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 latest and greatest community creations as well as site-related news!
It is WrestleMania weekend and, as most of your are aware, Jan and Dan were out for most of this week to attend WrestleMania XL in-person. As such, expect travelogue coverage of the event at some point in the future. Nonetheless, there was no Superman Blight Club this week as a result.
For those of you having issues with the Premium RSS Feed, you are not alone. As per @turboshawn, the site had the previous issues sorted, but a new one popped up right as Jan left for his current trip. The staff are doing everything they can to work with the engineers on getting it solved.
I have no idea how many people who use the Giant Bomb API read this feature, but there have been reports of some games not properly displaying images when trying to display them on third-party sites. If this is impacting your app or site, feel free to report the problem over here.
Finally, we have an official date for the next edition of the Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run, the Spring-time community charity drive, and it is coming SOON! Starting this Friday night (April 12th), Giant Bomb community members will be streaming all weekend long in hopes of raising thousands of dollars for Feed The Children! If any of you are feeling charitable, here is a list of all of the members of the team that plan on streaming for the event.
I am a team member and if there are any of you that can even donate a few dollars, it would be greatly appreciated. I’m still looking for my first donation and have a fundraising goal of $500 before the event’s end! If you have enjoyed any of the threads and blogs I have authored on the site, or look forward to the Spotlight feature every week, please consider donating or spreading the word to anyone you know who might be able to donate in your name!
Galleria
Jim Ryan And Jeff Grubb (By: @kone)
Jim Ryan has officially retired from Sony and is no longer associated with the PlayStation brand. To mark this changing of the guard, Kone photoshopped Jim Ryan with what we can only assume is his best friend, Jeff Grubb. Does anyone actually use PlayStation Stars?
C|nut (By: @fobwashed)
For those of you on the Giant Bomb Discord, you might recall that things got a bit wacky on April 1st. Long-time Giant Bomb community member, artist, and t-shirt maker Fobwashed decided to take one of those jokes to a whole different level with this shirt design.
Tweets
Video
Darkseid’s Dogma – An Animated Giant Bomb Series – (Season 2 Episode 3) (By: Pickle Giraffe)
It’s time for a new episode of Giant Bomb Animated by Pickle Giraffe! This episode marks the glorious debut of Darkseid ala Dan’s Superman Blight Club. Consider this feature your pick me up as you wait for the return of the feature after Dan returns from WrestleMania.
Activities
Unsanctioned Unofficial Game Pass Game Club Voting Thread For Cycle Starting April 8 2024 (By: @bigsocrates)
The Giant Bomb Community Game Pass Game Club is doing another round of voting and here are the nominees to pick from! Also, the community club is looking for new nominees. Share your favorite Game Pass games over here!
Solar Ash Is The 7th Game Of UUGPGC Year 3! Finish By April 8! Mark All Spoilers! (By: @bigsocrates)
Also, don’t forget that the Giant Bomb Game Pass Game Club has selected Solar Ash by Heart Machine as the next game! Do you have any non-spoiler thoughts about this action-adventure title?
The GB Album Club 058 – Big Fish Theory By Vince Staples (By: @unclejam23)
It’s time for something both nostalgic and modern with this pick of the Giant Bomb Album Club! This week the group is listening to Big Fish Theory by Vince Staples. Join the fun and discuss this mix of electronic club music with hip hop.
Blogs
PersonZ Returns with another Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run (By: @personz)
personz has BIG PLANS for the next edition of the Giant Bomb Community Endurance Run set to start on April 12th! Read all about it and how you can help in the blog linked above! Would Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy content get you excited to watch and support?
The Untold Blog Continues (FF VII Rebirth) (By: @mooseymcman)
MooseyMcMan finally got around to writing their complete thoughts about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth! What did they like? Were they impressed by how it concluded? Read all about it SPOILER WARNING! But this blog welcomes all!
