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Games Entertainment

Ain't It Cool Announces Game Site 228

Posted by CowboyNeal from the busting-out dept.
Remik writes "Harry and the folks over at Ain't It Cool News are looking to do for video games what they've already done for cinema. The announcement is not exactly well received by Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade. Great, another place to go complain about Duke Nukem not being out yet." AIC has been a neat site for movies, it'll be interesting to see how well their expertise extends to games.
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Ain't It Cool Announces Game Site More

Ain't It Cool Announces Game Site

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  • AICN + Bandwidth (Score:3, Funny)

    by FortKnox ( 169099 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @01:54PM (#5168242) Homepage Journal
    I just love the fact that they don't plan on killing half their bandwidth in a cost-cutting move, like some websites I visit *cough*

  • This is great. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Captain Rotundo ( 165816 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @01:55PM (#5168249) Homepage
    A site to "do for games" what AICN did for movies? so its going to be a terribly designed site with horrid fonts and colors, filled with wild speculation and fanboy style worshipping ? Thats exactly what the entire gaming community needs, more crap. I can't wait.

    • Re:This is great. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Golias ( 176380 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:24PM (#5168396)
      Well, to be fair, that's not all they do.

      I'm sure they will also post poorly-written reviews that only express polar extremes (either "it gave meaning to my life" or "the producer should be gang-raped and murdered"). They will also say "fuck" a lot because they think it makes them "edgy."

      Also, look for Harry cameos in the shittiest of shitty low-budget games, followed by Harry ripping the movie in his review to show how much integrity he has.

      Oh, and "spoilers" for the more popular game franchises. Now you can be the first to know what the ending cut-scene movie for "Grand Theft Auto 5" is going to look like. Whee!

    • Re:This is great. (Score:5, Funny)

      by rodgerd ( 402 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @04:23PM (#5169100) Homepage
      I'm more concerned it'll do for Harry what AICN has. The more hits AICN gets, the more pounds Harry puts on. A gaming site could be the cause of his first obesity related coronary.
    • what AICN did for movies

      I agree, that's about the most daming praise I could imagine.

  • woo! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 27, 2003 @01:58PM (#5168261)
    That's exactly what's been lacking in the industry, a video game site with 84 pt fonts.

    • Re:woo! (Score:3, Funny)

      by Happy Monkey ( 183927 )
      Don't you mean:

      woo!!!
      That's exactly what's been lacking in the industry!!! a video game site with 84 pt fonts!!!

      • Re:woo! (Score:5, Funny)

        by Flamerule ( 467257 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @05:09PM (#5169417)
        Don't you mean:

        woo!!!
        That's exactly what's been lacking in the industry!!! a video game site with 84 pt fonts!!!

        No.

        You see, for your post to have been funny, it would have had to use, as the originator said, "84 pt fonts!!!". He was not slyly mocking the use of bold and italic highlights, but AICN's use of very large font sizes.

        So, in conclusion, I don't think your post succeeds at "jumping on the bandwagon" of the originator while working through the constraints of /.'s allowable HTML tags. Good effort, though.

        • After reading this thread, I had to go check the site. It is really bad. Maybe someone should tell him that when you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing...

  • Like Fat Babies then? (Score:5, Informative)

    by eddy ( 18759 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:01PM (#5168273) Homepage Journal

    Some competition for Fat Babies [fatbabies.com] then...

  • AICN is crap. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Skyshadow ( 508 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:02PM (#5168277) Homepage
    If AICN was ever useful, it sold out a long time ago. Now it's just useless cheerleading for movies in an obvious effort to get the "editors" invited to screenings and whatever.

    Or am I the only one who remembers the infamous "Meesa love [Jar Jar]" review?

    • Re:AICN is crap. (Score:4, Funny)

      by filth grinder ( 577043 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:19PM (#5168360)
      Exactly.

      Their reviews are now almost as bad as their site layout.
      Hello AICN? 1994 called and they want their site design back.

