The Community Spotlight 2024.09.07

Welcome to the latest edition of the Giant Bomb Community Spotlight! I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host as we look back at the important site-related news and best community creations from the previous week!

PAX West 2024 is over, but unfortunately a part of it has persisted. Mike and Grubb both tested positive for COVID-19 following the conclusion of the event, which is why they weren't on camera or online as much as normal. Luckily, everyone is doing fine and plan to be in better shape next week.

Speaking of PAX West 2024, if you missed either of Giant Bomb's panels during the convention, the VODs are on the site! You can give Giant Bombcast 855: REVENGEANCE | PAX West 2024 AND Blight Club at PAX West 2024 whenever you have the time.

Niki recently celebrated their one year anniversary working part-time at Giant Bomb. If you have enjoyed their presence running Giant Bomb's social media presence or appreciate them in live streams or podcasts, don't forget to send them a hearty congratulations.

Also, the 16th anniversary celebrations continue with videos from Michael Higham and Eyepatch Wolf! For those of you that have a soft spot for Charlie Tunoku, one of these videos are for you!

Tweets

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New Grubb Meme Template Just Dropped (By: @fobwashed, @Arthur3Berry, and @EdwinJDavies)

Friend of the site, @fobwashed, attended PAX West this year and managed to sneak some photos of the Giant Bomb panels that took place during the convention. Upon reviewing their work, they realized that Jeff Grubb is PRIMED for meme potential! Here's a blank copy of the meme template as well as some early creations based on it.

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Jolli-Astro-Bee x GIANT BOMB +

Giant Bomb Blight Super Friends Updated +

"Thank Blight Club You're Here!" (By: @jearum)

Bee Week might be over, but that didn't stop jearum from having some fun with the event while honing their 3D modelling chops! They decided to make a Jollibee-inspired version of Astro Bot with a decided Giant Bomb twist! If you want to check out the full 3D render, here you go.

Likewise, jearum made two Blight Club related works that are worth talking about. The first is an updated version of the Blight Club Super Friends artwork with Mike's Alone in the Dark getup now represented in the bunch as well as a comical re-interpretation of Giant Bomb's Blight Club panel during PAX West 2024 in the style of Thank Goodness You're Here.

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Bombcord +

Grubb Meme (By: @kone)

You might have heard that Concord is no more. The game went offline and is unplayable for the foreseeable future. Kone went ahead and took that news and had some Photoshop fun at the expense of the Giant Bomb Staff.

Kone also made a minor edit to Fobwashed's meme template to make it more square-like, but I do not think that impacted the comedic effect.

Activities

The GB Album Club 069 (!!!) - We're just doing "WAP" by Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion (By: @unclejam23)

To celebrate it's 69th music pick, the Giant Bomb Album of the Week Club is doing a "special" discussion about "WAP" by Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion for "reasons!" We you surprised by its virality? Can you feel Lil Kim's influence?

Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Voting Thread For Cycle Starting September 9 2024 (By: @bigsocrates)

Hey, Giant Bomb community. It is time for you to send in your votes for the next edition of the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club! Here's the list of nominees and don't forget that you get to vote for TWO GAMES you'd be interested in playing!

Videos

MITCH BLACK - (Season 4 PREMIERE) - An Animated Giant Bomb Blight Club Series (By: Pickle Giraffe)

A new season of Blight Club has graced us and that means Pickle_Giraffe is back with a new animated series re-interpreting the Blight Club-based hijinks! With Mike partaking in the Wii version of Alone in the Dark, Pickle_Giraffe really outdid themselves this week!

Blogs

Quick Hits! Vol. 3: Summer’s Last Gasp (By: @jeremyf)

Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Live A Live are just some of the games at the center of jeremyf's latest blog! Read which games they enjoyed and disliked playing the past few month!

Mega Archive: Part XLIII: From Lotus II: RECS to Winter Olympics +

Mento's Month: August '24 +

Indie Game of the Week 386: Ghost 1.0 (By: @mento)

For retro gaming fans around the world, it's time for another edition of Mento's Mega Archive feature, a look at the games on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis! Are there any of you that remember RoboCop Versus the Terminator?

Likewise, the start of a new month means that we have a new blog from Mento highlighting their gaming highlights and lowlights as well as anime recommendations. They also looked at Ghost 1.0, a Metroidvania, for their latest "Indie Game of the Week" blog.

So I Played Four God Of War Games In The Last Two Months (By: @arbitrarywater)

Instead of playing the newer games in the series ArbitraryWater played four of the pre-reboot God of War games in the franchise in a span of two months. Are any of the "classic" Kratos adventures worth re-experiencing? Read to find out!

Severance: Interactive Narrative in Adios (By: @gamer_152)

Adios by Mischief is a cinematic game about a pig farmer that decides they no longer wish to dispose bodies for the mob and Gamer_152 examines its narrative potency and how it defies popular genre labels.

I Played Some Mirror's Edge And It Made Me Feel Melancholy About The Passage Of Time (By: @bigsocrates)

bigsocrates decided to give the original Mirror's Edge a shot and relays why they think the game has aged poorly, especially its first-person platforming controls, despite its aesthetics still feeling highly futuristic.

Goodbye, Farewell, And Amen To The Xbox 360 Store And XBLA. Words Cannot Express How Important They Were To All Of Us (By: @zombiepie)

The Xbox 360 Marketplace and XBLA stores are now dead forever. ZombiePie looks back on what we have in the industry today thanks to the 360 Marketplace, both good and bad. If you miss the days of The Blades, give their blog a read.

Discussion Threads

Concord Is Being Taken Offline, Everyone Is Getting Refunds, "Best Path Forward" Being Sought (By: @bigsocrates)

The news about Concord going offline took some, but not all, by surprise. What's your reaction to the news and do you think there will be wider impacts to Sony's internal studios and projects as a result?

Alright, Let's Talk About The Trailer For The Minecraft Movie (By: @zombiepie)

So, people don't seem to think the new trailer for the upcoming Minecraft movie makes a great first impression. Where do you stand? Do you think the film will do well with kids or is it bound to become 2025's Borderlands?

How Did Helldivers 2 Go From Being The Shoe In GOTY Winner Early On By Fans And Media Outlets To Hated? (By: @topcyclist)

Initially, it seemed like Helldivers II was a solid GOTY contended but it has obviously fallen out of that discussion. What do you blame for this? Better video game releases or the PSN account controversy?

The Internet Archive Lost Its Appeal Against Book Publishers. Unknown If Other Industries Will Follow Suit (By: @zombiepie)

The Internet Archive has lost its appeal against book publishers over its digital book sharing program during the pandemic. Do you worry about the implications of this case on website and video game preservation, both of which are huge components of The Internet Archive?

Lists

My Weirdest/Unexpected Guest Characters In Fighting Games (By: @sirkinsella98)

Sirkinsella98 is working on a list of the weirdest guest characters in fighting game history and if you have suggestions, here's the link. For example, did you know that Barney the Dinosaur made an unofficial guest appearance in a fighting game?

Wiki Of The Week

PAX West 2024

I hate to repeat a wiki page two weeks in a row, but @marino has done AMAZING work on the PAX West 2024 wiki page that you absolutely need to check out if you have not done so thus far.

He has uploaded over 500 images to the concept page from the convention. If you were not able to attend the event, give it a gander and be able to transport yourself there.

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