Information About ™Gamespot |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GAMESPOT | |
| 1996 establishments | |
| cnet websites | |
| internet forums | |
| video game websites | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
GameSpot is a Website that was launched in June of 1996 by Pete Deemer , Vince Broady , and Jon Epstein . At launch, the site focused exclusively on PC games. Its sister site, videogamespot.com, was launched in December of that year to cover console systems. In 1997 , videogamespot.com became videogames.com for a short while, and by 1998 , the PC and console sections were united under the GameSpot banner. GameSpot presents Video Game and PC software and hardware reviews, previews, downloads, news, and information and is regarded as one of the premier gaming websites on the Internet . After starting out on its own, GameSpot was purchased by ZDNet . Later, ZDNet was purchased by CNET Networks , which currently owns GameSpot. GameSpot is one of the most popular gaming review websites on the Internet. In 2004 , GameSpot won "Best Gaming Website" as chosen by the viewers in Spike TV 's second ''Video Game Award Show''. On October 3 , 2005 , GameSpot adopted a new look similar to that of TV.com , now considered a sister site to GameSpot. The redesign was intended to make the overall interface better and more efficient. MAIN SITE GameSpot's main page has links to latest news, reviews, previews, portals to specific platforms ( PC , PS2 , PS3 , PSP , Xbox , Xbox 360 , GameCube , Wii , Nintendo DS , Game Boy Advance , N-Gage , and Mobile ), and other sections and features as well as the list of the most popular games on the site. It also includes a search engine for users to track down games of interest to them as quickly as possible. For users who choose to become registered members of the site, there is also a section on the main page which keeps tabs on updates to their tracked games, rewarding them immediate updates to games which hold their interest. GAMESPOT SUBSCRIPTIONS As of February 21 , 2006 , GameSpot discontinued the GameSpot Complete service. It now maintains two premium membership services: Total Access and Gamespot Plus. Total Access is essentially a replacement of GameSpot Complete, as it is the same price of $5.95 per month or $39.95 per year, and offers the same basic benefits. According to GameSpot, Total Access offers "all the features of GameSpot Plus ... plus high-speed downloads, no ads, subscriber only contests and betas, access to all GameSpot tournaments, and discounts on games and accessories." The second premium service, GameSpot Plus, is a new, less expensive, intermediate level. According to GameSpot, this gives subscribers "high-res movie streams and downloads, downloadable game guides, and access to all live-event coverage, including participation in live, staff-moderated chat." The most notable difference of these premium services is the lack of GameSpot Complete's 10 percent discount at EBGames.com. This is likely the result of the EB Games-GameStop merger, and unrelated to the change in GameSpot subscription services. FEATURES GameSpot has separate sections for the current most popular consoles, as well as for the PC platform. There are other separate sections for various features such as reviews, previews, news, cheats, videos, tech, and downloads. GameSpot is well known for its original features, such as "GameSpotting," a conglomeration of staff editorials usually posted on Sundays, but was replaced in June 2005 by a new feature called "Freeplay," a daily editorial in which a GameSpot editor writes about games, beginning his or her editorial with the last paragraph of the previous editorial. Other popular features include "On the Spot," a weekly live video show, hosted by editors Rich Gallup and Ryan MacDonald. "The HotSpot" is GameSpot's own Podcast in which various GameSpot editors discuss different issues and news stories in the gaming world. In 2005 a feature called "Today on GameSpot" was introduced along with the redesign of the site. It is very similar an older feature, now no longer running, "Let's GameSpot." Sections of "Today on GameSpot" include "The Rorie Roundup," which gives tips and hints on the latest games; "That's Fresh," which details the newest releases; "The Last Word," a Friday feature hosted by GameSpot News that recaps the week's biggest gaming-related news; "The Lowdown," which describes downloads on the site; and "Top Notch Games," which names GameSpot editor's favorite games (often being inducted into the Greatest Games Of All Time ). REVIEWS AND RATING SYSTEM In January 2001 GameSpot introduced video reviews for games, which have become very popular and are released for all major games and those that the editors believe deserve special mention (for example, the very worst games). Reviews are arguably the most important feature of the website, as people trust GameSpot editors to give an objective judgment. GameSpot has a detailed guide on-site for the purpose of explaining their exact reviewing policies, as well as answering frequently asked questions about their reviews. All games are judged on five different categories: Gameplay, Graphics, Sound, Value, and Reviewer's Tilt. Each category is assigned an Integer score from one to ten, and these five integers are combined using a weighted average to arrive at an overall score. Should the game score at least 9.0, it is designated as "superb", and given "Editor's Choice" recognition. Although many games achieve this status each year, only four in GameSpot's history have ever gotten a perfect ten — '' is the only game to have ever received a 1.0, the lowest score possible. The same games are also compared between systems, which often results in differing scores being given