    • Re:AICN is crap. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by simong_oz ( 321118 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:21PM (#5168378) Journal
      nope, you're not the only one. I never understood where the fuss about that site came from/started. And the reviews were, for the most part, rants about something or other and gave away the entire plot.

      Not to mention that the site was completely unreadable. I've seen some very simple, elegant sites, but AICN was NOT one of them!

      still, somebody got very famous from it ...

      • Re:AICN is crap. (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Getting invited to a lot of sci-fi conventions and one appearance on "Politically Incorrect" is not famous. Ask 20 people on the street who Harry Knowles is, and they won't have a clue.

        A fat slob of a geek did get famous for his small web site that became much bigger than he had ever hoped... but his name is Matt Drudge, not Harry Knowles.

    • Re:AICN is crap!!! (Score:5, Funny)

      by matthewn ( 91381 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:54PM (#5168543)
      At least on AICN, you can tell how important a posting is by how many exclamation points follow it!! We should totally do the same thing on Slashdot!!!
      • After trying to be funny I discovered /. limits the amount of ! you can have in one post.


        Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
        Reason: Your comment looks too much like ascii art.

        Now when the "Duplicate Story" filter is added we might have something here..

  • There's already a superior choice... (Score:5, Informative)

    by imac.usr ( 58845 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:04PM (#5168283) Homepage
    For a real movie scoops & news page with an accompanying gaming site, check out Coming Attractions [corona.bc.ca] and their sister site, Test Pattern [testpattern.net]. It's been up for several months already (CA has been around for over six years), features timely reviews of the latest games, and best of all, both are actually designed to be readable by humans instead of Harry Knowles wannabes.

  • I think it will be a good site. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Viewsonic ( 584922 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:13PM (#5168322)
    People that review these games today never slam them as hard as they should. Hopefully the reviewers will be totally honest when they write about the games and just bash the living crap out of the stinkers. And hopefully when games make massive booboo's (Like Everquest devs telling their complaining fans to shut up and buy their expansion to fund their sports car payments..) it will get some MAJOR press and force these halfwits to watch what they're doing a bit more closely. There may be hundreds of gaming sites out there right now, but no one has ever had the press "pull" Harry gets. Kudos to the computer gaming industry having to get their act together or get blasted into oblivion through a major media outlet.
    • Yeah, those everquest bastards!

      <DOBBY MODE>
      Must not talk badly about everquest.
      Hitting self repeatedly in head
      </DOBY MODE>

      Sony & Verant would never do something like that. They are good!

      Please mr. Everquest man, he didn't mean it, don't take my account away!

      (Nonsense rants from an everquest addict)
    • Ya, the only fierce competitor would possibly be Gamefaqs [gamefaqs.com]. Sadly, that place is becoming overrun with 14 year old trolls who think GTA:Vice City is the greatest thing next to sliced bread.
    • As the owner of a video game site and as a reviewer, I can say that many of these so-called "reviewers" are more enamored with continuing to get free games to review or worse yet, to continue to sell ad space, than in bashing a horrible game. GamezCore.com was founded on 100% independence... and many times we pay for that independence, literally. Often we have to purchase games, due to bad reviews of certain companies. When a bad game comes past my desk, I make it known... and all of our reviewers are just as free to make a true judgement of a title - good or bad. It comes down to $$$, and if you want 'em you have to play by the rules. There are still some of us who value truth over the greed though. Just not too many.

    • Re:I think it will be a good site. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 27, 2003 @03:15PM (#5168671)
      Heh. Once, I slammed Sega's horrific Phantasy Star Online hard, and it still apparently wasn't enough - judging by the drooling fanboys and girls who sent me angry e-mail bordering on death threats. (Bring it. My real life(tm) armory is more effective than your l4v1z c4nn0n, d00dz!!!!)

