Future Article Ideas

[fast]

Racket, move or delete this if you think you should.

My question to you out on there in internet land is what kind of articles do you want to see on Racketboy? There are a myraid of them in different forms on most of the writers computers, but these are all for naught if we are writing about things that no one cares about (eventually they might but shhh). So what information have yall been looking for and cant find? What kind of op/ed piece would be interesting? Heck, what kind of historical article would you like?

I am currently knee deep in arcade cabinets and computers that need to be fixed but, as Ack can tell you from our random phone calls, I am still constantly chipping at the emulator guides and the future Together Retro articles. However past that I only have a few articles I am thinking about and figured I would ask just to see what others are curious about. So yes, you could say this is me being lazy, however I have plenty of open writing time in the near future. So ideas?

[PGchris]

When racketboy did the best 2d games of the ps2 I was always hoping he was going to expand on that and highlight some of the better 2d games on the newer consoles. I also would love to see him break stuff up into genres as opposed to consoles like "Cheapest Shmups worth your time" or something like that.

[MrPopo]

If you have an idea for an article, do the research, and submit it to Racket, I'm sure he wouldn't turn it away. If you took the time and the effort to figure out something a bit esoteric then there's probably other people who'd be interested in it. Or hell, people who didn't even know about it would find out about the awesomeness.

[glynnahab]

This could end up being ridiculously overdone and convoluted, but here's something I was thinking about the other day:

The Game Reviews sub-forums is a great idea. I've read some damned solid reviews by a few members, many of which were more helpful than Gamespot, IGN, etc. But I think it would be really cool to categorize the Game Reviews (by system, genre, and so on) for easier searching.

A game database, if you will. With user-submitted reviews the way its done now, a reviews sections that was nicely organized could really become quite thorough in the end - especially with a community of this size. And, in order to filter out the crap reviews by those of us who lack the communication skills to properly write a good review, a voting system could be implemented so that people could know which reviews were of quality. (1-5 star rating of the review itself, or something similar...)

Yeah, it's been done before. But we have a pretty smart bunch here, for the most part. It could be so much more informative than all the big-name sites, because we don't seem to have the kind of people who would write lame, predictable reviews of obvious games like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Chrono Trigger. Instead, you would see quality reviews of lesser-known games like E.G.G. on Dreamcast (which I know has already been done here, and done well), or Sin and Punishment.

Just a thought, though... Sorry it doesn't really relate to the topic at hand...

[nickfil]

A game database, if you will. With user-submitted reviews the way its done now, a reviews sections that was nicely organized could really become quite thorough in the end - especially with a community of this size. And, in order to filter out the crap reviews by those of us who lack the communication skills to properly write a good review, a voting system could be implemented so that people could know which reviews were of quality. (1-5 star rating of the review itself, or something similar...)

I like this idea. Maybe have it be a seperate box on the homepage. Newest forum posts next to newest game reviews.

If you have an idea for an article, do the research, and submit it to Racket, I'm sure he wouldn't turn it away. If you took the time and the effort to figure out something a bit esoteric then there's probably other people who'd be interested in it. Or hell, people who didn't even know about it would find out about the awesomeness.

also- racket is all over his own forum. Chances are if you write something that deserves it, he'll ask you if he can post it. Thats how my neo geo thing ended up on the front page.

Although- I'm not sure if the original post was just to suggest ideas for articles and then have someone else do the grunt work. If so then all i have is the rolly eye guy for that.

[fast]

The purpose of the post was just a way to see what others are looking for and so we can obtain more ideas to work on. I know that if I can work on three or four articles at the same time it actually helps me get my thoughts in order. That said what I find that I am missing the most when searching is details about games is anything about their controls. This is of interest to me mainly because PC gaming has so spoiled me with remappings. I know that my research into that field would be a lot of help to a very small minority of gamers, and thats great, but I would like to try and help the dedicated alittle more.

And it is funny you brought up the idea of a Database. That is something we have all been pushing around, and if Racket's Dreamcast one comes to, there are several of us who plan on expanding it to other consoles.

Thank you all.

[nickfil]

The purpose of the post was just a way to see what others are looking for and so we can obtain more ideas to work on.

ah- within all the quoting and thinking i lost sight of the original post. Forgive my sass. There was a couple things i was looking for at one point that i couldn't find.... i can't remember exactly what they were now.

offhand i would like more "defining games" articles on systems i didn't grow up with. 3do, colecovision, jaguar... stuff like that. Maybe even fold the defining games and hidden gems articles together? That way a user could click 'snes' and get a breakdown like "platformers- defining" and "platformers- hidden gems" And then maybe add links to the other snes articles at the end of that article for easy jumping around the site.

[fast]

Now thats a good idea. Thanks Nick

[crux]

Something that would be right up my alley (and something I'm probably most qualified to actually write) is an article about the myriad of novelty controllers out there. I can assure you that, at least on English speaking sites, such an article or website does not exist. In fact, I've only ever been able to find a VERY small handful of personal lists or queries about novelty controllers on the internet whatsoever. I'm not sure how many people would be interested in such a thing, but I guarantee there's a plethora of controllers that vast majority of people don't know exist.

[puke_face]

The purpose of the post was just a way to see what others are looking for and so we can obtain more ideas to work on.

ah- within all the quoting and thinking i lost sight of the original post. Forgive my sass. There was a couple things i was looking for at one point that i couldn't find.... i can't remember exactly what they were now.

offhand i would like more "defining games" articles on systems i didn't grow up with. 3do, colecovision, jaguar... stuff like that. Maybe even fold the defining games and hidden gems articles together? That way a user could click 'snes' and get a breakdown like "platformers- defining" and "platformers- hidden gems" And then maybe add links to the other snes articles at the end of that article for easy jumping around the site.

couldn't agree more.