The Community Spotlight 2023.09.30

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host as we look back at the best community creations from the previous week. Welcome to the last day of September!

In terms of programming, Jan announced that the Thursday Night Throwdown for Team Fortress 2, which is quickly becoming the most cursed planned piece of Giant bomb content ever, has been rescheduled to this week on October 5th.

The Giant Bomb Discord moderation team is looking for new moderators and they have an application form. If you think you would make for a great Discord mod, fill out the application!

In terms of updates for bug reports, Dylan reiterated during this week's monthly Fandom meeting that updates are coming out for the video player and podcast feed at least weekly. However, he did note that the engineering team is planning to address the site search engine issues next. The site's forum search being broken has been reported and updates should be coming soon. If you experience any issues that you are incredibly frustrated about or suspect an update may have done more damage than good, remember your options are:

1. Go to the Giant Bomb Discord and drop a comment in "site-tech-issues" but please ping @dtoast.
2. Go to the Bug Reporting Boards on the site and file a report (still ping dtoast)
3. Use Zendesk: https://giantbombhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

As mentioned last week, Evil Uno announced that Mystery Wrestling 4 is LIVE on October 22nd and his guest on that date will be Dan! This is a live, in-person event at Centre Aydelu in Gatineau, Quebec. You can buy tickets over here!

Finally, in light of recent events, remember that if you want Twitter alternatives for the staff there's a thread for you to consult. If you notice any gaps, please drop a comment. Also, if you want to get updates about the site and community, I have a Bluesky, Cohost, and Tumblr account that you can follow and enjoy.

Tweets

Activities

The GB Album Club 042 - Nina Simone in Concert by Nina Simone (Cycle Finale!) (By: @unclejam23)

The Giant Bomb Community Album Club is wrapping up another successful cycle! The final album for your consideration for this season is "Nina Simone in Concert" by Nina Simone! Join the community discussion about this jazz legend NOW!

Giant Bomb Community Announcement: Quake II Is The 21st Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC! Finish By October 9, 2023! Mark All Spoilers! +

Giant Bomb Activity Announcement: Goat Simulator Is The 20th Selection Of Year 2 Of The UUGPGC! SPOILERS OPENED! (By: @bigsocrates)

It's time for a CLAMMY CLAM CLASSIC with this edition of the Community Game Pass Game Club! That's right, this time the group is playing Quake II! Whether you are playing the original or the 2023 remaster, join the fun!

Also, don't forget that the Giant Bomb Community Game Pass Game Club is hosting a discussion for Goat Simulator and they have opened up their discussion to SPOILERS! What's your favorite "secret" in the game?

Art

Mike Minotti As A Getty Image And Kevin James Meme+

Giant Bomb x Ancient Architecture+

Dear Jim Ryan... (By: @kone)

I guess someone said to Kone "You should make a Giant Bomb-related thing for that new Kevin James meme." Well, they listened and this is the result. I will add that the coffee cup and watermark are inspired touches.

Speaking of Kone trying his hand on internet memes, they saw fit to combine the Giant Bomb logo with the popular "ancient architecture was truly beautiful" meme.

As we will review shortly, Jim Ryan is retiring after nearly thirty years at Sony's PlayStation division.

"Mao! Diddy Mao!" +

Injured? Get CHRIS! (By: @jearum)

Welcome back to the other king of Giant Bomb art, jearum! The most recent Blight Club series with Mike had them thinking about a specific scene from Deer Hunter. I did not think there would be a day when Giant Bomb crossed with Deer Hunter, but here we are.

Also, did you get injured in a car accident? Dan might know a guy who can help you maximize your settlement.

Jeff Grubb x Pearl Jam T-Shirt (By: @KinguAmoz)

Over on Twitter and Bluesky, I put out another call for edits to clips and screencaps of Jeff Grubb and KinguAmoz was the one who answered the call. This time they imagined Jeff Grubb on the front of a Pearl Jam shirt.

Giant Bomb's Chat Lately (By: @ogto)

Unhappy about the five emote limit, ogto decided to make this work of photoshop goodness. As someone who knows what sorts of shenanigans that you all would engage in if we waived that limit, I respectfully disagree.

Blog

Game OVA Season 2: Episode 6 — Dirty Pair +

Indie Game of the Week 339: Lost Words: Beyond the Page (By: @mento)

AW YEAH! It's time to talk about a CLASSIC with Mento's latest OVA-to-video game blog! That's right, this week they are talking about Dirty Pair and Dirty Pair: Project Eden, the Famicom Disc System adaptation!