      Aside from adventures in idiocy, I discovered something. Among the many e-mails with poor spelling and what I can only assume to be truly extraterrestrial dialects, there were a few people who applauded my review. (They then spent months e-mailing me about stuff. Including one guy whom I had a few good discussions with about classic gaming.)

      People want real reviews. They're tired of the turds that float on the current gaming sites. Present day reviews tend to either insist a game will give you real live orgasms, or they complain that a game 'sucks' because 'it isn't like (insert favorite game here)'.

      Reviewers, get your acts together. Tell us *why* you think it sucks. Give facts to back up your arguments. Sure, give us the good along with the bad, but for the love of Bob, don't be afraid to say, "This game is possibly the worst piece of software ever written. Small children would flee in horror from it, while their mothers would weep pitifully." Again, just tell us *why* you think that.

      (No one likes, 'omg this game iz teh sux cuz i r stupid idiot hoo didnt read da manyel 'n i culdnt figgur out how 2 launch teh sooper mega explozion atak!!!')
      • I like gamefaqs for reviews. There's almost always 1 person who gives a high mark and another that gives a low mark. I'll read at least both of those (and then usually a few others) to get a feel for a game.
  • Mh, from the preview homepage, looks like they hired the same webdesigner as for the well-known website. I'm really looking forward to new stupid Harry-oriented GIF animations.

  • Excellent (Score:5, Funny)

    by mao che minh ( 611166 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:13PM (#5168332) Journal
    I wonder how his 102 point fonts will look in KDE, which is running on my hacked X-Box?

  • some thoughts (Score:4, Insightful)

    by pummer ( 637413 ) <spam&pumm,org> on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:16PM (#5168342) Homepage Journal
    The movie industry is different from the video game industry. For one, video games bring in much more money. For another, a video game site needs different things than a movie site. Will there be codes? How about a forum for people to meet up who want to play? How 'bout a game-rating forum? This has the potential to be good, as long as it's not just a cut rate forum.

    • Re:some thoughts (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      For one, video games bring in much more money.


      They do? Yes, I've heard that the gross for games sold exceeded box-office by a piddly amount (well, piddly in comparison, something like 7.6 billion vs. 7.7), but that doesn't include rentals, home DVD/VHS releases or overseas. The total isn't even close, not yet anyway...

    • Re:some thoughts (Score:5, Informative)

      by MisterFancypants ( 615129 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @06:19PM (#5169882)
      The movie industry is different from the video game industry.

      This is widely reported... and wrong. Yes, the entire game industry pulls in more than the theater BOX OFFICE of the movie industry. Meaning.... if you don't include video rentals, video sales, pay-per-view and cable fees for showing movies. Also the 'game industry' numbers include sales of console hardware (the actual XBOX, PS2, GCN, GBA, etc sales) whereas the movie industry does NOT include sales of movie-related consumer electronics (DVD players, VCRs, etc).

      Just sayin'

  • I hate to say it but... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by natron 2.0 ( 615149 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `97sretepdn'> on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:17PM (#5168347) Homepage Journal
    Ok so if I make a site devoted to movie reviews it then gets noticed, then I get invited to many advanced movie screenings and get to meet the stars...
    Then I think I can do the same with a site devoted to video games so I can get all my games free without needing to download them from warez sites...
    Somewhere along the lines I think they have lost thier original mission and are now out for themselves and not the fans. Besides do we really need ANOTHER website devoted to video games?

    • Re:I hate to say it but... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Good point.

      I rarely ever visit AIC due to thier biasness and terrible layout. Hell, I rarely visit PC game sites either, I still prefer the age old hard copy magazine format. No mater what we do though there will always be biasness in the reviews. I really think this is a bad move on the part of AIC it just seems like they are youing thier name and capital to get more free stuff. Shame.
  • I'd kind of like to see other niche sites be ported to the world of video games. For instance, imagine a Jump the Shark [jumptheshark.com] site about games and game developers. And imagine a game series that shot itself in the foot by introducing Ted McGinley [imdb.com]! That could be another good way to amuse myself on my employer's time. Any other sites that would serve well if it's main ingredient were games?

