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 and predictably, we have lot, especially when it comes to GOTY lists!
If you missed it, definitely check out Marino's article that summarizes the site's GOTY award winners and content in a single handy place. Also, for those of you who watched the Twitch VOD, you know there were a few minutes lost when the stream crashed. That lost segment has been fully recovered in the version uploaded to the site.
Community GOTY Voting is now on the docket to start THIS MONDAY (December 18)! We'll have a form for you to fill out to submit your list. If you have already made a Game of the Year list on the site that I have not already promoted, drop a comment here!
On December 17th, friend of the site Mike Minotti will be streaming Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix on Proud Mode difficulty while raising money for Giant Bomb's Extra Life team! Here's a link to his donation page if you are interested in helping him out.
2023 GOTY Roundup!
Staff GOTY Roundup
- GOTY Day One Podcast [Day One Video]
- GOTY Day Two Podcast [Day Two Video]
- GOTY Day Three Podcast [Day Three Video]
- GOTY Finale Podcast [GOTY Finale Video]
- BONUS DAY | Best Game Music Podcast [BONUS DAY | Best Game Music Video]
- Here's What Won - GOTY 2023 (By: MARINO) - Want to see which games won every single one of Giant Bomb's 2023 GOTY categories? If so, this article by Marino is for YOU!
- Giant Bomb at Nite: The Game Awards Podcast [The Game Awards VOD]
Community GOTY Lists
Author's Note: Did you write a GOTY blog or list that I missed? For now, feel free to drop a comment with a link to your GOTY list or blog and I promise to get it on the next edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight!
- Best Of 2023 (By: @marino)
- 2023 GOTY List (By: @zombiepie)
- Game of the Year 2023 (By: @tk_frampt)
- 2023 GotY (By: @studibro)
- 2023 Games of the Year (By: @thefloorislava)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @rmanthorp)
- GAME OF THE Y 2023 (By: @overbite)
- Best Of 2023 (By: @geekcore)
- Top Games of 2023 As Decided By ME (By: @ej)
- Game of the Year 2023 Users Choice (By: @agodzo)
- Game of the Year 2023 (By: @jaqen_hghar)
- 2023 Game of the Year (By: @dijag)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @cronox2)
- Game Of The Year 2023 (By: @bholla71085)
- GOTY 2023 (By: @borgmaster)
Tweets
The Nardwuar of video games is @JeffGrubb? pic.twitter.com/0rZl7umEnX
— Kone (@KoneBomb) December 13, 2023
Fun Facts from @giantbomb GOTY:
— Brad Lynch (@MarinoV1) December 11, 2023
Jan is now 0 for 7 in getting his #1 game to be the site's #1.
Only Drew has a worse record at 0 for 8.
You can catch him, Jan!
Dan now has a 50% success rate, which is highest of anyone with more than 2 years.
Vinny still has the most with 5. pic.twitter.com/5I1lxBRWwV
In honor of E3, please enjoy this pic of a 16-year-old @patrickklepek at a fine Italian restaurant pic.twitter.com/V6JiFmsw4R
— Brad Shoemaker (@bradshoemaker) December 12, 2023
💀🪦💔 pic.twitter.com/Q5crm1VL09
— Giant Bomb Out of Context (@GBombOOC) December 13, 2023
some highlights from this week pic.twitter.com/AFbCNBy8Vq
— bailey meyers (@baileymeyers) December 11, 2023
this was a good couch pic.twitter.com/yHZMJUgKFF
— niki grayson (@godsewa) December 15, 2023
It’s that time of the year again https://t.co/KTuA7XOmxU
— Steve Kim (@Fobwashed) December 13, 2023
Galleria
Mike Minotti Cake Swap + Wallace & Gromit x Minotti Cake (By: @kone)
So... we have a LOT of artistic recreations of the Minotti cake that graced the FINALE live performance. In their usual form, Kone applied their photoshop mastery to create the most nightmarish works of fan art that are bound to haunt you forever. Even Wallace and Gromit are not safe.
The Mitchmas King (circa 1993) (By: @CreakyLegs)
I'm going to be honest, if I saw this on a Christmas Tree I would probably set the tree on fire and salt the Earth where the ash fall so it cannot multiply.
Minotti .png & Minotti x Q*Bert (By: @chucktowski)
Over on the Official Giant Bomb Discord, which you can join any day using this link, chucktowski created a baseless and transparent png for your dark arts and they also imagined the Minotti cake as the protagonist of a Q*Bert reboot.
And we now have jearum back to what they do best: merging Giant Bomb staffers and moments with the artstyle of Junji Ito. With this take on the Minotti cake, I think we can shut everything down and call it a year.
Activities
The GB Album Club 045 - I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen (By: @unclejam23)
"I'm Your Man" by Leonard Cohen is the latest pick of the Album Club! Leonard Cohen is considered a legend, but what do you think of his singing and musical writing skills? Join the discussion by clicking the link!
Venba Is The 26th Selection Of The UUGPGC Year 2. Finish By December 18 2023. Mark All Spoilers!(By: @bigsocrates)
Venba by developer Visai Studios is the latest selection for Giant Bomb's Community Game Pass game Club! If you have any early non-spoiler impressions of the game, its style, and gameplay, share your thoughts in the thread linked above!
Blogs
My Games of 2023 (By: @chamurai)
chamurai only has seven games on their 2023 GOTY blog but that doesn't make it any less worth a read compared to the other GOTY blog you'll find! Check out the games they enjoyed the most this year and don't forget to join the fun!
