That's right! Two things, first off, I have invented a word to describe that phenomenon when a site starts spraying advertising for one product all over their format. Second off, GameFAQs now has pages where the format is altered to incorporate all manner of advertising for things, just like IGN. Check out their Gamecube page to see for yourself. Fortunatly, it's a LOT tamer than what IGN does (just a banner ad and a color change).
In completely unrelated news, IGN and GameSpy are merging.
Re...really? But, the rivalry of those two was the only thing keeping the news newsish between them! Now they'll just basically spew out what they want us to think about games without even TRYING to be fair!
Time to find a new gaming news site...
Uhh... are you confusing GameSpy with GameSpot? I mean, GameSpy is one of the biggest gaming sites, but it's no IGN or GameSpot, articles-wise...
Their biggest thing is GameSpy, the program that finds games built into many online FPSes, and GameSpy Arcade, their online multiplayer game program.
Gamespot is way better then lousy IGN and their crappy fees, Atleast gamespot lets you see reviews and previews without having to pay for anything.
<img src="http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2003/20031205l.jpg">
Uh, how is Gamespy obsolete? It's online matchmaking software is still very popular and useful...
The part about IGN is good though. :)
IGN does = Shit
Gamespy does = complicated if you just want to download a demo.
I never use Gamespy Arcade any more. XBConnect is a LOT more well designed than their XBox tunnel, which is the only reason I ever used it to begin with. A big waste otherwise, full of ads and whatnot. If I need matchmaking, pretty much any game I have does that for me. Some use Gamespy's servers even with the built in matchmaking though, so it's not COMPLETELY obsolete. They still serve a purpose. It's the big arcade software suite that's a waste of disk space for me.
Yeah, most games do have their own systems, but for plenty of older games, or a LOT of FPSes, Gamespy (or built-in Gamespy systems like in many FPSes) is a good way of playing online. I don't use it much, but for some games it'd be the best choice if I ever did want to play them online. :)