  • Penny Arcade is the worst comic I ever read. Tycho and Gabe are stupid characters. A couple of stoners who spout dumb-ass catch-phrases like a third rate 'Cheech and Chong' or 'Bill and Ted'. Fuck Tycho and Gabe. Fuck them up their stupid asses.

    P.S. Please, please let there be some Kevin Smith fans amoung the moderators.

  • Maybe Harry should learn to write coherent sentences before he moves on from his current enterprise.

  • AICN (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TheRealFixer ( 552803 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:18PM (#5168355)
    I agree with the Penny Arcade comic. AICN comments attract the absolute lowest forms of Internet life in existance. We're talking lower in the chain than 14-year-old AOL girls here.

    That, and the fact that it's perhaps the ugliest "popular" site on the Internet. From the lovely "baby poop brown" color scheme, to the 800 pt. Ariel font used whenever Harry speaks. It just screams "hype".

    AICN is the movie industry equivilent of the game-review/preview genre: Sellouts with no journalistic intergrity, who are just looking to keep the free "exclusives" flowing by pumping out as many hyped-up positive reviews as possible. And now, what do you know! AICN is actually moving into the game-review/preview genre!
    • We're talking lower in the chain than 14-year-old AOL girls here.

      They may be 14-year-old AOL girls, but they're GIRLS. That gives you bonus points in the "chain", if I recall correctly.

  • Journalistic Integrity (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kabir ( 35200 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:18PM (#5168357)
    Since the fellow behind Ain't It Cool News has repeadedly admitted that he's enhanced, or, on occasion, simply made up a fair number of his so called "scoops" I find the site pretty much useless. There's absolutely no reason to believe what it says unless it's been confirmed somewhere else, so what's the point? There are already plenty of gaming sites out there in the world, and while they seem to have difficulties getting accurate information out of publishers, to my knowledge they don't just make stuff up.

    I guess I have to share Gabe & Tycho's reaction: no, it ain't cool.

  • WHO CARES!?! -- Slashdot's jumped the shark... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by the_skywise ( 189793 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:20PM (#5168370)
    Geez, this is what passes for INFORMATION on Slashdot anymore?

    What about Slammer?

    What about Gates announcement today promising to do something about security... now... really...

    What about Kasparov beating Big Blue 2?

    What about Gates giving a paltry 200 million to "cure" diseases for the poor? (Don't look at that Slammer worm... lookee here)

    I mean, c'mon... what's the purpose of forwarding an announcement that AICN is going to review games!? Trolling for advertising revenue again? Hoping to get the movie studios to advertise here? Why not start a movie review section on Slashdot?!?

  • AICG (Score:5, Funny)

    by M3wThr33 ( 310489 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:21PM (#5168377) Homepage
    Maybe now all the crappy games might get fans!
    "GUESS WHAT? DAIKATANA 2 IS IN THE MAKING. I CHECKED IT OUT AND IT'S BAD-ASS!"
    *shudder*
  • GamezCore.com has all the user interactivity of Slashdot, with a true community feel. It is built around 100% independence from corporate bias, and brings late-breaking news to thousands of hardcore gamers daily. http://www.gamezcore.com

  • Sorry to say this but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cioxx ( 456323 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:22PM (#5168389) Homepage
    AICN nerds make Slashdot nerds look like Puff Daddy.

    • > AICN nerds make Slashdot nerds look like Puff Daddy.

      You mean like exceedingly wealthy stuck-up, self-important assholes? I dunno if I want that label. Except for maybe the wealthy part.

