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Blog Herding: Community Edition 08/09/12
This edition of Blog Herding is rather special as it marks the 50th episode since its triumphant return after Game Informer allowed a member of the community to author it. It also breaks the record for the most blogs featured in a single week as the bloggers continue publishing exceptional content.
Blog Herding Stats:
Period Reviewed:
July 30 – August 05, 2012
Number of User
Blogs: 126
Number of User
Bloggers: 77
Number of User
Blogs Herded: 19
Community Events:
Team GIO is currently ranked 1st on the Extra Life top teams chart. If you want to help keep them there and are interested in contributing, contact Mojomonkey12 or Noobtubin8er.
Community Blogs:
The
Importance Of A Good Villain
Heroes in video games are often made heroes because of the
adversaries they face. Jolt the Cynic reveals how he can empathize with popular
villains in some of his favorite games.
The
Subtle Torture Of Fixed Backgrounds & In-Game Scenery
Background images and skyboxes often convince us our
in-game worlds are much bigger than they really are. Marco Polo wrestles with
not being able to explore these unreachable areas.
Game
Design That's On the (Blood) Money
There are four games in the Hitman series with a fifth
under development. If you've never heard of the series or given it a chance, let
this blog by Bradamantium convince you otherwise.
DayZ – Part Game, Part Social Experiment
The DayZ mod for ARMA II is receiving a ton of attention
and has been announced as a standalone game. Billeted as the ultimate zombie
survival game, Cameron Koch's testimony reveals why.
The
Elder Scrolls: Evolution
Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series has had a profound impact
on the video game industry. Kyle Wadsworth revisits Morrowind on his quest to
explore the evolution of this epic sequence of games.
Time
Sinks: The Games That Never End
Whether we like the ending of a game or not, most games
do conclude with a grand finale. Stranger talks about a few other games like
Minecraft that can be played indefinitely.
Call
Of Duty Blamed For Michael Phelps's Olympic Performance
Perhaps the funniest and one of the most popular blogs of
the week, Glasses muses about how Michael Phelps's performance during the
Olympics suffered due to Call of Duty.
The
Assassins Are Coming
Whether you made the connection or not, there are a
number of assassin-themed video games on the horizon and LetMeGetToACheckpoint
does a great job summarizing them here.
Pikmin
3 Preview (Featuring: Kid Ica)
It's been a long time since Nintendo fans have had a new
Pikmin game to play and everyone is expecting that to change when the Wii U
releases later this year. Apricot and Kid Ica offer their thoughts on the details
that have been released so far.
Behind
The White Wall
A fascinating account detailing the often overlooked back
stories that occur in some video games like Portal and Batman, Hannibal challenges
us to be patient and enjoy the whole story.
Nintendo
DS: The RPG Frontier
RPG fans who own a Nintendo 3DS should enjoy
this blog by PRjumpman124, where he lists and describes what he considers some
of the best RPGs you can get for your portable gaming device.
Why
Must You Drop Me Again?
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance swaps control
between the two main characters using what has been labeled the "drop system," a component of the game Blaze6106 finds a little frustrating.
Tales
Of Xillia Part 1 – Characters
Another import preview courtesy of LGAR, this time
exploring the different characters featured in the upcoming release of Tales of
Xillia, the 13th game in Namco Bandai's Tales series.
Louis,
The Game Guy
The always clever and creative God Of Irony returns with
another of his unique draw blogs, this time capturing the thoughts of a few
notable characters in artistic fashion.
First
Playthrough: Vice City
The telltale sign of a great game is one that is still
being discussed years after its release, and this blog by Supersnake recounts
the first time he played through the decade-old Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
What
If This Interview Had Brentalfloss?
Hard not to include a blog that earned praise from Game
Informer's own Tim Turi, but in only his second blog, Cody Bauman scores an
interview with YouTube sensation Brent "Brentalfloss" Black.
Battle
Royale Should Copy MK, Not SB!
After a drought of posting blogs, born4this returns with
two blogs, both worth your attention. This rather popular piece questions
whether Battle Royale should imitate Mortal Kombat or Smash Brothers.
4
Things That Terrible Games Did Right
Bad games are bad, but sometimes they offer a feature or
an element that redeems them, if even only slightly. This blog by thegodofwine7
lists a few bad games and what they did do right.
It's
Time To De-Certify The Certification Process
The method of developing games
for a particular platform requires a rigid certification process that can be
expensive and time consuming. Noobtubin8er questions whether it's time to
change it.
Community Reviews:
Jumping
Over Zombies Never Gets Old
What better
way to capitalize off of the popularity of zombie games and Xbox Live Arcade?
Deadlight is a new zombie sidescrolling horror platformer, and
the focus of this review by Matthew Fugere.
Strategically
Dismembering Horror Clichés
Better late
than never, Doctor Apozem finally gets the opportunity to finish the original
Dead Space and then posts an exceptional review about the harrowing experience.
Next up, Dead Space 2.
Dark
Souls: You'll Die And You'll Like It
Many gamers
agree that Dark Souls is an entertaining game but one of the most difficult and
challenging experiences you're likely to encounter. This detailed review by Theora
Craft seems to confirm that claim.
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 (07/30/12 – 08/05/12):
ace13; Apricot;
AshaMan3000; awmace5; benderstrike64 (2); BlackHeartedWolf (5); blaze6106;
born4this (2); Bradamantium; BRAV0 F1VE; Cameron Koch (2); Caudex 3); Chris
Mrkvicka (3); Cody Bauman; Cru Hunter; dadarkheart; Dawson Wyckoff (2); DJH
(6); drsoko (2); Drym Shyuan (2); Frosty; Ghost (2); Glasses; God Of Irony;
GoldvsSilver; Hannibal (4); J Warrior; John Wrek; Jolt the Cynic (2); Jon
Gregory aka JMan240; Jonathan Harrison; jordanthegamer (2); Joyful Penguin;
Juanolo (2); Kate Willaert; KillerRabbitsFTW; killjoy115; Kinsey; Kyle
Wadsworth; lcompx; Le Hannibal (2); LetMeGetToACheckpoint; LGAR; Marco Polo
(2); markus1142; Mike (3); Noobtubin8er (2); opposedcrow88; Ownzoir (2);
pressST4RT (3); PRjumpman124; quasiconundrum; Rabid Chipmunk; Reptar7; Rihz (2);
Sean; Sora Three Ben; sorryjzargo; stayedstar; Storm One; Stranger (2);
Supersnake; The Pillow-Embracing Carson; The Second Musketeer; The Soapbox
Lord; The Tot-Consuming Carson; thegodofwine7 (3); Tim Gruver; TOGNick (4);
Undertaker Adrian; Vegetarian Barbarian; wayoverdue; xking595x (4); xl9 (2);
xXBourne07Xx; Yusuke Urameshi; and of course yours truly...Saint.
Video Game Quote of the Week:
"One who knows nothing can understand nothing." – Ansem,
Kingdom Hearts
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