The Community Spotlight 2024.04.27

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the best community creations and most notable site-related news from the previous week!

Jeff Grubb was on an episode of Trivia Tower on MinnMax and the VOD is up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. How did he and the Giant Bomb community do? Watch to find out!

When it comes to bugs, many of you may have noticed that videos have stopped uploading on to the site. This trend stems from the site's uploader/encoder having something fundamentally wrong with it. Jan and others worked on the uploader for a while, but were not able to fix it before the weekend. As such, please watch VODs on Twitch and YouTube as a temporary workaround.

Based on the input of others on the Discord, it seems like the frequency of the Cookies tab has gotten a lot more tolerable. For those that may have missed it yesterday, to meet new US and EU laws pertaining to tracking cookies, Giant Bomb needed to change how it reminded you about your cookie settings. From time to time, the bottom portion of your screen should remind you that you can opt out of tracking cookies. If this tab is popping up constantly or not at all, please drop a comment over here.

Over on GameSpot, Jean-Luc hosted an episode of GameSpot After Dark this week and decided to break down some barriers by inviting editors from IGN to join his panel discussion. If I told you one of the people on this podcast was Michael Higham, would you be more interested?

Finally, and I hate to do this, but please consider dropping a supportive comment that you read this feature and appreciate its continual inclusion on the site.

Tweets

Activities

Li'l Gator Game Is The 9th Game Of UUGPGC Year 3! Finish By May 6! Mark All Spoilers!

Battletoads (2020) Is The 8th Game of UUGPGC Year 3! Finish By April 22! (By: @bigsocrates)

The latest pick for the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club is Lil Gator Game by MegaWobble! Have any of you given this alligator-based adventure game? Did you play it on PC, Xbox, or Switch? Join the fun in the first thread!

Likewise, it is the final call on the Game Pass Game Club's discussion for Battletoads (2020)! Do you have any positive or negative takes on Rare's attempt to bring back the Battletoads?

Video

Metro Prime - An Animated Giant Bomb Series - (Season 2 Episode 4) (By: Pickle Giraffe)

With the end of Blight Club with Superdan finally here, enjoy the latest episode of Giant Bomb Animated by Pickle_Giraffe! This episode is definitely a banger with Dan's exasperation with the game really coming through perfectly. Try not to blink or else you'll miss quick cameos from Patrick and Vinny and maybe you can hear a laugh from Drew they pulled from a classic Giant Bomb Sleepy Dog DLC purse moment back in 2012!

Galleria

New Giant Bomb Overlay (By: @jearum)

Holy. Shit. Today we have a clear work of art to promote in this week's edition of the Community Spotlight with jearum finally getting to share the new 90s inspired Giant Bomb overlay they have been working on for a while now!

Can you spot all of the Giant Bomb references in this work of art? Share in the comments your favorite touches!

Bakalar's Favorite Hat (By: @kone)

Kone was so impressed by jearum's work, they decided to have fun with the C|nut hat they noticed in the background, and obviously, they applied it to the one person they knew would love it the most.

Blogs

Helldivers 2 Has A Lot Going For It, But Ultimately I Don't Like Games As A Service (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates decided to give Helldivers II a shot and relays on their latest blog why they recognize that it is a good game, but shares why they simply cannot get over their personal mental block against live service games.

The Jobs In Final Fantasy III Are Weird, Broken, Beautiful, And STILL Deeply Influential On The Series (Part 1) (By: @zombiepie)

While most in the press have moved on to covering Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the upcoming FFXIV expansion, Moderator ZombiePie decided to return to OG Final Fantasy III to properly review how its job system is still influencing the series.

What's the Greatest Video Game: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (By: @imunbeatable80)

For the latest of their "What's the Greatest Video Game" feature on the site, user imunbeatable80 checked out Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury! Is Bowser's Fury really the game changer some make it out to be? Read what they think!

Dragon's Blogma II (By: @mooseymcman)

MooseyMcMan put Dragon's Dogma II through its paces and wrote all about it! Do they think the pawn system has been improved and what do they think of the game's world-building and story? Read to find out.

64 in 64: Episode 41 +

Indie Game of the Week 367: 9 Years of Shadows (By: @mento)

Moderator Mento has a new edition of their "64 in 64" feature! This is where they play a randomized assortment of N64 games in just 64 minutes before passing judgement! This week tackles Bomberman 64 and Mahjong 64!

Likewise, Mento has a new edition of their "Indie Game of the Week" feature on the site and this one is all about 9 Years of Shadows! Were they impressed by its vaguely Greek gods-inspired post-apocalyptic story or action platforming gameplay? Click the link above to discover the answer

Lambda: Black Mesa and the Legacy of Half-Life (By: @gamer_152)

If you enjoyed NocClip's Black Mesa documentary, you should check out Gamer_152's blog on the game and exhaustive examination of the enduring and undeniable legacy of Half-Life! Here's the link and don't forget to drop a nice comment!

Discussion Threads

Are PlayStation Stars "Purchase" Campaign Rewards Stingy? (By: @bigsocrates)

Is there anyone out there that feel like the PlayStation loyalty program to earn rewards, (i.e., PlayStation Stars), is stingy? That's how some feel, but others feel like the program is perfectly fine. Discuss here!