      -JC
  • AICN can be useful but it's often to get the gold from the dross. Coming Attractions is also a good site. If you'd like a good site with excellent reviewers, message boards and informed folks from both sides of the screen, try http://www.chud.com. I've been going there for a couple years now and the folks never fail to provide insight into movies and trends. The message boards aren't nearly as shrill as AICN, so you can actually discuss movies without engaging in "You suck!" arguments with some fanboy.
  • Having never heard of AIC before I cann't make a fair opinion, but going on what other people have said its likely to be another sub-standard gaming site just like the internet doesnt need. News sites of any kind require quality editing and integrity, not made up stories.

  • This will work (Score:5, Insightful)

    by porkface ( 562081 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:24PM (#5168394) Journal
    Tycho compared this to the bottom of the internet barrel. It's a kind of slimy Drudge style of reporting that won't be able to provide 2 separate reliable sources for most of its reports, and yet I don't really mind. I can separate in my mind a rumor from news. We often criticize sites like this for lacking journalistic integrity, but they often make no bones about the fact that they're simply doing the best they can.

    Moreover, I don't want to spoil movies before I see them. But when it comes to inside info on games, I do want to know some things ahead of time. With the way game development schedules are often stretched to infinity, with no word to the anxious public, it'll be nice to have developers tattling on their tight lipped bosses. I mean, when can I expect the sequel to my favorite game (H&D)? I may want to pick the right moment close to its release to purchase a new $1500 machine. That's not something I'll do for the movies, and I feel cheated everytime a company won't admit they're having problems.

    Tribes 2 came out way before it was ready (stable, fast, fun). I guess the market taught them a lesson in the end, but had the discord among the developers been more public, management wouldn't have tried to ship a broken game.
    • Drudge? Slimey? How can you possibly compare this hack to Drudge? The only thing listed in 80pt font on Drudge's page is his headline. His stories are accurate more than 95% of the time. He doesn't cuss and he doesn't suck up to the entrenched news industry. Infact, the only similarity is that they are an internet based news source.

      And screw Dynamix. Tribes 2 pissed me off for exactly the reason you described. Those 'Unhandled Exception' bugs pissed me off so much I cracked the disk and it'll be a frosty game in hell before I run right out and get another Dynamix product without INTENSE scrutiny.
      • Slime is not a product of font size. Drudge does NOT follow the 2 sources rule, and I doubt Walter Kronkite would approve. I know I don't. But I will say he's no worse than CNN.

        Dynamix was not at fault for Tribes 2 sucking. They made a great game, even if it wasn't great until 6 months after it was released. Sierra's management pushed it out the door early despite the waving arms and plank walking of most of the developers.
        • Yah, Tribes as a concept is awesome. I loved it when i could play it, but coupled with such horrible management... I'll need at least a 50ft pole to touch their product next time...

  • No thank you! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Cranky_92109 ( 414726 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:26PM (#5168402)
    ...do for video games what they've already done for cinema

    Does this mean I can expect reviews that are 90% about the reviewer's long melodramatic anticipation of a game, how he feels about his chair and how the controller he is using brings back memories of his childhood?

  • Just like Penny-Arcade said... (Score:4, Funny)

    by rosewood ( 99925 ) <<ur.tahc> <ta> <doowesor>> on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:27PM (#5168410) Homepage Journal
    This comic [penny-arcade.com] made me start my own Harry Knowles is a stupid fucker jar. I think I have to put $1 in for this move!
  • AIC has been a neat site for movies, it'll be interesting to see how well their expertise extends to games.
    Is CowboyNeal feeling OK? One wonders WHAT IS HE THINKING? I would hesitate to say that AIC has ANY expertise...

  • Well the reason (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TerryAtWork ( 598364 ) <research@aceretail.com> on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:32PM (#5168436)
    That AIC forum blows is that they haven't implemented a /. like moderation system.

    All the First Post L337 d00dz messages don't sink like a stone like they do here.

    • EXACTLY!!!

      aicn needs to have threading and moderation. Then it'd be interesting to read a site that is not 1000 posts in no particular order, but rather threads made up of 30-50 CONVERSATIONS!
    • That AIC forum blows is that they haven't implemented a /. like moderation system. All the First Post L337 d00dz messages don't sink like a stone like they do here.

