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 site and staff-related news as well as the best community creations from around the site and beyond! Hopefully you all enjoyed Evo weekend last week! The staff were active as always, but here are the big news items in case you missed them!
First, Chuck has an update about the big site revision that was announced a while back. On Tuesday, August 12th, there will be a premium-only new site beta for people to check out the new site and then see what is working, not working, and areas of improvement you'd like to see. In general, for those that care deeply about the state of the site, the Bombcast will be incredibly important for you to tune into.
Another thing to look forward to is Giant Bomb's upcoming collaboration with Kinda Funny Games! On August 18th, you can expect to see on Kinda Funny's end a pre-recorded Let's Play and cooking-based activity involving staff from both networks engaging in expected and not-so-expected tomfoolery.
To return to the topic of the site, listeners of the Bombcast are reporting crypto or political ads during podcasts. Bakalar has responded to a recent rash of these on the Giant Bomb Discord's "site-tech-issues" channel and affirmed that while they can flag the categories that opt these ads into the podcasts, it's "a whack a mole situation unfortunately," with the best solution being you all reporting inappropriate ads when the crop up and the Giant Bomb Team reporting them as quickly as possible to their ad partner.
Art
Pimp Obscur: Expedition 420 (By: Pickle_Giraffe)
Pickle_Giraffe is still working on the next edition of Blight Club Animated, but to tide you over, here's a hint of what to expect in their next episode.
Eyepatch Wolf Held Hostage At Evo (By: @kone)
Super Eyepatch Wolf made a not so surprising appearance at Evo 2025 and Grubb made the comment that their video almost made it look like they were being held hostage. Kone, being Kone, went ahead and made that imagination of Grubb a reality with this work of Photoshop goodness.
Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/chucktowski.com/post/3lvw75ofai22a
https://bsky.app/profile/jearum.bsky.social/post/3lvpjb3x3dc2t
https://bsky.app/profile/fresnofred.bsky.social/post/3lvwqc3l6os2d
https://bsky.app/profile/grubb.wtf/post/3lvtxjkzv322t
https://bsky.app/profile/kindafunnyvids.bsky.social/post/3lvwbghysws2d
Activities
The GB Album Club 092 - Aqualung by Jethro Tull (By: @unclejam23)
It's time to listen and review a CLASSIC with this edition of Giant Bomb's Album of the Week Club! The group is tackling Aqualung by Jethro Tull! Join the fun here! As a wise person once said, the flute is a very heavy metal instrument.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 Is The 8th Game Of UUGPGC Year 4! Finish By September 1! Mark All Spoilers! (By: @bigsocrates)
The next pick for Giant Bomb's Game Of The Month Club is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4! For this week's round of discussions, do any of you have thoughts about the tracks that are new and not based on the original games?
Blogs
Game OVA Season 4: Episode 5 — Gulliver Boy +
Indie Game of the Week 431: Cryptmaster (By: @mento)
Moderator Mento has a new edition of their blog series looking at the OVA-to-video game pipeline! This time the topic is Kuusou Kagaku Sekai Gulliver Boy for the SNES, a game and anime franchise most of you probably have never heard of, which makes this a highly educational write-up.
Likewise, Mento's latest "Indie Game of the Week" feature is all about Cryptmaster! The game was a bit of a dark horse during last year's GOTY conversations, but what do they make of the game's word-based puzzles and brain teasers?
My New Switch 2 Has Me Thinking A Lot About The Wii U (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates has sunk in a decent amount of time with his Switch 2 and penned an essay on the forums why they think the console is destined to have the future the Wii U wanted. Also, do you think that the Wii U ever had the chance to be a success?
Greenwash: The Dubious Environmentalism of PlanetPlay (By: @gamer_152)
Moderator Gamer_152 published a missive looking at PlanetPlay and articulates why it might stand as one of the most egregious examples of greenwashing in the video game industry they have seen in a while.
The Year of the Linux Desktop... For Me Anyway [Part 1(?)] (By: @ben_h)
After resisting it for decades, ben_h is switching to Linux/Proton! What inspired them to make the switch and why is most of the blame on Microsoft's current direction funneling AI into average Windows users? Also, have there been any bumps along the way?
