GameSpot Reviews

SpotMedia Communications, a new venture dedicated to Internet-based publishing, recently announced the launch of GameSpot, the most comprehensive built custom Gaming PC on the World Wide Web. GameSpot promises to be the hippest, most definitive and entertaining resource for anything related to PC gaming.

Editorial content will be provided by a dream team of game editors, writers and reviewers headed by Editorial Director, formerly Executive Editor of Multimedia World and a regular feature guest on the nationally syndicated talk show, On Computers, and by Jeff Young, Editor, formerly Senior Editor of Computer Player and former Editor-in-Chief of CD-ROM Power.

GameSpot's full-time editorial staff is the largest among Internet gaming sites and includes such well-known names as Trent Ward (formerly Reviews Editor at Next Generation), Ron Dulin (formerly with Computer Player) and Rebecca Anderson (formerly responsible for game marketing with Microsoft's agency).

GameSpot contributors include such major multimedia columnists, book authors and talk show hosts as Bernard Yee, Peter Spear, Gregg Keizer, Jeff Sengstack, Steve Poole, T. Liam McDonald, Adam Liberman, Hugo Foster and Chris Hudak.

“We're pushing the potential of this medium as a publishing vehicle by creating an on-line magazine that offers up-to-the-minute information from a great editorial staff as well as from the consumers,” said the publisher of GameSpot. “GameSpot incorporates the entire gamut of information about PC gaming in one place, categorizes it by specific game and genre, and includes a broad range of information on each title or hardware product, making it more efficient and practical for game fans to get the information they need, when they need it.”

GameSpot takes advantage of the Internet to provide a highly interactive, user-involved on-line experience. Gamers will not only be able to read reviews but post their own as well, as well as submit files, links and messages about game-related subjects. In addition to on-line access to late-breaking news, more than 100 PC game reviews and discussions by the top game reviewers in the industry, users will be able to download demos of the latest products and purchase their favorite games directly from the site.

GameSpot's extensive reviews will follow the approach of “We Say, They Say, You Say,” offering reviews from the editorial staff, information from the publisher and reviews from GameSpot's users. Reviews will be posted no later than two weeks after receipt of the final product, cutting two months off the lead time common to print magazines. All products are rated in a variety of categories and receive an overall SpotScore.

For each product tested, GameSpot will provide full technical information on what system the game was tested on, answers to frequently asked technical questions, patches, drivers and other software fixes, and the README.DOC file from the game (which identifies key device compatibility issues users can now read before the purchase the product). If the title publisher is capable of handling e-mail tech support, GameSpot will include an e-mail link to the publisher's technical support staff.

“If you're stuck, we're going to get you unstuck,” said the Editorial Director. For each game reviewed, GameSpot will provide full hint files complete with walkthroughs, strategy tips, and cheat codes and over hint-related information.

Gaming PC