Help me out.

[Bill]

This is something I've been thinking about for a while, but have yet to really get to work on, so I'm hoping actually talking about it will help kick my ass into gear.

I'm thinking about a concept for a site. To aid in the development of this (or the deciding-it's-worthless-and-chucking-it-all-overboardment of this), I'd like you all to take the time to answer a little survey.

1. What, if any, gaming news sites (or forums, if you get your news that way) do you check regularly? Regular being daily or at least a few times a week.

2. How satisfied are you with the level of news and information you get right now? Do you wish there was a faster/easier way of getting news? Or do you not care/don't bother keeping up with game news?

3. If someone were to create a kind of "one stop shop" site, i.e. one site with a list of the coming week's new releases and a list of headlines culled from multiple news sites right on the front page, along with other information and features, all using a simple (Flashless) layout, how likely would you be to use it? Think seriously about that. I know the amount of resistance the average person has to any change in their routine.

Keep in mind the news links would still go to their respective sites. But you wouldn't have to, say, wade through IGN's main page to get to them.

4. What kinds of information/features would you expect or like to see in a site of this kind?


I suppose some of those questions are kind of pointed, but it basically boils down to this. I, personally, get sick of having to keep an eye on 20 different places for game news. None of them seem to catch it all, and certainly not at the same time. In addition, I'm tired of slogging through crap to get to information, be it Flash ads that cover the whole screen or IGN's seperate console departments splitting one release calendar into five.

So I thought to finally give up and fix it myself by making one single hub where all this information filters down to. I check about eight different sources regularly throughout the day, I might as well do something with them. My desire would be to make as singular a source for current gaming information as could possibly be managed. My hesitation comes in that I don't know how many people other than myself would find such a thing useful. I am a little more obsessive than the average gamer, after all. Hence the survey. Please be honest and don't feel the need to be positive if you don't see it that way. I'm not looking for yes men.

[Mike]

I'm not very good at all at keeping up with the video gaming world & haven't been for quite some time. However, I do check IGN & Gamespot occasionally when I'm at work, but their layouts frustrate me in the same ways that they do you.

I am a big fan of your idea. And of course, if you decide to go ahead with this & need help setting it up visually or technically, I'm more than willing to lend a hand.
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[Neil]

The only place I check regularly is Nintendorks. And by that, I mean the forum, as the front page hardly ever gets updated (I read that for the comedic value, though)

The forum is mostly up to date, with links to other sources where appropriate. However, it's anything but convenient. Thread titles that don't always give away the meaning, a slightly pro-Nintendo bias (it's not as bad as the name suggests, though they aren't kind to the "stupid fanboys"--who is these days?)

In response to #3, I'd definitely use it. I don't bother checking IGN/Gamespot/anywhere else, because it is a hassle.

As for #4, I don't know...It would be great to see release dates (maybe have a few "big" titles first, with all release dates somewhere else), reviews, news, etc. Pretty much just aggregating all the sources to one place would be great, and would make it much easier to keep up.
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pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: wait im sorry i made almost 2 million dollars last year to throw 20 fastballs every three or four days haha sorry jackalope capitalism rules

[webber]

If you made the headlines/short descriptions of articles relatively descriptive so I didn't actually have to go to the links, I would probably read it on an at least semi-regular basis to keep up with the main stories in gaming. I doubt I would follow the links though, I just don't care that much to bother wasting time waiting for pages to load and reading through them.

It's the same thing with newspapers. I recieve the New York Times email daily and usually read the headlines, but usually the only time I go to the actual site is if an op-ed looks interesting or there is some story that looks particularly relevant.

Keep in mind that I doubt I am your target audience since I don't really keep track of gaming as it is, reading this and SA's gaming forum and buying a gaming magazine every six months/year is about my limit.

edit: your idea does sound interesting but I wonder how many people who regularly read forums would be interested, considering a games forum is basically a site that links people to the most interesting gaming stories from a number of different sites.

