The Community Spotlight 2021.12.18

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host especially during the week before Christmas! I have no idea if I will be able to get around to publishing a Community Spotlight during Christmas Eve or possibly earlier, but if I do not, I wish you all a very merry winter holiday celebration to each and every one of you. Please stay safe and celebrate responsibly this year.

In terms of site-related news, the staff have revealed that their GOTY content has been moved to some time in January, much like last year. That said, that shouldn't stop any of you from working on the expected GOTY blogs and lists that usually hit the site! You can expect more details about Community voting and GOTY list-sharing soon-ish.

Last week, the staff successfully hosted the Giant Bombathon event! If you missed the stream, the archive is provided below and is accessible to all uses, including those who do not have premium. Many thanks to Jess for getting the archive up in record time. Quick production note to those pointing out that the transition from Part 1 to 2 in the archives seems to be missing something. Long story short, Jan wasn't back yet and ready to transition and the team started a little early by accident!

Tweets

Art

Voidburger/Jess Animated Chat Emotes (By: @alwaysbeclothing)

Uhhhh... we have an early Jess-based Christmas gift today! Someone made animated chat emotes for her and is wondering which one is the "best."

Videos

Giant Bombathon 2021 [Part 1] (By: Giant Bomb)

As mentioned previously, the Giant Bombathon archives are now up and are NOT behind a paywall! Watch them and enjoy every skit and bit to your hearts content!

Trivia Tower - The Biggest Episode Of All Time With Giant Bomb's VoidBurger (By: MinnMax)

MinnMax, a fun video series on YouTube featuring many gaming personalities shooting the shit with game trivia, had Jess on an episode and it is definitely worth a watch, especially if you enjoyed the Giant Bombathon.

Blogs

My Favorite Video Game Music of 2021 (By: @majormitch)

MajorMitch eschews the traditional GOTY blog with a look at their favorite video game OSTs and licensed soundtracks! If you are interested in getting some music recommendations, this is the blog for you!

The Gunk Is Not An Exciting Game. Instead It's A Pretty, Chill, Pleasant Experience. +

Raji: An Ancient Epic Is A Beautiful But Shallow Hindu Mythology God Of War Game. Maybe Worth Trying On Game Pass. (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates had a pretty chill time with The Gunk and they discus why they have no problem with that even if its moment-to-moment action left a lot to be desired. bigsocrates also takes to Giant Bomb to talk about Raji: An Ancient Epic! Read why this Indian action-adventure is a fine foundation for what they hope is a more in-depth future for the studio.

Indie Game of the Week 250: My Time at Portia (By: @mento)

Moderator Mento wrote a new episode of their "Indie Game of the Week" series on the site and this episode looks at My Time at Portia! Read what they thought of the farming-based resource game and its lore!

Sleep Study: Superliminal and Framing (By: @gamer_152)

This week, moderator Gamer_152 is writing about Superliminal and how the game utilizes changing perspectives in its game design. There are metaphors and so on explained in this blog.

Ranking of (Modern) Roguelikes (By: @laughingman)

laughingman tried their hand at "ranking" all of the modern roguelikes they have ever played on their latest blog on Giant Bomb! Check out their rankings and feel free to share your own using the link!

What's the Greatest Video Game: Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age (By: @imunbeatable80)

imunbeatable80 finally decided to tackle a Dragon Quest game for their "What's the Greatest Video Game" blog series on Giant Bomb! Read what they thought of Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age and its endless series of grinding.

Discussion Threads

FFXIV To Temporarily Suspend Sales Due To Congestion (By: @finaldasa)

This is the "big one" in terms of video game news this week. The community discussion thread about Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker suspending sales has a lot of users buzzing. Is this the right call for the game? Can you think of alternatives?

There Is A Terminator RTS In Development (By: @rorie)

So... it appears that someone is making an RTS set in The Terminator universe. Watch the trailer and join the discussion about how the game looks so far! Most users so far think it looks "okay."

Should The Gaming Industry Be Moving Away From Cinematic Trailers To Reveal A Game? (By: @hayt)

Inspired by The Game Awards, do you think the gaming industry should be forced to move away from cinematic trailers to reveal games? Do you feel like CG trailers err towards deceptive advertising?

Halo Infinite Discussion Thread (By: @rorie)

For those of you that have been playing Halo Infinite, here's a link to the Giant Bomb community discussion thread of the game! Share your impressions of the game's multiplayer and campaign, whether they be positive or negtaive.

GamePass PC Technical Issues (By: @sawtooth)

Have any of you noticed PC Game Pass titles have more technical issues than console Game Pass ones? Some users on Giant Bomb are sharing their Game Pass PC headaches and you can join them.

People Make Games & Roblox (By: @broshmosh)

Are there any users out there that have seen the video by People Make Games about Roblox and the lack of protections for children players? Learn about the damning report and how the game fails to shield children from gambling and predators.

