Memorial weekend is a great time to relax, enjoy the company of friends and family, and of course play games.  Gotta love the three day weekends!

New GGE Features:

This week we introduced the Anticipation Meter for games that are currently unreleased.  This way your friends can know how excited you are about the impending release of a game rather than rating a game you’ve never played.  That didn’t make much sense now did it?  We didn’t think so either.  So we’ve done something about it.

Look for this image when you are browsing around the games and show your anticipation!

Games on GGE:

Here on GGE you may have heard, seen or even played a little game called Space Trader.  Well they’ve undergone a complete makeover of their website and I must say it looks quite shiny.  I suggest you check out the demo and if you like it, pre-orders are available through their site.  Remember you’ve got at least 3 days this weekend to check it out. 

Site News:

As you have probably noticed, the Great Games Experiment is now well over 10,000 users.  iamthefox being the 10,000th person to create an account.  You can read more about the accomplishment here.  Thanks to everyone that has signed up and is helping to make GGE a success.

Keep a lookout next week for some new site features, I won’t tell you what it is yet, but it looks really cool so far. 

Have a great three day weekend everyone.

Well I don’t know about you guys but this week went by really fast for me.  Time for the Friday Round-Up. 

Let’s start with new features:

The sweet new Widget and Screenshot Modules

If you haven’t noticed it yet you’ve either been hiding under a rock or simply missed Sean’s blog post about “Spicin’ Things Up!“  That’s alright if you aren’t in the know…I’m here to help.  Basically, this new widget is a way to show off your gamelists around the web, in fancy flash fashion.  All you need to do is head to Gamelist Central, create a gamelist, fill out all the good stuff, and when you’re ready to publish, just copy the embed code and paste everywhere imaginable.  It’s sure to catch people’s eyes.  That’s mine.

The new screenshot module is just as cool looking.  Head to pretty much any game page and you’ll see what I mean.  For the lazy people here’s a link to Cat With Bow Golf.  For the extremely lazy people here’s a screenshot of the screenshot module.

Games:

Speaking of Cat With Bow Golf, Play It!  It’s got a somewhat ridiculous name but it’s actually quite fun.  Here’s a link to the Play Now! section so you don’t have to work to find it.  Cat With Bow Golf is a physics based game where you shoot an arrow towards a target and the cat is dragged along.  I like it.  Oh yeah, feel free to post scores here or in the comments section, so far I’ve got -32.

Miscellaneous:

Lastly I wanted to inform everyone of a new group that has started up on GGE.  Aptly named The GGE Clan, the plan is to play games with the awesome people of GGE.  Hoping to start servers up this summer with Tribes, Tribes 2, and America’s Army, but I’m sure we’ll be open to suggestions for other games as well.  So join up and let’s play!  How’s that for recruiting. ;)

That’s about it this week.  I’m sure I missed something this time, but I don’t know what it is.  Enjoy your weekend.

So there’s been a lot of action going on lately around GGE.  Let’s get started with all the goodies.

First the Navbar has been redesigned and added a Gamelist section header.  Now it’s easier to get those gamelists set up — and there’s more features with the Gamelists coming soon, very cool stuff.  Keep your eyes peeled.  

Speaking of Gamelists, you may have noticed the featured gamelist on the front page.  It changes daily, so if you want to be on the coveted front page all you have to do is create a good gamelist with comments and we’ll sniff you out and get you your moment.  

One of the newest cool features that has been integrated into the site recently is the News Feed in your account page.  Now you can see what’s happening with your friends, the games that you’ve bookmarked, groups, and multiple other areas of the site all in one easy to find location.  You can even subscribe to the news feed as it churns out an RSS feed.  Get updates from anywhere!

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Finally, one little update that should make everyone’s lives a bit easier.  The help tab has made it’s way back to the navbar!  In the form of a question mark you can have most of your answers about GGE solved very quickly.  And don’t worry, we’re working on making the help docs even more comprehensive with tips and tricks to get your games out there and how to navigate the site in general.  Oh yeah, the home tab is now a house!  Yup, that’s about all I got for now.  Have a good weekend everyone.

