Some explain IGN's situation to me...

[MgL]

I don't visit IGN regularly. In fact at most I visited the site maybe three times in months. I know the site went with the Insider crap so they could make cash for the costs of maintaining the site. Apparently the AD revenues were not satisfactory because visitors were not clicking on them. I can understand the Insider thing, but why in the freakin hell does the site have to be littered with even more ads than before if it isn't making them much money? Mind you the ads from years ago were banner ads which I can take. I just don't understand how including pop-ups, full page ads, flash and flash ads that appear over articles are suppose to help them make any more money. Do people click on them now that they are more obnoxious than ever? Flash is the new cancer of the internet. The ads for movies and whatever have become so annoying with the included noises and crap. It annoys me.

Btw, anyone visit gameforms? I used to visit The GIA almost daily. It was like the best site on the internet. Can someone explain why the new site gets 10x less the updates if Gameforms is a combination of two sites? ^_-

[lazyfatbum]

Last I heard, they hate latinos and love Spanish Americans because they're smarter and better looking.

[Laser Link]

Wow. I've tried to hold my tongue about IGN, since so many hate them for the many annoying ads. I don't like those either, but it's gotta be done to keep the place alive. But I've never imagined how far they would go until Weltall told me about the new ign.com redesign...

[MgL]

I didn't even see that new IGN.com layout. Damn that is pretty desperate. It doesn't even bother me as much though as the rediculous pop-up, flash, etc...

[Private Hudson]

IGN is a horrible site for content and reviews, anyway.

[Laser Link]

Yes, except, no.

[Dark Jaguar]

It's actually great for news, and pics, and movies. It's still one of the best sources when it comes to those kinds of things. However, I do have to agree that they are horrible for reviews. They just seem to regurgitate popular opinion. I just have to say to IGN that just because it tastes different coming back up doesn't mean it's a new meal.

[Laser Link]

Well, I can't say anything for the XBox, PS2, or PC sites, but IGNCube usually has their reviews for big games well before I can find reviews anywhere else. IGN is not the must visit gaming news site it once was, but that's not really that their quality has lowered, just that the other sites have all improved.

[MgL]

I agree with Dark Jaguar about their reviews. Actually, both IGNCube and IGNXbox are just horrible with their reviews. I think everyone knows that the Xbox site overrates everything, but the Nintendo site overhypes and overrates everything. They were the biggest Rare ass kissers before they built the cube site and probably lead hundreds of visitors into purchasing crap games. I can honestly say the only two games I enjoyed from Rare were DKR and Banjo-Kazooie. I tried Goldeneye (bought), JFG and Blast Corps and I thought they were complete trash. IGNcube did the same with ED btw... I rented it and enjoyed it a bit, but it was not as great as they made it sound.

Anyway, I don't give a crap about that as much as I would like for them to not make it a hassle to read a two paragraph news piece by making me have to click through two full page ads and then have some stupid flash animation crawl all over my browser when I attempt to read an article.

[OB1]

agree with Dark Jaguar about their reviews. Actually, both IGNCube and IGNXbox are just horrible with their reviews. I think everyone knows that the Xbox site overrates everything, but the Nintendo site overhypes and overrates everything. They were the biggest Rare ass kissers before they built the cube site and probably lead hundreds of visitors into purchasing crap games. I can honestly say the only two games I enjoyed from Rare were DKR and Banjo-Kazooie. I tried Goldeneye (bought), JFG and Blast Corps and I thought they were complete trash. IGNcube did the same with ED btw... I rented it and enjoyed it a bit, but it was not as great as they made it sound.

Well you're just insane then. :p

Seriously. But if I didn't add that smiley then everyone here could be all over me for calling you insane.

[Dark Jaguar]

Yeesh OB1, NOW who's overreacting and taking things too seriously? Don't say you didn't, you said the word seriously when you said that!

[A Black Falcon]

Eternal Darkness is one of my favorite games of 2002... VERY close behind Metroid Prime for GOTY on the GC... that game was really, really good! I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, but I do...
I also loved Blast Corps... its one of Rare's most underrated games... JFG was very good too (not overrated by IGN, though. They gave it a unfairly bad review due to nonexistant framerate issues).

As for IGN, I've never really trusted their reviews, so when they are bad (which is often) I'm not surprised... their reviews are really not accurate at all (PC and GC sections, anyway). Other sites, including Gamespot, are MUCH better overall for review quality...

Oh, and the banner ads aren't that bad. Well, except for the ones that play sounds. Those (like the Hegemonia one!) are REALLY annoying.

[geoboy]

IGN has definately taken advertisement to a new low. I clicked on an article I wanted to read. Soon after I completed reading the second sentence, some oose or something poored from an advertisement and covered the text, making it impossible to continue reading the article without having to pay attention to the advertisement. There is no excuse for that. I quickly become uninterested and didn't feel like finishing the article.

I have no idea how advertisements like that are supposed to generate revenue, as they tend to drive their audience away. Fewer people to see advertisement = less money made. So what do they do? They make the advertisements even more intrusive becuase advertisers pay more for those kind of ads. Pure idiocy.

If you wan't to know how to make money on the internet, do what Penny Arcade does. They establish a cult following by attracting people to their free comics and user-friendly website. The people who really enjoy the comic may want to buy a T-shirt or donate some money. And now as an incentive for donating, you become a part of their special club featuring bonus material. That is a good example of how you make money on the internet. Intrusive advertising is a definate no-no, yet some websites just don't get it. :S

[Dark Jaguar]

Look at GameFAQs. They simply use a single side banner. Simply put, this is enough for them. They are on every page, yes, but on the other hand, they don't DO anything. They are totally out of the way, minding their own business. They are JUST visual (sometimes animated, which I also don't mind at all), and make no noise. They don't involve pop-ups, forcing you to pay attention. They don't involve flash animations that make them cover ANYTHING on screen, or even step out of their boundery, making you pay attention to them. They don't do anything except sit there animating or whatever. That is what internet ads used to do, and that's what they should STILL do. No more pop-ups, flash, or noises! Ad banners are FINE! If someone is interested in that product, there it is, and they will notice since their brain is looking for such things anyway. If they are NOT interested in it, you are wasting your time shoving it in their face and making them look at it. It's as simple as that. Advertisers are convinced these days that advertising has gone "beyond awareness, to the point of convincing", but I'm afraid they are morons.

[Smoke]

Originally posted by OB1
Well you're just insane then. :p

Seriously. But if I didn't add that smiley then everyone here could be all over me for calling you insane.

No no, insane is just fine. We're all a little insane here. ;)

And what is up with IGN-Coke? Do they really think plastering Coca Cola all over the site is going to make us want.... mmmmm, thirsty, must have Coke.....

*sips a nice cold Vanilla Coke*

Ahhhh!

[Laser Link]

But GameFAQs probably gets about $5/day for those ads. Maybe enough to even pay the server costs for the site. How can you afford much more traffic and a full time paid staff? I don't like what IGN is doing, but there is no good business model to support that. Not anymore.

I don't know how much GameFAQs realy makes, but it's probably a decent guess if not on the generous side. My brother made about $10/day in the heyday of internet advertising a couple years ago, and he had one of the top 5 font sites online. Absolutely HUGE traffic == more revenue. Plus hosting costs were much cheaper back then too...

[demon]

Host Costs have not gone up if you know where to look. I've seen reliable dedicated servers for as little as $99/month + set-up fee.