www.gamepowerup.com down

[alexp999]

Suppose, but Hexus does all right, and that covers just about anything techy and gaming.

[Bluefox1115]

It just has to be done right.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by alexp999

Suppose, but Hexus does all right, and that covers just about anything techy and gaming.

Honestly I don't like Hexus's layout at all. It does cover a lot but it also looks all crammed together. If I want to know something about games, I go to a site like egm, gamepro or gamespot. Those sites have focus, are clearly laid out and are written by "journalists" that know their games.

[alexp999]

I dont like the forum layout, but it works great as a place to catch up on just about anything in the Tech and gaming world.

[Sasqui]

Originally Posted by erocker

I think if a gaming site is done right it could be big enough to constitute it's own site. From a business perspective the more popular sites you have the better. Much more than cramming it all into one site. TPU is great, and it has a focus. The more and more different things that are added the more focus it can lose.

TPU is organic and brilliant at the same time. Organic isn't something that happens on purpose, brilliance either. Put them together and they form something more.

[CDdude55]

Kreji said it was going to be down for some reason.

[Kursah]

Looking back on the last...what almost 1.5 years that GPU! was actually up and running, I think it was started all wrong. I think GPU! should be formed off of the basis of a simple thread section here on TPU, not just a sub-forum, but it's own section. Split it up to Consoles, Handhelds, PC, whatever, keep it fairly basic. See how it grows and is reacted to here, as a lot of TPU members will be and were the major visitors to GPU. I would rather see it at this point and an extra mod or two enlisted to help keep that area peaceful and in order. Members here post reviews and comparisons all the time on all sorts of hardware, overclocks, performance comparisons, etc. So that saves TPU from needing to pay anyone, but allowing a more rewarding and showing positive attention wouldn't hurt for a member that did a truly good job.

I think that's how it should've started in the first place, instead of a seperate site, Gaming having it's own section would work out very well here, many overclockers, pc builders, many TPU members are gamers, not just on PC but consoles, providing a little area to let them discuss that here will provide them one more plus to TPU Forums itself instead of having to go somewhere else to discuss it or not wanting to donate to the Games subsection as-is. I think allowing it to grow a little here could go a long ways into a future release and production of GamePowerUp! in a fashion that won't be half-baked like the last version was. Being honest the layout, how the reviews were supposed to be done, the overall feel of GPU! was too much TPU!, the biggest difference being how posts looked in the forum...too small to matter overall. Don't get me wrong I was proud to be a part of it, but it was never going to go anywhere in the way it was started and left as. But adding one more section here and keeping it within a limited constraint of a small handful of subforums would be a huge positive imo.

[alexp999]

Originally Posted by Kursah

Looking back on the last...what almost 1.5 years that GPU! was actually up and running, I think it was started all wrong. I think GPU! should be formed off of the basis of a simple thread section here on TPU, not just a sub-forum, but it's own section. Split it up to Consoles, Handhelds, PC, whatever, keep it fairly basic. See how it grows and is reacted to here, as a lot of TPU members will be and were the major visitors to GPU. I would rather see it at this point and an extra mod or two enlisted to help keep that area peaceful and in order. Members here post reviews and comparisons all the time on all sorts of hardware, overclocks, performance comparisons, etc. So that saves TPU from needing to pay anyone, but allowing a more rewarding and showing positive attention wouldn't hurt for a member that did a truly good job.

I think that's how it should've started in the first place, instead of a seperate site, Gaming having it's own section would work out very well here, many overclockers, pc builders, many TPU members are gamers, not just on PC but consoles, providing a little area to let them discuss that here will provide them one more plus to TPU Forums itself instead of having to go somewhere else to discuss it or not wanting to donate to the Games subsection as-is. I think allowing it to grow a little here could go a long ways into a future release and production of GamePowerUp! in a fashion that won't be half-baked like the last version was. Being honest the layout, how the reviews were supposed to be done, the overall feel of GPU! was too much TPU!, the biggest difference being how posts looked in the forum...too small to matter overall. Don't get me wrong I was proud to be a part of it, but it was never going to go anywhere in the way it was started and left as. But adding one more section here and keeping it within a limited constraint of a small handful of subforums would be a huge positive imo.

Thats how I fell it needs to be,

Oh and 2 posts till 5,000 and Custom Title

[r9]

Originally Posted by erocker

Game previews w/video
Game reviews (possibly video reviews)
News/Headlines
Stories
Editorials
Hints/tips/codes etc.
Separate sections for PC, PS3, Xbox360, etc.
Downloads (patches, demos, etc.)
Editorial Awards

It needs to be entirely different from the layout at TPU (just opinion), It's going to take a lot of staff/writers/journalists?, just look at other game magazines/sites...

