The Community Spotlight 2024.01.20

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 last week as well as the site-related news!

After a slight notification hiccup, Niki Grayson's 2023 GOTY list is up on the site. It is a great read that you should all check out especially those of you that feel unfamiliar with them.

This week marked the season finale of JeffJeff’s Bizarre Adventure: The Cowboy Bebop Gaiden. Over on our sister-site, GameSpot, Tam and Lucy announced that their show Spot On was renewed for a second season. If you missed the first season of their roundtable show, here's a link to a playlist.

Giant Bomb will be attending PAX East in 2024! The hope is to have at least two Giant Bomb-related panels, but things are still in progress. Also be aware for those of you planning to attend, all PAX East 2024 attendees (including Enforcers, exhibitors, staff, etc.) are strongly suggested to wear a face mask at all times while at the show. You will not be required to wear a mask, nor will you be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Bakalar and Dan were both guests on a recent Never Been a Better Podcast Nextlander podcast. The podcast is mostly about things you should never do, eat, or probably even talk about. And... adorable pet kittens. Be aware that this is locked behind a paywall and Nextlander's $10 donation tier.

And considering that it has been a while since I last did, here are links to the unofficial Gaint Bomb Community Social Media Accounts I run and operate. If you are on any of these platforms, consider following them so you can be reminded of the cool stuff that is happening on and with Giant Bomb!

• GB DudersFeed Twitter Account
• GB DudersFeed Blue Sky Account
• GB DudersFeed CoHost Account
• GB DudersFeed Tumblr Account

Tweets

Galleria

Mike Minotti x Quan Chi Fanart From The Giant Bomb Discord (By: @ogto, el_paolo_loco, @propagandapanda, and Steven)

Mike Minotti x Quan Chi Fanart From Social Media (By: @WiLLoDavisRocks, @SeraphisCain, @FawfulEric, @ShinRoastBot, @KinguAmoz, @videospacegames, @kone, and @jearum)

OH MY GOD! The amount of fanart that came out this week in response to Mike's Quan Chi getup has been incredible! There's so much that I simply couldn't write intros to everything individually. Many of these works come from the Giant Bomb Discord, which you can join if you have not done so already.

If I missed some Mike Miquanchi fanart that you made, please feel free to drop a comment and I promise I will promote it next week!

Bakalar As A Peanuts Character (By: GB Discord member Steven/sjamcm)

Hey, the internet is still not done with imagining Bakalar as a cartoon character! This work comes from Discord where Steven applied the modern Peanuts look to everyone's favorite keyboard enthusiast.

Bakalar As The Ultimate Flintsones Character (By: @kone)

I have no idea how I missed this when it first released, but I did. Just goes to show how even I have gaps in my ability to prowl for Giant Bomb related works! Regardless, when we were trying to think of what Bakalar would look like in the Flintstones universe, Kone took things to the next level.

Activities

The GB Album Club 048 - Bless My Psyche by Sincere Engineer (By: @unclejam23)

Bless My Psyche by Sincere Engineer is the latest pick of the Giant Bomb Album of the Week Club! How many of you are familiar with Sincere Engineer? Join the fun and participate in the community discussion even if you are not a huge music fan!

Steamworld Build Is The 2nd Game Of UUGPGC Year 3! Finish By January 29. Mark All Spoilers! (By: @bigsocrates)

Steamworld Build is the 3rd pick for the Game Pass Game Club this year! Have any of you played this indie Strategy and Simulation game from the Steamworld universe and developer The Station? Click the link to join the fun!

Blogs

ArbitraryWater's Favorite Games of 2023 (Which Didn't Come Out In 2023) (By: @arbitrarywater)

As many of you already know, ArbitraryWater plays a lot of old games. As a result, they decided to rank their favorite classic games that they played in 2023 separately from the 2023 releases.

Mega Archive CD: Part VIII: From Power Factory to NFL's Greatest (By: @mento)

Moderator Mento is up to their old tricks and is looking at the games that that released on the Sega CD in chronological order! This blog covers Sonic CD AND Power Factory Featuring C+C Music Factory! Guess which they think is better!

Indie Game of the Week 353: The Spirit and the Mouse (By: @mento)

Mento also has another edition to the "Indie Game of the Week" feature and this one is all about The Spirit and the Mouse by Canadian team Alblune! If you haven't heard of this 3D adventure game featuring a mouse with electrical powers, give their blog a read!

ZombiePie's End Of The Year 2023 Multimedia Extravaganza! (Part 2) (By: @zombiepie)

Moderator ZombiePie has the second and final part of their 2023 end of the year review. It's a fun mix of games, anime, and television shows they loved and hated!

