Blog Herding: Community Edition 02/23/12

Clearly the hot topic this week was Mass Effect 3 and the whirlwind caused by the world premiere of the trailer and demo. This week also marks one of the highest numbers of blogs to be showcased in the Blog Herding feature.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: February 13 – February 19, 2012
Number of User Blogs: 91
Number of User Bloggers: 68
Number of User Blogs Herded: 14

Community Events:

Frag Fest March 4th
Sheriff Warbuff and Alek389 are still scheduled to host a special Frag Fest event featuring Halo Reach and a number of custom maps and game modes. Less than two weeks until the big day, so sign up now.

Community Blogs:

Observations Of A Gamer Dad
What happens when gamers grow up and start families? This blog by Tactical Rash, a former regular who vanished only to reappear recently, provides a brief glimpse at life as a grown up gamer.

The Review Controversy – Getting Old Yet? Evidently Not
Hist muses about how some gamers react when a game doesn't get the score they think it deserves and those that are beating a dead horse by continuing the debate. Anybody else thinking, "I see what you did there."

Dark Souls: They Don't Make 'Em Like This Anymore
The brutality of Dark Souls claims another victim as Masterassassin posts his thoughts on the exceedingly difficult and unforgiving gameplay that most current generation games seem to lack.

Motion Control: Needing To Move (Forward)
Most gamers seem fairly leery of motion-based devices like Move or Kinect, but there are those, like BreadLoser, who appreciate what these peripherals are trying to accomplish.

Finding Value In Free Demos
Gamers typically play demos to experience a snippet of the full game prior to actually purchasing it, but there are other reasons that make demos worthwhile, as discussed in this post by tonyadpx.

Excitement Is Reaching Critical Mass
There were quite a few similarly themed blogs inspired by the Mass Effect 3 demo, and this one by markus1142 sporting a clever title is definitely one of the best.

Mass Effect Multiplayer: What To Know (Demo Version)
A thorough analysis of the soon to be released Mass Effect 3 exploring the multiplayer component showcased in the demo, provided courtesy of Jon Gregory aka JMan240.

The 10 Video Game Commandments
Taking a break from his traditional top ten list blogs, thegodofwine7 doesn't stray too far from blogs with ten in the title with this humorous piece on how we should conduct ourselves as gamers.

2012: An Incredible Year For RPGs
This blog by xghost777 is certainly not the first by someone from the community talking about this being the year of the RPG, but it's definitely one of the best. Take a look and see if you agree or not.

The Blog Of Shame: Legendary Games I've Never Played
Blogs about games we've played are common; blogs about games we're sad to say we've never played are not. Stranger does just that when he admits he hasn't played some of the industry's favorites.

Happy (Early) Valentine's Day Borderlands!
Sure, Valentine's Day was so twelve seconds ago, but this heartfelt love letter to Borderlands from trap_the_clap27 is still a joy to read and worth a spot on this list.

Online Games Journalism
With so many different bloggers posting content at Game Informer, certainly there are some searching for a career in the industry. This post by indiejones provides some great pointers as well as challenges facing bloggers.

Long Live The King
Weekly photo blogs highlighting hot titles by Shootist2600 are being a common feature around here and this week is no different as he focuses his efforts on Kingdoms of Amalur.

Reckoning Impressions: It All Adds Up
It almost seems like if gamers weren't focused on the Mass Effect 3 demo they were playing Kingdoms of Amalur. Vurtax shares his thoughts on the game some are saying is up there with the likes of Skyrim.

Community Reviews:

User Review Herding – 02/15/12
Back from a week off, SamuraiZero returns with a collection of user reviews worth your time, including ones for Gotham City Impostors, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Batman: Arkham City, Dark Souls, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and much more. Support the community and take a look.

Video Review: Gotham City Impostors
A popular piece in what might be the newest trend; Cody Gilley takes a turn at posting a video review for the newly released Gotham City Impostors.

Community Podcasts:

Armchair Gamer Podcast: Season Two Episode One
The latest installment of the AGP is a solo effort by Light Gamebeast23456, and on the show he talks about various topics from the industry, including Outland, Zynga's growing legal troubles, and the passing of a great video game artist.

Robot in the Corner Podcast: Episode 2-20
The crew returns like clockwork with Dean sharing his thoughts on the Shank 2 demo; Titus sharing his impressions of the Gotham City Impostors demo; and them collectively talking about the latest trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man movie.

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 (02/13/12 - 02/19/12):
Andrew SiNiSTER; Biggy Phatts (panewman83); blaze6106; Boo (2); born4this; BreadLoser; Buddy Acker; christopher; Cody Gilley (3); crimsonbrony; Cru Hunter; Destructur25; DLT (2); Doctor Apozem; DoctorNight; DrJoeystein; falconIZE; frog2011; gamer2486 (2); gamerchild (2); GoldvsSilver; Harvester of Sorrow; Hist; ImNickson (2); indiejones; insectopod; Jack; Jack, The Quixotic Gamer; Jake S; Jon Gregory; Kid Ica; Knapptime; Light Gamebeast23456; markus1142 (2); Masterassassin; Matt-boy; my pants are on fire; Nate77; Noe Ramirez; o_JMan240_o; Oni no Tenshi (2); Orochi Assassin LEVON; PonstoryGames; rekoin (2); SamuraiZero; Shooterboy23; Shootist2600; Sora3Ben; SpiderRyno (2); Still_Insane22; Stranger (2); supersnake; Tactical Rash; The Handheld Tank; The Legendary Ewok King (2); The Trombogon; thegodofwine7; Thejourneyman66; tonyadpx (2); trap_the_clap27; Vurtax; wayoverdue (6); xghost777; xl9; xXBourne07Xx; YepImAPersonWaving (2); ynoT0312Taz; and of course yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"Given time, even a monkey can write Shakespeare."  – Colonel Hakha, Killzone