The Community Spotlight 2021.05.15

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the week that was on and around Giant Bomb. First, I want to share a big "thank you" to the outpour of support the last episode of the Spotlight got. It was truly heartwarming to see users both new and old come out of the woodwork to share their lover for the site and their feelings about Vinny, Alex, and Brad. In the days that followed their final appearance as staff, it has really set-in that the site no longer has them. It's different. The site is different. Yes, things were bound to be different, but it's so difficult to express the mixture of excitement and concern about the uncharted waters Giant Bomb is about to explore without sounding like an inconsiderate jerk or total buzzkill.

I speak for myself and my fellow moderators that it is appreciated to all of you who have expressed this bundle of conflicting emotions in a way that has avoided rumor mongering, speculation, or "fantasy booking." This sort of commentary does not help anyone, especially those who you would like to see join the site. With that in mind, let's jump into the site-related housekeeping.

• Due to recent events, Giant Bomb Premium for existing premium members will be extended for a month. That means May is basically free for you!
• On last week's Spotlight I incorrectly linked to Brad's Tech podcast with Will Smith that had Vinny as a special guest.
• Patrick recently did an interview where they chronicled their career from 1Up and Giant Bomb to where they are now.
• Jeff Baklar is officially a permanent member of the Giant Bombcast!

Tweets

Galleria

The NüBomb Era (By: @mynameisfatmike)

We had a loooooooooooooooot of people who tried their hand at re-designing the Giant Bomb logo to mimic the recent changes in staffing. The first, by mynameisfatmike over on Twitter, welcomes Jeff Bakalar and Danny O'Dwyer to "NüBomb"

Jiant Bomb (By: @seaan_murphy)

The second new logo design comes from Seaan Murphy, again on Twitter, and this one takes note of all of the Giant Bomb staff members whose name starts with "J."

New Luchadeer (By: @timowienekamp)

Finally, Timowi tried their hand at redesigning the Luchadeer logo. They have two illustrations of their interpretation of the legendary Giant Bomb icon.

Gallery

Beastcast Minecraft Server Tribute (By: various)

Here's a MASSIVE but amazing tribute to the Giant Beastcast from the Giant Bomb Minecraft server. If this is the kind of ridiculous fun you want to be a part of, click the link to read how you can join!

Gallery

Videos

Pre-Show [The Giant Beastcast - Episode 311] (05/06/2021) +

Pre-Show [See You Next Game] (05/07/2021)(By: Giant Bomb Unarchived)

As always, many thanks to the Giant Bomb Unarchived account for preserving the pre-shows to any and all Giant Bomb livestreams! This felt especially necessary for the final Giant Beastcast as well as the pre-show for Brad, Vinny, and Alex's farewell.

Blogs

What's the Greatest Video Game: TMNT: Turtles in Time +

What's the Greatest Video Game(s): Ice Hockey & Super Blood Hockey +

What's the Greatest Video Game: Dr. Mario (By: @imunbeatable80)

imunbeatable80 committed to blogging every day on the site, and they got it done. Due to the wide-breadth of their content, I am going to limit it to three of their best blogs from the week. Nonetheless, click the link to their user page to check out some of their other amazing blogs on the site!

Resident Evil Village: 7 Was Not a Fluke (By: @lapsariangiraff)

LapsarianGiraff uses their latest blog on Giant Bomb to discuss why they think the popularity and critical acclaim surrounding Resident Evil Village proves that the experiments taken in 7 were well worth the risk.

I Didn't Think It Would Be This Hard (By: @nadavis1)

nadavis1 takes to the forums to share why the recent events related to the site reminded them of the importance of having coping mechanisms related to loss and unexpected change.

Satisfactory Satisfaction (By: @nateandrews)

nateandrews shares on Giant Bomb the exhaustive efforts they made to have a "satisfactory" time playing Satisfactory. Read all about which parts of the game they loved and hated over here!

