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 the staff and community partied like it was 2015! With new entries of Metal Gear Scanlon and Giant Bomb Makes Mario, as well as the community still buzzing about Trackmania and Dark Souls, you would not be blamed for forgetting that it was actually 2016 this week. Luckily the community and staff fervor over Stardew Valley and Tom Clancy’s The Division brought us all back to reality. With all this rambling aside, let’s get out our cans of Pledge and talk about the site related housekeeping!
- Mr. Rorie is back with a new Box Office Winners’ League but this edition is for Batman vs. Superman! If you are feeling lucky feel free to guess how much money you believe the latest DC movie blockbuster will draw on opening weekend. There are wonderful prizes for those that get especially close.
- Are you finding it increasingly difficult to download videos on Giant Bomb? Please read and review this instructional thread for help.
- If you experienced errors when trying to view videos on the Giant Bomb channel on a Roku 2 earlier this week things should be fixed!
Clips of the Week
Giant Bomb Makes Mario 3 – Death Supercut (By: Aaron Bratcher)
Did you want a supercut of every death from Giant Bomb Makes Mario 3? Thanks to Aaron Bratcher on YouTube, you are now covered! Feel free to enjoy some wonderful schadenfreude at the expense of Jeff and Dan this week.
Super Mario Maker: The Ryckoning (World Record) (By: @supergary)
SuperGary holds yet another world record for a staff created Super Mario Maker level! This time he managed to complete “The Ryckoning,” in just 49 seconds! See how he did it on this mind-shattering video.
Giant Bomb Galleria
The Image and Caption of the Year (By: @doubt)
This image and caption are so perfect that it is itself a work of “art.” It’s just that perfect!
Batman vs. Superman BUT PUPPIES (By: @rorie)
I know that Mr. Rorie is a staff member, but his photoshop of the Superman vs. Batman poster is…worth “marveling” over. Feel free to have me arrested for that pun.
Community Activities
The Giant Bomb Community TrackMania 2 Stadium Server Has Been Relaunched! (By: @karsh)
Are you not feeling Trackmania Turbo? Is the lack of Cher in Turbo a “deal breaker” for you? Well don’t worry, because Karsh has relaunched the Giant Bomb Community TrackMania² Stadium Server!
The Division Challenge Mission Group (PS4) (By: @twi)
There’s a community led effort to create a challenge mission group for Tom Clancy’s The Division on the PS4 that you can join right now!
The Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run VI (By: @thatpinguino)
The Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run is right around the corner! Learn all about the charity drive, and how you can help support it, over here!
Best of Blogs
Why “Good” Character Creators Still Aren’t Good Enough (By: @saladbone)
Saladbone tackles the interesting issue of character creators and why they still have not improved from being horrible nightmare factories for all of us to laugh at. The blog also prompted an interesting discussion on how our choices in the character creator impact the overall game, and vice versa.
I’ll Have A Triple Fire Emblem With Extra Waifu (And Other Great Uses Of Time And Money) (By: @arbitrarywater)
Being a bit of a Fire Emblem aficionado, ArbitraryWater shares why he found Fire Emblem Fates to be this odd mix of uncomfortable weirdness and absolute joy.
A Decade Late and a Dollar Short: Hitman: Blood Money (By: @mooseymcman)
MooseyMcMan may be late, but finally managed to complete Hitman: Blood Money recently. You can read what Moosey’s final impressions of the game are as well!
GB Subtitles First Try Let’s Go (By: @eccentrix)
eccentrix is starting an interesting Giant Bomb Quick Look subtitling project! Check out the first results of the project over here.
Deep Interview: Get to Know the Endurance Runners: Nickieroonie and Bollard (By: @thatpinguino)
Moderator ThatPinguino continues his interviews of the interesting characters and participants in the Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run Event, so feel free to give this podcast a listen to whenever possible!
Weekly Update #17 -March 23, 2016 (By: @qreedence)
qreedence continues his retrospective of The Longest Journey series with a quick examination of at Dreamfall: The Longest Journey as well as Dreamfall Chapters.
A Personal Video Game Retrospective (1986-2015) 1999 (By: @riostarwind)
According to RioStarwind 1999 was the year that Sony Corporation essentially overtook Sega. Read all about why he thinks that is the case, as well as what he thinks were the most notable games from the year on his latest blog.
Dark Souls (Day 7) – First Full Run (O&S, Lautrec, Stray Demon) (By: @flashflood_29)
FlashFlood_29 continues to share how his first full fun in Dark Souls has been going on this hilarious and schadenfreude-filled blog post.
One Year In: A First Time PC Owner’s Review (By: @darth_navster)
Last year Darth_Navster created his first PC from scratch, and you can see how that rig has been treating him one year after the fact.
Sunday Summaries 03/20/2016: Oceanhorn & Super Chibi Knight (By: @mento)
Fellow Giant Bomb Moderator Mento gives you another weekly update on his great activities on the Giant Bomb wiki, as well as the recent game releases that he is most excited for which range from the remaster of Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle toDark Souls III.
Embrace the Weird: A Review of 868-HACK (By: @gamer_152)
868-HACK is a weird game, and Giant Bomb moderator Gamer_152 tries his best to demystify how the weirdness is only one of the game’s draws.
Join the Discussion
How Do You Feel About Streamers Early Access of Dark Souls III? (By: @beaudacious)
Do you have any opinions about streamers getting early access to Dark Souls IIIbefore many audiences do? Feel free to share your thoughts related to the controversy on this discussion thread!
Should You Play Dark Souls 1 and 2 Before 3? (By: @drfat32)
How necessary is it to play Dark Souls &Dark Souls II before playing Dark Souls III? Discuss and share your answer to this perplexing question on this discussion thread.
How Have You Been Spending Most Of Your Time In Stardew Valley? (By: @irish_giant_bomber)
What have you been spending most of your time doing in Stardew Valley? Share and join the community discussion on how everyone is maximizing their profit to time ratio in the game!
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Vita Version Discussion Thread (By: @jesus_phish)
Have any of you tinkered around with the PlayStation Vita version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which was stealthily launched this week? Feel free to discuss the quality of the port.
Pre-VR Poll: Where Do You Fit Right Now? (By: @yellownumber5)
So right now where do YOU fit regarding the hype-train for Virtual Reality gaming? Vote and discuss your position thus far!
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Is 10 Years Old Today (By: @arbitrarywater)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is officially 10 years old! Feel free to share your nostalgic memories with the game with other users.
Which Daily Challenge(s) Do You Do Regularly? (By: @beachthunder)
Which game do you think has implemented the Daily Challenge concept the best? Vote and discuss the matter on this community debate thread.
Useful User Reviews
- @riostarwind characterizes Spelunker World as a “fair free to play game” that may be worth your time on his review of the game.
- JAYPB08 managed to completeCastlevania: Rondo of Blood before Giant Bomb East, and shares why they are in for a treat in this extensive review of the game.
- SLAPS2 shares why his decision to go back to the original Crash Bandicootgame was an ill-fated folly on his review of the game.
Lovable Lists
Disney Fix (By: @ladyhobbit)
LadyHobbit shares what her favorite Disney themed video games are on this touching and heartwarming list.
Wonderful Wikis
Okage: Shadow King
This cult classic has recently been made available on the PlayStation 4, and I’ll leave the duties of justify whether or not it’s worth playing to obscure Japanese roleplaying game expert, MENTO!
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle recently received a “Remaster,” that some of you have been talking about on the forums. Well don’t forget that our wiki page for the original game is nothing short of AMAZING! Also, be aware that we are NOT going to create a separate wiki page for the remaster.
