subtitled for Resident Evil 9. Here's a hint of what you can expect.
Reviews
- @kaos_cracker uses their review of The Last of Us Part II to share why they found it to be an excellent adventure, from start to finish, despite some bumps along the way.
- @melchiorblade7 uses their review on Final Fantasy VII Remake to discuss why they loved the game's spirit despite a handful of niggling issues!
- @kingslayyer finally finished The Last of Us Part II and uses their review to discuss why "Perfectly Imperfect" is the best way they would describe the game!