Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight and I, ZombiePie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the site and staff news alongside the best user-created works from the previous week!
With the official end of Summer, here, exciting things are in store for Giant Bomb! First, for those of you that missed it, Giant Bomb is giving away 50 copies of Demon Dust to new Giant Bomb subscribers, key word on "new." If you have a friend that is into gaming and has been on the fence, use this as an opportunity to take the plunge on Giant Bomb and its riches of Premium-only content! Bakalar still has a good amount of Catwoman to play still!
Once again, Pinball Week might be over, but don't forget that Pinball Week merch is still up on the store for you to buy! And if you forgot to do so last week, don't forget to give a big THANKS to jearum for making the designs for for all of the Pinball Week merch! Don't forget that you can commission your own art from jearum on their ko-fi and you can also check out their INCREDIBLE portfolio page as well!
- Giant Bomb Pinball Shirt - $28.00
- Giant Bomb Pinball Hat - $28.00
- Giant Bomb Pinball Front and Back Shirt - $28.00
If you want to know what the Pinball Week merch looks like IRL, here's a fun picture that Giant Bomb Discord user Postman Dan recently shared on the Discord:
In terms of site-related news, the site was briefly getting bopped with traffic on the 21st of September, but Chuck was able to resolve the issue. Likewise, please be aware that Premium Feeds in YouTube Music are unsupported. If you have them working, great, but Chuck and the staff can't really do anything to assist people that end up having issues with the feed there. Finally, for those of you that have been on the Reviews portal to search for Staff Reviews, you may have noticed or seen the odd Platforms numbering system there. Those are platform IDs that Chuck hasn't had the time to parse out and it's been that way since December.
However, the big news of the week is that on October 15th and 16th from noon to midnight Eastern, on each day, The Giant Bombathon is BACK and will be LIVE AND IN-PERSON! For those of you that missed it last year or have forgotten, The Giant Bombathon is a sub/Premium raising stream that drums up support for the site and its staff and usually has donation incentives that commit the staff into new features and Premium-only programming. What's sorts of hilarious mishaps will the staff get into this time? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain, on the 16th of October, Merry Kish has already been confirmed as a guest.
And finally, it's officially official: Grubberdillo has resulted in Grubb playing the most cumulative hours on Blight Club. Many thanks to Colin Hemphill for keeping the lights on at Blight Club Unauthorized, which is the place to be if you want every possible statistic related to Blight Club. Also, pray for Grubb because it doesn't seem like he's nearing the finish line any time soon. It's also worth noting that Patrick Klepek recently challenged Grubb to a 2 vs. 2 co-op match of Normal Golf Game.
And final, final note, someone on the Giant Bomb Reddit dumped all of the image and audio assets from Cyberdillo. If any of the more creatively-minded members of the Giant Bomb community want to use anything from the game that has been subjecting Grubb to an endless nightmare, this Reddit thread has the goods.
Art
Catch Me If You Dan 2 x Pimp My Ryckert (By: Psykus & thecosmicfly)
Over on the Giant Bomb Discord, which I have included an invite to in the link above, Psykus and thecosmicfly decided to take image of Dan in a low rider and slap on the logo for Pimp My Ride and even the Blight Club feature: Pimp My Ryckert. To catch works like that when they first drop, don't forget to join the Giant Bomb Discord and check out the Giant Bomb channel as often as you can.
Push Warren In Solitaire (By: Marino)
The videogame history account on bsky recently shared a screenshot of Solitaire Royale for the FM Towns, and one of the cards reminded site moderator, Marino, of Warren that they could not help themselves and made the following edit below.
Video/Clip of the Week
Hurt By Dan & Mike (By: firehair12000/Christian Marsham)
Earlier last week, Mike and Dan did a quick parody singing of Johnny Cash's version of Hurt and that got firehair12000 thinking what they would look like if they were super-imposed onto Johnny Cash's face during the Hurt music video. If you need a good laugh, look no further.
Community Articles
Do the kids today even know what Scooby Doo is? Are there kids that care about the Scoobster?
64 in 64: Episode 56—Plats All, Folks! Finale +
Indie Game of the Week 486: The Invincible (By: Mento)
Mento once again has a couple of articles for you to enjoy this week. The first sees the riveting conclusion of their "64 in 64" series on the site with a look at Doraemon 3: Nobita no Machi SOS! and Scooby-Doo! Classic Creep Capers this week. Even if you're unfamiliar with either game, give their write-up a read and don't forget to show your support.
Likewise, this week's edition of their "Indie Game of the Week" feature reviews The Invincible. Were they impressed by this narrative walking simulator's take on Stanisław Lem's 1964 novel The Invincible? Read to see why they sure think that's the case.
Summer Of Sting - Part 3: Yggdra Union (By: ZombiePie)
Summer might be over, but ZombiePie did not let that stop them from continuing on with their Summer of Sting feature on the site. This time around they decided to go off the deep end and check out one of Sting's more experimental tactical RPGs, Yggdra Union. Read why the game overwhelmed them and what advice they have for possible newcomers.
What's The Greatest Video Game: Ghost Master Resurrection (By: imunbeatable801)
imunbeatable801 has a new edition of their "What's the Greatest Video Game" feature on the site and this one reviews Ghost Master Resurrection! How does this remaster compare to the original game and is this a valid entry point for newcomers?
A World Made Twice: How the Dark World Transformed Zelda (By: pauljeremiah)
pauljeremiah published and essay that discusses the interesting way The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past makes exploring Hyrule twice compelling and fun and the secret sauce other developers could use in their games.