You just described gamespot.com .

[erocker]

Originally Posted by Kursah

Looking back on the last...what almost 1.5 years that GPU! was actually up and running, I think it was started all wrong. I think GPU! should be formed off of the basis of a simple thread section here on TPU, not just a sub-forum, but it's own section. Split it up to Consoles, Handhelds, PC, whatever, keep it fairly basic. See how it grows and is reacted to here, as a lot of TPU members will be and were the major visitors to GPU. I would rather see it at this point and an extra mod or two enlisted to help keep that area peaceful and in order. Members here post reviews and comparisons all the time on all sorts of hardware, overclocks, performance comparisons, etc. So that saves TPU from needing to pay anyone, but allowing a more rewarding and showing positive attention wouldn't hurt for a member that did a truly good job.

I think that's how it should've started in the first place, instead of a seperate site, Gaming having it's own section would work out very well here, many overclockers, pc builders, many TPU members are gamers, not just on PC but consoles, providing a little area to let them discuss that here will provide them one more plus to TPU Forums itself instead of having to go somewhere else to discuss it or not wanting to donate to the Games subsection as-is. I think allowing it to grow a little here could go a long ways into a future release and production of GamePowerUp! in a fashion that won't be half-baked like the last version was. Being honest the layout, how the reviews were supposed to be done, the overall feel of GPU! was too much TPU!, the biggest difference being how posts looked in the forum...too small to matter overall. Don't get me wrong I was proud to be a part of it, but it was never going to go anywhere in the way it was started and left as. But adding one more section here and keeping it within a limited constraint of a small handful of subforums would be a huge positive imo.

^^
Your always wonderful logic has me agreeing with you!

Heh, perhaps I'm thinking a bit ambitiously.
vv

Originally Posted by r9

You just described gamespot.com .

[Bluefox1115]

lulz. We should move to flash. It would be pretttttttty.

[btarunr]

Here's a TPU subsidiary with everything in place: http://www.generalnonsense.net

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by alexp999

Its called Techpowerup.

I dont see why there needs to be more than one site.

If the Gaming section grows, then PS3 360 Wii, etc sub-forums can be added, much like the ATI and NVIDIA subforums.

Nah, a growing website needs to diversify extensively, not intensively. Intensive growth is often bad as it has too many (kinds of) users to display too little (kinds of) ads. Gamers being shown a "Dangerden waterblocks" ad is less productive in comparison to segregating the audience, letting a Techpowerup show Dangerden, and a Gamepowerup showing a World of Warcraft. Look at how Gameconnect.info, Gamingheaven.net were carved out of Techconnect and Driverheaven. They're both successful/doing good now.

[alexp999]

I have never heard of either, only gaming sites I know and use are

Gamespot
Gamespy
Gamefaqs
IGN
Teamxbox

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by alexp999

I have never heard of either, only gaming sites I know and use are

Gamespot
Gamespy
Gamefaqs
IGN
Teamxbox

Your not having head of them does not disprove/invalidate my point. The two have plenty of banners and have existed for some time now. The core argument remains that on the long run you can't keep inflating a predominantly tech website with game forums. TPU has never been used for professional game reviews (beyond PC gaming, into consoles, etc.), the sole purpose of GamePowerUp was that, and merely adding forums to TPU doesn't/can't take its place.

[Kreij]

I really miss GPU. Taking out spammers always put me in my "happy place"

Anyway, I had several conversations with W1zz and the biggest issue was what he posted early. The "vision". How does one create a website that stands out, and is unique, amongst the 2,512,145,534 other gaming web sites.

I asked W1zz what he thought made TPU unique, different and successful.
His response...

first the radeon softmod
then all the databases, case gallery
high quality reviews
unique software

I think that GPU could do as well as TPU, but there has to be something to make it stand out from the other gaming sites. The big sites are funded by parent companies (usually) and they have a large staff to keep their information current and continually flowing. Trying to start a "grass roots" gaming site is damn hard, and I applaud everyone who pitched in to assist.

I was the only one posting news on GPU (with some help from my mentor, Bta ) and I was spending hours finding relevant news, searching for the original sources (sometimes impossible to find) and trying to get pictures to accompany the article (which was also sometimes extremely difficult without just taking them from another gaming site). I had to resort to just posting press releases many times simply because of personal time constraints. Many of you have no idea how much time is involved simply getting the latest news.

