Blog Herding: Community Edition 01/05/12

Welcome one and all to the first episode of Blog Herding in 2012. Last year witnessed a steady growth in the number of bloggers and quality of blogs published and this year is already setting the pace with several new bloggers making this week's list. Enjoy the blogs and a new year of gaming.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: December 26 – January 01, 2012
Number of User Blogs: 81
Number of User Bloggers: 58
Number of User Blogs Herded: 10

Community Blogs:

Video Game Literature – Vintage Games
If you're interested in video game history, you might enjoy Vintage Games, a book about the most influential games of all time. Samurai Zero summarizes the book and his thoughts about it in this blog.

Starting Over From Scratch
In her premier blog, Valerie Figueroa talks about how circumstances in her personal life resulted in her starting her life and love of video games over from nothing, and how the Playstation 3 is helping.

5 Reasons Why I Love My 3DS
The 3DS has received its fair share of criticism from the industry, but there are gamers that love the little portable gaming machine that could, like RadiantChaos, who discloses the reasons why he does in this blog.

Fading Away
This short but interesting blog by mohawkman5 addresses the dwindling player population that once swarmed around anything and everything Halo. Should fans of the series be concerned or not?

Top 10 Mario Games
Not many video game characters can boast starring in so many games, but the internationally recognized Mario can. The latest Top Ten List by thegodofwine7 captures his picks for best Mario games.  

The Gaming Multi-Tasker, And Why I Can't Do It
Renowned blogger Hist revisits one of his older blogs regarding the topic of multitasking, or the ability to play multiple video games before finishing one. Do you play through one game at a time or can you play multiple games concurrently?

Walls Are Not Forever
A thought provoking and provocative piece by Noobtubin8er revealing his quest in 2012 to change the stereotypical response towards gamers by much of mainstream society.

Gaming Reasons To Look Forward To 2012
Blogs about upcoming games are always popular around New Year's but this is perhaps one of the best, as KAGEHOSHI- includes a slick format complete with a trailer for the games he's most excited for.

Looking Back At Predictions
Prediction blogs are rather common this time of year among the video game community and this one by Jack, The Quixotic Gamer revisits his original predictions blog with updates edited in.

The Worst Dilemma In Gamer History
An intriguing blog by luciablee discussing the significance a video game's setting has on attracting an audience, culminating in a comparison of Fallout and Skyrim. Read the blog to see which her favorite is.

Community Reviews:

User Review Herding – 12/31/11
Another episode of user review herding, a feature where Samurai Zero scours the user reviews posted at Game Informer and collates the best in one easy to read blog for your convenience.

A Game Worthy Of The Name "Mario"
A beautifully crafted and thorough review of Super Mario 3D Land provided courtesy of blaze6106, who apparently loved the game enough to award it a score of 9.25 out of 10.

Community Podcasts:

Indie & Mojo Show's Biscuit Butterin' Bonus Episode
A totally nonstandard and unconventional version of the show, hosted by indiejones, and capturing clips from the cutting room floor that never made it on the final episodes until now. Stick around or fast forward to the end to hear Mojomonkey12 sing.

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 (12/26/11 - 01/01/12):
Allen; Anticitizen-One; Arkhammoved; blaze6106 (2); BMW; Boss Kowbel; Craigaleg; Cru Hunter; DeadManWalking; Delancey; Doctor Apozem; DoctorNight ; DrJoeystein; durararaGO9; El Minty; Enigma (2); FamilyGuyGuy7; Goddess of Irony; GoldvsSilver; GunslingerD7 (2); Hist; indiejones; Jack, The Quixotic Gamer (2); JC; John Hunter; Jonathan Harrison (2); KAGEHOSHI-; Light Gamebeast23456; luciablee (2); markus1142 (2); Mass Revolution (3); Mike (2); mohawkman5; Mr. Charmander; Mr. Krowley; Mray901; Noe Ramirez; Noobtubin8er; Ocarina Wielder; Oni no Tenshi (2); Potatoz; RadiantChaos; Romars202129; Samurai Zero (2); Still_Insane22; Stranger; Tee Koyle (Bearded Nord); The Jokers assassin; The Legendary Ewok King (2); The Monster Hunter; TheBen; thegodofwine7; Valerie Figueroa; Vegetarian Barbarian; wayoverdue (6); xXBourne07Xx (2); YepImAPersonWaving (2); and of course yours truly...Saint.

NOTE: Blogs posted between Dec 31, 2011 01:14 and 7:24 PM may not be viewable due to a technical anomaly with the website potentially resulting in the names and blog count being inaccurate. We regret any inconvenience caused by this glitch.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"Reluctance to forgive has long been a human failing." – Emperor Palamecia, Final Fantasy II