User:Carbon-16/sandbox

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GameFAQs
URL http://www.gamefaqs.com/
Commercial? Yes
Type of site Gaming
Registration Optional (required for contributing content and posting on the message boards)
Owner CNET Networks, Inc.
Created by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey
Launched November 5, 1995

GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and has been owned by CNET Networks since May 2003. The site has a large database of video game information and strategies.[1]. The FAQs, cheat codes, reviews, game saves and credits are submitted by users, and contributions are reviewed by the site's two editors, Jeff Veasey and Allen Tyner.

GameFAQs is consistently cited by The Guardian as one of the top gaming sites on the Web,[2][3][4] and the site has been positively reviewed by Entertainment Weekly.[5] Additionally, GameFAQs.com is one of the 200 highest-trafficked websites according to Alexa.[6]

Contents

[edit] History

GameFAQs was started as the Video Game FAQ Archive on November 5, 1995.[7] Hosted on America Online, it originally served as a mirror of Andy Eddy's FTP FAQ archive. In 1996, the site moved to its current domain at gamefaqs.com and changed its name to GameFAQs.[8][7] At this time, GameFAQs listed less than 1000 FAQs and guides and was updated on an irregular basis.[9] During the following months, the site grew in content and in design.

[edit] IGN affiliation

In 1997, GameFAQs became an independent affiliate of the Imagine Games Network (IGN), leading to the placement of affiliate links on the home page.[10] User contests were introduced during this period; the first monthly contest, which was held in 1998, received 253 entries.[11]

In November 1999, several changes occurred in rapid succession.[12] On November 5, a search box was added to every page, at which time the site was celebrating its fourth anniversary. On November 7, the message boards opened in a beta testing mode.[13] The "Poll of the Day" was introduced at the end of the month.[14] These changes marked Veasey's increased concentration on the site, and it was around this time that GameFAQs became his full-time job.[15]

On January 9, 2001, GameFAQs ended its association with IGN.[16] To continue generating revenue, an advertising banner sold to non-profit organizations was placed on the top (later moved) of each page. This lasted until CNET Networks became an official affiliate of GameFAQs; CNET ads ran on the top of the page and links to news articles from GameSpot were shown on the home page.[17]

[edit] CNET acquisition

CNET Networks headquarters in San Francisco
CNET Networks headquarters in San Francisco

On May 6, 2003, CNET Networks (the site's long-standing affiliate and sponsor) acquired GameFAQs. The amount paid for GameFAQs and two other unrelated websites was US$2.2 million.[18] On June 3, 2003, Veasey announced the merger to the users of the site.

From 2004 to 2006, GameFAQs witnessed further changes. In April and May 2004, GameFAQs implemented a large visual redesign,[19] and the boards merged with the GameSpot boards. On April 11, 2006, a new design was implemented and the GameSpot logo was added to the GameFAQs logo on the header of every page.

[edit] Veasey's departure

On July 19, 2007, Veasey announced that he would eventually be leaving the site. According to his announcement, Allen Tyner, who has been employed with the site since 2004, would take over as editor of GameFAQs.[20]

[edit] Message boards

The custom-made GameFAQs Message Boards, coded by Veasey, began operation on November 7, 1999.[21] Although the original purpose of the board system was to facilitate game discussion, other board categories have been added since the boards opened. Every day, approximately 20,000 topics and 200,000 messages are posted on GameFAQs' 50,000+ individual boards,[22] and as of November 7, 2006, there were more than 100,000 accounts actively in use.[23]

Every game listed on GameFAQs has its own message board where both novice and experienced gamers can discuss game strategies and other game-related topics.[24][25] Since the redesign of May 2004, the game boards with enforced topicality have been shared with the GameSpot community. In addition to game-related boards, GameFAQs has boards made purely for the purpose of socializing, special interests, and regional discussion. [26] GameFAQs users gain one "karma" for every day they visit the boards while logged in. As karma increases, new features become available, such as the ability to post more messages per day, visit high-level social boards, and view a post history page. One of the most popular boards, "Life, the Universe, and Everything" (often shortened to "LUE") was made completely private due to content issues.[27]

[edit] FAQs

All of the guides and walkthroughs on GameFAQs are contributed by volunteers.[28] Most of the FAQs are not actually lists of frequently asked questions; instead, they cover aspects of gameplay in the same way as strategy guides, with walkthroughs, item lists, maps, and puzzle solutions. Nearly all of the FAQs hosted on the site are in plain text,[29] though GameFAQs does also accept stand-alone images, such as maps and puzzle solutions.[30] In addition to FAQs, contributors can also submit reader reviews, cheat codes, developer credits, game release data, game saves, screenshots, and images of game boxes.

When an author submits something to GameFAQs, it is screened by an administrator before being posted on the site.[31] The author retains the copyright on the submitted material,[32] and their name is added to the site's "Contributor Recognition" section. GameFAQs agrees to host the guide only on their servers but does allow other affiliates to link directly to the guides (including GameSpot, Yahoo! Games, AOL, and GameFly).[31]

GameFAQs features several ongoing contributor contests, including FAQ of the Month, Review of the Month, and numerous "FAQ Bounties", which reward contributors who submit FAQs for uncovered, high-demand games.[33] The FOTM and ROTM contests are generally picked from comprehensive, complete guides or reviews for new games. [34][35]

In 2004, Future Network USA published two commercial strategy guides with material from GameFAQs: The Ultimate Xbox Strategy Guide and The Ultimate PS2 Strategy Guide.[36][37] These guides were composed of FAQs written by contributors on GameFAQs.