The above being said, I am not complaining. I thoroughly enjoyed modding GPU and would do it again in a heartbeat. The people who did frequent GPU were always helpful and relatively well behaved (and I am sure it was their personal attitudes not the threat of a massive banstick waving over their head )

As a programmer, I am currently changing my focus to try to come up with some unique software for gaming/gamers that could be used as a catalyst to revive either GPU or the gaming portion of TPU. If any of you have any idea, please let me know. Coding is easy, ideas are hard to come by.

All of you have excellent ideas, and I think that if we work together to formulate a cohesive vision for what we want to see on the gaming side of things that W1zz will consider reviving GPU in some manner.

Thanks everyone!

[FordGT90Concept]

Well, I do have all my "unique" software for making games easier to play like the Monkey Kombat Solution Calculator and Fallout 3 Save Editor. Or a work around like the Test Drive Unlimited Launcher. There really is no place these sorts of things really belong but they are helpful.


Problem is, the necessity for such apps is rather infrequent simply because of the sheer variety of game engines out there. It isn't like the radeon softmod where one general program would work on hundreds of thousands of graphics cards. There's simply too many players in game developement for that to be feasible.

Maybe it would be possible to make a 3rd party game configurator for UT3 engine? That would be useful and have a lot of scope but I doubt there is much demand for such an application.

[Kreij]

I understand what you are saying, FGT, that is why I've been giving a lot of thought to applications that are not game specific, but would assist gamers in a more general way.

[FordGT90Concept]

Well, seeing as FO3SE got over 4000 hits, I think that may have hit a nerve. :O

What was unique about it is it allowed players to get more skill points to make the game more enjoyable and less frustrating. It does something the game wasn't intended to do but players want it. It may be viewed as a cheat but because it is a single player game, it really doesn't matter.

It also helps that FO3 is very popular by itself so there is a huge base of users that could use it.

[Kreij]

Game specific apps are great and many times a godsend to make up for shortcomings in the game itself. They will be useful for as long as people are playing a particular game. I was just trying to think of something that would be useful to gamers no matter what game they are playing.

[FordGT90Concept]

The only things I can think of there lie in the constants of computers and games: the graphics card, CPU, memory, and audio device. If there is a way to drastically improve any of those underlying functions, it would improve all games played on the system. I don't have enough knowledge on their inner workings to begin to create ideas on them though.

[Bluefox1115]

how about a better formulated way of using game and app profiles other than the nvidia control panel. like a stand alone program that lets you change game profile via hotkey?

[farlex85]

What if the forum was somehow built into some sort of flash game interface of some sort. I don't really know enough about programming to get detailed, but maybe something like second life but simpler. Going to the site would be a game in of itself, users earn points and such for useful posts and get rankings (somewhat like thanks here), but it involves more than simply reading and pressing quote buttons (did we discuss this at some time?, I'm feeling a bit of deja vu) and of course the topics of discussion would be gaming. I'm not even sure if something like that is possible, but it would be different.

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by farlex85

What if the forum was somehow built into some sort of flash game interface of some sort. I don't really know enough about programming to get detailed, but maybe something like second life but simpler. Going to the site would be a game in of itself, users earn points and such for useful posts and get rankings (somewhat like thanks here), but it involves more than simply reading and pressing quote buttons (did we discuss this at some time?, I'm feeling a bit of deja vu) and of course the topics of discussion would be gaming. I'm not even sure if something like that is possible, but it would be different.

I do like the concept but I also recall research (we're talking like 1994-1996 research here ) where that has been done before (virtual schools, virtual libraries, and other things of the sort). It ended up not being what customers desired because they'd rather just click and be done with it. At the same time, we are talking a gamer audience and a game-based website may offer a lot of advantages with some RPG elements especially (gaming equivalent of a post count heh). I think since the audience already loves that kind of stuff, it would actually work out great so long as it is intuitive and easy to use.

Also, I think Flash isn't the way to go. It should be an OGL or D3D application that streams information via TCP or UDP from a server. The game would be your browser.


Hell, Microsoft might even want to jump on that one if it is D3D/XNA based but then that limits your clientele. I think they expressed interest in the original virtual library/school in order to demonstrate to the masses what D3D can do. I'm thinking 3D vs 2D GUI.


It's a shame I never worked with D3D or XNA. My expertise is class definitions, file formats, and the things of the sort.



Personally, I don't think it would be very hard to drop kick Second Life out of the business. It is great on the concept front but absolutely hideious on the execution.


And if this is all in a game anyway, what's to stop mini-games from being added to the system which are unlocked as a reward system.

[FordGT90Concept]

Another idea would be an app to make it easy to find cd/reg keys on a system. EA for sure would be easy; I'm not sure about other publishers. Of course, it would in no way be harvesting them--just let an administrator view them incase they lost the case/insert.