Secondly, the latest edition of Mento's "Indie Game of the Week" series is for Lost Words: Beyond the Page by Sketchbook Games. Read why they have to commend the game and its designers for telling such an impactful story.

Okay Square Enix, You Got Everyone Excited For Rebirth, But What's The Bait And Switch Going To Be This Time? (By: @zombiepie)

After TGS 2023, a LOT of you are excited to play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth next year. Nonetheless, as ZombiePie posits on their blog, are all of you ready for ANOTHER Square bait and switch? Because let's be real, this is 100% happening.

What's the Greatest Video Game: The Dig (By: @imunbeatable80)

imunbeatable80 tackles LucasArts and Steven Spielberg's 1995 collaborative effort, The Dig! How has the game held up after over twenty years have passed?

All FromSoft Games Are Bad: 1994 (By: @borgmaster)

borgmaster has never liked a single video game developed by FromSoftware. This week, they start a long journey to see why they generally dislike the studio's creative decision-making and design choices with a retrospective on King's Field.

The Tower of Dubious Horror Returns for 2023! (Daymare 1994 and Song of Horror) (By: @arbitrarywater)

After an extended hiatus, ArbitraryWater's "Tower of Dubious Horror" blog feature is BACK. This time, there are new categories and questionable life-choices as they review Daymare 1994 and Song of Horror!

Enjoying A Game Only To Grow To Critique It (By: @junkerman)

Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of playing a game years ago and loving it, only to become a critic of it years afterwards? This recently happened to Junkerman and they blogged about why they think it is inevitable.

Discussion Threads

Megan Fox's VO-ing Nitara Discussion Thread (By: @mrangryface)

So... where do you stand in the debate about Megan Fox's portrayal of Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1? Does the VO ruin the character for you or do you think the internet reaction is overblown?

Jim Ryan Set To Retire In March 2024. How Do You Rank/Rate His Tenure? (By: @zombiepie)

With Jim Ryan retiring, how do you assess his tenure running Sony's flagship console brand? Did things get away from him at the end? Can we all at least thank the man for gifting us one of the most iconic moments in Giant Bomb history?

Its Servers Are Going To End By January 31st, 2024 (By: @gtxforza)

Polyphony announced Gran Turismo Sport's servers are going to end by January 31st, 2024. Here's a list of features players can expect to lose. With Forza Horizon 1 and 2 also losing their servers, what's your confidence in online racing games?

Schreier Says That Epic Is Slashing 16% Of Its Workforce (By: @bigsocrates)

What's your reaction to the layoffs hitting Epic? Do you think Epic's aggressive expansion with its digital marketplace is done for? How does the news compare to previous studio shuttering?

Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 Updates and Changes Discussion Thread (By: @spacemanspiff00)

How does everyone in the community feel about the Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 updates and changes? Do you love them or hate them? What are your thoughts about people saying Cyberpunk 2077 is now the game it wanted to be at launch?

What Would Make You Hate A Game Genre Less/Or Even Like It If You Could Change Something(s) About It? (By: @topcyclist)

Here's an interesting discussion thread on the forums! What a specific game genre that you don't like and what would that genre have to do to make you think about playing a title from it? Share your thoughts and examples NOW!

Lists

Games With Impossible Geometry (By: @stevoisiak)

Stevoisiak is working on an incredibly interesting list that definitely needs YOUR HELP in terms of locating more examples. It's a list of every single video game that uses non-euclidean or impossible geometry.

I've Been Here The Whole Time (By: @jcofdi)

JCofDI penned a list of six games that they feel are truly in a different echelon for their personal rankings. Which games are at the top of their all-time list and why? Read to find out by clicking the link!

Bojitsu Practitioners (By: @jacobproper1)

JacobProper1 is working on another NEW list project that needs YOUR HELP! Right now, they are trying to make a list that annotates every single video game character that uses a bō staff or practices Bōjutsu!

User Reviews

@mystic_ode had never played ICO until this week and they decided to assess if the game's reputation as a "must play" was warranted. If you want to read what they think and join their conversation, read their non-spoiler review.

@pauljeremiah's Journey review talks about why the game still remains a seminal work of art that is "an emotional and artistic journey that will stay with you!" Also, he uses his Final Fantasy XVI review to asses the many ways it attempts to try different things while keeping the heart of the series. Finally, his VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action review highlights their impressions of the game's novel mix of cyberpunk, bartending, and visual novel relationship building.

Wiki Of The Week

Quake

With Quake II being the latest pick of the Game Pass Game Club and people still buzzing about the remaster that came out for Quake II this year, let's take a long and hard look at the Quake series as a whole with this Wiki of the Week!