Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, ZombiePie, am once again happy to be your host as we look back at the site and staff-related news on top of a rundown of the best user-created works from around the web from the previous week!
Mostly technical stuff when it comes to site updates with one, fun, notable exception. Ad tech continues to be a work in progress after even Chuck noticed ads in their Premium user session. He's been investigating the issue and even when trying to experiment with things, the ads would still intermittently show up. Rest assured, they are working on this and it is a priority.
In better news, if you saw "Unable to load premium video" errors when trying to watch premium videos the problem should be fixed. Chuck pushed an update that borked things and the problem shouldn't be happening anymore.
For those of you that have stream email notifications set up, the staff and Chuck are aware that a few streams sent doubled notification emails. This is also being actively investigated and when an update or remedy has been deployed, I'll try to keep you updated. For now, your patience and understanding with the emails being double would be greatly appreciated.
If you have been trying to watch streams using the site and got a 232011 error code while using Firefox, two things have been idetified as the leading culprit. First, in Firefox check about:preferences#privacy to make sure necessary cookies are not being blocked. If you are using an extension like Privacy Badger, make sure the cdn.jwplayer.com cookie isn't block and any cookies that have jwplayer in them are not blocked. For future reference, jwplayer is not a tracker.
But the big and fun site-related news item is that emotes are back! As you can see below, all of the old emotes are back and ready for you to use while chatting on the site streaming player that integrates with Twitch. It does require that you interact with an emote menu, but they should be working and everything from the old site player should be there.
Finally, a slight unfortunate programming update. Many of you may recall the Giant Bomb staff mentioning that they didn't get around to debating and settling a "Best Music" category for GOTY 2025 and that the award would be settled at a different date. With the staff fully in the swing of providing free and premium features and GOTY 2025 getting further and further from the present, the staff have decided to strike that plan.
Videos & Art
Giant Bomb 90s Bootleg Rap Album (By: jearum)
Remember catching random indie or homebrew rap albums in the 90s when going to music stores? Remember how amazingly gaudy they would be? I miss that kind of shit but at the very least, jearum has you covered with this take of a Giant Bomb 90s rap album cover!
Also don't forget that jearum is still doing commissions and you all have been especially kind and generous on that front. Nonetheless, if you need a Twitch banner, new avatar, or a fun poster, I can think of no one better than Jearum to help you out with that.
THE POWER OF KENNY G (By: Giant Bomb)
As you can see in the banner, huge props to the maniac that paid Kenny G to grace Mike's ears with a smooth jazz rendition of Thai Dyed Suicide's Bundle of Nerves! It's stuff like this that really hits home how wonderful this community is.
Likewise, I tip my hat to Chuck for sneaking this Kenny G masterpiece as an Easter Egg on the site.
Community Articles
Indie Game of the Week 456: Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore +
Indie Game of the Week 457: Exophobia (By: Mento)
We only have Mento rounding out the Community Article corner this week, but he has a two-for-one round of their Indie Game of the Week feature on the site! First, they cover Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore and try to figure out if there's more to it than just being a modern homage to the CDi Zelda games.
Likewise, they also played Exophobia! Once again, Mento tries to get to the bottom of figuring out if a retro-inspired FPS has more juice to it than just "vibes" and sleek visuals! If you're interested in finding out, click the link to their write-up to get the answer!
Forum Posts Worth Checking Out
Announcements
Site Update 03 (By: chucktowski)
They might be from previous weeks but they are still incredibly important and must reads for those of you that still haven't checked them out. Chuck published another unlisted Giant Bomb Site Update and after watching the video you can share your thoughts and input in the thread they created using the link above. Do you have any impressions about the roadmap for the wiki and forums? Does the return of site profiles excite you? Share away!
Let's Test The Video RSS Feed For Grubbsnax Premium! (By: chucktowski)
As shared last week, Chuck wants YOUR HELP in testing the new Video RSS Feed for Grubbsnax Premium to make sure the premium RSS Feeds are working as designed! If this is an issue that has plagued you before, drop a comment in this thread.
In fact, don't forget to check out the Video RSS Feed over here!
General Discussion
GB Pokémon Gym Leaders (By: baltmatrix)
With everyone BUZZING about Pokémon, let's each have a go at imagining all of the Giant Bomb staff as Pokémon Gym Leaders! Here's what one user imagined for the likes of Grubb and company!
The GB Album Club 107 - Focus by Cynic (By: unclejam23)
The Album of the Week Club has another pick for everyone to check out and enjoy! This week the group is tackling Focus by Cynic! Are any of you familiar with this indie progressive metal group? Regardless, join the fun and if you are interested in being part of the album selection, drop a comment in the thread linked above!
Some Possibly Hot Takes On Game Pricing (By: laughingman)
How afraid are you of AAA games jumping up in price again? If physical media saw a slight bump in price while digital prices dropped, would you make noise? As you look at where the video game industry is going in terms of affordability, do you have any "hot takes" about cost?
