RJS 2.0 - The Official Thread

[sim]

since RJS never took off as a name why not just return to __ Central and try generate some excitement through name association. i bet many people dont realise there are still gbac writers hanging around.

then again im completely out of the loop on the whole fansite thing; occasional visits to neogaf keep me roughly in tune!

[John]

Everyone likes that blue GBA Central design. Fact.

Which one? There were too many GBAC designs for me to remember? I did at least two blue designs, then a grey evolution of the blue design... I actually think the DS Central was rather good too, although ByteSized is still my favourite - particularly the review and game profile layouts.

[Gamesmaster]

The one with the Advance Wars characters and the Super Mario World Mario in the banner, with the Kirby in the bottom left, the DSCentral one is probably my second favorite.

[Bryon]

HEY GUYS!!
I have to agree with John on this one. I really loved Bytsized gaming. I loved the look of it, the sound of the name, the fact that it focused only on handhelds. I only ever play the DS so thats probably another factor. And when RJS came out I just completely lost interest.

[n8littlefield]

I liked Bytesizedgaming as a name too.  I like runjumpshoot as well though - so I wouldn't be heartbroken either way - however if we do go primarily handheld I think a name reflecting that would be appropriate (Bytesizedgaming).  The only issue I have with RJS is it sounds very sports-related to me - like a focus on sports games or something.

I think our current layout is very nice, however my personal preference is an overall lighter theme.

On the blog idea - unfortunately I think there are FAR too many sites using that format - reporting on news from other sites and not creating any true new content of their own.  To re-establish a site we need good reviews, and especially work on some of the small releases that don't get coverage on sites like IGN/Gamespot.  We really need someone more active (and better at followup) than myself to reach out to developers too.

[JskieXL]

We can forget any ideas about wangling games off developers until we have a decent reader base. It's better to focus time on writing content rather than "PR."

[n8littlefield]

We can forget any ideas about wangling games off developers until we have a decent reader base. It's better to focus time on writing content rather than "PR."

Yeah - but unfortunately just getting images for websites can be a royal PITA without contacting some of them.  I found with reviews that it was half my time just trying to find non-watermarked images to use.

[John]

Gamespress is your friend.

[Edit] You know, the more I look at the ByteSized Gaming site, the more I think we had a site with potential there. I still think the layout looks great, pretty much the best website layout I've ever done by a large margin.

[sim]

yea but no one covered news 1/3 as frequently as me on dsc or you on gbac.

[EDR]

I'm on my way to work, I'll put in my 1.5 US cents when I get back.

[Kris]

I hope you're not driving and posting at the same time!

- Kris

[JskieXL]

Is there a law against that in Canada?

[Kris]

I don't think so. But it's dangerous!

- Kris

[EDR]

I killed one chick while posting that  I'll just shoot out random comments and suggestions.

- I think what made GBA/DS Central so good was that we staffers in general were young and didn't have to worry about university or shyte like that; that core circle of staff still exists now, but we are all at a pretty hectic stage in our lives.  Not enough time during the day to be dedicated to something like this anymore.

- I'm all in favor for user-generated content, and I would be glad to moderate content.  There is just the matter of controlling content that makes things difficult.  I don't need the front page spammed with porn and gore pics.

- I am also in favour of the 'lightness' and the opinionated stylings of blogs.  One of the problems I encounter when wanting to post up news at the site is trying to find a purpose for it.  No one really is going to go to RJS to find the latest news.  It worked during the GBA and DS days since it was fairly focused.  Perhaps opinions would attract readers.  Especially controversial ones.

- I'm not sure if we need focus.  Again, while DS and GBA Central were awesome, it was during a certain time in internet land where decent specialized sites were hard to find.  We also found out as time went by that people wanted to cover other things (PSPs, the home consoles, etc.).  I don't think the lack of focus is an issue - it's just that we as staffers find it hard to dedicate enough time to write decent-sized articles.  It's almost like we are obligated to.  I think we should abolish that and at the very least make it optional.  If JskieXL wants to make a short post on the site stating his initial discontent of Mario Party 8884, great - that can get people talking (link it to a forum post, etc).  If John really wants to write a three page article on the aesthetics of the Wiimote, cool - but that would be on his own accord.  Small content to me is better than no content, even if it is opinionated.  Gaming forums and sites thrive on opinions.

[Rabid_Weasle]

That's basically what I meant by going with the blog format. Basically anyone (anyone being the staff) can post whatever they want, and who cares. So if someone still wants to write a review, they can, but if they also want to write an article on how they think Sonic The Hedgehog is based on Ghandi.... then sure, why not.