The Community Spotlight 2020.02.22

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 best user-created offerings from the previous week! During the 02/21/2020 UPF the other moderators and myself had a fun chat about how far this site has come. The fact that startles me the most is how the CBSi "era" of Giant Bomb has long since exceeded the Whiskey Media days. And I don't mention any of this to slander the site or its staff members, but it's something I've never really accepted as fact. If you wanted to know, whenever us moderators reminisce about the "old days" HitmanAgent47 comes up. Jeez, I'd be surprised to see how many of you remember HitmanAgent47... use the comments below to show if you have any idea what I'm talking about! Anyways, here's the site-related housekeeping!

• Rorie has been hitting it out of the park with their micro-interviews on the Giant Bomb Instagram! However, he wants to know what YOUR burning questions are you'd like the staff to answer next!
• Speaking of which, this week Rorie interviewed Jeff on Instagram and asked him "What's the most money you've spent on a single arcade game?" The answer is definitely worth watching!
• Jason has an update on has an update regarding the audio issues with Giant Bomb West videos and Quick Looks! For the most part, the issue should be fixed going forward. This includes video and audio syncing issues as well.
• Let's give a big round of applause to Rorie for filing tickets for: timestamp preview images not working, the formatting bar randomly disappearing while commenting/blogging, and the navigation bar on wikis not working on mobile! If you have any issues while using the site, feel free to use the Bug Reporting board on the forums!
• Due to extenuating circumstances, Giant Bomb East's normal schedule will be moved around. Check the front page regularly to remain up to date!

Tweets Of The Week

Giant Bomb Galleria

Things Jeff Hachi Has Held 02/18/2020 (By: @oddparticle)

We have another HILARIOUS edition of OddParticle's Jeff Hachi webcomic series! It is another reminder that the VRodeo is a video series we all need back in our lives.

Community Activities

Unofficial Giant Bomb Regiment For Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (By: @dr1nkurmlkshake)

Calling all Call of Duty fans! There's a newly revived online community regiment for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare! If you are up for networking with other Giant Bomb users playing the game, then this is the thread for you! Get the details on how to join it using the link above!

Clips Of The Week

Giant Bombcast 620 Animated: Blue Chew (By: Jackson Sax)

Over on YouTube, someone decided to "animate" the Blue Chew ad during the free version of Giant Bombcast #620, and it really is "something." Then again, aren't all podcast ads?

Best Of Blogs

Do Not Buy This Game, Or If You Already Have, Return It [Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem] (By: @bicycleham)

bicycleham bought Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, despite hearing warnings from Rorie to the contrary, and blogs about his constant struggles to finish the game despite its glitches, bugs, and relatively unfinished story.

Ubisoft Is Looking To Redefine Rainbow Six Siege As It Enters Its Fifth Year (By: @nateandrews)

nateandrews is highly intrigued by the direction Ubisoft is taking with Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. Read why they are excited about the company's "five-year plan" for the game using the link above!

ZombiePie's Games Of The Decade Superlatives - Part I (By: @zombiepie)

Moderator ZombiePie took a different approach with their "Best of the 2010s" blog. On it, they hand out decade superlatives like "Best Dark Middle Chapter," "Most Fabulous Prank" and "Single Worst Story Arc!" Give it a read and discover which games took their humorous awards!

A Look Back - Experiences And Thoughts Of Gaming Through The 2010 Decade (By: @infinitespark)

Giant Bomb user InfiniteSpark published an exhaustive retrospective on their gaming highs and lows from the 2010s! Read all about what they loved and hated from the decade!

This Is A Good Darksiders Game [Darksiders Genesis] (By: @bakoomerang)

bakoomerang finally got around to playing Darksiders Genesis and blogs about why they found it to be a thoroughly fun romp and why they think the game deserves more credit than what it got last year!

Celeste: The Hardest Game Anyone Can Beat (By: @purpleshyguy)

PurpleShyGuy LOVES Celeste and uses their latest blog on Giant Bomb to discuss why they think it is "the hardest game anyone can beat." Gice it a read and discover what they mean!

A Bracer's Impact [The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC] +

Indie Game of the Week 158: Princess Remedy (By: @mento)

First, Mento continues their blog series for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC and this week looks at the game's use of jobs and classes to lend more storytelling to its cast of characters. Finally, they have another AMAZING episode of their Indie Game of the Week blog series with episode discussing Princess Remedy by developer Ludosity Interactive!

I Feel My Interest In Games Has Almost Entirely Faded Into My 30's (By: @sombre)

Sombre talks about turning thirty and gaming taking a backseat in their work-life-balance. Give it a read and share your own experiences with gaming and growing older. It's a feeling I'm all too familiar with, but have no solutions to that I can think of.

Join The Discussion

(Best) Video Game Spin-Offs? (By: @finaldasa)

As the title suggests, what are the most FAMOUS and well-known video game spin-offs? Can you think of any video game examples of spin-offs overtaking the series they are based on?

The Sonic Movie Is A Huge Hit So How Is There No Tie In? (By: @bigsocrates)

BigSocrates wonders aloud why SEGA hasn't done more to promote and advertise the Sonic movie. For example, where's the tie-in game? If you have a hunch as to why that's the case, feel free to share it.