Happy 15th Anniversary For This Franchise! (By: @gtxforza)

It was technically the 15th anniversary of MotorStorm! Share your memories of the arcade racing series and pontificate on why you think the franchise has yet to see a modern reboot using the link!

The New Amico "Deep Dive" Trailer For Shark! Shark! Is A Normal Trailer For What Looks Like A Free Phone Game From 2015 (By: @bigsocrates)

There's a new Intellivision Amico game trailer up on the internet and this one is for Shark! Shark! Join the community discussion if you think the game looks any good or, as some have said, it looks like a mobile game.

(Not-Parody) Peter Molyneux's Next Game Is An NFT Nightmare Sim (By: @tartyron)

This is not a parody, but Peter Molyneux's next game is will involve NFTs. Read all about it and join the community conversation on Giant Bomb, which currently is not at all surprised.

Is There Anyone Left That Plays Or Played A Battle Royale Game And Didn't Win Yet? (By: @topcyclist)

Here's an interesting forum thread: are there any users playing Battle Royale games that still have yet to get first place? Are any of you still trying to get your first Chicken Dinner?

Formula 1 World Champion Of 2021 Season Is.... (Spoiler Alert!) (By: @gtxforza)

The F1 community on the site is still fuming about the F1 World Champion results and you can share your thoughts about the controversy! Are you angry about how things ended?

Has The Spread Of Misinformation Or Over Exaggerated Info Ever Affected You In The Act Of Purchasing Or Not Purchasing A Game? (By: @topcyclist)

Here's a heavier discussion thread on the forums worth sharing: how have you noticed misinformation spreading in the video game community? How have you coped with developers over-promising on games or failing to deliver?

Lists

What's The Deal With 2021 Am I Right?! (By: @yoshifan)

yoshifan made a pretty entertaining GOTY list looking back at their favorite titles throughout the year. Give it a read and be amazed at the cornucopia of genres and developers they enjoyed this year.

Best of 2021 (By: @davrivs)

davrivs felt confident about making their 2021 GOTY list on the site early! See which games made the cut on their latest list!

Top 5 Games (That I Played) In 2021 (By: @totalpatoot)

totalpatoot only felt comfortable putting five games on their 2021 GOTY list on Giant Bomb, but that doesn't make it any less worth reading!

GOTY 2021 (By: @TechnoSyndrome)

You can really tell TechnoSyndrome put a lot of thought and hard work in their 2021 GOTY list! Check it out and see which games rocked their socks off this year!

The Game of The Year 2021 (By: @wacky_delly)

Wacky_Delly has a little bit of everything represented in their 2021 GOTY list and hopefully that serves as a bit of inspiration for those of you that still have yet to make a list of your own.

User Reviews

• @danryback's retro fighting game reviews continue with assessments of Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance! Read both and see which fully 3D MK game they enjoyed the most!
• @retrogimp's F-Zero review shares why they think, even thirty years on, the game still holds up as a quality racing game experience worth having.
• @chlomo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons review discusses why they think the game post-update is struggling to strike a balance between endearing immersion and commerce-focused gameplay loops.

Wikis

Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn

In light of recent events, it seems apt to point out that Giant Bomb has an amazingly well-written pages for Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn and teh many updates that have hit the game! Read (almost) everything there is to know about the game on a single wiki page!

Wiki Page Of The Week Recommendations

Alright, I mentioned last week that the Wiki Page of the Week feature wasn't dead, but it needed recommendations from the community. If you can think of anything that is "worthy" of showcasing, send them to me however you can. Also, remember, self-promotion is ENCOURAGED! Also, the feature hasn't made a return yet not due to lack of caring. Things have been busy at the office and the hope is to get the feature back up and running soon-ish.

Holy moly, that last image caption made me imagine a thorough blog series by zombiepie on FF14... containing more words than the entire Library of Alexandria. I don't know if the world is prepared for that.

Can't sleep Bingos watching.

A good thread so far!

Somebody give @wolfpupy an award!

Oh, the reason why I think MotorStorm needs to return to the gaming industry? because is such an addictive off-road arcade-style racing game IP (Even though it's underrated) and I do know that everyone has different tastes in terms of driving games by having different sub-genres, settings and styles.

By the way, my true favorite off-road racing game IPs are DiRT Rally and WRC.

Feel free to also check out MY GOTY list for this year - surely the only list you will need to see

A REALLY GOOD LIST

Wait what was the original nuke dot com avatar? I never saw it

Spoilers: My plan is to belt out a short series on 13-2 for January and then I'm diving deep into the Pixel remaster for 6.

My promise to the FF14 community is that when I play 14... it will be the only FF game I play for an entire year.

Also... I want fantasy-like racing games. I have been playing the fan-translation for Racing Lagoon and I want racing games that go in wild crazy directions again.

@zombiepie: I remembered Racing Lagoon for PS1, it also appeared to be inspired by Wangan Midnight manga.