[Mike]

There are a lot of people out there who just can't deal with all those forums, partially because they can't keep up, but also because they can't stand forum culture. Besides this one, I only read like two others, & not very frequently at that. Bill's site is going to attract those sort of people. I imagine there are a lot more than you think.
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[Bismark]

I hate to sound like I'm oversimplifying your intent, but it sounds like a Fark site for gamers, and if it is, I'm 100% for it. I go to Gamespot for my news. I'm a little more obsessive than average, so having all the news and new release info in one place would make that a daily hit for me. God's sake, man: DO IT.
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[danielle-ish]

The only gaming site I go to with any frequency is 1up.com (for news/reviews), and I really, really like your idea. I'm certainly one of those people that dislikes forum culture... and your idea would be a godsend.
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NO WIRE HANGERS!!!!!!!

[meursault]

if you really want to make this, go ahead and do it. it's just not really a burden on me to check 1up, ign, and gamespot every day.

it sounds sort of like gamewinners, but with more than just reviews and previews and the like.
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the whole world is waiting to see when you fall.
sound the fucking alarm.

[Kyle]

I go to IGN on occasion, and I hate their layout and their terrible writing and so on. I think what you seem to have in mind is a pretty great idea. yo if this thing takes off could you break me off a piece?
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WHEN THE AFRICAN LION ATTACKS

[Bill]

[DGMacphee]

Would the site be something akin to where you have several different syndicated newsfeeds (a la RSS) and people have to opportunity to comment on individual news stories? Or is it more than that?
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A suitable ending, I think!

[Jordo]

I always seem behind on gaming news. I don't have much of a desire to flip through IGN. I mainly read Penny Arcade, but that's about it.

I'd definitely be up for a gaming news website with a Farkish simplicity.

[Bill]

[DGMacphee]

[Bill]

It's more work than a feed yes, but honestly, feeds suck. There needs to be a human element sorting through them, not to mention rewriting their stupid headlines to be more descriptive instead of "clever."

I've got all day. So I have time.

As for headline sorting: I'm reluctant to use categories because that splits the information and is counter to the idea of having it all in once place. I would if I felt it necessary, but I don't think there's so much news that it has to be broken up. Most game news sites don't bother to break it down by category. Keeping the news section free of clutter is mainly going to be an editorial job. I'm not going to bother with "Booger Flicker 8 has gone gold!" or "Logitech has a stronger than expected 2nd quarter" bits.

[Bismark]

Is it all going to be news, or will you eventually have reviews available? That's a big part of why I go to those other sites as well, but I wasn't sure if that was part of what you were going for with this.
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[Bill]

The layout I currently imagine is two tables, one with the release list and one with the headlines, at the top of the page. Then a middle column beneath that somewhat akin to Penny Arcade's newspost, where I blather on about what the hell ever. Discussing current news, doing articles, notifications about site changes, what have you. The actual layout may change as I actually start putting it together and seeing how horrible it looks, but that's what I'm shooting for content-wise.

The news is what would be updated daily, but there would be features and articles and such on a semi-regular basis. I don't think I'd personally be writing reviews; I don't think I play enough games, and certainly not all as soon as they're released, to make it work. It would be a rather random, haphazard set of reviews. I figured I would discuss games I was playing at the moment in the newspost, again, in the way that Tycho discusses games at PA.

I was thinking that each game in the release calendar could have a link to a seperate page for it that gives the general info for the game, a few screenshots, a description, and a link to its Game Rankings page. I suppose at some point reviews could be added if I found the people to do it, but I don't see it happening in the short term.

[Mike]

[Mugsy]

I love this idea. Like Webber, I too don't keep up with gaming because it is a hassle for me to do so, but if I could find out all the things going on in games in a five minute stop every day, I would do that in a heartbeat.
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WAAAOOOOOOOWWWW!

[Neil]

Web Developer is the only obvious Firefox extension I know of for, well, web development.
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pr0FF3ss0r_F4rnsw0rth: wait im sorry i made almost 2 million dollars last year to throw 20 fastballs every three or four days haha sorry jackalope capitalism rules