The Community Spotlight 2021.01.09

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am honored to be your host as we look back at the best community generated offerings from the last week.

It would be entirely regressive to introduce this week's Community Spotlight without first recognizing the events from the prior week. As most of you already know, the United States Capitol was stormed by a violent insurrection. Let it be known, as my previous comment might suggest, Giant Bomb views the events of January 6th, 2021 as a violent and illegal attempt to undermine the democratic process of the United States. As Brad has stated on Twitter, attempts to excuse the event with "both sides..." rhetoric will not be tolerated nor will outright support of the insurrection attempt be tolerated. If you discover any comments that are in violation of this, flag or report them to the Moderation Team.

It does, however, comfort me to know that I have an inordinate amount of community and user-generated content that properly showcases the creativity that is forever imbedded in Giant Bomb. To everyone who has written a review, list, thread, or blog on the site that has maintained the community expectations on this site, I tip my hat to you. With that aside, let's review the site-related housekeeping!

• Giant Bomb's 2020 GOTY coverage will start on January 18th, 2021
• Giant Bomb's Community GOTY voting has begun! Help crown a community 2020 GOTY by filling out the form and you have until January 25th to submit a vote!
• If you experience any issues or bugs with the community voting, here's the thread for reporting issues. Be aware, the most common issues are related to games not existing in the database and/or confusion about a game's "official" release date. If your issue is the former rather than the later, please consider adding the game to the database!
• The staff and moderation team are aware of the recent influx of spambots, and are working on a solution. We are working to keep things under control, but given the time of the year, you will notice waves from time to time.

GOTY 2020

Author's Note: After a long delay, I finally got around to reviewing and compiling some, but obviously not all of the user-created lists on the site. If I missed your list or blog, PLEASE drop a link to it using the comments section and I will happily showcase it next time!

User-Created GOTY Lists

• GOTY 2020 Top 10 (By: @av_gamer)
• Game of the Year 2020 (By: @bondfish)
• Games of the Year 2020 (By: @aistan)
• Our GOTY of 2020: Again (By: @lcom)
• MezZa's Top 10 Game of the Year 2020 (By: @mezza)
• 2020 Sure Was Interesting, Wasn't It? (By: @drachmalius)
• TOP 10 GAMES I PLAYED IN 2020 (By: @serryl)
• I Liked These Games In < 2020 > (By: @humanity)
• GOTY (2020) Final Form (By: @valorianendymion)
• Best Games of 2020 (By: @aleen634)
• My Public, On the Record, GotY 2020 Prediction (By: @pacmantis)
• Games Of The Year 2020 (As Decided Upon In 2021) (By: @make_me_mad)
• Zackington's Top 6 Games Of 2020 (By: @zackington)
• GotY 2020 (By: @starvinggamer)
• Top 5 Games (That I Played) In 2020 (By: @totalpatoot)
• TFP's Top 10 Games of 2020 (By: @thefakepsychic)
• My Favorite 10 Games of 2020 (By: @mezmero)
• Top 10 Games Of 2020 (By: @taccyp)
• MocBucket62's Top Games of 2020 (By: @mocbucket62)

GOTY Blogs

Top 10 Games I Played in 2020 (By: @hunt270)

Hunt270 uses their 2020 GOTY blog to showcase the many classic titles they struck from their backlog during the year! Read all about the older titles they think still hold up to this day!

Game of the Year 2020 (By: @wonderbun)

wonderBun ranks the games both new and old they played in 2020 from worst to best! Did a new title from the year take the top spot or a venerable classic from yesteryear? You're just going to have to read their blog to find out!

Game of the Year 2020 (By: @franzlska)

FRANZlSKA only felt comfortable putting five games on their 2020 GOTY blog, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check it out! Give it a read and learn all about the games they think rocked 2020!

2020: Sir Isaac Reviewton (By: @xenturik)

XenturiK makes a return to blogging on the site with an exhaustive review of everything they bought and played in 2020! Give it a read if you are in need of some video game recommendations.

ArbitraryWater's Favorite Games of 2020 (that came out in 2020) (By: @arbitrarywater)

ArbitraryWater usually plays a ton of "classic" games but that did not stop them from making a blog about their favorite games that came out in 2020!

The Mento Game Awards 2020 (By: @mento)

With this blog Mento hands out their 2020 GOTY awards! If you are in need of a good laugh, give it a read as you discover the recipients of awards like "Weirdest F'n Game" and "Giant Bomb's Best Feature of 2020."

Games That I Cared About/Played In 2020 (By: @itsmagicneal)

ItsMagicNeal avoided the traditional 2020 GOTY blog by looking back and reviewing every game they played in the year! Read their exhaustive month-by-month assessment of everything they played.