Any Future Peripherals And Accessories For Nintendo Switch 2 You'd Love To See? (By: gtxforza)
If you could add a new official peripheral to the Switch 2's slate, what would you add? Would you jump on more pro controller variants? Would you want a driving wheel? Is it time for better Joy-Cons?
International Schlocky/Campy Cinema Recommendations (By: mafuchi)
What are your go-to film picks for a "Bad Movie Club?" Do you have any favorite bad movies that are terrible in all the right ways? Are there any The Room, Hotline Miami, or Troll 2 fans out there in the Giant Bomb community?
PS5 In 2026? (By: dadgummit)
Is a PS5 a "good" investment in 2026? What do you think are the pros and cons adopting the PS5 at this weird gaming crossroad? With new hardware probably further away than anyone wants, should you buy a PS5 now?
Your Thoughts On Forza Horizon 6's Discover Japan | Biomes Showcase Trailer (By: gtxforza)
Anyone see the latest batch of trailers and promotional news for Forza Horizon 6? Does the game look like a solid GOTY contender? Catch all of the news about the game with our small community of racing sim experts.
The Trivia Thread (By: laughingman)
Want a break from all of depressing news and chaos going about? Well, we have an official "Fun Trivia Thread" on the Giant Bomb forums! Know some fun video game or non-gaming facts? Well, post them in here!
STEAM NEXT-FEST 2026 (By: baltmatrix)
Next Fest February 2026 is LIVE NOW and while the event is set to end around the time most of you will read this, did you find any fun gems? What are your biggest takeaways and recommendations?
Premium-Only
Grubbsnax Question Thread (By: jeffgrubb)
For those of you with Premium subs, you can head on over to the Premium-Only board and possibly get a question answered during Grubbsnax if you write and post it in this thread. Huge props to Grubb for taking the time to engage with the forums to whip up some community engagement!
Bombcast Hotdog Eatin (By: dugrugnak)
Incredible things are happening in this Premium-only discussion thread on Giant Bomb titled "Bombcast hotdog eatin." If you have any thoughts about dog eating and any matters related to hot dogs and have premium, click the link above!
Suggestions & Bug Box
Have Videos Remember Where You Left Off? [Answered/Resolved (By: durandir)
In case you missed it, Chuck added videos remembering where you left off to YouTube and the site's native video player. There are still improvements to be made regarding consistency, but if you have been noticing that none of your videos are recalling where you left off, drop a comment in this thread because that should not be happening.
How To Create Game GUIDs And Upload Images [Answered/Resolved (By: ironspleen)
If the title above doesn't make any sense to you, don't worry, this thread is more for people who are playing around with the Wiki and API. Nonetheless, as secretrob, who is one of the volunteers helping Chuck work on the wiki, points out, GUIDs will be automated and locked so they won't need to be created. the image backend still needs work but right now the wiki and site's supported images are jpg, png, and webp.
Wiki Submission Issue [Answer/Work In Progress] (By: dochaus)
Speaking of which, quick note for those of you that are editing the wiki! Yes, the Giant Bomb Wiki is up for editing but you should be saving frequently when using the current text editor on the wiki.
Marry Me Tomodachi RSS Feed Only Showing 180p Resolution [Answered/Resolved (By: blindeagle)
So, this thread provides everyone an opportunity to share some behind the scenes info about how the site and YouTube works. Both allow videos and VODs to get published before their video codecs fully render and process videos. As a result, there's a chance, especially when something is first published, that the only resolution available is 180p or something below 720p. On the site's end Chuck has told Jan to wait on making VODs public but this is kind of one of those weird unavoidable quirks on YouTube.
Lists
The Explormatorium (By: Mento)
What are "Explormers?"
Answering that exact question is at the heart of moderator Mento's latest list on the site and you can read what they think are the best and worst examples of the genre by checking it out!
Nintendo DS Collection (By: Marino)
Once again, Marino provides another snapshot into their almost endless video game collection. This week they updated and edited their list annotating their impressive Nintendo DS collection. Which portable classics and not so classics do they own? Read their list to find out!
2025 (By: delsaber)
It's a bit late for a traditional GOTY list, but not wanting to completely miss out on GOTY 2025, user delsaber just went ahead and listed every 2025 game and shared what they thought of them with a brief snippet or two.
User Reviews
relentlessknight's review for Resident Evil Requiem
Is it too early to call Resident Evil Requiem a "masterclass" in modern horror video game design? Not according to relentlessknight and you can read why they think that by checking out their review on the site! Also, don't forget to join them with your own review of the game when you have time!
Undeadpool's review for Demonschool
After seeing it crop up in a handful of GOTY lists last year, Undeadpool decided to give Demonschool a shot and they completely loved it! Between the fluid combat and stylish graphics, it was a blast for them. Read what hooked them on their user review on the site!