The Great Games Experiment is a great place to come and play, but it is also a very useful tool. Developers can use this site to promote their games, find contacts, and interact with the very gamers that are most interested in their games. So, we would like to highlight one of the many features that can help you get your game out there: Any game page can also be used as a subdomain. Your subdomain is simply “gametitle.greatgamesexperiment.com.” You can use this to link people to the game page quickly and easily, and it looks a bit more professional than the normal www.greatgamesexperiment.com/game/gametitle. For instance, you could use this domain on a business card or on any printed materials that you send out with your game.

The GGE game pages offer you a home for your game. There are so many different ways you can configure the page that nearly all the information and media that you would like people to see, can be seen. We are currently working on a help document to give a little more information on how GGE can be used as development/promotional tool, and a good one at that. Many sites host games with no face behind them, we have some of those too, but are dedicated to providing a space for those who wish to get their name and games out there to do so.

An example so you don’t forget, the url: http://monkeyisland2.greatgamesexperiment.com will bring you directly to the Monkey Island 2 game page. Quick and easy.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Ahhh, it’s good to have another Friday roll around and even better to have a blog. It’s been a busy busy week for the makers of GGE. Lots of new additions with more to come soon. So let’s dive into what’s been going on around the site.

Firstly, we’ve got the new sharing of badges for games and users. It’s now easier than ever to grab those game and user badges and post them on your own blogs, forums, and other websites.
Full story here.

You may now notice that when you click “Play Now” for any given game, that you are taken to a view that looks different than before.

You can now rate the game right while you’re playing it! Also included are quick links to the game related pages.

The new Recommendation Engine also provides you with games that others have enjoyed. Read the full announcement here.

Gamelists are here with a vengeance. It’s now easier to create the lists and share them. Head to Gamelist Central to get started. Once you’ve got your list made you can view other people’s lists that contain the same game. In addition modules have been added to the bottom of game profiles so you can easily find similar games and gamers that also like that game.

Finally, there has been a complete face lift in the look of the different sections on the site. Check out the games section to see what I’m talking about. Fancy!

Finally, just wanted to drive a little traffic over to a blog that we’ve found written by Weefz about the Great Games Experiment. Check it out!

And that about wraps it up. Enjoy your weekend.

You may have noticed the new Gamelist Central that Sean mentioned a couple of weeks ago, if not you can read more here and visit GameList Central. There have been even more additions to the Gamelists. When hanging out in Gamelist Central and creating your Gamelists you’ll notice a small eye icon next to your created Gamelist.

After clicking that little guy you’ll be brought to the Gamelist view.

You’ll also find a new module at the bottom of the game pages. This module shows Gamelists that feature that particular game in the list. If a game isn’t in any Gamelists yet, you’ll be notified and given the option to add the game to your Gamelist. Here’s what to expect at the bottom of a game page that belongs to a Gamelist.

So what does this all mean? Gamelists are another way to find games that may be similar to those that you enjoy playing. They may also bring you to someone’s page that enjoys playing similar games that you enjoy playing. That’s what GGE is all about anyway, finding new games and connecting with people that have similar interests in gaming. We’re trying to make this process as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Introducing the Friday Round-Up. Every Friday we’re going to be showcasing blogs that people have written pertaining to the Great Games Experiment.
We’re looking for people that have posted blogs about GGE and trust us, we have ways of finding them. We aren’t looking for anything specific, just blogs expressing your thoughts and feelings about the site in general. What you like, what you don’t like, what you would like to see, how you are using the Great Games Experiment to promote your games. We want to hear everything.

The Friday Wrap-Up will also include new information on the site, including but not limited to: new site features, updates, cool people, etc.

Also wanted to throw out that we’re looking for dedicated people to run subsections in the game categories. We still need people to head the casual, core, educational, and indie sections. If you think you’ve got what it takes to run one of these sections, let me know and we’ll consider you. =) Send me a message from my profile page, Dr Wiley.

Finally, to kick it off, here’s the new cool stuff for this “Friday Round-Up”.

EgoAnt Productions has created a page on their site using game badges of games they have made for clients and EgoAnt.com exclusives. Check out their game page. Also found a nice little blog post from Michael Battle “footloosemoose”. You can read about his experiences at his blog site. Or better yet visit their profiles on GGE and tell them how awesome they are! EgoAnt - footloosemoose

As for the new site features and updates - You can now tag games and edit your gamer badge. Just head to your account page and click “my played games”. Here you can tag games as well as remove games that you may have “accidentally” marked as played, we know you’re just embarrassed. After tagging games you can customize your gamer badge through a tag and change the title of your gamer badge.

