Hello everyone 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-related news and best user-created works from the previous week!
First and foremost, let's give a HUGE round of applause for Mike for subjecting themselves to an onslaught of Donkey Kong 64 as part of Giant Bomb's sub-a-thon for Maylo! Likewise, you can still help the site even if you already have Giant Bomb Premium by gifting premium to a friend or someone you know! With gifting there's a new option labeled "community" and this gifts a random user a premium subscription that doesn't already have one. And before you ask, Chuck has put in safeguards to make sure your gift subs don't get sent to spam bots.
Also, considering how long Mike streamed DK64 for, you can catch all of the DK64 streams on the Giant Bomb YouTube account as the videos are going to take some time to process before they go up on the site, especially Mike's nearly 12-hour marathon session on the third day of his Donkey Kong-induced madness:
- Giant Bomb's Donkey Kong 64 Sub-A-Thon | Day 1
- Giant Bomb's Donkey Kong 64 Sub-A-Thon | Day 2
- Giant Bomb's Donkey Kong 64 Sub-A-Thon | Day 3 COMPLETE
- Giant Bomb's Donkey Kong 64 Sub-A-Thon | DAY 4
- Giant Bomb's Donkey Kong 64 Sub-A-Thon | DAY 5
There's a fun update with the wiki worth reporting! If you check out wiki game pages you'll notice that staff reviews are visible on them again! This should include old reviews from the past as well as ones that come out in the future!
Speaking of site improvements, re-emphasizing use of the Suggestions & Bug Box board on the site forums with Postman Dan helping them organize the board and even respond to threads.
Finally, a few weeks back I mentioned clinteastman was in works of getting a Giant Bomb video player app published on the Android/Google app store. This week they managed to pull that off! If you have an Android-based streaming device in your living room or home, give this app a try and if you encounter any issues, feel free to drop a comment in this thread!
Fan Art
Name The Movie (Wrong Answers Only) (By: jearum)
Is there any legitimate way for me to provide context to this work of "art" from jearum? As they ask, name the movie you think this could happen in but only include wrong answers on their post on bsky where they shared this.
Also, don't forget that jea_rum is still open to commissions RIGHT NOW! This Giant Bomb Duder has been making classic and amazing works of art for decades and is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for cool art based on a variety of topics or themes.
Community Articles
Maylo-ditations - Musings on Indie GB, One Year Later (By: kittykatman1)
Like many users on the site, "Maylo" has brought up a lot of emotions for kittykatman1, so they decided to put them to good use by penning an essay about how the last year of Giant Bomb's independence has them excited for the future and nostalgic about Giant Bomb's past. Join them in reviewing the wonderful memories.
Indie Game of the Week 467: Minoria +
May no Monogatari Mou: Part One (Saturn & PC Engine & PlayStation) (By: Mento)
The Metroidvania Minoria is the topic of Mento's latest "Indie Game of the Week" and you can learn why they think it really struggles to distinguish itself in a field populated by the likes of Blasphemous and Bloodstained.
Likewise, with this being a new month Mento has a new gimmick article and this one checks out semi-obscure fan translations of Saturn, PC Engine, and PS1 games! This week they tackled Linkle Liver Story on the Saturn, the PC Engine CD-ROM title Galaxy Fräulein Yuna, and the original King's Field for PlayStation!
SuperHarman’s April Journal (By: superharman)
We might be in the middle of May, but superharman finally got around to summarizing their gaming accomplishments during April. Whether it be spooks or fun retro games, read all about their gaming highs and lows in the article above!
Exoprimal And The Scourge Of Live Service Game Design (By: bigsocrates)
On a whim, bigsocrates decided to play Exoprimal. In their write-up on Giant Bomb about rhe whole experience, they share why their time with the game has them pessimistic about the future of always online games.
What's The Greatest Game Of All Time: The King Of Dragons (By: imunbeatable801)
imunbeatable801's latest "What's the Greatest Game of All Time" post on the site tackles The King of Dragons! Is this fantasy beat-'em-up a "Capcom classic?" or does it struggle to tread water alongside other Capcom arcade beat-'em-up of the time? Read what they think in the post linked above!
Forum Posts Worth Checking Out
Announcements
Giant Bomb Premium YouTube Memberships... Are Here (By: Chuck)
As mentioned earlier, YouTube Memberships are here and you can get the early details on what is locked behind them and how they can enhance your Giant Bomb experience. As Chuck lays out in the article, if you already have Giant Bomb Premium and are enjoying Premium features on the site, this might not be for you, but for those of you that have been asking for a YouTube Membership option, read all about it!
