Blog Herding: Community Edition 08/30/12

Many of us will enjoy a long holiday weekend in celebration of Labor Day, and what better way to celebrate than by playing video games and hanging out at Game Informer where you can enjoy some awesome blogs, reviews, and podcasts submitted by the community.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: August 20 – August 26, 2012
Number of User Blogs: 104
Number of User Bloggers: 68
Number of User Blogs Herded: 14

Community Events:

Team GIO slipped to 2nd on the Extra Life top teams chart. If you want to help the team retake the lead while supporting a good cause and want to find out more about contributing, contact Mojomonkey12 or Noobtubin8er.

Community Blogs:

Our Digital Future And The End Of Used Gaming
A thought-provoking blog discussing the inevitable transition to digital distribution, quasiconundrum comments on his perspective including how and why it will eventually happen.

Sleeping Dogs – More than a GTA Clone
Hist returns to the blogging scene to provide his thoughts on the recently released Sleeping Dogs, an open-world action adventure game that many have compared to the Grand Theft Auto series.

The Last Story Review
More of a summary than a traditional review (there are no scores), Frosty captures the essence of The Last Story with stunning detail in this brilliantly written blog about Hironobu Sakaguchi's newest saga.

The Art Of Sound Design In Games
Sound can be instrumental in immersing the player into the game's setting. Alex720 lists a few memorable games having noteworthy sound effects and soundtracks.

An American Gamer In Europe
Living outside of the United States can yield an entirely different experience for those that call themselves gamers. Glasses describes a few of the challenges with gaming abroad.

What I've Learned From Videogame Development
GIO Community member Mike just so happens to be a video game developer in training and in his latest post he explains a few points that he's learned about the fine art of making video games.

Returning To A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Not a huge fan of the Old Republic when it first released, Cameron Koch returns to the Star Wars based massively multiplayer online (MMO) game with the force of a Jedi now that it is free to play.

Redefining The MMO For Players Of All Kinds
In response to the August 28th release of Guild Wars 2, GoldvsSilver discusses what features the game has to offer and how it might just redefine the MMORPG genre with its innovative improvements.

Beyond Compare: Skyrim & Dragon's Dogma
It's natural to compare games of the same genre and style, which is exactly what Kyle Wadsworth does in his latest piece that compares The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Dragon's Dogma.

In Defense Of The Online Pass
Much has been said about video games that use online passes as a method to counter the used game market and this blog by ShadowDragyn neatly summarizes the discussion.

Good Vibrations
Craigaleg takes a look at the inner workings of what makes your controller vibrate and whether prolonged exposure makes you less likely to notice the effect or if games just aren't using it as much.

An Eclectic Batch Of Gaming Firsts
An uplifting testimony from AshaMan3000 where he remembers significant first time events that no doubt some of us have shared the same or similar experiences from our past too.

The Cynical Future Of Gaming
An interesting perspective about the "free to play" trend, Stonecutters908 uses Tribes Ascend as an example to examine the potential problems associated with not having to pay for a game.

Getting The Lego Treatment
Video game-inspired Legos are becoming as popular as Lego-themed video games. This short but clever blog by DJH highlights a few series he would like to see get the Lego treatment.

Community Reviews:

Risen 2: Dark Waters Review (With DLC Trivia)
It's not very often you can read a user review and have a chance at winning a prize if you can answer a trivia question, but that's what you get with AbsoluteDeicide's evaluation of Risen 2: Dark Waters.

The Return Of Pit Is A Great One
A thorough review of Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS) with plenty of details provided courtesy of The Monster Hunter, who awards the game an impressive mark of 9.5 out of 10.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: All Coins, No Creativity
Applesteak jumps right into reviewing the New Super Mario Bros. 2 game that has Mario rescuing the Princess (again) in a refreshed world but one that doesn't really alter gameplay from previous versions.

A Good Creepy Romp
Benny Shores reviews Dementium II, an older first-person survival horror video game developed for the Nintendo DS and holder of perhaps one of the most disturbing game covers ever.

Symphony Review
A brief overview by Tavia-chan for Symphony, an obscure little title for Windows-based PCs. The game is somewhat like Galaga but uses music to create attack patterns that the player will have to respond to.

Community Podcasts:

The Armchair Gamer Podcast Season Two Episode Four
After a fairly lengthy break, Light Gamebeast23456 and the AGP podcast make a triumphant return in a show that talks about the recently-deceased Paul Steed, video game marketing, and more.

Robot In The Corner Podcast: Episode 2-35
Dean and Wes spend the bulk of the show talking about Darksiders II. Also, congratulations are in order for Titus and his wife, who welcome the newest future gamer into the world.

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 (08/20/12 – 08/26/12):
alex720; Ali Rapp; Angry Adam (2); AshaMan3000 (2); badgerbil; bjdbuch; BlackHeartedWolf (7); born4this; Cameron Koch (2); Caudex (3); Companion Cube; Craigaleg; DJH (7); Doctor Apozem; DrPool; Ethan Ricks; FAMESREVENGE; Frosty (3); gamer2486; Ghost; Glasses; GoldvsSilver (2); Hist; John Hunter; Jolt the Cynic (3); Jon Gregory aka JMan240 (2); Joyful Penguin (2); Juanolo; KAGEHOSHI-; Kate Willaert; KillerRabbitsFTW; Kinsey (2); Kyle Wadsworth; LetMeGetToACheckpoint; Light Gamebeast23456; messyFishstick; MikComposer; Mike; Mr.Exclusive; Mray901 (2); Noobtubin8er; OneArmedWonder (2); opposedcrow88; Ownzoir; Pokémon Trainer Red; quasiconundrum; Reptar7; ShadowDragyn; Stonecutters908; Stranger; Tavia-chan (2); The Man With Many Dogs, Blake; The Second Musketeer; The Shotgun65, Mike (2); thegodofwine7 (2); TOGNick (2); Warbuff (2); Warrior; Wayne Strickland; wayoverdue (2); xking595x; xl9; xMortalsyn; YepImAPersonWaving; ynoT0312Taz; YungDaVinci; ZeppelinBlues; and of course yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"It's not a party until something gets broken." – Lara Croft, Tomb Raider VII