Forum Posts Worth Checking Out
Announcements
Cool stuff continues to be coming to giantbomb.com and it's all thanks to Chuck's incredible work!
If You Have Giant Bomb Premium, You Can Now Test The Giant Bomb Video Game Tracker (By: chucktowski)
Once again, if you have Giant Bomb Premium, give the site's new Game Tracker a shot and play around with categorizing games and even giving them reviews! If you encounter any bugs, feel free to drop a comment in the thread and Chuck will try to get to you as soon as possible.
General Discussion
Are you fort or against the new protagonist or the character action gameplay in Control Resonant?
How Do You Feal About Halo's New Management Under Activision? (By: chocobodude3)
How do you feel about Halo going to Activision? How do you feel about the next game from Halo Studios getting cancelled? Do you consider Activision a possible better "fit" for Halo than the other options on the table, especially after Halo Studios' many stumbles over the years?
Turn 10 Studios (Forza Motorsport) Is Officially Merged With Playground Games (Forza Horizon) (By: gtxforza)
Turn 10 Studios is merging with Playground Games as part of studio mergers and restructuring across the whole Xbox brand. What's your reaction to this and the other Xbox news? Asha once said "The plan is the plan until it isn't the plan," but it sure seems like there's no plan.
The GB Album Club 125 - Disarm the Descent by Killswitch Engage (By: unclejam23)
Disarm the Descent by Killswitch Engage is this week's pick for the Giant Bomb Album of the Week Club! Are any of you in the mood to discuss metalcore? Also, drop a comment in the thread if you want to join the group!
Arcade Challenge Game Club: Numan Athletics (By: imunbeatable801)
Don't forget that this week's edition of the Giant Bomb Arcade Challenge Game Club is for Numan Athletics! Learn how you can post high scores and take 1st place with this edition of the community game club! Also, if you have input or suggestions for the future, feel free to share them.
I still think the lack of The Sopranos on The New York Times' list is a crime.
Best TV Shows Of The 21st Century Thread (By: atheistpreacher)
A lot of people have been doing the "My Top Shows" list on The New York Times, so, if you have, we have a thread on Giant Bomb where you can share your picks and discuss why each show made your list!
VR Gaming In 2026 (By: toysoda)
By your metric, what's the absolute state of VR games and gaming in the year of our lord, 2026? Do you think the future for VR gaming is improving in 2027? Will next year be the year where we see the opposite happen and even Meta throws in the towel?
What Are You Playing/Finishing/Abandoning This Week (September 20, 2026 Edition)? (By: laughingman)
As we near the official "end" of Summer, what are you hoping to play or complete this week? Are any of you picking up Control Resonant or Silent Hill: Townfall? For those of you that did play one of those games, were you a fan?
Suggestions & Bug Box
Reporting Missing Videos on Site (By: trace17)
Just a friendly reminder that if you notice any missing videos or VODs on the site, whether it be a random missing video in a "classic" Giant Bomb program or a recent livestream that never got posted, drop a comment in the thread linked above and try to be as specific as possible about the feature or stream name and the episode number if it is part of a series. Chuck or someone else will try to be on the case as quick as possible.
Premium
Grubbsnax Question Thread (By: jeffgrub)
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!
Lists/Tier Lists
Do you have any strong feelings about the many highs and lows of BioWare?
The BioWare Game Tier List (By: linksocarina)
linksocarina had a go at making a BioWare tier list on Giant Bomb and this is how they ranked the games from the legendary studio they have played! If you disagree, make a copy of their template for your own version!
GOTY 2025 (By: bp0708)
My Favourite Games 2025 (By: e-bizz)
My 2025 Game of the Year (By: themathlete)
With GOTY 2026 looming over everyone's shoulders as if it is right around the corner, a handful of users decided to return to the site and make GOTY lists for 2025 after failing to do so last year. If that includes you, feel free to join them and remember, there's no such thing as being "too late" with your GOTY list!
If this format makes more sense for a GOTY list, consider having a go with your own version on the site!
Games I Beat in 2023 (By: Elphie)
Elphie, on the other hand, took a bit of a different approach to doing catch-up GOTY lists on Giant Bomb. Instead of making the traditional top ten list, they made tier lists where they ranked every single game they beat in the year they beat them from best to worst.
If this format sounds interesting to you, consider doing the same and don't forget to keep me in the loop as I'll happily showcase your tier lists on the next Spotlight!
User Reviews
Do any of you have thoughts about Control Resonant, Silent Hill Townfall, or Onimusha: Way of the Sword? If so, consider publishing a review on the site!
After picking the game up while it was on sale, user emnii decided to play Rage 2 and shares in their review for the game their belief that the game simply should not exist. It doesn't fix any the issues of the original and brings nothing new to the FPS table in general.
Additionally, emnii felt like watching some classic Giant Bomb content and ended up re-watching Jan playing The Quiet Man which led to them buying the game. As you can read in their review, the game really is as bad as the videos make it seem.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword has shot up to the top of user rowsofcaststeel's GOTY 2026 list and you can read their review to learn why! If you've played the game, consider writing a review as well!
Conversely, Onimusha: Way of the Sword was LankyDragoon's most anticipated game and now that they have played it to competition, they can't help but feel disappointed. Read what part of the design most let them down.
linksocarina is nearing the finish line with their retrospective on the rise and fall of the peripheral-based music game with three interesting reviews that are a blast from the past. As someone put it best on bsky, Rock Band 3 is such an interesting time capsule because it represents the moment when that series realized it needed to age with its audience rather than continue to try and be as mainstream as possible.