The 9th Gen At 6 Months: Backwards Compatibility And SSD Are The Best Features. The Dualsense Has Potential +

My Problems With Stealth Games Illustrated In One Sequence From Assassins Creed Chronicles: Russia+

Assassin's Creed Unity Is Mostly Fixed And Not A Bad Game (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates has been invested in the current batch of consoles for about six months now and details on the site why SSDs and backward compatibility are the two big positives they have taken from it. Additionally, bigsocrates continues their retrospective on the Assassin's Creed franchise with a look at Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia! Read why a recurring series of events reminded them of one of their least favorite stealth game tropes Finally, bigsocrates properly restarts their retrospective on the Assassin's Creed franchise with a look at Assassin's Creed Unity! Read why playing the game today reveals a mostly enjoyable action-adventure time.

Duder, It's Over +

Inverse: Who is Waluigi? (By: @gamer_152)

Gamer_152 first wrote a little about where Giant Bomb's been and where it's going, and did their best at giving a heartfelt goodbye to the old site. Furthermore, they also took the time to get to the bottom of Waluigi and what his deal is.

How Should Every Faction Change For Warhammer III? Part 3 (Norsca, Bretonnia, Wood Elves, WoC, and Beastmen) (By: @zombiepie)

Moderator ZombiePie wraps up their series on how the factions of Warhammer II should change in prep for Warhammer III. This week they take up the daunting task of "fixing" Bretonnia, Warriors of Chaos, and Beastmen!

Raid Log #01 - Sire Denathrius (By: @qreedence)

qreedence got the itch to return to World of Warcraft and uses their latest blog on the site to talk about their recent attempt to complete a raid in Shadowlands and what they learned through it.

Indie Game of the Week 219: Neo Cab +

May Millennials 10: Enclave (Intro)+

May Millennials 9: Tales of Graces F (Outro) (By: @mento)

First, their latest "Indie Game of the Week" is all about the sci-fi narrative-drive cab driving game, Neo Cab! Use the link above to read why they think it has a lot going for it. Also, why would anyone play 2002's Enclave in the year of our Lord, 2021? Well, moderator Mento explains their mindset in tackling the dark and moody fantasy RPG. Finally, they wrapped up their retrospective on Tales of Graces F! Use the link above to read why they think it is one of the easier to recommend Tales of games in recent memory.

Discussion Threads

Jeff Bakalar Joins the Giant Bombcast (By: @luminaryghost)

As mentioned earlier, Jeff Bakalar is now a permanent member of the Giant Bombcast! Wish them well and share your favorite Bakalar moments with the rest of the community using the link above!

Was Anyone There For The Whiskey Media Happy Hour? (By: @bonorbitz)

Here's a new discussion thread bound to make all of you older users feeling nostalgic! Remember the Whiskey Media Happy Hour? Share and discuss your favorite moments from the former recurring segment!

Hitman 3 - Elusive Targets Thread (May 12th - 24th The Iconoclast) (By: @glots)

Calling all Hitman 3 players in the community! Have any of you had any luck with The Iconoclast Elusive Target? Share your tips and tricks as well as your experiences with the rest of the community!

Tor Thorsen, Former Gamespot Editor As Passed Away (By: @machofantastico)

In sadder news, for those of you that have followed Jeff and company since the GameSpot days, Tor Thorsen, former Gamespot Editor has passed away. Share your condolences and fond memories of the editor with the rest of the community.

E3 Online Sounds Like My Kind Of Stupid (By: @hayt)

The more we learn about the format of E3 2021, the more the event sounds like a complete mess. However, many Giant Bomb users are just excited for a new video game conference regardless of the format. How do you feel?

They Are, Uh, Rebooting Master of Magic? (By: @rorie)

It appears that someone is attempting to reboot Master of Magic with new DLC! What do you make of the news and all of the gameplay "changes" that have been revealed?

Sports Games Sell Well, Are Popular; Yet, Most Gamer Sites Don't Have Discussions About Them Being Good, Innovative, Etc. Why? (By: @topcyclist)

We have a new discussion thread on the Giant Bomb forums debating why many gaming publications struggle to cover sports games and their accompanying electronic sports leagues.