Top 10 Games I Played for the First Time in 2023 (By: @chucktowski)
chucktowski has a little bit of everything represented in their 2023 GOTY blog! They have small indie games, big tentpole franchises, and a few surprises here and there. How did your favorite titles fare? Read to find out!
Immortals Of Aveum Is Not A Great Game. It's Average. It Shouldn't Have Crippled The Studio That Made It. (By: @bigsocrates)
Out of curiosity, bigsocrates played Immortals of Aveum to see if it had a chance to get on their GOTY list. It isn't, but they wrote an essay on why its an average game that "shouldn't have crippled the studio that made it"
What's the Greatest Video Game: I Am Dead (By: @imunbeatable80)
This edition of imunbeatable80's "What's the Greatest Video Game" series is for I Am Dead! What do they make of this puzzle adventure game that tackles the subject of death from Hollow Ponds? Click the link below to find out!
Oh Baby Oh Baby SIGIL II Is Good As Hell +
Ah, The 2023 Video Games... Have Long Been Known For Their Excellence (By: @ford_dent)
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Doom, John Romero and Romero Games made SIGIL II, a follow-up to one of the most well-known DOOM WADs. Ford_Dent is happy to report that SIGIL II is good... really good!
Ford_Dent also played a little bit of everything in 2023 and instead of writing a traditional GOTY list, they handed out superlatives like "Most Systems Shocked" and "Best Expansion I Almost Forgot to Mention!"
How to "Fix" The Game Awards +
The Devilish Genius Of Video Game Adaptions (By: @redhorsespirit)
How much of the criticism directed at The Game Awards 2023 do you expect to see fixed for next year? redhorsespirit wrote about the easy fixes, but they also raise the issue of whether or not Geoff Keighley wants to rock the boat.
Also, in response to the news of an A24 adaption of Death Stranding, redhorsespirit discusses the "nuances" of video game movie adaptations and why they think they often do not work. If you have your own ideas, feel free to share!
Right on Cue: An Analysis of Side Pocket (SNES) (By: @gamer_152)
Remember when digital pool games were all the rage? This week, moderator Gamer_152 decided to look at Side Pocket, a game they call the "NBA Jam of pool games!" Read all about why they feel confident about that statement.
Discussion Threads
Hottest Mess 2023: Community's Choice! (PICK 3) (By: @allthedinos)
It's TIME for a yearly Giant Bomb community tradition! That's right, it is time to send in YOUR VOTES for the Hottest Mess of 2023 in the video game industry! Will you be voting for Unity, Embracer, or something else?
E3 Has Been Permanently Canceled (By: @bigsocrates)
Some in the Giant Bomb community are still lamenting the official death of E3. What are your thoughts about the news? Do you support Keighley-led events filling the void? What are your favorite memes or moments from the event?
The Last of Us Multiplayer Cancelled (By: @av_gamer)
What is your reaction to the news that the multiplayer mode for The Last of Us is cancelled? Have any of you seen the unverified "leaked" images of the mode? Get an update and join the discussion by using the link!
Are Books The Only Place Nowadays Where You're Not BOMBARDED With Ads? (By: @sombre)
An interesting discussion cropped up on the forums, but are physical books the last medium of entertainment where you don't get bombarded with advertisements? With YouTube's AdBlocker crackdown, how are you surviving the deluge of modern ads?
I've Been Collecting Videos Of NPCs Stuck In Animations Of Tasks They Will Never Complete, And I Need Your Help! (By: @jazzylament)
Here's a fun one on the forums! jazzylament is doing a gaming project and needs YOUR HELP! Right now, they are trying to make a video compilation of NPCs stuck in animations of "tasks they will never complete."
The Crew Has Been Delisted And Will No Longer Be Playable After March 2024. Games Expire Now. (By: @bigsocrates)
Just as the game nears its 10th anniversary, it has been announced that The Crew will no longer be playable after March 2024. What is your reaction and what does it say about the state of game preservation with racing games in particular?
What's Your "Alphabet of Autocomplete?" (By: @sombre)
For each letter of the alphabet, how does Android or iOS complete it? What are your autocomplete words for every single letter? Are there any surprises in your autocomplete list? On a desktop, how does Google or Bing complete the letters?
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Trailer Discussion Thread (By: @gtxforza)
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is supposedly going to release in 2023, for realzies this time. Give the latest trailer for the game a watch and share if you think it looks like it will compete well in a crowded field and if you think it will get delayed again.
Lists
The Besties' Required Reading List Revised (By: @radjoshcon)
In response to GOTY season rolling around this week, radjoshcon decided to look at their list of "Required Reading" games that they think everyone should play at least once to have an appreciation of video games as an art form and entertainment.
GOTY 2012 (Adjusted) (By: @mento)
This week, Mento went back to 2012 and reassessed their original GOTY list and then added in games they did not play in time for their list. If you can think about a year where your rankings would be different, feel free to publish a similar effort!
User Reviews
@pauljeremiah's Radiant Silvergun review tries to get to the bottom of whether or not it is the legendary must-play Saturn title that some of its defenders make it out to be. See where they stand by checking out their review!
@infantpipoc's Persona 5 Royal review shares why the game gave them weird Tokyo Mirage Sessions vibes and why they enjoyed the game and its characters, but think it is time for Atlus to move on.
Wiki Of The Week
With the official death of E3 (for real this time), it's time to reminisce. Luckily, one of @marino's first projects on the wiki 15 years ago was to fully document every event including hundreds of photos. From LA to Atlanta to Santa Monica to opening to the public, everything is documented. What games were at each show? What exhibitors were at each show? What was shown during the press conferences? What did the event look like? Was there any cool stuff given out? All these questions and more are answered on the wiki!