      At first I thought there would be a stampede of trolls from here to there so that they can post all their lame messages. Then I realized that if it weren't moderated, they wouldn't feel like they were rebelling, and the novelty would wear off. They wouldn't have a "cause" to fight against (evil admins).

      Of course, how do you tell the trolls from the actual posters at AICN? I thought I remembered that site, it is the one that gave EpisodeI a good review. I knew then that I would never visit that site again.

  • Oh Great!!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by TedTschopp ( 244839 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:33PM (#5168438) Homepage
    Oh great... Now bad journalism... ellipses... and OTHER wierd Capitalizations, and speeeling mistakes will be further intagrated into the Internet Culture.

    Oh, and not to mention selling out to promote a product.

    Someone should do a parody site of AICN and call it Isn't it Cool. And run the same news Harry runs, but with corrected grammar, spelling, and a good design.

    I'm sure it would be a hit.
    • Someone should do a parody site of AICN and call it Isn't it Cool. And run the same news Harry runs, but with corrected grammar, spelling, and a good design.

      I've already condensed all the useful information from AICN into an easily navigable site. Check it out here [about].

  • Uhm, Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by OS24Ever ( 245667 ) <trekkie@nomorestars.com> on Monday January 27, 2003 @02:54PM (#5168544) Homepage Journal
    The last thing I think of is Harry Knowles is a great gamer. Sure, he may get some fun insider stuff for movies, but his reviews are in like 90 pt fonts and rather worthless on most mainstream films.

    Can't exactly see him getting people pumped up about the next big game like he does movies either. What's next, Butt numb-a-thon includes a lan party for 24 hrs locked in a room? please.
  • Well, I guess if cursing and juvenile antics are a sign of expertise, then you hope should be fulfilled. AICN is just about the most pointless, poorly designed website I've had occasion to visit.

    Even the articles they do post are generally slavish, bootlicking odes to bad film.
  • ...media review site to move into game reviews on top of movies/TV.

    Rottentomatos.com has been doing it for a little while now.

  • Didn't Gamespy corner this market? (Score:5, Funny)

    by sielwolf ( 246764 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @03:05PM (#5168623) Homepage Journal
    I thought Gamespy.com had already cornered the market in crappy masturbatory game reviews. Hell, they're even going in the opposite direction by getting into crappy ill-informed boring articles on movies [gamespy.com]! AICN will have to sink to new lows if it plans to top a group who admit to not seeing movies they review.

    Fight!

  • So we can look forward to this? (Score:5, Funny)

    by rhkaloge ( 208983 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @03:06PM (#5168627)
    Hey there Tru Believers! Just got this missive from Underground_Troool about the latest going ons at EA. Seems they can't keep their grubby little hands off the sports games. Personally, I think it will suck, but read for yourself!
    - Harry

    Hey there Harry-poo! I just got back from my latest underground venture into the Mordor that is EA Games. Cleverly dressing as a pizza delivery guy, I made my way into the bowels of their Manhattan offices. Man, you should SEE the computers they got in this place! I was only able to get a glimps, but some of the code on this one guys screen made it look like Madden 2004 will be AWSOME! And lots of the programmers were wearing red shirts - real fans of EA will know what THAT means! Well, off to dress up as a phone repair man for next week. Over and out!

  • so what? (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by EvilStein ( 414640 )
    "The announcement is not exactly well received by Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade. Great, another place to go complain about Duke Nukem not being out yet"

    Who cares? Should we stop making gaming sites because Gabe & Tycho at Penny Arcade might not like it? Come on.. who cares?

    This sounds like petty high school behavior to me.

  • Enter: Another hangout for the fanboys (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tom Courtenay ( 638139 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @03:18PM (#5168695)
    The forums will degenerate into childish tomfoolery.

