Blog Herding: Community Edition 10/25/12

Miracle Network Hospitals are still tallying up all the donations received from the Extra Life 2012 charity event, with Team GIO raising nearly $11,000 from staff and community contributions. To celebrate, a round of blogs on the house.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: October 15 – October 21, 2012
Number of User Blogs: 112
Number of User Bloggers: 65
Number of User Blogs Herded: 13

Community Blogs:

The Age Old Question; How Old Is Too Old?
Certainly not the first blog to discuss what age is too old to play video games, but Drop Dead's outlook is cleverly entertaining and suitable for all ages.

Vigilo Confido
Kind of an unusual blog to be featured here and at the time of this posting it has gone mostly unnoticed, but AshaMan3000 pays his respects to something we've all looked at: the "load screen."

How Hype Affects Game Reviews And Why That Is Okay
Former Game Informer intern Jack Gardner reflects on the art of reviewing video games and how hype can influence reception either positively or negatively.

Gaming With OCD
A personal story sure to tug on your heartstrings, StraySkyNight reveals how playing video games can aid those who actually suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Should We Be Worried About BioShock: Infinite?
Daniel Jones chronicles the setbacks experienced by the team working on BioShock: Infinite and questions how this might impact the quality of the final product when it finally ships.

Borderlands 2: Twittified
A creative approach to blogging, footthumb crafts a unique summarization of Borderlands 2 by collecting various perspectives from Twitter and combining them with some Borderlands artwork.

Crafting The Ultimate James Bond Game
Celebrating 50 years of James Bond and expounding on the reader discussion post from Ben Reeves, Andrew Marcos offers a few ideas to build the ultimate Bond video game.

At Least As Good With Kinect
Nearly 2 years after the Kinect's release that broke the record as the fastest selling consumer electronics device, thegodofwine7 wonders if "Technically Not Worse with Kinect" is a more accurate slogan.

How Knowing The Outcome Can Enhance Gameplay
Whether you agree with David Chandler's perspective that knowing how a game ends can enhance gameplay or not, this blog is still an entertaining commentary worth considering.

Coming Onto The Overload
With a little over two months left in 2012, Stranger's post reminds us of some of the great games we still have to look forward to this year and a couple tentatively scheduled for an early next year release.

Disempowerment
A deep reflection from FrankxthexBunny that merely scratches the surface of what motivates us to play video games and the contrast between in game mechanics that promote or reject our abilities.

Making Sense Of Gaige's "Ordered Chaos" Tree
Joseph Breen is proving to be a seasoned veteran of the Borderlands 2 universe as he expertly outlines yet another character's skill tree and a surefire strategy to ensure success.

Bring On The Undead...Again
Zombies are a popular theme in many of our favorite shooters and Masterassassin prepares for the next outbreak coming in Black Ops II as he discusses the different modes we will try to survive.

Community Reviews:

Borderlands 2: A Welcomed Return To Pandora
Borderlands 2 continues to be a popular title being played (and reviewed) by gamers, and Jake Magee's praise of the game might explain why as he awards the game a respectable score of 9.0 out of 10.

Scooter Syndrome
Borderlands 2 only musters up an average score from Jon Gregory aka JMan240, who admits he likes the game well enough but doesn't feel it lives up to its fullest potential.

My Memories Of Youth Remain Unsullied With XCOM
X-COM: Enemy Unknown, the reboot of MicroProse's turn-based strategy game from the mid-nineties, succeeds at capturing the essence of the original while earning near perfect marks from Noobtubin8er.

Mark Of The Ninja Video Review
Another GIO member joins the movement to provide exceptional video reviews. This time it's Daniel Campbell, as he showcases Mark of the Ninja in this short clip sure to capture your attention.

Community Podcasts:

The JACKED UP Indie And Mojo Show Episode 49
The show welcomes another big name from the video game industry with special guest Walt Williams, the lead writer for Spec Ops: The Line at 2K Games. You don't want to miss this episode.

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 (10/15/12 – 10/21/12):
AbsoluteDeicide; AlexChase; Andrew Marcos; AshaMan3000 (3); Benny Shores; bjdbuch; blaxarbush911; cybertronian assassin; Daigo Matsuoka (2); Daniel; Daniel Campbell; Daniel Jones (6); David Chandler; Dawson Wyckoff; Derrick; DJH; Doctor Apozem; Drop Dead; Drym Shyuan; Enigma (2); FAMESREVENGE; footthumb; FrankxthexBunny; Gaming Warthog; Ghost; GreenHawk99; hitchhikerwaffle; Jack Gardner (2); Jolt the Cynic (2); Jon Gregory aka JMan240; jordanthegamer (2); Joseph Breen; Joyful Penguin (2); Juanolo; Kinsey; LastQuestion; lotrgeek (15); Luis E. Morales Falcon; Marco Polo; markus1142 (2); Masterassassin; Mike; mojomonkey12; Muffin Masher; Nicholas Dakota Spain (2); Noobtubin8er; opposedcrow88; Phlakes; Platysaur; playerofgames11; Proprietary-Windmill; Reptar7; RezidentHazard (rides again); RFXRage; Stranger (2); StraySkyNight; thebrazilian27; thegodofwine7; Trenchmace (3); wayoverdue (7); xking595x; xl9 (7); xTmX Korrupt; YungDaVinci; and of course yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Quote of the Week:
"Nothing brings down real estate prices like a good old-fashioned gang war." – Avery Carrington, GTA: Vice City