BlizzCon 2024 Is Cancelled. Do You Think The Event Is Dead Forever? (By: @zombiepie)

BlizzCon 2024 is cancelled. Are you surprised by this news? Also, do you trust Blizzard's assurances that the event still is being planned for the future? Is anyone else getting ESA/E3 flashbacks?

They're Re-Releasing Licensed Nuon Games On Repro Carts, Including Tempest 3000 (By: @bigsocrates)

Did any of you hear the news that Songbird Productions is re-releasing Tempest 3000 on NUON console repro carts? How many of you even remember the Nuon? Get an in-depth summary of this news and how you can snag a copy of Tempest 3000!

Just Checking In... (By: @jakob187)

Here's a blast from the past for all of youthat go WAY BACK to the Whiskey Media Days! jakob187 has dropped by after being away from the site for years! Send them good wishes and reminisce about the old days here!

What's Your Excuse For Not Playing Iggy's Reckin' Balls To Completion Now That It's On Switch Online? (By: @bigsocrates)

Extreme-G and Iggy's Reckin' Balls are the most recent games selected by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members. What does the selection of these two titles say about Nintendo's value of its paid online service?

Friendly Reminder That You Have One Week To Pick Up The Palestinian Relief Bundle! Also, What Are Your Recommendations? (By: @zombiepie)

If you somehow missed, Itch.io is hosting a massive charity bundle called the "Palestinian Relief Bundle." It has hundreds of titles and more in it for the asking price of $8. So, for those of you that have picked it up, what are your recommendations?

Embracer Is Splitting Into Three Companies. It Would Be Funny If Real People Weren't Impacted. (By: @bigsocrates)

It would seem Embracer Group is breaking apart into three companies. Get the news and join the community discussion on the site. What do you make of Asmodee becoming its own company or “Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends?”

Reviews

@infantpipoc's NieR:Automata review discusses why they don't think the game lives up to its hype after playing it for the first time after avoiding it well after its initial release.

Wiki Of The Week

NUON

As bigsocrates reported in a discussion thread, the NUON console/DVD player is getting a mini-revival of sorts! Songbird Productions is making repro carts for the platform and now is your chance to give Tempest 3000 a shot! Also, get a refreshing crash course on the NUON and what led to its highly predictable downfall.

I read this feature every week and am glad it's part of the site! I wish work wasn't so hellaciously busy so I had more brain energy to say something insightful or interesting. Also to like, experience a live stream every once in a while (though I try to make Friday Night Fuser on the reg).

Always enjoy reading this every week! Hard to stay up with all the content so this is an awesome feature.

🥰

I read this either every Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, schedule pending. It's an absolute must for this site in my opinion, and I'm very appreciative that you do it!

The spotlight is the quickest and most succinct way to get updates on the site without seeming like I'm bugging someone. Thanks, and keep it up ZP!

Love the spotlight. It's a great historical record of the site and community goings-on, and it's always well done.

I always read the beginning section about updates on site goings on, and consider it indispensable, and extremely useful! Thank you very much for giving us the weekly overview, and sure hope you're getting properly compensated for doing so. To be truthful, I also continue to have zero interest in what the "community" is up to. It sure seems like a huge effort to keep doing that part, though. I personally would not miss it if that entire section went away.

Heck yes, I always dig & appreciate the Spotlight: thank you kindly, duder! I do usually try to leave a comment but I've missed the last few, sorry. Stoked about the great writing & art from the community!

Thanks as always for the feature, Zombie Pie!

In case the powers that be read this, I usually catch up on this weekly feature via mobile as I do errands around town. As a result I don't usually leave a comment, but consider myself a loyal reader and consider this newsletter an essential feature of Giant Bomb's week to week content.

Love this feature, read it every week. Thanks for keeping giant bomb alive as a website and celebrating probably the greatest, most creative, kindest community on the internet. That’s what this website was originally about, people sharing art and discourse about games and the crew as a community. You’re the best @zombiepie

Thanks @zombiepie as always for another great spotlight. I don't use Twitter or any other SNS so this brings all the great fan art to my attention. Also reminds me to read the various blogs that pop up that I need to read. Really do appreciate it, even if I fail to comment every week.

Thank you again.

Ditto on appreciating the collection of fanart that I missed out on. I also appreciate the summary of upcoming events and current site issues.

I appreciate this feature because otherwise I would never read the user blogs.

Thanks again ZP. I appreciate people taking any time to relay anything back onto the site. I'm personally growing increasingly frustrated that this is now a youtube channel, twitch steam, instagram, several twitter pages, and a website about video games, in what seems like that order of operations. I'm also a little frustrated that information regarding videos not working on the website was posted first and foremost on twitter and not said website.

Always appreciate reading this every week. Always will.

Will videos ever work again on chrome/firefox? I know the engineering team are "working on it|", but they've been saying that for nearly two years now

Is it not just worth saying "Its busted and no plans to fix it" rather than hold it over us for another year?

@sombre: I'm not an engineer, but fwiw I think part of the problem is that it's only certain people that have the issue. For example, videos work fine for me in Chrome and Firefox. Never had any issues.

ZP this is a crucial part of my week to keep up with GB and the community. I do consume most of the content but I don't trawl the forums and don't use social media besides Discord, so this is just an awesome way to stay connected with all. THANK YOU