The Community Spotlight 2025.01.25

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.

So, Giant Bomb got "terminated" by the YouTube auto-mod bots. For those of you unaware, Giant Bomb's Blight Club for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was shutdown thanks to the game liberally using video and audio from the film it is based on. The YouTube archive has been edited as a result but if you wanted the unedited version of the video, you can use the download version on the site.

There's a new Giant Bomb flash game to play over on clickclickbomb.com thanks to @chucktowski. For all of you that remember the glory days of Cookie Clicker, this is one of those but filled to the brim with Giant Bomb references and cool artwork made by Pickle_Giraffe.

When it comes to Giant Bomb Infinite, I do have some updates. Dyaln (i.e., Dtoast) has taken the case to 9 other staff to try and plan a solution to what's keeping Giant Bomb Infinite down. The good news is that what caused the feature to crash in the first place was identified rather quickly. The issue now remains what to do to fix it, though he does want everyone to know that they are continuing to raise Infinite as a top priority. Nonetheless, please continue to comment over here that you want to see Infinite return as it provides Dylan with ammunition for future meetings.

Finally, let's talk about the "Tweets" section of the Spotlight. Given everything that is happening in the world and the current posturing of X owner Elon Musk, I will no longer support or promote Twitter/X on the Community Spotlight. The Giant Bomb community Discord has announced that posting and linking Tweets will be auto-modded or blocked. No one will be banned for posting Tweets, but links will be blocked and not even screenshots will be allowed. On the site, the Giant Bomb moderation team has not taken such a stance. Personally, I believe most of you to be people of high-character that know not to use the forums and comments to promote alt-right or Nazi propaganda. Also, there are major news reporting accounts and online communities that have yet to switch to alternate social media platforms like Tumblr, Mastodon, or Bluesky. If you all want a formal ban or block of Twitter/X, feel free to share because I know Fandom is open-minded about it on other sites. There's not going to be a "suit" who tells us no.

The good news is that @marino discovered a weird way in which you can embed BlueSky posts into comments, threads, and blog posts. Instead of using the "Tweet" button, Bluesky posts can embed if you use the "Video" tab right next to the "Link" and "Image" buttons. Thanks to this discovery, I will be formerly transitioning my community promotional activities there and you can find my daily efforts to promote community goodwill there as well. I have also thought about making a Tumblr account and if you really want it, I can put my bias aside and make a Mastodon account even if the community there gives me the heebie jeebies.

Bluesky

Art

Ryckert of the 99 Dangons (By: @jearum)

Here's the full banner for Ryckert Of The 99 Dragons, the Blight Club that might just "break" Dan. What won't break Dan is this AMAZING poster/banner by the always great jearum! You can catch and support them over on bsky if you can!

Video

MULHOLLAND DAN - (Season 6 Episode 2) - An Animated Giant Bomb Blight Club Series +

The Blight of Lucy James by the Coward Giant Bomb - (COMPLETE Season 5) - An Animated Series (By: Pickle Giraffe)

It's an early 2025 miracle! Pickle_Giraffe has not one, but TWO animated Giant Bomb videos for your to enjoy! The first animates the fun of Dan struggling with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and the other takes all of their episodes animating Lucy's time with Skull Island: Rise of Kong into a single supercut. I hope you enjoy both.

Activities

The GB Album Club 075 - Black Elvis / Lost in Space by Kool Keith (By: @unclejam23)

When it comes to Kool Keith, do you enjoy his mixtapes, EPs, or studio albums more? Also, do you enjoy regular-ass Kool Keith or one of his wackier personalities or personas more? Both of those questions are at the heart of the Album Club's discussion of Black Elvis / Lost in Space by Kool Keith!

Dungeons Of Hinterberg Is The First Game of UUGPGC Year 4! Finish By February 1! Mark All Spoilers! (By: @bigsocrates)

Just a friendly reminder that the community Game Pass Game Club is going monthly moving forward and the first game it will be tackling in 2025 is Dungeons of Hinterberg! Have any of you checked out this dungeon delving indie gem from last year?

Blogs

Warframe! In 2025! (By: @mooseymcman)

What's it like playing Warframe in the year of our Lord, 2025? Is the game still as much fun as when they first booted it up? Well MooseyMcMan has an epic blog talking about just that! Read how Warframe: 1999 and few other things brought them back!

Indie Game of the Week 404: Return to Grace +

Go! Go! GOTY! 2024: Hauntii +

Go! Go! GOTY! 2024: Senua's Saga: Hellblade II (By: @mento)

The latest edition of Mento's "Indie Game of the Week" takes on Return to Grace a a first-person narrative-driven adventure game by developer Creative Bytes Studios. If like me you hadn't heard of the game until now, give their blog a read to learn all about it!