Rediscovering The Playdate (By: @amlabella)
The Playdate now has decent availability and you don’t need to wait weeks or months for it to ship! As a result, amlabella decided to revisit the device and check up on how it has been supported well after its splashy release!
That 60% Of All Console/PC Game Time Going To Older Live Service Games Story Is Kind Of Scary For Gamers Like Me (By: @bigsocrates)
bigsocrates digests a story reporting that 60% of console and PC game time is spent on live service games and the games absorbing most of this time are five years old or more. Is this healthy for the industry?
Sony Is (Probably) Signaling The Death Of Console VR Gaming (By: @zombiepie)
It was reported that Sony had paused production on the PlayStation VR2. After console manufacturers demoed ambitious VR/AR plans years ago, the only players remaining are Sony and Meta. Is this the end of VR gaming? ZombiePie discusses the matter on the site.
360 in 360: Episode 14 (By: @mento)
Mento had a special “360 in 360” post on April 1st wherein they play and rank Xbox 360 games based on how much fun they have during their first 360 minutes. This tackles Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Grabbed by the Ghoulies!
Indie Game of the Week 364: Salt and Sacrifice (By: @mento)
Likewise, Mento has another edition of their “Indie Game of the Week” feature on the site and this one looks at Salt and Sacrifice, the sequel to Salt and Sanctuary. Are things better the second time around? Read to see what they think!
What’s the Greatest Video Game: Golden Sun (By: @imunbeatable80)
It’s time to get portable with imunbeatable80’s latest “What’s the Greatest Game” feature because this week they are reviewing Golden Sun! Is nostalgia a helluva drug or is there something still innately fun about Golden Sun?
Perspective Skew: Why Puzzle Games Bend Reality (By: @gamer_152)
Why do so many puzzle games attempt to rewrite the rules of reality when the games of other genres don’t? Moderator Gamer_152 does a deep dive about that question with their latest blog on the site.
Discussion Threads
Eurogamer Presses Roblox Head About Exploiting Child Labor. Responds By Saying The Game Is A “Gift” And Educational (By: @zombiepie)
Eurogamer recently interviewed one of the studio heads of Roblox and their response to criticism that the game takes advantage of children and their labor is…. bad. Read what they said and join the community discussion about why it is so bad.
Apprehension About Starting A Game You Think You Will Like (By: @imunbeatable80)
Have you ever felt apprehension before starting a new game, even if you know you’ll enjoy it? How often does this happen and what do you do to get over it? Feel free to share your tips on how to get over this mental block.
How Is The First Quarter Of 2024 For Video Game Industry So Far? (By: @gtxforza)
The Q1 of 2024 is OVER and goodness… was it a doozy for the video game industry. What were the biggest positive and negative highlights of the year? The game releases seem to have slowed but the layoffs have not. Things can’t possibly get worse, right?
Final Fantasy VI Is Over 30 Years Old! How/When Did You First Play It? What Moments Still Stick Out? (By: @zombiepie)
Final Fantasy VI is over 30 years old! Join the community in celebrating this classic title! How many of you remember when the Final Fantasy III SNES carts had to be recalled due to Relm’s Sketch ability being glitched?
Assetto Corsa Evo Announced! (By: @gtxforza)
Assetto Corsa 2 is now titled “Assetto Corsa Evo!” Catch the official announcement trailer and discuss what you hope to see in the next entry in the Assetto Corsa franchise on the Giant Bomb forums!
User Reviews
@infantpipoc‘s Scarlet Nexus review looks at the game’s action-role-playing game mechanics and systems as well as what they consider a deeper story than some may have dismissed when it first came out.
@jimation‘s Sonic Labyrinth review relays why they would never call the game “good” but why the game doesn’t entirely warrant its status as one of the worst Sonic games ever made.
Wiki of the Week
Is WWF No Mercy still one of the greatest wrestling games ever made? Regardless of how you feel about the answer to that question, you can check out our wiki page for the game to see why so many people hold it in high regard to this day.