Gamestyle

Infobox Website
name = Gamestyle
logo =


caption = Our Word, Your Guide
url = http://www.gamestyle.net
http://www.gamestyle.co.uk
http://www.gamestyle.com
http://www.gamestyle.mobi
commercial = No
type = Gaming
registration = Free
owner = Dean Swain
author = Dean Swain
Matthew Cox
Dave Carlson
launch date = 1999

Gamestyle is a UK-based independent computer and video gaming website that was launched in 1999 by Dean Swain, under the name Dreamers128.

Gamestyle covers video game software reviews, previews, news, and other information. After starting out on its own, Gamestyle was linked with a small American media network called FanGen. Later, Gamestyle broke free of FanGen and merged with fellow independent site GameHub.

To date, Gamestyle remains independently operated.

History

Launched in 1999 by Dean Swain, the site focused exclusively on Sega Dreamcast games, under the guise Dreamers128. Approximately a month after launch, the site rebranded to Gamestyle.co.uk, became a multi-format site, and began to cover all console systems - though coverage of other consoles was restricted to previews alone.

With sites of this stature somewhat of a rarity, Gamestyle was quickly tied to a small American media network named FanGen who covered running costs of the website. Under FanGen, Gamestyle turned to become a more humorous, 'punky' website which displayed images of semi-nude women on the front page.

The FanGen link remained until Gamestyle merged with another UK independent, GameHub. This merger saw an increase in visitors to the site, due to the popularity of GameHub. With each newer build of the website, Gamestyle progressively lost its attitude and tamed the humour in written articles.

To date, the site runs primarily on the .net web domain and is now funded by Dean Swain, Matthew Cox and Jason Julier. It also can be found under the .com and .co.uk web domains.

Main site

Gamestyle's main page displays the latest news, reviews, previews, and links to areas for the following platforms: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. Visiting each console section shows a list of the latest articles, the most popular games on that console, and an index method for users to track down games of interest as quickly as possible.

Gamestyle has always had a 'retro' section, yet since the latest redesign in 2006, the retro section had not yet returned. With the 2008 version, retro articles are now merged into the site itself, and do not have their own specific section.

Reviews and rating system

Gamestyle has a strict review policy and they themselves believe their reviews to be trustworthy and unbiased, granting a fair review score. While none of the writing team are professionals, Gamestyle delivers new content daily on weekdays and also at weekends.

Though in articles, Gamestyle refers itself in third person, staff writers are also credited. Reviews are also listed on Game Rankings [cite web | url=http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/sitedetails.asp?siteid=1545 | title="Gamestyle Profile on Game Rankings" | accessdate=2006-12-11] , Metacritic [cite web | url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ds/elitebeatagents?q=elite%20beat%20agents | title="Elite Beat Agents (DS) on Metacritc" | accessdate=2006-12-11] , Rotten Tomatoes, and MobyGames.

Their reviews were considered highly enough to be included alongside IGN and Electronic Gaming Monthly on Nintendo's UK marketing print campaign for Metroid Prime. These adverts were printed in numerous gaming magazines, on advertising hoardings across UK towns and cities and also online.

Developments

Gamestyle is constantly looking to evolve and improve the site. In March 2007 a new feature was launched that connected any posted news story, with a related topic in the forum. This allowed users to discuss events and offer opinions on breaking news in the world of videogames.

2008 version

January 2 saw the launch of the latest version of the Gamestyle site. Then new modern, white look was a dramatic change from its predecessor.

Blog

On June 22, 2008 Gamestyle introduced its own blog. The aim of this extension was to attract new regulars to the site and provide an outlet for the whole team to provide extra comments on their reviews or gaming news. The blog is an open forum for staff members to post about anything from films to their latest review.

Gamestyle Offline

Gamestyle also creates and hosts a downloadable PDF magazine. Now published on an infrequent basis, Gamestyle Offline [cite web | url=http://www.gamestyle.net/offline/ | title="Gamestyle Offline" | accessdate=2006-12-11] is intended for the visitor to print their own copy for 'on-the-go'. Gamestyle maintains that download figures of each issue are promising, and are known to have worked with video game publishers such as Vivendi Universal to create special editions.

At the close of 2006 there are eleven issues of the magazine, three of which are special editions. Each issue contained content that one may not typically find on the main site, such as interviews with developers and features on specific subjects. Gamestyle has been known to publish reviews of various titles in Gamestyle Offline, before publishing them online, as a selling point of the PDF magazine.

As of January 9, 2008, Gamestyle began a five part series called 'Gamestyle Offline: The Missing Issue'. This brought together the five remaining unpublished features that were intended for Issue 10 which was put together at the end of 2005 with the intention of releasing a new issue in early 2006. Number 10 was meant to represent a new start for the series, with a new look and a new issue editor but unfortunately the project never saw the light of day.

Gamestyle Live podcast

The spirit of the Offline magazine has been carried onto a new format, the podcast. The show covers all the latest news, site developments, reviews, releases and some opinions. It is available via the website or one can subscribe with iTunes.

Community

Whilst Gamestyle itself remains popular, the site has always struggled to gain a relatively large forum user base, hosting a small community of regular visitors in comparison to larger websites. Although this creates a nice atmosphere on the forums, the forum has always been held back due to hacking issues with previous versions.

taff

Owner: Dean Swain

Development: Matthew Cox "(design)" and Dave Carlson "(implementation)"

Editors: Jason Julier "(chief)", Gareth Chappell "(retro)", Richard Meerman "(news)", Matt Dillon "(news)"

Writers: Adam Gulliver, Andrew Revell, Andy Lucas, Anna Ghislaine, Colin Whiteside, Dan Gill, Daniel James, Gareth Chappell, Garry Webber, Gopinath Chandran, Hanley, Tom Knowles, Usman Zia

Previous staff writers for Gamestyle have gone onto further their career, include Garnett Lee of 1UP.com [cite web | url=http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5324853 | title="Garnett Lee on 1UP.com" | accessdate=2006-12-11] , Ollie Barder of The Guardian and Darren Jones, retro editor of gamesTM and Retro Gamer.

References

External links

* [http://www.gamestyle.net Gamestyle]
* [http://forum.gamestyle.net Gamestyle Forums]
* [http://my.opera.com/GamestyleAdmin/blog/ Gamestyle Blog]