Ever Stopped Playing A Game Because You Just Plain Sucked At It? (By: @purpleshyguy)

Here's a fun discussion! Have you ever dropped a game entirely because you never got good at playing it? Here's my example: I have never finished Legend Of Grimrock 2.

Resident Evil Village Mercenaries Mode Discussion Thread (By: @hizang)

Have any of you tried the mercenaries mode in Resident Evil Village? Some Giant Bomb users love it, while others outright hate it. Use the link above to share your impressions with the rest of the community.

Lists

Games of the Year, 2020 (By: @frontman12)

frontman12 finally played all of the games from 2020 they wanted to and as a result, updated their 2020 GOTY list accordingly. Check out which games they NOW think were the best from the year!

User Reviews

• For purely "scientific" purposes, @danryback went back and played The King of Fighters '94. Read why they think it is a rough game to go back to after all these years.
• @colonelsanders21 uses their review of the original Portal on the site to discuss why it doesn't hold up as well as you'd think, especially in a world where Portal 2 exists.

Wikis

Brad Shoemaker + Alex Navarro + Vinny Caravella

I forgot to mention this last week, but it is worth noting that Brad, Alex, and Vinny all have wiki pages due to credits they have received in actual video games. For Alex, their time with Harmonix is the obvious reason, but check out Brad and Vinny's pages to find out why they are in the wiki!

I'm in this in-between phase of "give it some time" and "I'm eager to know what's next" both for Giant Bomb and for the former staffers. And I can't go and watch old stuff right now, it feels too much like wallowing in the past. I'm just kinda stuck in neutral as far as my GB feelings are concerned. Not like, I don't care or something but more like I don't have a feeling and I have all the feelings. *sigh*

Due to recent events, Giant Bomb Premium will be free to everyone during the month of May.

@marino How do we take advantage of this? Premium content is still locked for me. Thanks for the wonderful post, as always.

Hey, there. I'm sorry for the confusion but I misspoke and issue a full retraction. Premium will be free this month for pre-existing subscribers.

I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding.

"to share their lover for the site" I found this a funny mistype. Thank you Zombiepie!

@dr_mel: same here , i mean the remaining crew are great and all but its a massive hole to fill imo. i'm definately looking forward to what jeff is cooking up at this point honestly it sorta seemed like the 'sudden' exodus of those 3 kinda threw a wrench in 'the plans' the way his statement was worded i'm sure behind the scenes it probably wasn't so sudden of course but the lack of real info so far on whats coming just leaves a person wondering alot even moreso with the limited content for the foreseeable month ( short staff i understand course). extending premium makes snese but at the same time i too don't want to go back and watch old stuff for the same reason , i was honestly bummed after the friday stream and i seen the chat for the guys last stream finally froze on my tab and i was forced to close it at 277 ppl? still in there.

Dropping in here to say thanks to ZombiePie for these posts which are always great! l couldn’t say it better for myself, in regards to this last week. Thanks to you and all the mods! Let’s see what the future holds from now on :)

Thanks ZombiePie for using my NuBomb meme logo haha. Great write-up as always. Was great to see the outpouring of support for the site and the duders leaving. Though the personality of the site seems to be on the verge of a big shift with a loss of some of it's core members, Jan, Jason, Jeff, Jeff, Jorie, and Janny are all awesome and I'm stoked to see what they cook up for this NuBomb era. GB 4 Lyfe

@dr_mel:

You nailed my sentiments perfectly. I'm excited to see where things go from here, but also don't really want to watch any recent stuff at the moment either. It's a weird feeling considering I've never met any of the staff or anything like that.

Lots of good stuff nice to see.

@dr_mel: You nailed it. That's exactly how I feel

A lot of things are being re-arranged and it feels like we're all stuck but we got to have faith that it'll be ok. Everything feels kind of clunky right now but we have to trust each other as we're in this together. A lot of lessons learned so don't go wandering off and break stuff.

Hey! It was actually me that interviewed Patrick for our site, Overlode.

Thanks so much for including it! o7