Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we go through the best community-created work from the past week.
Well, I guess I’m in for an explanation as to why things on the forums are the way they are this week. As many of you probably noticed, one spammer sent over 200 threads and articles. The spammer has been banned and removed, but as you can see my posts continue to clog the forums. The issue is being investigated, but it seems that anything posted by staff members might have some sort of immunity against reverting threads to their normal places. This is not intentional, and engineers are working to identify why this is happening.
For more context on why The Spotlight in particular seems popular with spambots, this has been a problem for years. For example, search for “Giant Bomb Community Featured” on Twitter and be surprised at how many bots retweet these articles. As it is, we ban and remove bots when they appear as soon as possible.
In terms of something that all of you can do to help get the site back to “normal”, I have an idea. As you view this edition of Spotlight, when you see a blog or topic that you find interesting, please leave a comment in support of that blogger or drop a relevant reply on the topic in the topic. If we can get a handful of people to do this, the awesome stuff everyone posted and created will finally come back to center stage, which is what they deserve in the first place.
Finally, Tamoor ended up as a guest in an episode of The Nextlander movie podcast to talk about Demolition Man. To listen to this podcast, consider joining Nextlander for $10 a month! With that out of the way, let’s jump into the Community Spotlight!
tweets
It’s hard to watch Ant-Man 3 and not imagine Ryan Davis laughing uncontrollably every time MODOK appears on the screen.
—Brad Lynch (@MarinoV1) February 17, 2023
activities
The GB Album Club 024 – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie (By: @unclejam23)
Talk about a classic! This Community Album Club issue is for David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars! If you want to talk about Bowie or if you’re interested in joining in on the fun, click the link!
Coffee Talk is the fourth game of UUGPGC Year 2! End before February 27! Everyone is welcome. Mark the spoilers! +
The Legend of Tianding is the third pick of UUGPGC Year 2! Finish before February 13, 2023! Open spoilers!(By: @bigsocrates)
Coffee Talk is the fourth game selected for the Community Game Pass Game Club! If you have any non-spoiler impressions of the game, its structure, and general cosmetic choices, feel free to share them in the first thread.
The Game Pass Game Club also opened up their discussion of The Legend of Tianding to SPOILERS! If you have any insights or impressions of the game’s story and your feedback on the class, please share it in the thread!
blogging
The Tower Of Dubious Horror Games 11-18: Might as well end these writings (By: @arbitrarywater)
ArbitraryWater’s “Tower of Dubious Horror Games” feature makes a brave return after a long hiatus! This time, however, they decided to tackle the “cult classics” Countdown Vampires, The Evil Within 2, and Corpse Party.
Indie Game of the Week 307: Prodeus +
Mega Archive: Part XXX: From Amazing Tennis to Tiny Toons (By: @mento)
For this edition of Mento’s “Indie Game of the Week” feature, they decided to give Prodeus a try! Click the link to read why they believe Prodeus is absolutely what it is presented to, almost to a fault.
Likewise, it’s time for a new Mento Genesis/Mega Drive retrospective blog! This entry in their Mega Archive feature talks about David Crane’s Amazing Tennis, Out of This World, Rolo to the Rescue, and Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure.
I played two popular games in the Creepypasta Reddit community to see if their reputations were justified. (By: @zombiepie)
ZombiePie mixes things up with his latest Giant Bomb blog with a retrospective on Osamu Sato, LSD and Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou. If you want to read about some REALLY WEIRD GAMESthis is the blog for you!
Two is Greater Than One – A Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 4 Retrospective (By: @raycarter)
Where do they have all the Yu-Gi-Oh! Are video games over? That question is at the heart of RayCarter’s blog this week in which they review old IP-based games. This week, they take on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 4 of 5D.
All PS1 Games in Order: Part 018 (By: @borgmaster)
Striker ’96, Alien Trilogy, Psychic Detective and Brain Dead 13 are the subject of borgmaster’s latest retrospective article on all the games released for the PS1. See if any of these have survived the test of time.
Which is the best video game: Super Mega Baseball 3 (By: @imunbeatable80)
Super Mega Baseball 3 is the subject of imunbeatable80’s latest post “What’s the Best Video Game”! Does Game 3 continue its predecessors’ tradition of being fun alternatives to MLB The Show? Read to find out!
Log Eater – Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD (By: @apewins)
apewins is starting to get back into the Metal Gear Solid franchise and wrote a HUGE blog detailing his attempt at 100% Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker! Read which parts of the game freaked them out the most.
I finished Horizon Forbidden West and it’s like [Redacted] Spoilers inside. (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates finally finished Horizon Forbidden West and writes a quick essay on Giant Bomb why they can’t help but think of a different AAA game from the past with a similar story and plot structure. Warning, this blog has SPOILERS!
Haunted: The influence of environmental storytelling (By: @gamer_152)
Moderator Gamer_152 battled illness to bring you this blog about how environmental storytelling has shaped gaming and how it hasn’t, considering games like BioShock and Gone Home as case studies.
discussion threads
Mamma Mia, Pizza Tower is fantastic! (By: @glots)
Has anyone out there played Pizza Tower? If so, what do you think of its retro-styled 2D art and fast-paced platforming? Share your thoughts on the game in the community thread linked above!
What made you leave a series of games? (By: @topciclista)
Have you ever “launched” a video game series or franchise before a trilogy or multi-game storyline concluded? For example, we have some pointing to different times when they stopped following Assassin’s Creed.
Your hardest choice in a game (By: @nuttism)
What are the most difficult story or dialogue choices you’ve come across in video game history? Has a game ever made you think of something and you still do to this day?
Great games you think people forgot (By: @blorphman)
Here’s a fun discussion thread on the forums! What are some games from the past that you think everyone has forgotten but you? To get your brain flowing, here are some responses from the community that nail the concept. Comment now!
The best instruction manual ever! (By: @tradee9691)
What are your favorite game manuals of all time? Many quote EarthBound, but how many of you remember the Assassin’s Creed manual that had a story where the evil professor comments how much you hate the game?
What is your favorite game from the 2000s? (By: @boomby20)
It’s weird to think about, but a lot of games from the 2000s are turning twenty! What are your favorite games of the decade? What games from 2000 to 2009 got you hooked on video games?
list
Every game of the year since Super Mario Bros. (By: @edsone)
Edsone decided to undertake the monumental task of going through all the years they’ve been playing since the original Super Mario Bros. to cap off a GOTY for each year. See which retro and modern games were his favorites!
Customer Reviews
@infantpipoc’s Metroid Prime Remastered The Review applauds it for bringing back the classic, but can’t help but wonder why it took so long, and if it’s enough to keep them interested in the Prime series.
Editor’s note from @marino and totally not a user review:
Go play Theatrhythm Final Bar Line! It’s an incredible celebration of 35 years of Final Fantasy. And there’s a free demo where progress carries over.
wiki of the week
hug in first person
This is a fun wiki concept page that’s obviously too cool for Wikipedia. Also, looking at the current page, you are in dire need of more examples. If you can think of games that feature this concept, please add them to the page!