The Community Spotlight 2021.07.31

Hello and 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-created content on the site!

Well... STUFF IS HAPPENING! This week saw the debut of Guilty Treasures, a video series where Danny researches an obscure game that a Giant Bomb staff member loves and learns as much about it as possible. Here's a link to Episode #1: Target Earth!

The site also announced another show for Giant Bomb! Two Minutes To Late Night, the creators of awild heavy-metal late-night show, are cooking up a new show for Giant Bomb, and it's coming real soon! They've been producing some other-worldly Bedroom Covers during the pandemic, including a now-ledgendary rendition of Rush's song Anthem. You can read more about it here, in a little publication called Rolling Stone.

We also got the first hint of the series Jeff B will be doing with Lucy James, and Tamoor Hussain. With all of this in mind, let's jump into the site-related housekeeping because there's a lot to review!

• Remember, Bourne to Run publishes on the site for three weeks then Guilty Treasures airs on the site. Bourne to Run will return shortly.
• Polls have been non-functional in chat and this has had an impact on different parts of the site. Depending on engineering time, the hope is to get them working by next week.
• Giant Bomb staff are aware that a large portion of the "We Be Drummin'" streams on YouTube have been hit with copyright claims. For a statement by Rorie, click this link.
• If you live in Sweden, it looks like Swedbank is refusing to process payments for Giant Bomb and some other gaming sites as of recently. If you are affected by this, reach out to support@giantbomb.com and Rorie will assist in trying to get you an alternate method of payment.

Tweets

Here's a fun Twitter aside that I wanted to include but need to explain. The Giant Bomb Twitter community helped out another user figure out the game of origin for this arcade panel. If you want to read up on a video game investigative effort, this Tweet thread is a trip.

Activities

Pokémon Unite Online Hookup Thread (By: @meant2live218)

Jan has officially sold Pokémon Unite to some members of the community as we now have an online hookup thread! Use the link above to see if you can play with other Giant Bomb users!

Videos

PS5 Finally Gets SSD Support Through Beta Firmware [Grubbsnax Selects, Episode 05] +

Hands-on Impressions With The Playdate And That Crank

Here's another reminder to follow thee Giant Bomb YouTube account to get highlights of major podcast discussions and highlights of premium shows like GrubbSnax.

Blogs

A Better Difficulty I: Trouble in Challenge City (By: @gamer_152)

There are a lot of myths about difficulty in games and few titles that train us to overcome the most fearsome of challenges. This week, moderator Gamer_152 starts the first of a three-part look at how video games do and don't develop our skills.

Indie Game of the Week 230: Dry Drowning +

Mid-Year (Plus One Month) Check-In (By: @mento)

First, Mento has a new episode of their "Indie Game of the Week" blog and this one is all about Dry Drowning! Use the link below to read why they enjoyed its cyberpunk noir themes with several caveats. Second, it's never too late for a mid-year review and that's exactly what Mento has done! Read their summation of the gaming they have accomplished in 2021 for games both new and old!

What's the Greatest Video Game: Grand Guilds +

What's the Greatest Video Game: Super Mario Party (By: @imunbeatable80)

imunbeatable80 has two new episodes of their "What's the Greatest Video Game" blog series on the site! The first is all about Grand Guilds! Discover why they were none too pleased by the game's mechanics and story. Next, they decided to play a Mario Party game. Read all about what they think of Super Mario Party.

The Wheel of Dubious RPGs Episode 45-46: Konung and King's Quest VIII (By: @arbitrarywater)

ArbitraryWater has a new episode of their "Wheel of Dubious RPGs" series on Giant Bomb and this one is all about Legend of the North: Konung and King's Quest: Mask of Eternity! Check out why both games maxed out their Dubiosity scale!

My Thoughts on Final Fantasy X - 25 Hours In (By: @eccentrix)

eccentrix is now 25 hours deep into their first playthrough of Final Fantasy X! Get their thoughts of what they think of it thus far over on Giant Bomb!

