The Community Spotlight 2023.06.24

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 creations from the previous week!

Well, it sure seems like E3 is completely dead. With the recent news that the ESA has scrapped its previous bookings for E3 2024 and E3 2025, I think there's a more than good chance that this is the end of the line for the convention we all once knew and loved. Though, I feel like we have been doing this song and dance for the past five years.

Nonetheless, if you are mourning the event, rest assured that Giant Bomb has some goodies to keep your nostalgia flowing. First, don't forget that moderator Marino has an entire YouTube channel of photos and videos he took on the show floor from E3 1999 all the way to E3 2006!

Also, many of you may recall when Giant Bomb once hosted banner contests for all of the "major" conferences during E3 and you can check out all of the winners of those contests in a single thread post! Here's a personal favorite of mine:

A few programming notices. This week Jan was "on assignment," hence his absence on the site's normal programming and why there's been a slight delay on videos popping up on the site. Nevertheless, that did not stop the debut of the latest season of JeffJeff's Bizarre Adventure which is tackling Cowboy Bebop!

Finally, Jordan Minor was a guest on the 06/23/2023 episode of Game Mess Mornings. If you are interested in pre-ordering the book they promoted, which has entries written by several current and former Giant Bomb staff, here's the link!

Tweets

Activities

Soma is the 13th Game Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC. Finish By July 3, 2023! Mark All Spoilers (By: @bigsocrates)

Soma is the 13th selection for the Game Pass Game Club! The target completion date is July 3rd, but if you have any early non-spoiler thoughts about the game, or want to participate in the future, feel free to share them now!

Art

Author's Note: Friendly reminder that if you find or make any cool works of art based on Giant Bomb staff, friends of the site, or memes associated with Giant Bomb then drop me a link! With everyone sharing their Giant Bomb themed art on different channels, it's getting harder for me to keep track of where everything is and what's getting made.

Robo Mitch Will Never Live This Down (By: @CreakyLegs)

The Robo Mitch fan art keeps coming! Over on Twitter Creaky Legs uses a familiar meme template to highlight the high likelihood that Phil Spencer has seen Mike's flaky feet and him picking at them with a Nicolas Cage fan.

Chibi Robo Mitch (By: @TiredSquidd)

Mike also shared on Twitter a wonderful chibi rendition of Robo Mitch with a link to the artist that created it!

Blogs

The Quest For The Worst Adventure Game Puzzles - A.D. 2044 (i.e., I Accidentally Played Anti-Feminist Propaganda) (By: @zombiepie)

Moderator ZombiePie revives their "Quest for the Worst Adventure Game Puzzle" series on Giant Bomb and this time they look at A.D. 2044, one of the lowest reviewed games on GOG! Read why they were not expecting an anti-feminist manifesto.

What's the Greatest Video Game: Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires Conspiracy (By: @imunbeatable80)

imunbeatable80 is back with a new edition of their "What's the Greatest Video Game" series! This week they tackle Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy and ranks among its peers and predecessors.

All PS1 Games In Order: Special - Namco Stuff (By: @borgmaster)

borgmaster returns to blogging on the site and this week has a "SPECIAL REPORT" on some of the books, promotional media, and tie-ins Namco made during the PS1 era to promote the release of Air Combat, Ridge Racer, and Tekken!

Evercade Reintroduced Me To British Microcomputer Gamers And Reminded Me That 80S/90S Brit Gamers Were Delusional (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates used their Evercade to explore the games on the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and other popular PCs in Europe in the 80s and 90s. The conclusion is that the British games press was high on its own supply.

A Ghost Train Ride To Er, Catch A Train? (By: @infantpipoc)

infantpipoc was excited to check out the Eternights Steam Next Fest demo and pens their thoughts about it as a fan of visual novels! Is this something they are excited to play in the future? Read to find out!

Conventional Wisdom: Summer Game Fest and the Legacy of E3 (By: @gamer_152)

Gamer_152 has written an essay on their thoughts about the 2023 Summer Game Fest, why they think E3 experienced its identity crisis, and what role conventions have in informing people about the landscape of games.

Indie Game of the Week 325: Double Cross (By: @mento)

Double Cross from 13AM Games is the topic of Mento's latest "Indie Game of the Week!" If you haven't heard about this Mega Man-like title then click the link below to see if it is up your alley!

Discussion Threads

What's Everyone's Steam Next Fest 2023 Demo Recommendations? (By: @zombiepie)

What are everyone's demo recommendations for Steam Next Fest 2023? This is the last weekend before the event ends, so, what games do you think people should check out before their demos go away?

E3 2024 & 2025 Dates Cancelled; This Might Be The End of E3 (By: @zombiepie)

This week wasn't a great one for E3 and its already tenuous future. Learn about and discuss the apparent cancellation of E3 2024 and 2025's dates and share if there's any path forward for the convention with the rest of the community.

Do You Ever Feel Listless After Beating A Game? (By: @axl159)

When you finish a game you really liked, do you ever feel listless about picking your next game? What are your strategies and techniques on getting over that feeling?

Xbox Series X and Game Pass Pricing Will Go Up In Most Countries (By: @zombiepie)

Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass prices will be going up in most markets and countries. How does this impact you? And do the increases have you less excited about Microsoft's consoles and future software?

Nintendo Direct June 2023 Discussion Thread (By: @zombiepie)

What did you think about the June Nintendo Direct? Were there any surprise announcements or reveals that shocked you? Which games are you most excited to play? Share your answers to these questions

Lists

Summer Backlog Targets[Example For YOU To Copy!] (By: @odysseyrpg)

OdysseyRPG lays out their ambitious Summer Video Game Backlog! Speaking of which, consider making your own list of games you hope to at least check out this Summer on Giant Bomb! What do you hope to play before the weather turns cold?

User Reviews

@dinoracha's Lil Gator Game review on Giant Bomb relays why they consider it to be an absolutely sweet game worth checking out even if it ends right as it starts to find its stride and a nice balance between exploring, playing and rag-dolling.

@pauljeremiah's latest batch of reviews includes Firewatch, Child of Light, Echochrome, andCommand & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars! If you want my recommendation, give their C&C 3 review a shot as it makes an incredibly cogent point about how it proves how close the franchise was at a modern revival.

@sbc515 has started a new review series on the site wherein they look at games widely considered the "worst of all-time" and reassess to see fi they warrant their reputations. This week they tackled Hong Kong 97, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Top Gun (NES), and Raid 2020.

Wiki Of The Week

Honkai: Star Rail

Many thanks to DocHaus for taking the time to update the site's wiki page for Honkai: Star Rail! Whether you are a recent or long-time fan of the Honkai series, give it a read because it covers virtually everything!