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[buck naked]

This has been a side-project of mine for two years now, and I've finally gotten enough direction and resources to make it happen. I have a professional web developer, professional hosting, and plenty of know-how and a little bit of know-who.

Here's my concept:

o Daily news stories at 9am (kind of like FGN back in the day)
o News to be original journalistic style stories (I'm 6 months away from graduating from my uni degree majoring in journalism and this is an under-developed area of the industry)
o Lots of features (tabulated review scores, collections, buddy lists and game requests [important for PS2 online gaming])

My site would be written for the Australian market but I figure if my content is good enough I would attract a wider audience - particularlyfor other PAL regions, online PS2 gamers, and people looking for thoughtful news coverage.



I'm really looking for some input regarding my direction.

I'm weighing up the choice to go PlayStation only (PS2/PSP) or the more saturated Xbox, PC, or multiplatform audiences.

The PS2 has the largest user base and is really under-represented online, but the audience is very casual and building community will be hard. The Xbox is really popular in Australia (the Xbox does better here against the PS2 than any other region I know of) and so is the PC gaming scene. However both these areas are fairly well represented online.

The Nintendo community is already well represented online, but that's more of a fan audience than a consumer audience - which isn't what I want.

Handheld gaming is another under-represented audience, but like the PS2, that's a more casual audience.

I guess what I'm thinking is that many 'hardcore' gamers own more than one system and that competent multiplatform coverage would be the best way to go, but is the hardest to succeed at.


Advice?

 

[GaimeGuy]

... good luck.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I'll read it so you get some hits when you start off, personally I would go in the Sony direction.

 

[element]

go multi. more news, more chances of breaking something.

 

[golem]

if your site is good, it will be noticed.. eventually. make sure you're well linked and spidered by the major engines

or you could just give out a few C-'s

 

[TekunoRobby]

Go with the PS2, from the information you've provided that seems to be the wisest choice for reaching a bigger audience.

Since you are toying with the idea of extending into the Xbox/PC scene why not schedule that for when your website becomes succesful and attracts a reasonably sized audience.

I would definitely visit it just to see the Australian perspective on the PS2 platform.

 

[pilonv1]

The PS2 has the largest user base and is really under-represented online, but the audience is very casual and building community will be hard. The Xbox is really popular in Australia (the Xbox does better here against the PS2 than any other region I know of) and so is the PC gaming scene. However both these areas are fairly well represented online.

You mentioned targeting consumers and not fans, so why would you want to cut out half the market? Just because something is well represented doesn't mean you shouldn't try it yourself.

I guess what I'm thinking is that many 'hardcore' gamers own more than one system and that competent multiplatform coverage would be the best way to go, but is the hardest to succeed at.

You're less likely to get casual gamers visiting so multi-platform seems the way to go.

Advice?

Do something different than everyone else. "Thoughtful" news coverage would be a start, you'd be the only site doing that

 

[buck naked]

My only slight hesitation with the PS2 is that it's my least-knowledgeble area. I'm still proficient, but under the scrutiny of a die-hard RPG fans and Japan-o-philes, my knowledge might seem limited.

That kind of fan audience isn't what I'm after, and there are lots of sites that do that stuff well, but my credibility is really important.

Also, when I say that multiplatform is the hardest to succeed at that's because of the volume of material to cover, not because of my lack of ability.

 

[fennec fox]

Could you deliver the news naked?

 

[pilonv1]

My only slight hesitation with the PS2 is that it's my least-knowledgeble area. I'm still proficient, but under the scrutiny of a die-hard RPG fans and Japan-o-philes, my knowledge might seem limited.

Chances are you wont need to know too much since some of it doesn't get a PAL release

Also, when I say that multiplatform is the hardest to succeed at that's because of the volume of material to cover, not because of my lack of ability.

If you're looking at PAL/Australian news only it wouldn't be that much, unless you plan on reviewing and previewing every game personally.

 

[buck naked]

Could you deliver the news naked?

I think that would cut my demographic down to Gay-ming age, and in that case, I'd be better to drop the video games and go straight to porn.

Chances are you wont need to know too much since some of it doesn't get a PAL release

Heheh, I thought about that too =) Who'd want a six month late review of Disgaea anyway?

If you're looking at PAL/Australian news only it wouldn't be that much, unless you plan on reviewing and previewing every game personally.

The type of daily content I want to write doesn't leave much time for personally reviewing/previewing games, which is one of the reasons multiplatform is daunting. Hiring people to cover that is feasible, but not initially.

 

[keeblerdrow]

Accounts payable and gaming-age's advertising department will be contacting you shortly.

 

[buck naked]

Accounts payable and gaming-age's advertising department will be contacting you shortly.

