Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host this week! Despite us being halfway done with the truncated month of February the Giant Bomb community has still be up to plenty of interesting things. With most of our community members still buzzing about The Witness, Firewatch, and XCOM 2, feel free to enjoy the many wonderful works of art and writing that our community members have provided for you this week.
- Big things are in store for the Giant Bomb wiki! Engineer @wcarle is the person in charge of re-hauling the wiki, and this week he provides an extensive write-up on what plans he has in store for the wiki on Comic Vine as well as Giant Bomb.
- Speaking of Comic Vine, our sister site Comic Vine is Merging with GameSpot! If you have a Comic Vine account feel free to read what impact this will have on it (*hint* absolutely nothing).
- Does this news concern you on the status of Giant Bomb? Mr. Rorie wants you take a deep breath knowing that Giant Bomb is not merging with GameSpot, and most likely never will.
- Finally, for those interested in knowing a bit of Giant Bomb history, the Giant Bomb Persona 4 Endurance Run is now seven years old!
Clip(s) of the Week
- To Duna and Back Using the Luda Lander (Project B.E.A.S.T) (By: Brandon Ruth) – Brandon Ruth on YouTube used Project B.E.A.S.T.’s “Luda Lander” to go to Duna (fake Mars) and back in Kerbal Space Program. Marvel at this ludicrous accomplishment by checking out the video below.
- Giant Bomb Supercut: Metal Gear Scanlon – Noisemaker (By: @mepsipax) – Mepsipax compiled all of the “umms,” “ahhs,” and other odd noises that Drew made during the “Metallic Archea” episode of Metal Gear Scanlon.
Giant Bomb Galleria
- Giant Bomb Superstar: Warren (Illustration) (By: @saik0u) – Saik0u has made this AMAZING fan art for everyone’s favorite Deadly Moves character, Warren, in the form of a faux trading card.
- Giant Bomb Alt Logo (By: @drshilliams) – Check out the batch of alternate Giant Bomb logo designs that DrShilliams managed to whip up over here!
Community Activities
- The Giant Bomb Dirt Rally Weekly Challenge – The Giant Bomb DiRT Rally Weekly Challenge has returned! Get the details on how to join it over here!
- Giant Bomb Plus – Attention all Giant Bomb PlayStation 4 owners! We now have a PlayStation Plus focused PS4 community you can join RIGHT NOW!
- Giant Bomb Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth PSN Community – Join the online GB community group for Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth by posting your PSN ID here!
Best of Blogs
- Learning Through Video Games: That Dragon, Cancer and Grief (By: @jasonr86) – Is there an educational worth and value to That Dragon, Cancer? JasonR86 discusses that matter on his emotionally charged write up about the game, and its depiction of coping with grief.
- Preparing for the Upcoming Community Endurance Run… By Streaming A Whole Bunch (By: @blzzzrrttt) – blzzzrrttt has big plans for the Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run, which is coming soon by the way, and you can read what they are.
- The Witness and Obsession (By: @mooseymcman) – If you don’t mind reading about spoilers check out MooseyMcMan’s exhaustive write up about The Witness, and its utilization of obsession in its gameplay, over here.
- XCOM 2 and the Fear of Missing Out (on Mods) & The Great Journey Keeps It Clean – Halo 3: ODST (By: @darth_navster) – Darth_Navster shares how XCOM 2 has instilled the dreaded fear of missing out on content on his blog grousing about the game. Darth_Navster also continued his retrospective of Halo franchise with an extensive examination on Halo 3: ODST.
- Quick Thoughts On The Witness (By: @egge) – Egge briefly comments on The Witness and why the game’s “message” has been lost on him on his blog all about the game.
- A Personal Video Game Retrospective (1986-2015) 1993 (By: @riostarwind) – This week RioStarwind takes you on a personal journey of the highs and lows of the games that he enjoyed and played in 1993.
- Wiki Project: Legend of the PC Engine ’90 & Sunday Summaries 07/02/2016: Grim Fandango & Bloodborne (By: @mento) – What are the legendary games on the TurboGrafx-16 worth discovering? Explore Mento’s latest blog to find out. Mento also provides you with a wonderful summary related to what he accomplished last week in terms of gaming, as well as his activity on Giant Bomb.
- My 50 Most Anticipated Games of 2016 – Part Two (#35-#21) (By: @devoureroftime) – DevourerOfTime continues his annotation of the games set to release during 2016 that he is most excited to play on this blog.