Let's Test The Video RSS Feed For Grubbsnax Premium! (By: chucktowski)
As shared in previous weeks, 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
Happy Maylo! (i.e., It's The 1 Year Anniversary of Giant Bomb's Independence) (By: ZombiePie)
Happy Maylo everyone! It's crazy to think but it's been a year since Giant Bomb went independent! If you have yet to join the Giant Bomb staff and community in celebrating the past year, here's the thread to do it!
Shout Out To GB And The Community The Staff Have Fostered (By: azulot)
With this being the first full year of Giant Bomb being fully independent users have also started a thread where they share their thanks for the staff and enduring Giant Bomb community! The site is certainly different, but are you still happy to see the same recurring faces on the site?
Giant Bomb TV - Android App Closed Beta Test (By: clinteastman)
Just in case you missed it the first time, here's a friendly reminder that clinteastman has published a usable Android-based Giant Bomb streaming app on the Google app store! If you encounter any glitches or issues, feel free to drop a comment in the thread linked above.
Introducing Tacoma Joe's Golf Page (By: electricviking)
Partially inspired by Mike and the "Golf Week" theme week from a while back, a user has created a NeoCities site where people can post their best golf game scores! Whether you have a good score in a classic HotShots or PGA Tour or maybe something more recent, drop a comment in the thread to learn more!
People Don't Actually Want Games To "Move The Genre Forward" (By: laughingman)
laughingman shares their thesis that most people are perfectly happy to have games in most genres tow the line and follow familiar templates or blueprints. While most users seem to agree others feel that evolution and progress keep things interesting and drives creativity in the industry. What are your thoughts?
NBA The Run - Play Test Discussion Thread (By: jjweatherman)
Did any of you check out the weekend play test for NBA The Run on the 16th? For those of you that did, were you left with positive or negative impressions of how the game is shaping up? Are people excited to see a non-sim basketball game come out on consoles?
DualsSense Battery Drain On PC (By: atheistpreacher)
Accessory prices have jumped across the board, but as this Giant Bomb user points out, why is the DualSense battery life still bad? But in general does anyone else think the Big Three controllers should just be downright better than they are right now?
What Are You Playing/Finishing/Abandoning This Week (May 10, 2026 Edition)? (By: laughingman)
Did any of you play new games during the week? Did any of the recent game sales catch your attention? Feel free to share your gaming objectives for the week as well as what your video game goals for the future might be in this thread.
Premium-Only
YouTube Premium and Giant Bomb Subscription (By: lsh0y0t)
Do you have any comments or concerns about the YouTube Memberships as a Premium user? Well, feel free to use this thread to post them! However, as Chuck points out, Giant Bomb can't facilitate site premium giving people YouTube memberships.
The Lunch Thread - What Did You Have For Lunch? (By: jordha)
The lunch thread was recently revived on the Premium boards and that's great because I think everyone is a bit famished after watching Mike pull all of those long DK64 streams in the name of drumming up premium subs. Also, if you are a new premium user, feel free to
Cat Stats (By: mafuchi)
We have Giant Bomb users creating Magic the Gathering cards for their cats inspired by Chuck's 9 Lives of Mister Mistofelees feature on the site! If you have Giant Bomb Premium, check it out and join the fun!
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!
Suggestions & Bug Box
Advanced Video Search Missing Feature [Responded & Resolved] (By: justinvarghese)
A user was a bit confused on where to find and use advanced video search features and in came Chuck to the rescue! If you want a tip on how to search or sort videos by the year they came out? Chuck reviews how to do that in this thread.
Bug: Video File Cannot Be Played [Resolved] (By: paul_tillich)
Last week on the Spotlight I mentioned there was a widely-reported issue with videos on the site that were connected to the site's CDN. Shortly after publishing that, Chuck tracked the issue and announced it had been resolved. If you're still seeing it pop up, feel free to drop a comment here, but it sounds like this has been resolved.
Monitor Going To Sleep During Full Screen Video [Responded] (By: permanentsigh)
Have any of you experienced your monitor going to sleep when trying to full screen a site video? One user has mentioned this problem and Chuck has agreed to investigate, but more input from the community would be appreciated.
Tier Lists
Ranking of Final Fantasy Summons (By: remixrunixlp)
How many of you enjoy popping off summons in Final Fantasy games just for shits and giggles? Well this tier list from remixrunixlp tried to include as many of the summons in the Final Fantasy franchise they could find and ranked them from icons in the series to doo doo bad. If you want to have fun and think you can find more summons feel free to have fun with their template!
User Reviews
infantpipoc's Nine Sols review shares why they think the game is a perfect case study on how to nail "balance" in a game almost perfectly. Nonetheless, they also have some thoughts about the game's story and look as well!