Discussion Threads

Your Guilty Treasure? (By: @banefirelord)

Inspired by the first episode of Danny's Guilty Treasure series, there's an active discussion thread on the forums about which game everyone would pick if they were the subject of an episode! Share your game using the link above! However, I just want to say, those of you claiming Final Fantasy VIII and Shenmue are "obscure" ARE WILD!

Forza Motorsport 7's Life Status Will End By September 15th, 2021 (By: @gtxforza)

Forza Motorsport 7 is shifting to End of Life Status on September 15. Are you surprised by this news? How do you gauge how the game was supported over the years? Share your thoughts with the rest of the community.

Did You Pre-Order A Playdate? (By: @altdimension)

Were any of you able to snag a pre-order for a Playdate? If you did, what about the device sold you on it? For those that didn't pick it up, what's holding you back?

Playdate's Are Moving Pretty Fast (By: @smellylettuce)

Speaking of which, it appears that the Playdate is selling well and pre-orders reached the cap in record time! Did you see this coming? Does the device's limited supply hurt your interest?

Stray - Cat Game From Annapurna Interactive (By: MONKEYKING1969)

Does anyone here have thoughts about Annapurna's latest project, Stray? Are any of you excited to control a stray cat in a cyberpunk city? What do you make of the concept from what they have shown so far?

Starbase Early Access Release Is Now Available (By: @spacegg)

The sci-fi MMO, Starbase, entered Early Access this week! Have any of you checked out this sci-fi starbase exploration trading game? What has impressed you about the game and where do you think it needs to go next?

The First Compatible NVMe SSD For This Console Has Been Confirmed (By: @gtxforza)

M.2 SSD is coming to PS5 with the latest software update! Do you have any SSD buying recommendations for PS5 owners? Is this an announcement that has you excited?

Hot Wheels Unleashed Full Roster Of Cars Has Been Confirmed (By: @gtxforza)

A new trailer dropped for Hot Wheels Unleashed and it showed the full roster cars for the game! Are there any Hot Wheels enthusiasts out there that noticed some noticeable car designs in the game?

Wikipedia's Best Games Of All Time (By: @cikame)

There's a fun discussion thread on the forums analyzing and debating Wikipedia's "List of video games considered the best" page. take a look at the page and share any notable omissions you noticed.

Your Most Favorite Types Of Sports Entertainment Are? (By: @gtxforza)

Inspired by the Tokyo Olympics, there's a discussion thread on the forums debating everyone's favorite types of sports for entertainment. Join the discussion using the link above!

Lists

My Favorite iOS Games (By: @genericusername)

genericusername has been getting invested in iOS gaming the past few months and shares the games they enjoyed playing the most with this list! If you want some iOS recommendations, this is the list for you!

User Reviews

• @brg gave the Switch port of Cannon Brawl a shot and you can read their review of it to see if that is the definitive version of the game to play.

Wiki

We all know games get cancelled from time to time, but did you know that consoles get cancelled as well? We now have a wiki page to tell the sad tale of how the 3DO's successor almost went head-to-head with the PlayStation, but instead... became a coffee vending machine. This is the M2.

wont do business with Giant Bomb, will do shady business with shady oligarchs

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-moneylaundering-swedbank-idUSKBN2163LU

That mystery arcade panel was interesting. I love seeing people ID random old games from partial details like that.

And yeah, managed to get a Playdate. Woke up a bit late and got in about 15min after opening, ending up with an order number just under 16k. Sounds like it sold through their initial 20k run in 20 minutes.

Not quite sure what Genessee's link has to do with GB. Might help to have a little context there.

@antipode It's the bank that is not processing payments to Giant Bomb. Mentioned in the announcements part of the intro to the post.

the heavy metal thing is easily the least interested I've been in any of the new announced shows

Yeah, that is the context. The bank that is no longer processing payments for Giant Bomb is currently in some trouble but whether or not that has anything to do with the current situation remains unclear.

It is okay to not like things.

Whoops. Managed to read right past the Swedbank part up top. Thanks guys.