New Video Game website by yours truly

I have been a bit quiet on these forums for the last few months. Have been really busy at work (we relaunched our website a couple of weeks ago) sop to wind down I decided to start a new gaming website - http://www.binaryjoy.co.uk/.

I wanted to post about it here for two reasons...

1. I'd love some feedback on the design & layout. There are a number of sections that aren't finished (and I'm mostly aware of theme) but any comments you have are good.

2. I am looking for people to write on the site. Eventually I hope to share advertising money with the various authors but currently the site makes nothing so there's little point promising anything just yet. BTW Quicksilva (Jason) has already written a couple of the reviews you see on there.

The site is a games news site. The idea is to only write about good games (hence the name). Obviously good is subjective and that's part of the reason I want a variety of authors for the site. Different people like different games so it would be great to get a wide range of perspectives.

The link again is - http://www.binaryjoy.co.uk/

I'm interested in point 2. Lemme eat some lunch and think about it... btw, click the blog link in my sig to see my writing style. Writing is an area I'm looking to expand in, and I love games - so your site is of some interest to me.

Just checked out the site in more detail. It could be a good place to keep checking up on game news so I've bookmarked it. I really don't like the white on green at the bottom of the page and the tags section is practically unreadable.

So will you be posting Indie game news or just mainstream game news? I'm pretty interested in the Indie side for obvious reasons.

Re: Miniclip, I never knew you worked for them until you re-launced the website recently. They must have a huge turnover...

I'm interested in any games that are enjoyable. They can be indie or commercial. Free or paid, I don't mind what as long as it's fun.

The white on green - I've been thinking about swapping that for the darker green used elsewhere, the light green was going to be used in more places than it is. I'll have a play.

Miniclip - been working there nearly two years now. The turnover is pretty good although I'm a developer - not an accountant so I don't know figures. The work is enjoyable and I get to play lots of games :)

I'd love to have you on board if you want to write - there's no obligation on the amount of posts you make but obviously as the more the better :)

If you want in then just drop me an email - ben at binarymoon dot co dot uk and I will set you up with an account. You already know wordpress so things should be easy for you to jump right in.

A bit of eyecandy (screenshots, game art etc.) wouldn't go amiss on the front page. Just something to breakup the text.

screen shots would be great - I've just been too lazy to add any :)

OK Ben, I'll sort it out later, thanks. As for screenshots, do you think you need permission to reproduce them or not?

I`ll make sure to get some new stuff up soon Ben, just had a really hectic couple of weeks. I`ve got lots to add :)

Jason.

Grey - I don't think people will mind using screenshots to advertise their games. If you mean grabbing screens from other websites then I'm not so sure. I reckon in general it will be ok, but I intend to add a little credits section to any page that uses screenshots that weren't taken by one of the authors.

Jason - I'm looking forward to seeing what you write next :)

its a good website I didnt know most of the stuff on the front page and I was interested in some of the stories.
Id prefer a sidebar like they have at gamespot

Slunkar - thanks. I'm not sure what you mean by making the sidebar like the one at Gamespot though? Sure theirs is different, but I don't see the point in copying what someone else has done when my content is so dissimilar. Which elements do you think I should copy?

I've made my first post about Indie Game Portal Subscriptions. It awaits moderation (I guess) :-)

It's live :)

Nice site Ben :-D

Just to let you know that the Features Feed link takes you to the same link as the Game News feed. I think it's supposed to go to http://www.binaryjoy.co.uk/channels/features/feed/ - which works fine.

oops - thanks for pointing that out Alan. I added the features bit in about 5 minutes jut now. Will sort it out properly when I'm not at work.

I'm not a big fan of fixed width align left layouts, but other than that the layout is pretty good, nice and clean.

One tip, since the site degrades well already and is reasonably accessible, it wouldn't hurt to give your links titles (especially the main menu items) and also the search box. This will aid those who are sight impaired (not just the blind) and if properly titled, will also help with SEO.

Also a good idea is to put some default text in the search box.

do something like:

	<form action="#">
		<label for="search-query">Search</label>
		<input type="text" name="search-query" id="search-query" value="Search this site..." title="Search this site..." onfocus="if (this.value==this.title){this.value='';}" onblur="if (this.value == ''){ this.value=this.title;}" />
		<input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" value="go" class="button" />
		</form>

Perturbatio - thanks for the comments

Technically the title element isn't needed since the link is text but I guess it wouldn't hurt to add it.

I don't like default text in search boxes since it requires extra user interaction to use the box (delete the text) and since there is already a search label next to the box it seems unnesseary (and would read search search)

Looks crisp and clean :) - Personally though, for fixed width sites I prefer them centred rather than stuck to the left hand side. It makes it neater (for me) on large resolutions.

That's why there's javascript in the code I posted, so that all they do it click in it and it will wipe it for them

Your reviews section should have a rating system. And all reviewers should be required to use it. Rate the games 1 - 5 or more detailed 1 - 100 or even better, 1-20 on graphics, sound, multiplayer, playability, overall for a 1 - 100 score...

That way the reader doesn't actually have to read through the entire review to get an idea about what the reviewer thought of the game.

Here's something that I find interesting.. This is what it looks like when I view the page..

Yes I was wondering if we should be putting values on the reviews. The only thing with this, is as a budding reviewer I'm a bit "scared" of rating things with my limited experience at doing this. However, I guess I can only get better...

Kanati - I actually have reviews score code all set up but the css messed up the layout so I removed the it. Once I sort out the styling I'll be adding it back in.

Chad - doh - I hate IE. I've implemented a fix but haven't tested it. The problem is you have IE set to use a font size other than the default.

Grey - There will be the option to add a score to the reviews added later (probably this week). I'll mail you when I add it in.

New review of Skuba in Aruba, an underwater platform game, added:

http://www.binaryjoy.co.uk/?p=28

Hi I just thought a sidebar might improve the website because I was reading through the headlines and kind of felt 'lost' and couldnt be bothered scrolling all the way up to the top