EXTRA SPECIAL THINGS GAMES I PLAYED THIS YEAR DID THAT I LIKED (PIVOT-TO-VIDEO 2020 EDITION) (By: @dudeglove)

This year dudeglove excitedly shares their GOTY picks in the form of a handful of videos! Check them out and marvel at their impressive editing skills.

ALLTheDinos' Favorite Games of 2020 (By: @allthedinos)

ALLTheDinos uses their 2020 GOTY blog to explain why they think it was one of the strongest years for games in recent memories! See which games helped them get through the year using the link above!

GAMES OF 2020 (By: @mccash4gold)

MCCash4Gold finally got around to making a 2020 GOTY blog on the site! In it, they ranked every game they played last year from worst to best!

Looking Back At What I Played In 2020 (By: @justin258)

Like many others, Justin258 exhaustively explores all of the games they played during 2020 and discusses what they discovered about themselves as well as the games that help them relax during stressful times.

Tweets

Galleria

BANNER - Brad x Hitman III (By: @vextroid)

Many thanks to Giant Bomb user Vextroid for taking Brad from episode 668 of the Giant Bombcast and turning it into a banner for the next Hitman!

Has Science Gone Too Far? (By: madelk@nateandrews)

Whelp, the tradition of people taking Jeff's "meme pictures" and making them worse continues! From the Giant Bomb Reddit, we have these attempts to realistically age two of Jeff's most "iconic" pictures/photos!

Blogs

Half-Life Is A Platformer, And Other Things People Didn't Tell Me About The 1998 Classic (By: @nateandrews )

nateandrews takes to Giant Bomb to posit a rather "controversial" idea: the original Half-Life is a platformer with shooting in it. Get the full details to their theory using the link above!

Random Access: Cyberpunk 2077, Critics, and Marketing (By: @gamer_152)

Moderator Gamer_152 writes why The Cyberpunk 2077 fiasco is reflective of the enormous power of modern marketing departments and the pointlessness of throwing critics under the bus.

What's the Greatest Video Game(s): Timberman Vs. & Mad Age and This Guy +

What's The Greatest Video Game: Yakuza 0 (By: @imunbeatable80)

The indie games Timberman Vs. & Mad Age and This Guy are the subject of user imunbeatable80's latest blog on the site! Likewise, earlier in the week, imunbeatable80 finally got around to playing and completing Yakuza 0 and ranks it as part of their on-going "What's the Greatest Video Game?" blog series!

Indie Game of the Week 201: Catmaze (By: @mento)

Mento checks out Catmaze for their latest "Indie Game of the Week" blog on the site! Give it a read and learn why they think it's a fun metroidvania for anyone interested in learning more about Slavic folklore!

Discussion Threads

Hitman 3 Preview Gameplay Discussion Thread (By: @humanity)

New footage of Hitman 3 hit the internet last week and you can click the link to the thread above to give it a watch if you have not seen it yet. After giving it a watch, feel free to share your first impressions of what has been shown of the game!

Games That Will Not Get Airtime In The GB GOTY Discussions (By: @heelbill)

Here's a discussion thread everyone in the community can be a part of! Which games on your 2020 GOTY list do you most worry will get "lost in the shuffle?" Which games are you fearful will not get airtime?

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Patches Discussion Thread (By: @junkerman)

Calling all Assassin's Creed Valhalla players in the community! What are your impressions of the recent batch of patches? Do you think the game has gotten better since launch? Are you playing on a console or PC?

What Do You Think Of Game Pass On PC? (By: @bitbat)

To all of you with a Game Pass on PC subscription, how do you feel about it? Do you think it compares favorably or unfavorably to the Xbox-only version of Game Pass?

The Medium - Series X Exclusive - Has New Gameplay Footage (By: @humanity)

Are there any Giant Bomb users that have checked out the latest gameplay footage for The Medium by Bloober Team? Give it a watch and join the community discussion about it using the link!

Are You Still Interested In Skull & Bones (Ubisoft)? (By: @monkeyking1969)

Ubisoft's pirate game, Skull & Bones, has been delayed delayed several times since its announcement. Do you think the game will actually launch in 2021? Are you excited to play the game? Also, did you know that pirates stole shit back in the day?

User Reviews

• @wemibelle finally got around to playing Rakuen and uses their review of the game to share why they think it is one of the most humanizing depictions of life and death in a video game.
• @shirayuri's VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action review goes over how the game provides an excellent cyberpunk experience with timely critiques of modern culture that still hold up to this day.
• @phanboy4 has a major soft spot for FromSoftware's Shadow Tower on the original PlayStation. Read all about why the game has become one of their all-time favorite guilty pleasure video games
• @s10129107 uses their review of Super Meat Boy Forever to share how the game completely changes the formula of the original game but for the worst!

