Blog Herding: Community Edition 09/08/11

Last week marked the return of Blog Herding and the response was overwhelmingly positive – including a comment from the former Blog Herding master, Miss Annette Gonzalez, who provided her support and endorsement. This week marks another busy and productive round of community blogs including perhaps the best blog you didn't read from one of Game Informer's newest members, ThrawnOmega.

Blog Herding Stats:
Period Reviewed: August 29 - September 04, 2011
Number of User Blogs: 97
Number of User Bloggers: 62
Number of User Blogs Herded: 12

Community Blogs:

The Unanswered Questions Of Gears Of War
At level 3 and debuting his first blog, that, at the time of this writing barely has a dozen views, ThrawnOmega poises some interesting questions derived from the Gears of War series of video games and books, while wondering if they'll be answered in GoW 3, due out later this month.

My Journey Into PC Gaming
Think PC gaming is dead? Abertix24 describes the experience of building a new PC gaming rig including the highs and lows, and how it is quickly replacing the Xbox 360 as the gaming platform of choice.

How Game Informer Saved My Life
The Game Informer community means something different for each of us. In this blog, indiejones shares his own personal testimony on how Game Informer changed his life.

Video Game Novel Review - Bioshock: Rapture
With the increasingly popular trend in video game-inspired fiction, febtober swords provides a compelling review of a book inspired by one of the most captivating video game environments experienced by gamers in recent times.

Bump! Jumping To The Past
This is a monthly blog series organized by BlackHeartedWolf that focuses on blogs from the past worth a second look by those of us who've been here awhile, and a first look by members new to the site. Check it out to see which blogs made the list this time around. Don't stop there – BlackHeartedWolf has been blogging up a storm, so take a look at some of his other work including this one about the GI Writer's Guild.

Gaming Fulfills Our Basic Need To Succeed
Some of us play video games as a way to de-stress, but GWNightmare explores some of the other factors that cause us to want to play video games, including the need to succeed.

Click Click Boom - Limited Interactivity In Video Games
Did you ever stop and wonder why complex interactive sequences are simulated in video games with a simple click of a button? Bryan M. Stafford explores the topic and offers his thoughts.

Does Classic Literature Belong In Video Games?
The video game Dante's Inferno by Visceral Games was received with lukewarm results, partly because it was considered a God of War knock off, and partly because it strayed too far from its inspirational source, Divine Comedy. TOGNick questions whether classic literature has a place in video games.

Custom GI Avatars: Season2 Episode1
TurdFurgy returns with another installment of the always creative and ever popular Game Informer custom avatar series. See which characters he's crafted this time around.

Time Out!
Video games that require you to complete objectives within a certain amount of time often rush you through the event while leaving little time to actually enjoy the moment. This blog by insectopod discusses the issue and lists some games notorious for this approach.

EA And Its Terrible Marketing
While the war of words between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 is heating up between the developers, Cody Gilley discusses his dissatisfaction with some of EA's questionable marketing tactics.

Games That Need To Be Embellished And Expanded Upon By Developers
Most of our exceptional video games are so great because of the fascinating characters that breathe life into a compelling story. Cru Hunter wonders in writing what other potential story lines could be inspired from the often unexplored universe of a few popular video game titles.

User Review Of The Week:

The EX Is For sEXy
Deus Ex: Human Revolution certainly received a ton of attention this week and was the inspiration for a number of blogs. Game Informer community member LaLiLuLeLo posted a glowing review awarding the game an overall score of 9.5 (Game Informer's Andrew Reiner awarded it an 8.5). Check it out to see what makes this game so great.

 Community Podcast:

Robot In The Corner Podcast: Episode 46
Titus and Wes talk about Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Paul (the comedy movie) while Dean is on paternity leave discovering how to change a diaper while holding a controller.

Gameinformer Online Radio - Episode 23 & 24
Returning from a brief hiatus, GIO Radio is back with not one but two episodes. Join Mray901 and the rest of the crew as they discuss the latest in pop culture and the video game industry.

The Indie & Mojo Show Episode 3: Croiky Guvnah!
The third installment of the Indie and Mojo show has been posted and apparently resulted in some rather bad British accents to entertain the crowd as they discuss Portal and even offer some prizes.

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 for the week of August 22 - September 04, 2011:
Abertix24, Another Name Change, Anticitizen-One (2), Apozem (4), BlackHeartedWolf (7), blaze6106 (3), Boo, born4this (2), Brad Tramel, Brandon Whiting is back, Bryan M. Stafford, Chris Mcgrath, Cody Gilley (2), Cru Hunter (2), Delancey, The Not So Feared One, DJX25968, DoctorNight, Elisha Muir, Enigma, Evil Deej, eyros2k, febtober swords, Forsberg, freak24 (3), freezeimacop690, gtrcrgy (2), GWNightmare, Hist, indiejones (3), insectopod, Jack, The Quixotic Gamer (5), John Jones, Joshua Weibel (4), KAGEHOSHI-, kebebasan, linebacker40, Masterassassin, Max a young TRUE gamer (2), MisterWarsaw, Mray901 (2), NoMercy85, o_JMan240_o, Oni no Tenshi, owen, redlitez76, Romars202129, ShadowDragyn, Shawn Gordon (2), SilentSnake2011, slymd83, thatfoxguy, The Game Store Guy (4), The journey man (2), ThrawnOmega, TOGNick, TurdFurgy, Vostok, Vurtax, Wayne Strickland, wayoverdue (6), Zrdtard and of course, yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"Well, considering you haven't even committed the crime we're accusing you of, we'll let you off with a warning." – Sam, Sam and Max: Culture Shock