I'm not whoring the URL yet =)

 

[Vormund]

Dammit my neighbour and I are considering doing an Aussie PC centric site....

Stay with the PS2.

 

[IgeL]

buck, you still remember me?

I'd say go multiplatform (PS2/XB/PC), because that way I might be of some use as well... Sounds pretty good and I know you can succeed at it.

 

[norinrad21]

Interviews interviews interviews. I enjoy reading them. Make sure you have 3-5 interviews every month with poeple in the industry.

 

[buck naked]

Hey IgeL, of course I remember you =) I've seen you around with your new NeoGAF Zool avatar, looking sharp =)

Norin, I'm planning 3-5 interviews a week actually =)

 

[hirokazu]

interesting... be sure to keep us posted on this.

 

[stonedwal]

As someone who has tried this before in the same market, I can only really say good luck.

While your ideas are good, and from this post it would appear that you have the talent and dedication to back it up, it's really grating trying to start a site that caters for the Australian market. There's already 4 established sites there (including the one I used to run), vying for the attention of several distributors who couldn't really care less about web resources.

You're going to have a hell of a time finding good writers in this country, and believe me, you can't take it on alone - I've tried that, and eventually you become overwhelmed and dissatisfied with gaming.

No one platform is really the key to attracting hits. The site I was on used to have a lot of Australian traffic on its Nintendo articles, while the overseas traffic was more PS2/Xbox oriented (nobody seemed to give a rat's arse about the GBA). There's really shit-all in terms of Australia-centric news, we ended up covering a lot of overseas stuff, which did better for us in the end.

If you wanna talk a bit more, PM me.

 

[pilonv1]

You're going to have a hell of a time finding good writers in this country, and believe me, you can't take it on alone - I've tried that, and eventually you become overwhelmed and dissatisfied with gaming.

I would argue that there are no decent outlets for good writers. Or ones that provide enough work and/or pay on time . Unless you know someone in the industry it's difficult getting a food in the door.

And what are these 4 established sites? I didn't even think there were any decent multiplatform Australian sites.

 

[Azih]

it'd be hard to have a journalistic focus if you were just concentrating on one platform.

 

[buck naked]

Initially, I'm going to go PS2 only. I've got some ideas for the PS2 side of things and I'm better off starting with a bite-sized chunk. Expanding to the PSP is definite and, depending on how things go, expanding to multiple platforms is something I'll look at later this year.

If it all falls apart, my next thread like this will be asking for advice on my new porn site =)

 

[DopeyFish]

TeamXbox, for example wanted to go multi-platform eventually... But it never came into fruition. (it gets more difficult as time goes on) I'd say you're better off starting off multiplatform than being a single platform fansite.

 

[Ferrarisimo]

De ja vu

http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=4676&page=1&pp=50

 

[stonedwal]

I would argue that there are no decent outlets for good writers.

I'd agree with that. The magazines developed in this country are pretty woeful, and there's a bit of backlog of writers vying for a small number of articles.

Unless you know someone in the industry it's difficult getting a food in the door.

Even if you do, it's pretty hard. You have to kiss a lot of arse, which is essentially more than its worth, given that you're going to get paid peanuts.

And what are these 4 established sites? I didn't even think there were any decent multiplatform Australian sites.

Established != Decent. The quality of writing is crap, but they're all fairly solidly supported by publishers, and get below-average to average readership. Gamepower, Gamebiz, Gamespot AU and PALGN.

 

[ManaByte]

Even if you do, it's pretty hard. You have to kiss a lot of arse, which is essentially more than its worth, given that you're going to get paid peanuts.

When will people stop spreading that bullshit? You don't have to kiss ass, but people spread that bullshit around on messageboards like that so when someone does get their foot in the door they become the biggest ass kisser in the world, which leads them to be hated by their co-workers. You get one person who gets lucky by getting an entry level postition in the industry and makes a b-line to the boss with a pair of kneepads. If you think the only way to get anywhere is to backstab and kiss ass, then you have the completely wrong mindset.

 

[pilonv1]

I'd agree with that. The magazines developed in this country are pretty woeful, and there's a bit of backlog of writers vying for a small number of articles.

Yet people who can't write a decent review to save their lives still take up most of the spots. If only I had the money to run my own mag

Even if you do, it's pretty hard. You have to kiss a lot of arse, which is essentially more than its worth, given that you're going to get paid peanuts.

I wouldn't say that, but you need to know people to open doors for you. And then you get the articles no one else wants and wait three months to get paid. Then you hear nothing for six months. Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[GDJustin]

My two cents is that you'd be better off going the sony-only route. Sony sites are vastly under represented on the net.