An Idea, and other things...

[The Sports Guy]

Hey Guys,

I know that none of you know this except for Melf, but my father died suddenly this past Thursday, and while grieving with my mother and grandparents, I have spent a lot of time thinking about things on this site and writing reviews and things to get my mind off of it all, and I was thinking about a few things (NOTE: I mean no offense in any way):

One, and this is mainly for Ken: Can we see which Review and Feature is up next, or at least a relatively accurate list of reviews and features which are close to going up (I hope I woreded that right)? I know that the reviews have to be proofread and things, and basically, for me, I am just asking this question for the sake of the features I have written and the few more I have in waiting (Side by Side (by Side) Tecmo Super Bowl and Stories from the Book of Genesis - NHL 94 Playoffs Fan Fiction). I just dont want to write features and other things and not know if they arent going to go up until September or October. It would help me and would be very entertaining if there was some sort of "teaser" for what is coming next, but it doesnt have to be "official" or anything.

Another thing: Can we get reviews written from people on our site for the ones written and originally appearing on different sites? I know some of the older (oldest) ones on here originally appeared on other sites. I know we have a feature for this, but I thought maybe it would be a cool idea if we set like a date (say five years (when we get there)), and allow a second independent review of the game, and have a link to it at the end if the previous ones. I know we still have hundreds of games to review, but it would at least keep a fresh perspective on things. I know we have the feature for this (dont remember what its called), but I was just thinking.

Thanks for reading!

[steve]

Trek, sorry to hear about your dad. All the best to you and yours.

One, and this is mainly for Ken: Can we see which Review and Feature is up next, or at least a relatively accurate list of reviews and features which are close to going up (I hope I woreded that right)? I know that the reviews have to be proofread and things, and basically, for me, I am just asking this question for the sake of the features I have written and the few more I have in waiting (Side by Side (by Side) Tecmo Super Bowl and Stories from the Book of Genesis - NHL 94 Playoffs Fan Fiction). I just dont want to write features and other things and not know if they arent going to go up until September or October. It would help me and would be very entertaining if there was some sort of "teaser" for what is coming next, but it doesnt have to be "official" or anything.

Dunno what Ken would say, but personally, while I think this idea has its merits, as you mentioned, it doesn't have to be official, but if too many times the teaser is cancelled or not followed through as advertised, it's just bad all-around. Might as well not tease anything, and have it go up whenever it's ready. Also, I think part of the fun with any site is the intrigue of the unknown. What's next? It's that ole cliche "tune in to find out" bit, and it's all part of the fun visiting a favorite site daily (or weekly) IMO. Sometimes it can be like unwrapping a present on Christmas morning (perhaps an extreme analogy)... you know there will be a present (or update), but you don't know what's inside. Maybe Ken has another opinion though, but that's my 2 cents on the matter.

[Zebbe]

My heart goes out to you, trekbone87. If you want to see what reviews and features are up soon, just look at the first post in the "Pending reviews and features" thread in the hub.

[The Sports Guy]

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, guys.

I knew about that, I just thought maybe itd be cool if we saw what was up coming in some sort of Airline Terminal type way like: (Example)

Reviews:

Sonic The Hedgehog - July 7
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - July 10
Tecmo Super Bowl - July 14

(and so on and so forth as he receives the reviews from the various writers, and same thing with the features)

I like both of my ideas, though. Keeps things fresh, and gives varying opinions on the games. I know they have a feature for that, but allowing for multiple reviews after a certain period of time allows for more than one look.

[Melf]

One, and this is mainly for Ken: Can we see which Review and Feature is up next, or at least a relatively accurate list of reviews and features which are close to going up (I hope I worded that right)? I know that the reviews have to be proofread and things, and basically, for me, I am just asking this question for the sake of the features I have written and the few more I have in waiting (Side by Side (by Side) Tecmo Super Bowl and Stories from the Book of Genesis - NHL 94 Playoffs Fan Fiction). I just dont want to write features and other things and not know if they arent going to go up until September or October. It would help me and would be very entertaining if there was some sort of "teaser" for what is coming next, but it doesnt have to be "official" or anything.

I started doing this in this very forum, but sometimes I have to move things up or push things back (like our hands-on for Commando 3. Where's my code, Capcom?), and it's a pain to keep going back and editing the dates. The staff forum update thread is the one I stick to religiously, and while it doesn't give you exact dates, any item with the word "plopped" next to it means that it's ready to go and will be up forthwith.

Another thing: Can we get reviews written from people on our site for the ones written and originally appearing on different sites? I know some of the older (oldest) ones on here originally appeared on other sites. I know we have a feature for this, but I thought maybe it would be a cool idea if we set like a date (say five years (when we get there)), and allow a second independent review of the game, and have a link to it at the end if the previous ones. I know we still have hundreds of games to review, but it would at least keep a fresh perspective on things. I know we have the feature for this (dont remember what its called), but I was just thinking.

Thanks for reading!

Most of the early reviews we republished have been taken down from GameFaqs or the other sites, so they're now exclusively here.

I'm completely against posting more than one review per game, because it would mean that certain games would be pummeled with reviews, while others would be ignored. By only allowing one review for each game, we guarantee that every game will be reviewed. The reason we installed the reader comments and score is to allow them to express themselves without having a whole other review submitted.

That being said, anyone is free to write up a "Double Take" for a game that's already been reviewed. This feature is great because it allows the writer to talk about that game that's already been reviewed, but it ensures that the reader won't read a rehash of the review, because this feature series focuses more on the experience of the game, rather than the standard review sections (graphics, gameplay, etc.)

I want to allow both staff/contributors and readers to be able to express themselves about the games as much as possible without having more than one full review posted.

[Zebbe]

Ken, have you thought about a problem that might happen in the future. I'm talking about when the last few hundred reviews are left to do, there will be mainly rare or unpopular games left, naturally. People won't be as glad to review those games, so I believe it will be hard to hold the review schedule of two per week. I don't think people generally will buy games to review them and playing on emulator without manual isn't fair to the game.

Perhaps we can start an donation system, where people who own the games but don't want to review them, can send them to contributors or staff for reviewing. This day is long into the future, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on it so we are prepared for it.

[Benjamin]

Ken, have you thought about a problem that might happen in the future. I'm talking about when the last few hundred reviews are left to do, there will be mainly rare or unpopular games left, naturally. People won't be as glad to review those games, so I believe it will be hard to hold the review schedule of two per week. I don't think people generally will buy games to review them and playing on emulator without manual isn't fair to the game.

Perhaps we can start an donation system, where people who own the games but don't want to review them, can send them to contributors or staff for reviewing.

Yes, send me your rare games. I will review them... eventually. I actually mentioned content drying up in a PM to Melf in part for just that reason -- desire to cover the remaining garbage is nil. I think the one review per game is a great policy now that comments are enabled, but while it'll guarantee that all games get reviewed, the pace will undoubtedly be much slower. I don't see this being avoided.

Personally, I think the site will slip to a two items per week schedule, which is still great for a fansite. Sega-16 really burned through content in the past couple of years, and barring a miracle (say, access to Kalinske's diary to be posted a page per day), I don't see that same fevered pace being resumed in the future.