GamesRadar
 | |
Type of site | Video game website |
|---|---|
| Owner | Future plc |
| Website | http://www.gamesradar.com/ |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional (free) |
| Launched | 2005 |
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future plc (including Future US). Jointly with another video game related website CheatPlanet, GamesRadar receives approximately 3.25 million unique visitors per month.[1][2]
The website is known for its combination of a professional yet comedic approach to video game journalism, publishing numerous articles and videos for comic effect besides the usual video game related news. The website also produces a popular weekly podcast for download from iTunes that recaps the week in news in the video game industry and articles published on the site.
Format and style[edit]
GamesRadar publishes numerous articles each day, including official video game news, reviews, previews and interviews with publishers and developers. The tone and writing style of the site more than often takes a comedic approach towards their articles, sometimes complemented by imagery, videos and links. Additional articles are written purely for comedic purposes or satire, humorously detailing certain aspects of games or video game conventions. One of the site's most longstanding and popular features is their "Top 7" lists, a weekly countdown detailing both positive or negative aspects of video games themselves, the industry and/or culture.[3]
The PC section of GamesRadar was at one time organized by the gaming magazine PC Gamer. The magazine's official U.S. website, PC Gamer Online, formerly redirected to GamesRadar before establishing its own host site. GamesRadar also features articles and reviews from other gaming magazines, such as NGamer and Xbox World 360, among others, also a part of the Future publishing name. Reviews listed on Metacritic written by GamesRadar editors are subtitled as "in-house" to avoid multiple scores from the same publication being listed. Despite featuring US and UK editors, all articles are presented together on the main site to both audiences.
Originally games reviewed on GamesRadar were rated on a 10 point scale, with 1 being the lowest possible score and 10 being the highest. At the end of each review, three of each game's biggest pros and cons are listed. For highly anticipated games, super reviews are, usually, written instead of a regular review. Super reviews are similar to the site's regular reviews, however they are written more like a feature, and less like a straightforward review. At the end, the reviewed game was compared to 3 similar games and a "Just for you, Metacritic!" quote is listed at the end of the review; a short sentence that summarizes the review and is used on Metacritic. The "Just for you, Metacritic!" line has been replaced with "For those who skipped straight to the end" recently. In spring 2012, the site underwent a redesign along with a new review format. While the three pros and cons are still present, games are now scored out of five stars. In addition there are no longer super reviews but instead video reviews embedded in the article that outline in detail the three pros and cons listed.
Podcasts[edit]
TalkRadar[edit]
| TalkRadar | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Chris Antista |
| Genre | Video gaming |
| Language | English |
| Length | Approx. 120 min. |
| Publication | |
| Original release | May 19, 2008 – February 11, 2012 |
| Provider | GamesRadar |
| Website | http://www.gamesradar.com/ |
Search GamesRadar on Amazon.
Since May 19, 2008 the site had put out a weekly podcast every Friday known as TalkRadar, which has quickly become one of the site's most popular features.[4] The hosts discuss that week's Top 7, feature articles published on the site, recent game releases, game deals, and a community based segment where they read out answers from users to a "question of the week" on their forums and recently began playing back phone calls from fans. The podcast is presented by Associate Editor Chris Antista, with other lead hosts including Brett Elston and Mikel Reparaz, among other editors from the website periodically also as hosts. The podcast has also had guests from other video game websites or magazines including Brad Shoemaker (Giant Bomb), Veronica Belmont (Qore) and Jim Sterling (Destructoid). In smaller instances, the podcast has also interviewed non-video game related figures including musicians and public speakers. The podcast has been made available for download from their main site and iTunes.[5]
Starting in May 2011, the show switched to a biweekly format, with two shorter episodes being released on Tuesday and Friday. However in September 2011, they announced they were returning to one show a week. Following TalkRadar 198, the podcast had been put on hold, reportedly having a change in format. The show continued the be on hiatus since until the announcement and release of its successor RadioRadar in Summer that same year. Mikel Reparaz, Brett Elston and Chris Antista have since left GamesRadar yet regular hosts and guests went on to produce an independently made podcast called Laser Time.
RadioRadar[edit]
| RadioRadar | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Hollander Cooper |
| Genre | Video gaming |
| Language | English |
| Length | Approx. 90 min. |
| Publication | |
| Original release | August 16, 2012 – present |
| Provider | GamesRadar |
| Website | http://www.gamesradar.com/ |
Search GamesRadar on Amazon.
Following the long hiatus of TalkRadar, a follow up and successor to the podcast was released on August 16, 12 titled RadioRadar. The podcast is hosted by Hollander Cooper who had previously appeared regularly on TalkRadar, with current regular guests Henry Gilbert (another TalkRadar regular), Lucas Sullivan and Tom Magrino. While the format is generally the same including the top 7, new releases and community-based segments, interviews with developers and other figures in the video games industry is now a recurring feature, along with a different less-comedy centric tone than TalkRadar. The podcast is released every week both on the GamesRadar landing page and on iTunes linked to the same subscription of the previous podcast but now titled "RadioRadar".
TalkRadar UK[edit]
Following the success of the GamesRadar US podcast, the UK team also launched a weekly show. Rather than copy the format, the GamesRadar UK team formed an audio show to complement the original.[6] On August 3, 2011, TalkRadar UK posted its 100th, and last episode. However, they ancounced at the same time that they would be returning in a month with the "The GamesRadar UK Podcast," which would "mix things up a little and hopefully breathe new life into the gaming podcast genre."[7]
Community Offshoots[edit]
On August 14, 2008, it was announced that the British forums would be closed down and merged with the American forums. In response, some of the members of the British forums launched their own forum, cloning the original structure, look and feel, and slogan "Games + Stuff", named GRcade. Made up of Future Plc magazine and GamesRadar.com readership, the community continues to sustain itself and currently remains the only directly related community site noted for its own occasional breaking news.[8][9]
References[edit]
- ↑ GamesRadar and Cheat Planet readership tops 3.2m // GamesIndustry.biz
- ↑ Future plc
- ↑ "GamesRadar Top 7 Compendium". Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ↑ "TalkRadar Compendium". Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ↑ "TalkRadar at iTunes". Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ↑ "TalkRadar UK Compendium". Retrieved 2010-10-10.
- ↑ "TalkRadar UK Episode 100: Done and Dusted". Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ↑ Sony closes WipEout developer Sony Liverpool
- ↑ GRcade.co.uk Forums - Games + Stuff
External links[edit]
This article "GamesRadar" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