    SamusGrrl: Metroid Melee Fox rawkz!
    Halo3l33t: OMG, If you're 12.
    SamusGrrl: MS Gearbox is big. LOL.

    The fact is that IGN is the best source of videogame news out there. Not only do they have an exceedingly well-designed (functional) site, but the editors are generally informed and objective.

    It's worth the annual fee that IGN charges its "Insiders", in my opinion. Nowhere else on the web can you find such competent & comprehensive coverage of the video game world.

    99% of the gaming sites out there are run by teenage fanboys who balk at competing systems & blindly praise the one they've chosen. While I welcome another gaming site, I'd be surprised if this brings anything new to the table.
    • Sorry, are you going to the same IGN I go to? Ad-laden biased IGN? There's been numerous occasions when I've read a preview for a game there (after closing the eighty pages of interstials, flash ads and popups) that lauded the game as being the next best thing. Then the review ON IGN going on about how the game is a massive disappointment. Sorry, but IGN's more of a marketing spin machine than anything else.
      • I don't think that's fair.

        Ads are an unfortunate reality in today's "for-profit" web sites. They're paying real editors, web developers & writers to come up with that content (and bandwidth!).

        As far as the previews go, they're bound to be positive. The whole purpose of a preview is to find out the feature set & "cool tricks" that a game has to offer. Look at Superman for the Xbox; it looked fantastic in previews. It ended up being a terrible game, and was panned in the reviews because of it. I think you'd have a valid point if the site was heaping praise on terrible games, but they call it squarely 95% of the time.

  • Great, More Worthless Reviews (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Great, so now instead of just poorly written, contentless reviews about movies, we can also have poorly written, contentless reviews about games too?
    Am I the only person here that thinks that Harry Knowles is a total raving fanboy with no journalistic integrity?
    • Am I the only person here that thinks that Harry Knowles is a total raving fanboy with no journalistic integrity?

      No you're not the only one. AICN is just utter fanboy wank of the worst order. I'm horrified that Knowles is now rearing his ugly head (literally. Big misshapen fat head with a very stupid looking straggly beard. Eeuwww!) in a film programme on Sky One. The adverts in which he appears make me dash for the remote before he pops up. A real face for radio and a voice for silent movies, that guy has. Sickening.

  • Ain't It Cool News? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Daetrin ( 576516 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @03:30PM (#5168753)
    That sounds familiar, are they the ones i'm thinking of? [checks site]

    My eyes! My eyes! The goggles do nothing!

    Dear goddess, please don't do the same thing for games, please?

  • ...I thought that this [aintitcool.com] was a webcam. I guess that was just wishful thinking. Sigh.
  • Daikatana rules all.

    WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT a GREAT game. I have never seen something as COOL as this game. Blah blah blah side story blah blah blah obscure inside reference blah blah blah worship aforementioned product.

  • Begin template of AICN review page.

    [Parameters: FONT_SIZE=WayTooLarge, FONT_COLOR=Garish, TONE=Mewling, UUT=(name of movie/videogame) under test, CONTRAST=Pure_Black&White]

    [Insert boiler plate detailing pathetic life up until this point].

    [Drop names of semi-famous person I once drooled over when I was swabbing floors at some store/theater/sex shop.]

    [Mention UUT title for first time in 35 pages of text]

    [If OPINION=POSITIVE Then

    [Insert glowing review proclaiming UUT to be the simultaneous second coming of Christ, Allah, Lenny Bruce and the Iron Giant.]

    Else
    [Insert scathing review that compare UUT to Satanism, terrorism, botchilism and John Teshism.]

    End If

    {Scatter random cusswords because people who swear incessantly are KULE!]

    Toss in random digs against unrelated things]

    End Template

  • so will this new games site be as innovative, world-changing, dynamic, and incredible as AICN's other non-movie/TV project, Voices [aint-it-cool-news.com]?
  • But the idea of AICN doing a games site seems like they just want to throw money away. I've known Billy "Wicked" Wilson for many years (from way back in his VE days), and the market for the gaming site is very much dwindled. There was a time when any ass-monkey (Billy's words) could put up a site and actually make some money on it (Hell, he was making some serious cash), but that time has now gone.

