Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?

[Annette]

Welcome to our forums War_Oberst and thank you for posting. I appreciate your thoughtful input and have taken it under advisement. Perhaps I should have held my tongue as my odd sense of humor often leads me to trouble

I was hoping to make the point that TheGamingNews will be very straightforward about it's relationship with Shrapnel Games and avoid practices which may be misconstrued as self-promotion. I was quite baffled by the title of this thread and "Beverly's" perception that TGN was somehow similar to The Wargamer. TGN is intended as a vehicle for Indie Developers and Indie Gamers to come together. It will not focus on any particular genre and will include coverage of games which are self-published. Sometimes these games don't get a fair shake in mainstream press and are often reviewed by writers who are familiar only with AAA titles and may overlook the value of niche games.

[Gandalf Parker]

PLEASE take this as purely a hypothetical answer:
But IF a gaming mag had a slight tendency to provide more reviews about certain games, then it MIGHT gradually affect the redership which keeps returning to it, and it MIGHT slew the votes abit to a foregone conclusion. In fact, since such sites specialize in certain types of games that will oviously be true anyway so certain companys will have an advantage depending on how many of that type game is in their catalog.

Personally I dont read wargamer very much because those arent my kinds of games. Most of the articles dont interest me (strategy yes, war not so much). I AM interested in the new mag site since I am very interested in independents that are developing games. Im hoping this is NOT a site where WarGamer will be the obvious "other choice" because that happen if it becomes another site with a tendency to notice war games over other types. We will see how far across the spectrum they are willing to travel. No, make that able to travel since I believe in their willingness. If they can stretch it as far as... hmm what? Childrens teaching games? Maybe Moraff's games which my wife loves. Oh I know, a writeup on the game "Tranquility". Thats about as opposite from a wargame as it gets.

[Dave Erickson]

Will Shrapnel's magazine review ALL new games on the day they are released (to heighten the impact on sales), or just Shrapnel's own releases? What I'm asking is whether or not there will be timing coordination between the magazine and ALL publishers, or just some?

(Oops, this post shows up as a response to Gandalf, but it's really to anyone who cares to answer.)

[Gandalf Parker]

By description its supposed to be just about the indies. And I do tend to believe that is what is planned.

Of course a couple of things have to be fought to pull that off. One is that they need to get writers on board who can work on that goal. Another is that they need to find the indies (hence the pre-announcement and a call for contact by any indie developer/publishers). And finally, anyone involved in the project might have to consciously make an effort not to give hints about their own personal preferences.

"Shrapnel" is a great name for a publisher who has their eye on the marketing niche of indie developers doing strategy wargames. And they have done a great job of it. Im not sure if widening their publisher coverage would be good or not. I certainly wouldnt feel pressed to recommend it. So there is a slight dilemma in that we have Shrapnel who obviously loves and actively develops strategy wargames, backing the new magazine for covering all indie products.

They will have a rough go in the early days gathering material. And they will obviously have a wealth of information on their own games, their own developers, and some side surfing on the interest of their own genre. Yet they cant rely on that wealth of material without seeming to have created a biased magazine.

Anyone who believes in their sincerity and wants this project to succeed, feel free to pitch in. Even if its dropping little tidbits of names for your favorite indie developers. Better yet, pitch the mag to indie developers and have them contact the mag for inclusion.

[JDC]

Which indies have you contacted so far?

[War_Oberst]

Annette said:
Welcome to our forums War_Oberst and thank you for posting. I appreciate your thoughtful input and have taken it under advisement. Perhaps I should have held my tongue as my odd sense of humor often leads me to trouble

(Forgive my English, I go to school in Texas at Rice University and am from Indonesia. I speak well enough but never coud type it well. Papers give me a headache to write them. I glad I'm not English major heh heh.)

I appreciate your reply Annette. I understand your point of view and can see how it makes some sense to a extent, but a sense of humor like that may just make you seem less objectiv. I know Matrix is heard of having spent money on the Wargamer site but I think thier writers are doing a decent job...sure matrix make the gold award (whatever it was) for publisher of the year, but Matrix publish lots of wargames, perhaps with appeael to more peopel in a wargame crowd. Their audience = wargame peopel who eat and live it.

No offence to shrapnel at all because you make good stuff to, just not in same area (make sense??). WWII, it seem, is matrix Specalty and lots of game made in that area. You game like Dragoon and BCT/Tiger are very specific and not broad in general covering a timeperiod of war. 82nd I have highe hope for and look forward to it. Just need $ to get it.

Anyways my point is tat wargamer seems to do more mainstrem stuff that appael to broader audihence where as yours are good yet appael to those with narrow taste. I hope this is clear.

I was hoping to make the point that TheGamingNews will be very straightforward about it's relationship with Shrapnel Games and avoid practices which may be misconstrued as self-promotion. I was quite baffled by the title of this thread and "Beverly's" perception that TGN was somehow similar to The Wargamer. TGN is intended as a vehicle for Indie Developers and Indie Gamers to come together. It will not focus on any particular genre and will include coverage of games which are self-published. Sometimes these games don't get a fair shake in mainstream press and are often reviewed by writers who are familiar only with AAA titles and may overlook the value of niche games.

I am relative new to these Games like this, have played not long of late but schoolwork and programming take up more time than I care to give. I read a lot of books but I go a little slow to make it sink. But maybe I am not knowing what games You mean. What small companes do 'niche' games??? I have not heard of any except in game mags.

I will be honest again, I see HORSE and think it looks cool, but a freind say it is just MULE all over again. What is MuLE, I asked, but he said it was done in almost twenty years ago. Why remake this??? I hope not many are like this because origenality is more important than rehashing old Ideas.

Again tanks for your reply and I look forward to more.

War_Oberst

[Annette]

War_Oberst said:
What small companes do 'niche' games??? I have not heard of any except in game mags.

I will be honest again, I see HORSE and think it looks cool, but a freind say it is just MULE all over again. What is MuLE, I asked, but he said it was done in almost twenty years ago. Why remake this??? I hope not many are like this because origenality is more important than rehashing old Ideas.

War_Oberst

There are many, many companies out there developing and publishing niche games. And you've found the mission behind TheGamingNews: to bring attention to those games not usually covered in the major magazines. In the meantime, you may wish to visit the Independent Games Festival website for more informatation about indie games.

No, not all indie games are remakes of older games. You may find it interesting to read A Note from the Designer in which Todd Gillessie specifically explains why he was inspired by M.U.L.E. to make Space HoRSE. And there's always our free downloadable demo so you may see if the game is right for you prior to making a purchase.

JDC said:
Which indies have you contacted so far?

I'm not the person heading up the process but my understanding is we're still collecting contact information from those who have responded to our press release. We have been very pleased with what we've heard so far. If you know of a developer or publisher who is interested but not yet been in touch with us, please ask them to send us their contact information using this form.

[JDC]

Will do. Jeff Lapkoff and Naval Warfare Simulations come to mind.

[Annette]

Thanks, Jim. I've talked to Chris at NWS. I'm not sure about Jeff.