Thupah lists!

As someone who will be playing a Hitman game during its zeitgeist days for the first time ever, I'm looking forward to seeing some awesome GB content revolving around the game. Gonna be fun!

SOCOM if you've got 'em.

Thanks for the shout out! Great lists overall!

Edit: I did notice that my blog was listed under lists even though it’s not a list technically. Don’t want to pressure the team to change it though.

Zombiepie.. you are a king among men!

Thanks for putting everything together! I love bopping around all the lists & blogs.

Truth be told I didn't write much of anything on my list which is I why I didn't submit it on the 'share your list' thread. Something about the past week kinda robbed me of my drive to do so... Appreciate the mention though and hey it at least encouraged me to post some first draft write-ups real quick.

Fantastic work! As always, this community is one of the brightest spots in our silly world of video games.

I made my GOTY list back in early december, but i didn't really promote it anywhere, but here you go- https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/jordha/blog/jordan-hass-top-10-games-of-2020-list/250830/

Also, SCIENCE HAS GONE TOO FAR!

Haunting and beautiful

After this week I really wish there weren't a picture of Brad with a gun on the front page.

@kerned: Same. 1000% wrong time to feature this pic as the FIRST IMAGE on the site. Upsetting. Looks like he and this site are supporting the seditionists.

*I* know that's not true - AND the pic made me read all of this to double-check. Because in the context of this week, it's very easy to read the image wrong.

And it's unnecessary! Like why even feature this image at all.

I agree. Maybe @rorie can look into changing it to something that doesn't give the (incorrect) impression of supporting violence. I feel like someone just wasn't thinking things through.

edit: Forgot that Rorie just got married, he should be enjoying himself, not fixing this. Maybe someone on @staff? @brad? @vinny?

I mean people could just take 3 seconds and read the text on the picture.

@topgunmv: You really don't see how this is just not a good look right now? Of all the images they could have went with this week? A white guy with a handgun?

@kerned: Anything can be a bad look if you look hard enough. I'm angry as hell over what happened this week and how little is being done about it too but people need to chill, it literally says what the picture is relating to on/next to the picture.

@topgunmv: I understand the context. Respectfully, I don't think context matters right now. It's about reading the room, in a national/global sense, and understanding that choosing this specific image for the front page was a bad call and is in extremely poor taste.

That aged up Jeff photo looks like George Lucas. Gerstmann Lucas

This has been a weird year in gaming from me. I spent March 2020 to August 2020 playing CoD WW2 and Yakuza Kiwami, they were the most easy going stuff I could thing of to play. Than I spent September to December playing Android first-person, choice-based visual novels.

I had picked up The Division 2 in 2019, but I didn't "feel like" playing ist in 2020. I picked up Ace Combat 7 in very early 2019, but didn't get to it; so when I had time this year I just didn't feel it. I just did not want to be stressed this year figuring out a game or getting frustrated.

I always have a backlog of games, but this year I didn't buy a lot of games either. At this point the only game I want to pick up, that I missed, is Crusader Kings III.

This reflects my thoughts as well. I know the context, but could not stifle the audible "oof" sound I made when my stomach dropped upon seeing that image front & centre on the site this week. The timing could not be worse.

Yeah as others have stated, this was not the picture to use at this time.

Absolutely unbelievable that this image is on the main page. Everyone in this comments section is being amazingly polite and respectful about their feelings on it and how it might not be the best time for this image, but honestly everyone who runs this site should be incredibly ashamed that this image is still front and center on their main page. For real, use some common sense. I've been a user since this day this site was created, and I honestly couldn't care less if I get banded for life for saying this because I'm not coming back anymore regardless: Yall are absolute morons. Shame on all of you. I always expected better of you and this site than this. And no, I don't think that is an overreaction. So long forever.

@cufo Putting up with Ben for so long only to storm off over this? People are wild, man.

Any updates on the tracksuit?

Using that image was certainly a Choice.

Posting this image as the lead on your front page after the events of last week and the almost certain wave of violence to come was an incredibly poor decision.

@david_mcm:

Don't think there is an option to do so.

Just noticed they changed the thumbnail on the main carousel. Good. A bit late. But good.

Oh fun, time to read some comments and see what the GB community is chatting about these days.... Uhh, hmmm, what? Wait, why are people upset?... something about a picture?
(Scrolls back up to try and find something so horrible that it appears to be showing support for rioting terrorists)...
The Smiling brad holding a fake gun picture?... Really? I'm not saying I don't see it, but like...... REALLY?

Was a fun read though!

@vikingdeath1: Yup, I had the exact same response as you.