Blog Herding: Community Edition 01/24/13

After record setting numbers last week, the amount of activity from the community dipped slightly this week, but there is still plenty of great material for your viewing pleasure. It's also worth mentioning the long running Robot in the Corner podcast created by featured blogger born4this announced its official retirement.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: January 14 – January 20, 2013
Number of User Blogs: 111
Number of User Bloggers: 55
Number of User Blogs Herded: 12

Community Blogs:

Advertising In The Game Industry
A robust marketing campaign can certainly influence the reception of a game once it ships and markus1142 shares a few influential advertisements that helped persuade him into purchasing their products.

Top 10 Dualwielders
Akimbo is a term you seldom hear anymore to describe dual wielding, but that is exactly what thegodofwine7 discusses in his colorful blog about games that let you use two weapons at a time.

The Video Game Industry's Most Daunting Challenge
An important topic that seldom gets discussed, Marco Polo considers the environmental implications associated with disposing of residual video game hardware and software when you throw them away.

25 Gamecube Games That Should Be On The Wii U's Virtual Console
The ability to play classic games on current consoles is an important feature for many gamers like Companion Cube, who considers some Gamecube games he'd like to see on the Wii U Virtual Console.

I Couldn't Play A Game Like That
As gamers we often have preconceived notions about games and genres we like and don't like, but born4this learns it isn't always as transparent as it might seem.

Top 10 Call Of Duty Missions
Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Call of Duty is a popular series in the wide world of video games. Join XL9 as he recalls some of the greatest levels from the different episodes.

What A Bust!
Deep Silver's Dead Island Riptide collector's edition caused quite the commotion this week due to its questionable content, which fired up ace13, a staunch advocate for the fair representation of women.

Beyond Two Souls: More Than The Sum Of Quantic's Past?
AshaMan3000 mulls over the topic of Quick Time Events (QTE) and how video game developer Quantic Dream incorporates them into their games like Heavy Rain and presumably in Beyond: Two Souls.

What The Next Star Wars Game Should Be
Paradigmthefallen ponders what elements of the Star Wars universe should be included when constructing the ideal Star Wars game that fans of the series have been waiting for.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Games Of 2013
Most of us have already been calculating what games we're interested in this year. If you haven't, Kflame210's list of games and brief summary of each might provide a good place to start.

Shame Is The Name
Do you have any skeletons in your video game closet? GIO Member cerpintaxman reveals a few deep dark secrets about his past that might make you gasp in shock when you read them.

"Social" Gaming Used To Be Social: A Ranting
One gamer's journey from the old-school arcade to the virtual realm of online gameplay, ADAMMWOOLLEY discusses the changes he's witnessed in socializing with his fellow gamers.

Community Reviews:

Farewell Commander Shepard
Nex Gen Reviews provides a thorough analysis of last year's Game of the Year winner, awarding Mass Effect 3 high marks in every category. Watch out for the minor spoilers regarding the divisive ending.

Everything Old Is New Again
With the recent release of Devil May Cry, fans of the game like FinalFantasy1026 are once again reunited with Dante, the outlandish star of the series who always manages to get people talking about his looks.

Still Not Amazing But Pretty Darn Good
User reviews for sports games are rare in these parts, but should you be interested, Kane Dragonheart offers a play-by-play look at one of those Madden games involving teams and a ball.

Far Cry 3: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
With overwhelmingly positive review scores, including this one by blogman, Far Cry 3 continues to impress players with its beautiful landscapes and colorful characters, all of which are capable of killing you.

Community Podcasts:

The 4th Floor: The Phoenix Saga Episode 1
If you thought the FCC kicked The 4th Floor off the air, think again. TOGNick and friend Liz are back, chatting about hot topics like their best of 2012 and all the happenings of the world.

Final Episode Of Robot In The Corner
One of the long running community-created podcasts shutters its doors and hangs up its microphones this week as born4this announces the official retirement of the beloved Robot in the Corner podcast.

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 (01/14/13 – 01/20/13):
ADAMMWOOLLEY; ace13; AshaMan3000; BLiNDFATES; bombstopper; born4this (2); Bradamantium; BRAV0 F1VE (2); Buddy Acker; Bustin; Cameron Koch; Caudex; cerpintaxman; Companion Cube; Daniel Jones; David Chandler; Enigma; Frosty; Gaming Warthog (7); General Mills44 (4); Glasses (2); Hawke; Jble; Jeremy.JustJeremy; John Wrek (5); Jolt the Cynic (2); Jon Gregory aka JMan240 (2); JordanTheGamer; Kate Willaert (7); Kflame210; Marco Polo (3); markus1142 (7); Matt. Yeah, That One.; Mike (2); new traditionalist; Odoyel (2); opposedcrow88; Paradigmthefallen (3); Rihz (2); Scopes; Sean Valjean; Spayle303; The Destroyer (4); thecouchpotato; thegodofwine7; TOGNick; Trenchmace (4); warlord5531; Warrior; xghost777; xl9 (8); ynoT0312Taz; Yusuke Urameshi; ZombieRasputin; and of course yours truly...Saint.

Video Game Archives – Quote of the Week:
"I'm so old, I've been playing the same three Nintendo games since the Chernobyl disaster, an event most gamers probably only know from games."  – Kellee Santiago