For all of you who have been creating excellent gamelists we want to show some love. You may have noticed that the Featured Gamelist on the frontpage is now made up of user-created gamelists. For now we are simply scouring the site to find some of the best lists, not necessarily based on what games they are composed of, but how well the list is introduced and whether or not there are interesting captions explaining each choice. The featured gamelist will change regularly, hopefully presenting you all with many interesting takes on the gamelist feature.

Many gamelists unfortunately do not have captions. This is a simple step in gamelist central and really makes a difference for the people who check your list out. So, keep making great gamelists and you may just be featured on the frontpage.

For a refresher on how to create and share gamelists, read Sean Sullivan’s April 5th blog post.

Have you noticed the new sidebar styling for the game pages? This recent change adds a little more style to an already stylish GGE, as well as increased functionality. We have moved the “I Developed this Game” and “Become a Contributer” buttons to the top of the sidebar right next to the “Add Bookmark,” “I’ve played this Game,” and “Write a Review” tabs so it is now easier than ever to see your relationship to a game when you view its page.

You may also notice the new frontpage feature. Now, once you have logged in to GGE, the orange login box on the front page will show your inbox, allowing you to view your new messages easily.

Hopefully these new features will enhance your GGE experience. Enjoy!

For my money, one of the best features on GGE is the game review. Like many avid gamers I find a helpful and in depth review of a game very important, if not necessary. A bunch of excellent reviews will get me interested in a game, while several poor reviews will have an adverse effect. Even on the negative side, though, I am more likely to try a game out if it has any well thought out reviews than if it has none, or several reviews with little or no information. If a game is highly rated, but carries no intelligent reasoning behind its rating, I don’t know what to do. I, like many others, appreciate the time and effort put into game reviews. Reviews create a dialog within the community, let people voice there opinions, and help others try games they may not otherwise have been interested in.

With that said, I would like to start featuring reviews that are especially informative. I will feature one here at random and from then on feature reviews that you find especially helpful/insightful/interesting, etc. Feel free to send us reviews that either you have written or come across whilst exploring the site. I hope this will spur people to start reviewing all games they play. Remember, we are talking opinion here but there is a line between constructive criticism and simply bashing someone’s work. So keep in mind negative reviews are necessary at times, but can always be done tastefully and thoughtfully (Don’t think for a minute I won’t feature a well thought out negative review). Send your submissions to jamesw@garagegames.com with the subject line “review submission.”

I’d also like to take a moment and highlight the thumbsup/down feature of reviews. This allows you to support a review’s quality, or downgrade its effectiveness as a review. Use these tools. They help others to find the truly awe-inspiring reflections of a games worth. So, here is a featured review that I think is worth checking out:

and his review of

Occasionally, games pop up on GGE that are just too great not to talk about, especially if we know it’s great before we even play it. How did we obtain such omniscient foreknowledge of a game’s awesomeness? Here’s how: a free PC version of the original TMNT arcade game is in the works, and the first level is available for download now! While it is still in its preliminary phase, this project is definitely worth checking out for anyone who loves the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Game.

The developer, Jason Orme, is rewriting the entire game using a windows engine and, once complete, the game will still be free. You can download the latest version from GGE here. With the same tubular look and feel of the original, TMNT Engine gives you all the turtle power you can handle.

As a lover of the original TMNT arcade game, I can’t help but get excited about a project like this. And with the apparent possibility of recreating many of the old Konami classics, I know I am going to keep my eyes on this one.

For anyone interested in the TMNT arcade game a simple search of of GGE for “TMNT” or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” results in a slew of games — the TMNT Engine being one of them. Jason is looking for help to develop the rest of the game, so contact him if you think you have what it takes to assist with this historical gaming reenactment of epic proportions.

Check out a video of the TMNT Engine in action here.

As one of the new GarageGames interns, I’ve decided that it is time for me to step out into the light and start spreading the love. You may have noticed the recent addition of the “share” feature for nearly every aspect of GGE. This tool allows you to show off some of the coolest elements of the site. Post your favorite games, your badge or even the badges of your favorite gamers and developers with a simple copy and paste and instantly add serious flavor to your blog or personal website. The share tool is designed to help you express yourself. Tell others about which games you find the most interesting or fun, support your favorite Indie developer or just show off your own badge.

Sharing also enhances the gamelist function. For instance, if you have your gamelist posted on your website, but wanted to feature a particular game, the share tool would allow you to post a badge for a single game instantly, with all of its stats (views, rating, number of times rated, etc.). A pretty good example of how the share tool can be used to accentuate a website is The Gaming Realm’s blog. So, check out the share function and start sharing GGE with the world.