This was a remarkable week, both in output and excellence, from the blogging community. Boasting several new voices across a broad spectrum of topics ranging from handhelds to video game urban legends, if you can't find a blog on this list you absolutely enjoy, you need to check your pulse.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: January 02 - January 08, 2012
Number of User Blogs: 102
Number of User Bloggers: 65
Number of User Blogs Herded: 13

Community Blogs:

RPG Protagonists And Moral Absolutism
A thought provoking blog by Bryan M. Stafford debating how video games, specifically characters from the RPG genre, are faced with morally challenging situations and how different developers implement this element into their work.

Rerolling With Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Old Republic has received a fair amount of attention from the video game industry. If you're on the fence whether you should play it or not, this blog by Matthew Fugere will provide you with a gamer's perspective that might help with the decision.

The Curious Case Of Bethesda's Skyrim
A beautiful and passionate masterpiece of a blog by Anticitizen-One and perhaps one of the finest musings you'll ever read about Skryim. The success of a video game should be measured by experiences like these.

Playing The Price Drop Waiting Game
Should you pay full price and pre-order a game, purchase it the day it comes out, or wait until it's out a while and the price drops? This thorough and insightful blog by Sheriff Warbuff provides some thoughts on playing the price drop waiting game.

Polybius
The format is a bit rough around the edges, but this first blog by The Handheld Tank discusses a video game urban legend that can even be seen featured on The Simpsons. Have you ever heard of it?

L.A. Noire: Making You An Incomplete Completionist
A delightful piece by luciablee that focuses on a few of the nuances associated with L.A. Noire's gameplay and how it affects those who seek perfection when completing the games they play.

Has Sony Lost Its Freakin' Mind?
Sony certainly faced a lot of challenges in 2011, but overall how do you think they responded to the adversity? This blog by ShadowDragyn captures his thoughts on the topic.

Shootist's Top 10 Gaming Experiences of 2011
The always creative and colorful Shootist2600 returns with a blog to highlight his greatest gaming moments from 2011, complete with beautiful screenshots capturing each of the moments.

Guns And Video Games: Dispelling Some Myths
Everybody knows or should know the way firearms are recreated in video games is nothing like real life. This fan favorite piece by Noobtubin8er sets the record straight on some of the most common myths.

Top 5 Things That Will Make You A Better Gamer
Regardless of how good of a gamer you are, there is always room for improvement, right? This rather witty blog by Jack provides some amusing pointers with a certain amount of truth to them.

Derreck's Best Of 2011 Awards: Handheld Edition
Portable gaming devices normally don't receive a ton of attention from the blogging community, but if they interest you as a gamer, don't miss this blog by Derreck summarizing his favorites of 2011.

The Best Free Game You've Never Heard Of
With the economy such that it is who wouldn't like free video games? Well, if you're a PC gamer, Jack, The Quixotic Gamer points you towards a game you've probably never heard of that is legally free to download and play.

Do "Truly Interactive Worlds" Make For Lazy Gamers?
The ever clever and always popular Oni no Tenshi brings another insightful piece that raises some questions about choices and the freedom we're given to make those decisions in the current generation of video games.

Community Reviews:

User Review Herding – 01/07/12
Another collection of user reviews rounded up by Samurai Zero and worth your attention including reviews for Super Mario 3D Land, Fallout 3, Crysis 2, The Force Unleashed, Arkham Asylum, Driver: San Francisco, and Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Support your local GIO user reviewers.

Bigger On The Inside
A simple but charming review of Supergiant Games' surprise hit, Bastion. This review by PaperCamm awards the game a 9.5 out of 10, compared to Matt Miller's score of 9.25 out of 10.

Community Podcasts:

The Indie & Mojo Show Episode 19: Explicitly Explicit
The Indie & Mojo show returns with the first episode of 2012, a show that left me all choked up. You'll have to listen to find out why. The hosts talk about SOPA, The Old Republic, their video game backlog and community shout outs. Viewer discretion advised, as Mojomonkey shares his TOR woes.

Don't forget to send your feedback, recommendations, and community events in to my personal Game Informer account located here to ensure this feature continues to provide the content you're eager to read.

Happy Blogging!

Your friendly neighborhood blogging community (01/02/12 - 01/08/12):
Allen; alpacaman15; Andrew; Andrew SiNiSTER (4); Anticitizen-One; benderstrike64; BillyBobJoe234 (2); blaze6106 (2); Bryan M. Stafford; Bullet Time; Cameron Koch; Cepxico (2); Cody Gilley; Derreck (3); Doctor Apozem (2); DoctorNight; Dusk Dash (JakandRatchet79); Emily; Enigma (2); FamilyGuyGuy7; GoldvsSilver (3); hiromu656; Hist; indiejones; Jack (4); Jack, The Quixotic Gamer; John Hunter; Josh Wagner; Joshua Weibel; Kflame210 (2); libertydude; luciablee (2); markus1142; Mass Revolution; Matt The Hedgehog; Matthew Fugere; Mike; mohawkman5; Nate77 (6); Neophile Steve; Noobtubin8er; ochomcawsome; Oni no Tenshi (4); Peter Skerritt Jr (2); reidloS doG (2); Samurai Zero; Sawadashan; ShadowDragyn; Shelly; Sheriff Warbuff; Shootist2600; Still_Insane22; stormfront; swag2011; The Handheld Tank; The Jokers assassin; The Legendary Ewok King (4); The Monster Hunter; thegodofwine7; ThisBlueSquid; Vurtax; wayoverdue (5); xplay92; YepImAPersonWaving; and of course yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"The monster you created has returned." – Kratos, God of War