Likewise, Mento continues to look at the games on their GOTY 2024 backlog with write-ups and reviews of Senua's Saga: Hellblade II and Hauntii! Did either of these games crack their top ten? You'll just have to read to find out.

Top 10 Games Of 2024 (By: @meteora3255)

meteora3255 might be a little late with their GOTY 2024 write-up, but to make up for their tardiness, they wrote mini-essays for every game that made their list! Whether it be UFO 50 or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle see how the biggest games rank on their blog.

Is 2025 The Year To Expect The Worst Case Scenario With Xbox Hardware And Microsoft In Gaming? (By: @zombiepie)

Microsoft had its Developer_Direct event and most people were impressed by it and seem optimistic about what the future holds for Xbox. However, moderator ZombiePie can't help but continue to be pessimistic about the future of the Xbox when they consider the state of Microsoft as a company.

The Fantasy Dark World Of Bayonetta 2 Was The Perfect Distraction From This Increasingly Dark Reality (By: @bigsocrates)

To get their mind off of current events and personal stress, bigsocrates decided to boot up and play Bayonetta 2. Read why they found it to be a completely delightful distraction with its larger-than-life characters and stylish action combat.

Dragon's Dogma 2 - Some Thoughts (By: @valorianendymion)

ValorianEndymion shares their complicated thoughts about Dragon's Dogma 2. As a huge fan of the first game, read why parts of the game disappointed them even if they are overall happy a new entry in the Dragon's Dogma world got made.

Manburgian Candidates 2024 (By: @manburger)

Manburger wraps up their GOTY 2024 blogging fun with a final batch of game-based superlatives as well as their Game of the Year! Read all about it by clicking the link above and see which games both big and small rocked their year!

Discussion Threads

Our Long National Nightmare Is Over: EA Officially Announces A Hard Shutdown Date For Origin (By: @zombiepie)

Origin was never anyone's favorite digital distribution service, but Microsoft's phase-out of support of 32-bit systems and hardware for Windows 11 and Origin's demise speaks to growing technological bottleneck or calamity. How many digital game licenses are we losing thanks to the death of 32-bit Windows?

Guilty Gear -Strive- Anime Adaptation Trailer Discussion Thread (By: @gtxforza)

The main trailer for the anime adaption of Guilty Gear -Strive- is up to watch and you can catch it and join the community discussion on how it looks on the Giant Bomb forums! Do you trust an anime to tackle the large and diverse cast of Guilty Gear and treat them with the love and respect they deserve?

Dave, Marvel Snap's Down (By: @sparky_buzzsaw)

Marvel Snap has been impacted by the US ban of TikTok. While TikTok is back, Marvel Snap was down a little bit longer. What do you make the entire mess? Do you find the memes about this situation with Snap and TikTok funny?

What's Going On With GB Infinite? (By: @sunblazzer)

Once again, if you haven't done so already and do want to see Giant Bomb Infinite make a return, please drop a comment in this thread. Every comment that chimes in about how much you enjoy the feature speaks volumes to management that it is a keep part of this community that needs to come back as soon as possible.

Lists

Kecak In Video Games (By: @imakelists2cope)

Here's an interesting and fun list! imakelists2cope is trying to work on a list of games that depict Kecak, a "form of Balinese Hindu dance and music drama that was developed in the 1930s!" If you have never heard about this artform, give this highly educational list a shot!

Best Of 2024 (By: @awesomusmaximus)

Don't call it late, but AwesomusMaximus finally got around to publishing their GOTY 2024 list! Give it a read and don't forget, but I am more than happy to continue to showcase GOTY 2024 lists until the day I die.

My Top 10 Personal Favorite Video Games (By: @kamikaiz3)

With GOTY 2024 talk winding down, Kamikaiz3 decided to re-review their "Greatest Games of All-Time" list and update it with recent games they think deserve to be on it!

Reviews

@infantpipoc's Sonic Generations (PC) review relays why they think the latest Sonic X Shadow Generations expansion might low-key be one of the best Sonic games in over twenty years.

@infantpipoc's Bastion review looks at the Nintendo Switch port and how well it translates the action RPG! Does the Switch maintain a stable framerate while you perform slick dodges? Also, is it still a timeless classic?

@nateandrews's Silent Hill 2 review shares why they think the game continues the industry trend of high-quality horror game remakes despite having concerns about Bloober Team and their previous works!

@pauljeremiah decided to boot up and review the first Gears of War and replay it considering there are rumblings that the next entry in the series is set be a fixture in Microsoft's promotional blitz.

@pauljeremiah also reviewed the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster and explains in detail what makes it one of the best remasters ever made and why the base game still feels so timeless after all these years.

Wiki Of The Week

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Continuing with my trend of using the Wiki of the Week to look at significant gaming anniversaries, this month marks the 20th anniversary of the North American release of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap! Remember when the portable Zelda games were as good as the console ones? Give this wiki page a read to rekindle your nostalgia!