to the same game, usually due to the inherent strengths and weaknesses of each platform. METROID PRIME: HUNTERS REVIEW GameSpot is particularly infamous for its review of . A review with a score of 8.6 was originally put up criticising the game for having only one mode playable online, as well as certain glitches. However, all 7 multiplayer modes are playable online with the use of "friend codes", and the glitches mentioned were actually supposed to happen. The errors were quickly edited. The revised review criticised the game for other reasons, and the score remained unchanged. MESSAGE BOARD COMMUNITY Originally, GameSpot's forums were run by ZDNET followed by Lithium. GameSpot uses the meta-mod semi-automated moderation system for the community which is maintained by appointed moderators. These volunteers help the paid employees of GameSpot in keeping the forums under control. There are more than 50 current GameSpot moderators, of which "AnonymousBroccoli" (formerly known as "DeviousBroccoli") is the longest running, beginning his position in January 2002. One distinct feature of the GameSpot community is the ability of GameSpot Total Access users to create their own board, which may be open to the public, or restricted only to posters on the friends list of the board's creator. These user-created boards (UCBs for short) have their own board moderators, and HTML scripts on the top of their forum page, making them extremely customizable to the needs of the community. Also, all users have access to creating or joining what is known as a "Union". A union consists of a UCB which is attached to an editorial front, as well as a union homepage with news bulletins, member's lists, etc. This functionality allows users to express their opinions in an organized form to like-minded individuals. One particular fad that originated on GameSpot's forums, specifically the "System Wars" board, is the use of animal epithets to describe forumers with an allegiance to a certain console-making company.
Other, more rarely used terms include "Panda", a fan of all genres of games, "Hedgehog", a fan of Sega, and "Wombat", a Gizmondo fan. Name merging has arisen also, such as "Shemmings" for people who prefer both Nintendo and Microsoft. Also a new Sub-Faction has been created - named "Mantisheeps". They are supposedly people who like all consoles, and do not have a dislike for any console and/or company, but prefer Nintendo over the other Companies. This has sparked a bit of controversy , as people have stated that they can not like all consoles equally, and must have a dislike for one paticular company. The Founding Mantisheeps have denied these statements. These terms are all widespread amongst all of GameSpot's forums now, and other phrases such as "The Sheep Have Been Owned" (often shortened to "TSHBO") have resonated as a result of these animal epithets. In GameSpot's 2005 April Fools joke, the editors acknowledged the forum joke by putting a picture of each animal in the banner on the homepage of each respective system. They also changed their site tagline to "Where games go to FLOP", an acknowledgement of some forumites' claims that any game that receives a score under 9.0 has flopped, although forum veterans normally prefer saying that a game only flops if it doesn't meet its hyped score. GAMESPOT 2005 REDESIGN GameSpot's fairly new design has attracted some controversy from the forumites who were members before the change. Many users claim that the new design is horrendous because of the lower screen resolution, constant glitching, and decreased forum activity, though these are not all of the complaints the new design has attracted. The redesign happened in October of 2005, and the forums were down the longest of all the features on the website. When they returned, however, they were filled with bugs and code not running correctly. Since then, the GameSpot developers have been hard at work creating fixes. As a result of this, many users have come to believe that GameSpot does not really care about its forum users, but merely their satisfaction with the website. GAMECENTER GameSpot's newest service, GameCenter, allows players to host their own servers, chat with their friends, and play an assortment of PC games online with players all around the world, all while tracking users' stats (i.e. how often they played, how many Frags they achieved, etc.). Currently, the price is $50/year, which includes a year long subscription to GameSpot Complete. As well as hosting servers for GameCenter's users, GameCenter hosts servers for GameSpot's monthly tournaments, which included most recently the the Fear!" , a F.E.A.R. 5 versus 5 Capture the Flag tournament which featured a $1,250 prize to the winning team. The current GameCenter has no relation to the original GameCenter , which CNET Networks ran from 1995 to 2001 as a competitor to GameSpot. Shortly after CNET Networks acquired ZDNet and GameSpot in 2000 , the original GameCenter was folded. As of March 6th, 2006, the GameCenter subscription service is a part of GameSpot Total Access. As a result, GameSpot is discontinuing support of the GameCenter client, but will continue their tournament events for Total Access members. REGIONAL VERSIONS GameSpot UK GameSpot UK was started in October 1997 by Ian Howie and Asher Rospigliosi. The site operated until mid-2002, offering Europe centric content which often differed from that of the US site. In 1999 GameSpot UK won the PPAi (Periodical Publishers Association interactive) award for best web site - beating both FHM and NME. Following the purchase of ZDnet by CNet the site was merged with the main US site. Recently CNet announced that the GameSpot UK site would be relaunched, it opened on April 24 , 2006 . GameSpot UK , News article NOTES |