[edit] Contests

[edit] User poll contests

Since 2002, GameFAQs has hosted annual (or biannual) tournament contests consisting of daily polls in which visitors to the site choose between competing characters, games, or series. Registered users can submit prediction brackets, and prizes are awarded to those who score the highest. The contest polls are shown in place of or in addition to the regular Poll of the Day and have always been accompanied by an image depicting the entrants in the match.

The annual Character Battle has been the subject of two webcomics—Penny Arcade featured the Character Battle in their comic on August 23, 2002,[38] and Creative Uncut's Inside the Gamers Studio strip mentioned the Character Battle in their ninth comic.[39]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Kuchera, Ben (2006-03-06). Think your job sucks? Try writing strategy guides. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
  2. ^ Schofield, Jack. "Games watch", The Guardian, 2000-05-11, p. 11. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. "SPOnG, the Super Players Online Gamesbase, would like to become to games what the Internet Movie Database is to films. Since the IMDb is one of the world's best websites, that would be useful, though GameFAQs might be a better place to start." 
  3. ^ Pratchett, Rhianna. "Web watch", The Guardian, 2003-02-06, p. 8. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. 
  4. ^ Boseley, Sarah; Michael Cross, Tom Happold et al. "Cream of the crop: 100 most useful websites", The Guardian, 2004-12-16, p. 22. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. "GameFAQs lists game player-created walkthroughs, plus links to cheats, reviews and previews" 
  5. ^ Internet Capsule Review. Entertainment Weekly (2000-02-04). Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
  6. ^ Related Info for: gamefaqs.com. Alexa Internet. Retrieved on 2007-01-24.
  7. ^ a b About the Site. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-09-30.
  8. ^ VGFA on flex.net. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 2001-07-23. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
  9. ^ Video Game FAQ Archive. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 1996-12-23. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
  10. ^ GameFAQs home page. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 1998-12-12. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
  11. ^ October 1998: Select Fighter. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.
  12. ^ GameFAQs home page. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 1999-11-28. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
  13. ^ Veasey, Jeff (2001-11-07). Second Anniversary Karma Bonus. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 2004-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
  14. ^ Poll of the Day #1. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
  15. ^ Davidson, Neil. "Stumped by a video game? Chances are Jeff Veasey can help", Canadian Press Newswire, 2003-03-05. Retrieved on 2007-03-13. 
  16. ^ GameFAQs home page. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 2001-01-18. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
  17. ^ GameFAQs home page. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 2001-04-18. Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
  18. ^ CNET Networks SEC Quarterly Report (PDF). CNET Networks (2003-08-05). Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
  19. ^ New Layout/Boards Merger. GameFAQs Archive. Archived from the original on 2004-10-09. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
  20. ^ Veasey, Jeff (2007-07-19). The Long, Slow Goodbye. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
  21. ^ GameFAQs: Message Board Frequently Asked Questions. Archived from the original on 2000-05-10. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
  22. ^ Veasey, Jeff (2006-09-13). Ask GameFAQs: How much?. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
  23. ^ Veasey, Jeff (2006-11-07). Happy Birthday to Us … and to you!. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
  24. ^ Carless, Simon (October 2004). Gaming Hacks. O'Reilly. ISBN 0-596-00714-0. 
  25. ^ Flor, Nick (July 2004). "The Architecture of the Symbol Engine in a Programmable Autonomous Business" (PDF). Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on E-Commerce Technology: 119–126, IEEE. doi:10.1109/ICECT.2004.1319725. ISBN 0-7695-2098-7. Retrieved on 2007-01-25. 
  26. ^ Site Boards. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-12-30.
  27. ^ Veasey, Jeff (2005-08-16). Ask GameFAQs: Errata?. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
  28. ^ Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winner's Circle; The Times (London); July 1, 2001; Stuart Andrews; p. Doors.2 "Guides to completing thousands of video games, compiled by gamers worldwide"
  29. ^ Composing Your Guide. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
  30. ^ Images (Maps and other graphics). GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2007-01-01.
  31. ^ a b After You've Submitted. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
  32. ^ Copyrights, Trademarks, and Plagiarism. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
  33. ^ FAQ Bounty. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  34. ^ FAQ of the Month. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  35. ^ Review of the Month. GameFAQs. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  36. ^ Cohen, Corey (ed.) (2004). The Ultimate Xbox Strategy Guide. Future Network USA. ASIN B000E7URBQ. OCLC 60827530. 
  37. ^ Amrich, Dan (ed.) (2004). The Ultimate PS2 Strategy Guide. Future Network USA. ASIN B000E7URPM. OCLC 60579744. 
  38. ^ Penny Arcade comic. Penny Arcade (2002-08-23). Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
  39. ^ Inside the Gamers Studio comic. Creative Uncut (2003). Retrieved on 2006-12-17.

[edit] External links

Official