Scavengers Regin Presents Desolation "Dozen" (By: @infantpipoc)

After a fairly long hiatus, infantpipoc returns to blogging about 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and continues to map its characters into the world of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind!

Standing Tall Between Big Brands (By: @infantpipoc)

infantpipoc also returns to reviewing anime with a review for Suzume! After avoiding the film for years, they finally bit the bullet to see if this warranted becoming one of the biggest movies in anime history.

StarvingGamer's Strange Year With Games (GOTY 2023) (By: @starvinggamer)

StarvingGamer finally got around to writing a GOTY essay. Which games did they play last year that did not entirely bum them out? Read their blog to find out!

All Saturn Games In Order: June 1996 (Part 2) (By: @borgmaster)

borgmaster is back with a look at every single game that released on the Sega Saturn in North America! This episode tackles Shellshock, Baku Baku, Gungriffon, Road & Track presents The Need for Speed, AND MORE!

2023: It Was a Year, and It Happened (By: @jeffrud)

jeffrud had a rough year last year. Here, you can read how he fought to find a balance between trying to find himself and continuing the gaming hobby. If you had similar struggles with work and gaming, feel free to share.

I'm The Least Enthusiastic About Gaming That I've Been In Many Years And I'm Not Sure Why. I Miss Being Enthralled. (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates is one of the more active bloggers on Giant Bomb and, this week, shares why they fear 2024 is already shaping up to be a year they care the least about for gaming. Read why that's the case and join their discussion.

Discussion Threads

Legacy Media In General Is Dying. Sports Illustrated Lays Off Its Staff. (By: @bigsocrates)

With massive layoffs hitting legacy media at Sports Illustrated, Pitchfork, The Baltimore Sun, and Los Angeles Times, it seems reliable and professional journalism that many rely on is dying. Are you supporting a local newspaper? What are your alternatives?

GameStop Fights Back The Memes (For Now); Plans To Close Its NFT Marketplace in February (By: @zombiepie)

GameStop is ending its NFT marketplace in February after traditional leadership appears to have beaten back meme shareholders. However, do you foresee a future for GameStop that doesn't involve them going away forever?

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Switch Version Announced (By: @gtxforza)

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is coming to the Nintendo Switch? Do you plan to check out this port of the game? Do you think the framerate and FOV will be a problem? Are you happy the AC team are owning up to the .jpeg dog?

End Of An Era - Harmonix Announces End Of DLC Songs For Rock Band 4 After Eight Years Of Post-Release Support (By: @zombiepie)

Next week, Harmonix will cease making new DLC for Rock Band 4, ending a program that has brought almost 3,000 songs to one of the last remaining plastic instrument rhythm games out there. Is Fortnite Festival an actual alternative? Share in the thread if you think so or not!

Turtle Beach Reveals Their First Sim Racing Peripheral (By: @gtxforza)

Who said gaming peripherals were dead? Turtle Beach just introduced their first sim racing wheel of the year and it's compatible with the PC and licensed for the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One!

Don't Ask Why, But An Until Dawn Movie Adaptation Is In The Works (By: @zombiepie)

It sounds like Sony might be working to make a movie adaptation of Until Dawn. David F. Sandberg is attached to the project and it seems to be a mid-tier production. Do you have high hopes? Does making an Until Dawn film adaption make sense?

Your Wish List For Video Game Products To Be Announced In 2024? (By: @gtxforza)

Are there any games that have yet to be announced that you are hoping to get a solid confirmed 2024 release date? How surprise announcements? Share your gaming release and announcement hopes!

Lists

Blue Collar Contract Killer Games (By: @warcat777)

warcat777 is working on a new list concept that's seeking to annotate every example of blue collar workers becoming or acting as contract killers. If any gaming examples come to mind, share your suggestions!

User Reviews

@pauljeremiah decided to test a Giant Bomb classic, Nidhogg, to see if the indie, one-on-one combat game still holds up these days! Read what they think about its modern viability in light of new possible alternatives.

@infantpipoc's Vanquish review explains why they think the game does not hold up as well as its online reputation would have you believe. Discover why they were not as enthused with the game as most are.

Wiki Page Of The Week

Generative A.I.

Game companies have been reluctant to be upfront about their usage of Neural Networks or AI systems to generate assets and media in their games, so, Giant Bomb's wiki now has a page where community members can track it!

We also have a forum thread wherein you can report suspected AI use in a video game and discuss fringe examples of the concept.