    Even his aborted return (www.gaminggroove.com--which may still see the light of day) which would have nuked VE and Bluesnews (and the Shack), even with Billy's name attached (call him what you want, he had some pull and name recognition), was going through some problems.

    I seriously doubt that the AICN dudes know what a mess they're getting into.
  • Dark Horizons [darkhorizons.com] is the best movie news site I have found so far.

    If you know of a better one. Post it so I can bookmark it.

  • Why? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Angry Black Man ( 533969 ) <vverysmartman@ho[ ]il.com ['tma' in gap]> on Monday January 27, 2003 @05:37PM (#5169622) Homepage
    Why would anyone go to an AIC when there are hundreds [bluesnews.com] of [shacknews.com] better [ve3d.com] sites [ign.com] ? [gamespy.com]

  • not just the forums (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Hellasboy ( 120979 )
    It's also the content... and the layout.

    When they had their "Superman" script expose, did anyone notice how fast they got rid of their story and immediately became WB's bitch boy? Somebody said it earlier, the site is just a chance for their editors to get into the biz of writing scripts for major studios. One of their editors wrote a review, and in some supposedly 'scoop' another reviewer wrote how great the script will be (/is so far). Would you believe a guy who is reviewing movies from a movie studio, who is also trying to get in the business with that studio? Of course not... I don't think 1 thing will change.

    I hope the gaming community ignores the new gaming site. We don't need a compromising fuck face who will back down at any sign of money being involved on a layout that will stay the same for 8 years (its called re-investing in your business, look into it).

    MICROSOFT MAKES THE BESTEST PRODUCTS
    SCOOP!!!: ORIGINAL N64 SUPERMAN REMADE ON XBOX: ITS NOW LIKE 10X BETTER THANKS TO THE SUPERIOR PEOPLE AT MICROSOFT!

  • Competition needed for gamespot. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Performer Guy ( 69820 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @07:43PM (#5170419)
    This is good news.

    Gamespot has bought up most good game sites and closed them with a redirect to their page and then locked most of their content so only subscribers can see it, even screenshots that are just given to them by publishers. It's high time they had some competition, any competition even from ain't it cool news.
  • But then I realized that I was thinking of the Rotten Tomatoes [rottentomatoes.com] website. :)

    Imagine, if RT had a game review site, or, really, meta-review site, you'd get a collection of reviews from a wide range of famous and obscure reviewers, along with links to official websites and freebie "trailers" and desktop pix, etc.

    No reviewer would be ranked higher than any other, so the first-glance-trending would probably not be as skewed. It would give everyone more information in one location, and plenty of obscure reviewers would get their chances at many more eyeballs.

    Speaking of movie sites, while RT has reviews, IMDB [imdb.com] is the place for more encyclopedic information. IMDB also has videogames on it, but that section is woefully underdone right now. If everyone would pick a game or two and double check the information, as well as link to FAQ sites as fan sites, it would become a lot more useful for game research needs. Submit some reviews, as well, and if you don't get what you want out of it, suggest ways to improve the site.

    I don't subscribe to or work for either of these sites, but I do feel that if both of these were to jump with both feet into game reviews and information, we wouldn't have to hunt through as many different sources to start searching for infomation we need.

  • I Hope (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Snaller ( 147050 ) on Monday January 27, 2003 @10:50PM (#5171580) Journal
    they will take more care when designing that place, so that its actually readable if you don't have perfect vision (Notice how MSIE users can't change the font size because of bad stylesheet usage)
    (Yes you might say its MSIE thats bad as well, but it is the standard)
  • Here's a picture of CowboyNeal [cowboyneal.org] and here's a picture of Harry Knowles (AICN). [cnn.com]

    They're bloody identical twins!

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