Satisfactory Is Coming (Back) To Steam Because Of Course It Is (By: @zeg)

Satisfactory is coming to Steam after some time as an Epic Store exclusive. Are there any of you who will finally check out the game? Join our discussion thread about the news using the link above!

Would/Should Be Anime Games? (By: @panburgerpartner)

Video games based on animes sometimes get a bad rap, but what are some well-known anime franchises you'd like to see get adapted? And before you ask, gacha games do not count.

Would You Watch A Dreams Series Hosted By Vinny? (By: @theadmin)

Obviously, the title says "Vinny," but the question applies to the rest of the Giant Bomb crew. Would you like to see Dreams receive additional coverage much like how the site covered OG Super Mario Maker?

My Seven Year Old Mind In 1985 Saw Super Mario Bros. For The First Time... (By: @jarp12)

Here's a thread that welcomes you to share the games that blew your mind when you were younger, but today make you say "what was I thinking?" For me, my game is Call of Duty: Finest Hour. I played it a ton as a kid, but DAMN has it aged like milk.

Lovable Lists

Favourite Xbox Game Pass Titles (By: @durgerburglar)

durgerburglar has fallen in love with Xbox Game Pass and uses their latest list on the site to annotate the games they think make the serve worth the price of entry!

Games of the Year, 2007 (By: @frontman12)

frontman12 is almost done with their "Best of the 2000s" series and this week looks back at the best games of 2007! BioShock, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Peggle all fight for the top spot!

Useful User Reviews

• @scottyhawkeye went on a nigh year-long adventure to find the "best Batman game Pre-Arkham," and settled on Ubisoft's Batman: Vengeance! Read their review on why they think it is a special game worth going back to even today!
• @moonlightmoth uses their review of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint to discuss why they struggled to get through its story and overwwhelming jingoism.
• @riostarwind has always been a fan of the Ace Attorney franchise and this week assesses the worth of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice, the sixth entry in the series, with a critical lens!
• @frontman12 wrote a quick review for Fortix and shares why they think this Qix-style arcade game from developer Nemesys Games deserves more love, especially for the price of $.99!
• @capt_blakhelm wrote a review for Death Ray Manta and uses it to explain why they enjoyed the deceptively brutal and psychedelic Robotron clone.

Hitmanagent47 was a STAPLE of old GB

Also, it looks like a site redesign basically "killed" 90% of those HitmanAgent47 meme pictures.

If you have any, feel free to post them.

@zombiepie said:

@sombre said:

Hitmanagent47 was a STAPLE of old GB

Also, it looks like a site redesign basically "killed" 90% of those HitmanAgent47 meme pictures.

If you have any, feel free to post them.

In my mind, he was one of the trifecta of "classic era" GB.

It was HitmanAgent47, KaosAngel and Biff

Shoutouts to Matt Rorie for his hard work on the social media end.

Jeff learning things will never not make me laugh.

Man I have been coming to this website for over a decade and I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about haha. I didn’t mess around in the community much early on though.

HitmanAgent47 was kind of a "blink an you'll miss it" moment during the Whiskey Media days. When you look back at the old-school forum posters that made the site "memorable," sure let's go with that, he ranks up there with Claude, KaosAngel, and Biff. Though, Hitman was BY FAR more unhinged than all of them combined.

Looks like I've got a bunch still kicking around in the backup folder of my hard drive from like three PCs ago. Gonna post them all for posterity: mods, feel free to remove the ones that are, uh, maybe not in line with society in 2020. I forgot how completely unhinged this guy was:

That Blue Chew animation is art.

I only know a little bit of the early GB forums, as they were before I followed the site, but it sounded like a wild time.

HitMemeAgent47

I didn't broadcast my blog widely to the forums but thanks for the highlight on this week's spotlight!

Is Claude ok? He was a top lad

Oh man, the HitmanAgent47 days...I don't look at the forums at all anymore since they're not on the main page (I just don't think about them) but the Wii Defence Force, Hailinel, VideoGameKing, there were some eras man...

@zombiepie I absolutely remember @hitmanagent47. Wonder what happened to him. I couldn't tell if he was like a stereotypical German/Eastern European, or legit crazy.

I mean, just look at his "About Me" on his bio, and this is just a TASTE of what we used to see every day:

My opinion is usually right about everything and based on facts since I can back up any of my statements by request. I do reseach stuff before I make a statement and not post half truths like some individuals who has a limited view or understanding on certain topics I know very well. Or speaking in theories because you lack experience from certain topics creating misconceptions. If you disagree, it's merely your opinion that's wrong unless you can prove me wrong with facts, then I won't change my mind about it. I support pc gaming and crysis is my favorite game on very high settings. I also have a ps3 for a console however I rarely use it except for blu ray. I am indifferent to macs. However I am not trying to seem arrogant. If you think that, i'm not trying to hurt you ego intentionally, the truth hurts and that's your problem for the misinterpretation, not mine.

The Giant Bomb forums used to be pretty nuts, man.

Still can't believe I met my wife here. And I'm old now.

I ocassionally find myself wondering how HitmanAgent47 would be reacting to the current state of the world. Would he have become a genuine edgelord, or developed a deep empathy for life and art? We may never know.

@dudeglove said:

This is honestly exactly how I imagined he'd be spending his time.

That or leatherworking