Blog Herding: Community Edition 09/05/13

It was a busy week in the video game industry with plenty of details about the next generation of consoles and games emerging out of PAX last weekend. Now that the release dates for both the Playstation and Xbox have been released, the console wars will no doubt continue to escalate. How about a blog while you wait? We have plenty to choose from.

Blog Herding Stats:

Period Reviewed: August 26 – September 01, 2013
Number of User Blogs: 70
Number of User Bloggers: 49
Number of User Blogs Herded: 11

Community Events:

Extra Life 2013 – Team GIO Update #2
With less than 90 days until the Extra Life charity event, Zachary Pligge provides an updated status on the number of contributors and the amount of donations that have been pledged so far.

Community Blogs:

A Birthday Gaming Bonanza
LetMeGetToACheckpoint celebrates a birthday and spends the day relaxing and playing video games, then comes back here to share the experience with us in this cheery blog.

100th Blog Special: My Top 10 Favorite Games Of All Time
Long time GIO blogger and notable purveyor of top ten lists, thegodofwine7 celebrates his centennial blog by (what else) hammering out a top ten list – this one honoring his favorite games of all-time.

Five Ways The Music Genre Can Survive And Evolve
The rise and fall of musical instrument games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero is a baffling situation. Alex720 wonders what can be done to save them.

How Shadow Of The Colossus Taught Me To Read Games
With a blog that reads like an epic tale – partly because it draws its inspiration from a game that is – David Chandler weaves yet another awe-inspiring piece as he reflects on Shadow of the Colossus.

My Adventure (With Help From Mojo And Ace)
Adventures in shopping for a new video game – we've all had at least one. Coachscorner00 shares one of his own with this charming piece you might be able to relate to.

Who Is The Nintendo 2DS For?
Nintendo surprised the video game industry with the announcement that it is releasing a new handheld called the 2DS. Cameron Koch chimes in why he's interested in the initial details.

My Top Ten Favorite Video Game Guns
Top ten lists are a common staple in Blog Herding. While they are often unique collections, codforlife's blog on favorite video game guns is something most of us have considered.

3 Games That Deserve Their Success and 3 That Don't
Joshua Bowers ruffles a few feathers with his personal outlook on a few games worthy of their success and a few he feels are overrated. Whether you agree or not, it's still an entertaining read.

My Top Ten PlayStation 2 Games
Years after its release, the PlayStation 2 is still regarded by many as one of the best consoles in the history of gaming. Eric Watson reminds us why with a list of some of the best games for the PS2.

This Generation's Top 10 Greatest Openings
Big Boss Xl tackles the daunting task of analyzing all of the amazing video game opening scenes and narrowing the list down to 10 he deems the greatest of all-time. See if you agree and join the discussion.

Are AAA Games Spreading Themselves Too Thin?
The Rolling Gamer continues the discussion regarding the differences between indie games and those published by the major studios, and how the big-name games often have more to prove.

Community Reviews:

Saints Row IV
Saints Row is notorious for its crazy and somewhat edgy content. John Wrek's review of the latest installment makes it sound like you can expect more shenanigans from Volition, Inc. and Deep Silver.

Killer Is Dead Review
Buddy Acker reviews Killers is Dead, a hack-and-slash action game that scored fairly well in Japan but not as well in Europe and North America. Check out the review and see what Buddy has to say about it.

Dishonored Review – Revenge Is A Beautiful Thing
Dishonored was one of those games from last year that had a somewhat mixed reception, but Andrew Marcos favored its unique gameplay and has plenty of positive comments about it.

Community Podcasts:

This week features not one but two episodes of the Jacked Up Indie and Mojo Show. You can find Episode 16 here and Episode 17 here. Enjoy the hosts and their entertaining commentary.

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 (08/26/13 – 09/01/13):
alex720 (2); Angry Adam; ATOMIC; Big Boss Xl; Boss Kowbel; BrightestDays; Cameron Koch; Chelsea Pruitt (2); Coachscorner00; codforlife (6); David Chandler; Epic Professor; Eric Watson; General Mills44 (2); Hist; Jack Gardner (2); jackson stone; JangleTr0n; Jeremy Sturgill; Joe Fathead (2); John Wrek (2); Joshua Bowers; Juanolo XI; LetMeGetToACheckpoint; lovemeorshootme; Luis E. Morales Falcon (2); Marco Polo; NO MAN; Paradigmthefallen (2); Postmita; Prince of Snark Euphoric Ennui I; Proprietary-Windmill; rhotaphota; Rich; Saturday Morning Replay; SmileyOfChaos (Codyeo); Solid Shoob; Spencer; StonedMagician (2); The Destroyer; The Enemy Gate is Down; The Rolling Gamer; thegodofwine7; Tim Gruver (2); VANNAHFØX THE TRIFØRCE WIELDER (7); Vurtax; yayyy; Yusuke Urameshi; and Zachary Hall.

Video Game Archives – Quote of the Week:
"Always do what's best for the game." – Erin Reynolds