Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we ease into the Christmas weekend. Despite the site rounding off its GOTY content last week, we have plenty of community-made goodies for you to enjoy. For one thing, we have a slate of GOTY blogs and lists from your fellow community members that are all worth a read while you wait for the staff to come back from break. Speaking of which, we have a handful of news items that are incredibly important, so, let's get into it now!
News
In case you missed it last week, here's a link to the VODs for Giant Bomb's video coverage of GOTY:
- Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2022: Day 1
- Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2022: Day 2
- Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2022: Day 3
Community 2022 GOTY voting has begun as well. If you experience any issues with community voting, feel free to drop a comment in the bug reporting thread. Likewise, we now have a thread where you can post and embed any of your 2022 GOTY lists! Feel free to post and discuss what you have on the site if it is any way shape or form connected to GOTY.
However, the big news related to the site's GOTY coverage is that staff lists are officially on the docket from the 26th to the 30th of December! The site will not be hosting guest lists like previous years, but staff lists are always a welcomed addition.
Finally, many have been reporting that emails to the customer support address are bouncing. If you have been impacted by this issue, please drop a comment in the linked thread and also fill out the form Rorie has linked so he can get you squared away.
Community GOTY 2022 Content
Community GOTY 2022 Lists
- GOTY 2022 (By: @amlabella)
- Ranked, Played Games of 2022 (By: @ginormous76)
- BeardDuder's 2022 GOTY! (By: @beardduder)
- My 2022 Games I Played (By: @styx971)
- My Favorite 2022 Games (By: @bnjmnh)
- My Top Ten Games of 2022 (By: @madbootsy)
- Top 8 Games (That I Played) In 2022 (By: @totalpatoot)
- Game of the Year 2022 (By: @jaqen_hghar)
- Old Man's Top 11 Games of the Year (By: @hannibal)
- YYninja's 2022 GOTY List (By: @yyninja)
- 2022 GOTY List (By: @bigsteve33)
- Game Of The Year 2022 (By: @undeadpool)
- GOTY 2022 (By: @borgmaster)
- GOTY 2022 (By: @nophilip)
- I'm Keeping Track of Every Game I Played in 2022 (By: @niflhe)
- Top 10 2022 (By: @rawkpartee)
GOTY 2022 Blogs
Game of the Year 2022 and The Willies Awards! (By: @willin)
willin handed out their 2022 superlatives on top of listing their favorite games of the year on the site! Give it a read by clicking the link above and don't forget to consider writing a blog of your own as well.
MBGOTY 2022 (By: @mindbullet)
MindBullet annotated the games from and outside of 2022 they played and enjoyed. Give it a read and see if any of your favorite games from the year made the cut.
Go! Go! GOTY! 2022: Hardspace: Shipbreaker +
Go! Go! GOTY! 2022: Immortality (By: @mento)
Mento has two more entries in their blog series examining the claims for GOTY contenders and possible pretenders. This week he looks at Hardspace: Shipbreaker and Immortality. If you want to see where they stand regarding Sam Barlow, be sure to click the second link.
Tweets
@giantbomb happy holidays from us to you, duders pic.twitter.com/5WRwBBuDcZ
— Chris F. (@chrisfrantastic) December 18, 2022
@giantbomb @DanRyckert Finishing up the last few levels! pic.twitter.com/noMw4zeYaq
— SmashNcrab (@SmashNcrab) December 23, 2022
Dec. 30 at 3PM - 9PM ET, a charity stream for @giantbomb's @ExtraLife4Kids, jumping into @FF_XIV_EN Heavensward, co-hosted by @sairaspooks! Giving away A YEAR OF TIME CARDS, and thanks to @SquareEnix, copies of the Complete Edition + Crisis Core Reunion!https://t.co/xJZLiXT946 pic.twitter.com/dFnuo1nkQr
— Tom Caswell (@GreatBriTom) December 23, 2022
One of the best song writers I know just released a solo album and I'm so happy he's continuing to create more music. His band's (Tammany Hall NYC) music has appeared in some GameSpot and Giant Bomb content over the years. Go check it out here: https://t.co/u2RngTK9b7
— Vincent Caravella (@VinnyCaravella) December 23, 2022
Activities
UUGPGC Voting Thread For Cycle 12/26/2022-1/9/2023! FIRST 2023 CYCLE! PERFECT TIME TO JOIN! +
Pentiment Is The 24th Selection Of The UUGPGC! Completion Date Is 12/26/2022! Mark All Spoilers!(By: @bigsocrates)
The Giant Bomb community Game Pass Game Club is holding voting for the first game for 2023! Give the nominees a gander and drop a comment with a vote for two games you'd like to see tackled by the group. Likewise, Pentiment is the 24th selection of the Community Game Pass Game Club and final game selection of 2022!
