This week in blogging was fairly mild but don't be fooled as it's just the calm before the storm. Everyone is gearing up for next week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which is sure to cause a swell of activity as the blogging community responds to all the latest industry news.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: May 21 – May 27, 2012
Number of User Blogs: 95
Number of User Bloggers: 58
Number of User Blogs Herded: 9

Community Blogs:

Complexity Versus Simplicity
A short but interesting blog from Cameron Koch discussing video game construction and the pursuit of discovering the key to successful difficulty level balance.

Dragon's Dogma Gets A Second Chance To Make A First Impression
Kyle Wadsworth's latest quest takes him on another journey through Dragon's Dogma, Capcom's newest open ended role-playing game that will have you battling dragons as "sure as you draw breath". 

Stories And Video Games: My Personal Evolution
A history lesson for some and a trip down memory lane for others, Noobtubin8er chronicles his video game career through his self-defined pivotal eras of gaming.

My Hatred For Water Levels
A clever piece by Unknown450 explaining his dislike of video games that feature water levels, including a few examples that contributed to his aversion. Do you suffer from virtual aquaphobia?

Will I Ever Buy Heavy Rain?
Were you ever interested in a game but never purchased it because you felt the cover price was too much?  That's how Supersnake feels about Heavy Rain and he's surprised the used price is still hovering near full price.

Minecraft: An Irony Drawblog
The latest work of art from one of Game Informer's talented artists, God Of Irony captures the essence of Minecraft in this endearing illustration that fans of the game will certainly enjoy.

The Alphabet Challenge
Silvershine08 publicizes her lofty goal of completing her backlog of video games and posting a user review for each, but the twist is she is focusing on a game for each letter of the alphabet.

A Night At The Zelda Symphony
Known for his exceptional video reviews, it shouldn't be a surprise that Craigaleg would attend The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses event and share it with us in all its glory.

Why I Want To See More Games Like Dark Souls
Few games can boast of such relentless difficulty responsible for whipping even the most seasoned warriors into submission, but Dark Souls claims another victim as Masterassassin shares his experience and how he still manages to enjoy the game despite its brutal gameplay.

Community Reviews:

Diablo III Review
Despite a rocky launch plagued with a number of different technical difficulties, Diablo III is still managing to rake in some impressive scores from the user community including this one by FourSixFive.

Max Is A Pretty Impressive Guy
A detailed analysis of Rockstar's latest installment in the Max Payne series, Matthew Fugere doesn't pull any punches with this straight shooting review of one of the year's most anticipated games.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Delivers
In terms of overall scores, reviews for Ghost Recon Future Soldier are fairly scattered. This one posted by tbone2684 just so happens to rate it rather high.

Spinning Through The World In Motion
For some, playing Sonic the Hedgehog on anything but a Sega Genesis might seem unnatural, but Stranger shares his experience with playing Sonic CD on Xbox Live Arcade.

Community Podcasts:

The JACKED UP Indie & Mojo Show Episode 35
The three hosts share the highlights of their week with topics ranging from Journey, Game of Thrones and the controversy surrounding 38 Studios. A podcast for gamers by gamers.

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 (05/21/12  –  05/27/12):
Ali Rapp (2); Another Matthew; blaze6106; Cameron Koch; Caudex (5); CheeseballPwn (3); Chris Mrkvicka; Chris, the savior of the galaxy?; Christopher Williams; Coachscorner00; Craigaleg; DarkKnight401; Dawson Wyckoff (3); Derreck; DJH (4); Doctor Apozem (3); Drym Shyuan (3); DukeofChutney; Enigma; God Of Irony; indiejones; Jack Gardner; Jolt the Cynic (3); jordanthegamer (2); Kyle Wadsworth; Le Hannibal (4); LGAR; Magnum; markus1142 (2); Marz; Masterassassin; Mike (2); mojomonkey12; nathan98; Noobtubin8er; Peter Skerritt Jr (2); PRjumpman124; PUMA 1192; redlitez76 (2); RezidentHazard (rides again); ShadowDragyn; silverfail; Silvershine08; Sora3Ben; sorryjzargo (3); Specter; stayedstar; Stranger (7); Supersnake; The Great Cubone; the Mysterious Stranger; thegodofwine7 (2); TheSpaniard013; Unknown450; wayoverdue; xCHAOSx; xking595x; and of course yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"Nice! Your fruit killing skills are remarkable." – Gaz, Modern Warfare