Quest For The Worst Adventure Game Puzzle SPECIAL - Golden Gate (1997): Vince Zampella's Weird Forgotten Myst Clone (By: @zombiepie)
Want proof that Myst once ruled the world? Even Vince Zampella made a Myst clone and moderator ZombiePie wants to talk to you about that game, Golden Gate, and makes a case that it's actually a buried treasure worth reconsidering.
Discussion Threads
Sony's CFO Admits That Their Live Service Shift Hasn't Been Going Well While Affirming That They Aren't Changing Course (By: @zombiepie)
The CFO of Sony conceded that the company's live service games haven't worked as planned but that the company is still committed to the model. Is this concerning news and destined for failure much like Concord or do you give Sony a pass considering their hardware and single-player games are still solid?
Name One Game.... (By: @striderno9)
We have a new "VIRAL" thread activity that a lot of the community has been enjoying: Naming a game you are excited to play, BUT you must comment the name of your game with no reasoning, and you can't ask another person to explain their pick. Just drop the name of a game you want to play, and that's it.
Another Xbox Game Studios Project Bites The Dust: Contraband Is Canceled (By: @zombiepie)
Contraband by Avalanche Studios is probably dead. Get a summary of the news as we know it and share how you feel about this on the forums. Honestly, after the game no-showed multiple press conferences are you that surprised to hear it is cancelled?
CPU + Motherboard + GPU Advice These Days (By: @skuski)
In these trying times in the world of tech, how are you all following updates and news on CPUs, GPUs, and motherboards? Who do you trust these days and how do you even know what's the best of the best in the world of tech?
Mark Darrah, A Former Employee & Producer At BioWare For Over 20 Years, Is Doing An Anthem Autopsy (By: @zombiepie)
Mark Darrah, a former producer at BioWare, has decided to start a video series on YouTube looking at Anthem. Join the community in discussing the first episode and the insights that it sheds into the reasons why Anthem failed as a game.
Trespasser As A Blight Club Subject (By: @jareccc)
Is Trespasser: Jurassic Park actually a worthy Blight Club candidate? How far do technical experiments that didn't pan out as expected need to go before they qualify as a Blight Club game? Those questions are at the heart of this thread discussing the pros and cons of Trespasser as the centerpiece of the next edition of Blight Club.
Is A Metroid Prime 4 Delay To 2026 A Possibility? (By: @cubbielover)
How many of you are "buying" Nintendo's promises that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is coming out before the end of the year? Share your odds of a 2025 release with the community in the thread linked above and feel free to share why you think the game is either going to get delayed or come out this year.
The Wrestling Discussion Thread (By: @turboman)
Whelp... Giant Bomb's long-running Wrestling Thread, which I should note TurboMan made 12 years ago, got revived all thanks to the return of Brock Lesnar in WWE. Most have been calling this a line-crossing moment but do you have any thoughts? Share them.
Lists
Games That Looked Worse Than Their Predecessor (By: @redfoxbennaton)
Have you ever noticed when sequels didn't look as good as the first game in the series? Maybe it's a reflection of a new studio being in charge of a follow-up to a beloved game or the age of a shared game engine rearing its ugly head. Regardless, redfoxbennaton tries to think of the worst offenders of this phenomenon.
Reviews
@pauljeremiah's review of Salamander 2, the sequel to Salamander/Life Force welcomes you to delve into delve into the world of forgotten arcade shoot 'em ups! Is there any reason to give this game a shot? Read to see what they say!
@pauljeremiah also decided to revisit and review Marvel's Spider-Man on the PS4 with excitement brewing about the future of the Spider-Man film franchise. Is it still one of the best AAA action adventure games out there? Read what they think!
Wikis Of The Week
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Want another reminder that we are all bound to lose our battle against Father Time? Well, Yoshi's Island is now over thirty-years-old! That's right, the game that put Yoshi at the center of an egg-throwing Mario-based adventure is older than your average Fortnite, COD, or PUBG player! Regardless, give our impressive wiki page on the game a read when you have the time!
Likewise, as mentioned last week, if you want a complete listing of every single major Evo 2025 game played on the main stage, and the prize money for those that made the podium for those games, look no further than Giant Bomb's wiki page for the Evo Championship Series!
Editor's Note from @marino: I also updated the Evo 2025 page with hundreds of photos!
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