The GB Album Club 019 - Waterworld by The Leak Bros (Cycle 1 Finale!) (By: @unclejam23)
Don't forget that the final edition of the Community Album Club in 2022 is for Waterworld by The Leak Bros! Join the discussion about the group and its musical accomplishments by clicking the link below!
Galleria
Merry Christmas - With Love, The Grubbsy Family & Daughter Grubbsy (By: @kone)
Last week I characterized Kone's photoshopping as "cyberbullying," and with this week I stand by that. In fact, with these two works I now worry what would happen to me if I ever got on Kone's bad side.
Blogs
Blogging About Failure - Part 2: The RPGs I Couldn't Find The Energy To Complete Or Write About (Until Now) (By: @zombiepie)
Moderator ZombiePie provides part two of their mini-series looking at the games they wanted to discuss and cover on Giant Bomb but couldn't due to lack of time or not being able to finish them. This time they look at all of their "failed" RPG plans.
All Saturn Games in Order: November 1995 (Part 1) (By: @borgmaster)
The latest episode of borgmaster's retrospective on the Sega Saturn covers Corpse Killer, The Mansion of Hidden Souls, Rayman, Theme Park, NBA Jam, and Virtua Cop! Are any of them worth playing?
HuCARTography III: The End of 1987 (By: @jeffrud)
It's time to get a little funky with this episode of jeffrud's retrospective on the TurboGrafx-16/ PC Engine! Click the link below to read all about how Hudson and the console rounded off the year 1987.
Oops All Tactics Games 2022 Turn 1: "I Can't Believe It's Not An XCOM" (By: @arbitrarywater)
2022 was an AMAZING year for tactics strategy games and that's why ArbitraryWater is starting a series where they look at some of the genre highlights. Read if Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters or Marvel's Midnight Suns are any good.
What's the Greatest Video Game(s): Submerged And Erica (By: @imunbeatable80)
imunbeatable80 makes a valiant return to Giant Bomb with a two-for-one blog talking about their thoughts and experiences with Submerged and Erica! Are either titles worth checking out? Read to find out!
Perfect Gold: Probably A Good Entry Level Visual Novel (By: @infantpipoc)
infantpipoc has been reviewing and covering visual novels on the internet for over five years and many titles in the genre have claimed to be "entry level visual novels" but they explain why Perfect Gold deserves that title.
Discussion Threads
High On Life Impressions Thread (By: @giant_gamer)
It is maybe the most polarizing game of the year, but what does everyone think of High on Life? The shooting, dashing, voice acting, and AI art... where do YOU stand on the game right now?
What Games Do You 'Have' To Keep Installed At All Times On Which Systems? (By: @bigsocrates)
For console and PC game owners, what are some video games you always keep installed on your systems and platforms of choice? Are there any large games taking up gobs of space on your hard drive right now?
Need Help With Awkward Home/Office PC Setup (By: @blitzfitness)
Hey Giant Bomb community and greater internet, do any of you have advice on how to make a gaming/Twitch set-up more ergonomic for work from home? Share your tips and tricks in the thread linked above!
Vampire Survivor?... Why Not Smash TV 2 (By: @topcyclist)
With Vampire Survivors getting a lot of love during 2022 GOTY talks, do you think it will spawn revivals of older twin-stick shooters like Smash TV or Geometry Wars?
Do The Youngs (20 Or Younger) Just Accept Having Advertising As Part Of The OS Of Their TV Set? (By: @bigsocrates)
Here's an interesting discussion thread on the forums: do you worry younger generations have simply come to accept TV OS advertising as a built-in part of owning a television? Also, when did we lose this fight overall?
Do You Like It Better When Sequels Reinvent The Wheel Or Reiterate And Refine? (By: @topcyclist)
When is it okay for a franchise to stick with refining versus needing to reinvent the wheel? How long could a franchise like Street Fighter actually go without shaking things up?
Happy 25th Anniversary To Gran Turismo! (By: @gtxforza)
It's the 25th anniversary of the Gran Turismo franchise! Do any of you have any fond memories of old or recent games in the series? Remember when Gran Turismo ruled the world?
User Reviews
- @yyninja's Ghost of a Tale review is brief, but sufficiently articulates why they actively disliked its heavy reliance on fetch quests and barebones quest design.
Wiki Of The Week
Released Between Christmas and New Year's Day
There aren't many examples of games that fit this concept page, but the ones that do are truly special. For example, the infamous Jonny Moseley Mad Trix is one of the earliest examples of games releasing between Christmas and New Year's Day.