There has also been the addition of platform icons. Head over to the games page and you’ll notice the awesome little icons under each game. Easiest way to see which games are on which platform. In addition, clicking on one of those icons will show you other games that are tagged with the same platform. Very handy when building your collection of Amiga or Atari Lynx games.

Feel free to let us know what you would like to see in the Friday Round-Up and we’ll do our best to integrate it into the mix.

I guess that’s it for this “Round-Up”. We’ll be back next Friday with all new good stuff. Stay tuned.

The Big Three

$250 newegg.com Gift Certificate
Goes to Andrew Jobin “Echo”.

Nintendo Wii
Goes to dark54555.

XNA Creator’s Club Membership with Torque X Pro
Goes to Jiperly.

Other Categories

Most Popular (Gamer)
Goes to Jiujitsu.
Prize: $50 iTunes Gift Card

Most Popular (Developer)
Goes to AudioGames.
Prize: $50 Art Video from the Gnomon Workshop

Best Profile (Gamer/Developer)
Goes to Kevin James.
Prize: $50 ThinkGeek Gift Card

Highest Rated Game (Developer)
Goes to Data for the game Cortex Command.
Prize: Any Game on GGE (Winner’s Choice)

Most Flash Games Submitted
Goes to Exaggeration17A.
Prize: 2G USB Flash Drive

Best Game Review
Goes to Gfreaky for his review of Hitman: Blood Money.
Prize: Content Pack or 2 games from the GarageGames Game Store

Most Kudos Received (Gamer)
Goes to smila.
Prize: Personalized GGE Avatar from world renowned GarageGames artist

Most Kudos Received (Developer)
Goes to Garry Newman.
Prize: Func.net Customized Aluminum Mousepad

Best Game Page By a Developer
Goes to Krazy Kaution for the game Hellgate London: 16bit.
Prize: Featured Game/Developer on GGE and a Developer Snapshot on GarageGames

Game Developer’s Conference Ticket Raffle
Goes to Rick Mills.
Prize: Two GDC passes grant you and a friend to the GDC Expo

Don’t forget to sign up for the Best Game Page from a developer, Free passes to GDC, and submit your game reviews from your account page or the contest page.

Starting Monday February 19th we’ll be adding a new contest category based on Gamer Badges.

Basically, we’re interested in what people are using their gamer badges for. As mentioned in Sean’s earlier blog, people are doing some pretty cool stuff. Have you found a clever way to use the badges? Posted them on your personal blog site? Whatever it may be, we want to see them. We’ll be awarding the prizes to the most unique and original things we see.

If you missed Sean’s blog post “Awesome Great Games Badge Integration”. Check it out now!

Oh yeah, contests are supposed to have prizes. We’re going to be giving away a free game from the GarageGames gamestore every day for the entire duration of the contest until release. How do you compete? Send me a message letting me know what you have done with the badge and where you have posted it. Visit my profile page and let me know!

In the past week we’ve started getting featured editors to run different sections of GGE. Jay Barnson and one my of favorite game submitters Bjorn are among the first elite few who will run sections of the site.

Bjorn who is known around the site for putting up some of the coolest free games will **surprise surprise** be heading up the free games section. You can check out his featured game at the newly remodeled free games feature. The first game that he’s put up is GraviTron, since he recommends it I suggest everyone check it out because it’s gotta be good. Oh, and I’ve mentioned this before but he’s got a section in his profile titled, “My periodically changing game recommendation!”, which is updated hmmm, periodically, with awesome stuff I might add. Go look at it.

Next up we’ve got Jay Barnson. He’ll be heading up the RPG front. Jay Barnson is the self proclaimed (or maybe this nickname was given to him, I really don’t know) “Rampant Coyote”, dashing secret agent by day (so he says), but by evening pursues his dream of being an indie game developer. He’s worked on several hit mainstream games, such as Twisted Metal, Warhawk, Jet Moto, and some games that he’d rather forget about. Jay is the founder of Rampant Games.

As GGE gets bigger and bigger we’ll be getting in touch with people that are extremely active on the site. So keep it up and maybe we’ll hit you up with moderator abilities (you know you want them).

Bye duders,
Dr. Wiley