- Dark Souls (Day 5) – First Full Run w/ Highlights – Story is Happening! (By: @flashflood_29) – FlashFlood_29 continues with his retrospective blog series on Dark Souls with highlights on all of the most memorable moments from his first full run in the game.
- Can I Get (a) Witness? (By: @bonbolapti) – bonbolapti comments on his disappointment with The Witness, and provides you with an update on his life as a journalism student, on his latest blog.
- The Division 2: Kansas City (By: @blackout62) – Blackout62 explains why Tom Clancy’s The Division should’ve been set in Kansas City…I promise you that Dan Ryckert did not secretly write this blog.
- My Variation on Project B.E.A.S.T. 09 – Luda Lander Teaser Variation, Mission 2Flaggz! (By: @orzbluefog) – With a new episode of Project B.E.A.S.T. out this week, that means that OrzBlueFog has once again tried to make a successful version of a failed spacecraft designed by Caravella Heavy Industries Inc.
- The Race to 100 (By: @flameboy84) – flameboy84 is committing himself towards completing 100 games by the end of 2016. Read about the first dozen that he played over here.
- The 11 Games I Played in January 2016 (By: @joemotycki) – Joemotycki managed to play eleven games throughout January ranging from Her Story to The Witness! Read his impressions for all of them over here!
Join the Discussion
- XCOM 2 Ending Discussion Thread (By: @lackingsaint) – Do you want to discuss the ending to XCOM 2, spoilers included? Then this community discussion topic is just for you!
- Firewatch Ending Discussion Thread (By: @lackingsaint) – Do you want to discuss ending spoilers for Firewatch? Then feel free to comment on this thread!
- The Firewatch General Discussion Thread (By: @rahf) – Join the rest of the Giant Bomb community in discovering what Firewatch is, on our general discussion thread for the game.
- Your Favorite First-person Puzzle Game? (By: @beachthunder) – With The Witness bringing new life to the genre, do you have a favorite first-person puzzle game? Share your pick on this poll and discussion thread.
- XCOM 2 Class Builds and Squad Compositions Discussion Thread (SPOILER WARNING!) (By: @mirado) – In XCOM 2 what class builds and squad compositions have you been using to combat the alien menace? Share your alien extermination preferences over here!
- How Do You Feel About The Turn Timers In XCOM 2? (By: @mike) – What is your stance regarding turn timers in XCOM 2? Pick a side and join the community debate right now.
- Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth General Discussion Thread (By: @xchairmandrekx) – Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is now out in the West! Join the community discussion for the game.
- The Giant Bomb Persona 4 Endurance Run Seventh Year Anniversary Celebration Thread (By: @the_tribunal) – As mentioned before, the Giant Bomb Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 Endurance Run is now seven years old! Share your favorite memories regarding the most important video feature on Giant Bomb to date.
Useful User Reviews
- @jaypb08 has been excited to play The Witness for quite some time, but was it worth the wait? Find out by checking out his review.
- @_mattallica’s review of The Witness shares why it is a puzzle game seven years in the making that was worth the wait.
- @vert_vermillion shares how Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth isn’t just a good Digimon game, but a great game overall, on his review.
- @dinoracha shares why Crypt of the NecroDancer has the right mix of music and dungeon crawling that you probably never thought you needed in your life.
- Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below certainly is a longwinded a title but @riostarwind’s review is concise summation on why you may want to check it out
Lovable Lists
- StealthRUSH’s Top 100 Favorite PC Engine Games (By: @stealthrush) – The PC Engine is StealthRUSH’s second favorite video game console of all time, and as a result he had no issue creating this list of his top 100 games available on the console.
- Pops’ Tops (By: @popsghostly) – PopsGhostly has taken the time to list out all of his all time favorite video games ever. The entries on this list span a myriad of genres and platforms.
Wonderful Wikis
- Super Mario Bros. 3 – While Jeff recently shared conflicted thoughts about Super Mario Bros. 3, there’s no denying its importance to the development of video games in general. Last week the game turned TWENTY SIX for North American audiences. Discover why this game is such a venerated classic on our wiki page for the game!
- Unravel – It’s the little platformer that could! Learn more about the adorable puzzle platformer that recently came out this week, and try not to get tangled.
- Spin Pair – One of the unusual and obscure PC Engine games that was recently added to the wiki. Check out this “spin” on a falling blocks puzzle game.
- Makai Prince Dorabocchan – One of the unusual and obscure PC Engine games that was recently added to the wiki. Did you know Spike McFang of Twisted Tales fame got his start with a Japanese-exclusive 2D platformer?
