SHADOWTEXT'S PROFILE

Nightmare Before Christmas would've definitely rated in my top three or four, but I didn't count it as a Disney movie anymore than I do the Muppets or Studio Ghibli films.

author=brandonabley link=topic=681.msg8990#msg8990 date=1202911808
I think the individual game blogs need RSS support in order to be viable blogs.

YES. I totally forgot to mention this, but RSS is a GREAT idea.

Alternately, you could have an RSS feed set up for the Games you've subscribed to (the ones that show up on your homepage), so you could have a single feed for all the games you're watching. Or you could do both!

Kentona--yeah, some sort of thing visible on the forums might help, because I think most people spend most of their time on the forums, so it'd at least increase visibility. You wouldn't want it to be too big, though, because that'd just be ugly.

Actually, I prefer the blog format a lot. I was already using the Game profile for that purpose before it was restructured to be more blog-like, so I'll be using it that way more often now.

If I had to guess, I would say that people prefer doing it on the forum because they're more likely to get comments and attention here.

To get more people checking out games....I'm not sure. I know that the official position of the site is that they don't want staff reviews, but unfortunately a "Featured Games" type of thing on the front page might be even better than a Random Screenshots thing. Maybe "Popular Games" instead? Like base it on the game's average user rating or commenting activity. Maybe you could have something where over time games got moved away from the front page to an "Older Popular Games" sort of thing so that A Blurred Line wouldn't be on the front page every day. Insert popular game of your choice that doesn't make me sound like an old fogey for that "Older popular games that would constantly edge out newer ones" if you want.

With my first RPG Maker game, back on Super Dante RPG Maker 2 (or whatever), the biggest problems I had are basically the same ones all newbies seem to do. I worked without an outline, using a hackneyed plot, and was making a fan-sequel of a much more popular game that really had nothing to do with the original game when it comes right down to it. I later altered it a bit and cut out the earlier ties, but it was still pretty obvious amateurism. I also don't think I ever bothered coming up with a Big Bad. Basically, the only reason for the player to keep playing was that it was a game. I had not considered the concept of stopping playing a game you had started at the time, I think. All the while, I was completely convinced that I was an amazing writer, and that I was telling a story everyone would want to hear.

Now my first game IN GENERAL....I can't remember exactly. That was like fourteen years ago. I think it was a text adventure in QBasic that I sort of threw together after hacking around in Legend of the Red Dragon. I know that I made quite a few programming mistakes, like using raw random numbers as "AI" for baddies, instead of any sort of actual preference for one attack or another, and I didn't do any prep work or really have any goal in mind. I do remember my friends being impressed that I had made a game at all when I was only eleven, regardless of lack of graphics or sense or professionalism, though. That little sliver of approval is probably why I still keep coming back to game making.

Ah, nostalgia.

I've decided to limit this to shows that were originally in English, so that my list isn't largely the same as my list of top ten anime.

In no particular order:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I held out against Buffy at first, because I was judging it by the movie, and because I assumed it was going to be the standard teen drama crap, but once I started watching I was hooked. Urban fantasy with snappy, quirky dialogue. Also, Alyson Hannigan. You had me at Alyson Hannigan.

Invader Zim - Here, I like it for the same reasons everyone else who likes Invader Zim site. Over the top dark comedy (for kids!) and beautiful artwork.

Avatar: the Last Airbender - I love Avatar. I recognize that it has a lot of failings, but the ways it succeeds more than makes up for all of that. It is doing everything that American animation should be doing, and it doesn't talk down to its intended audience....making it very likeable even for people far outside of that audience, like me. Plus, gorgeous. Might be the best looking thing ever intended for television, short of Haibane Renmei.

Scrubs - What is there to be said? Scrubs is so good that I can't believe it lasted seven seasons.

Clerks: The Animated Series - Clerks: TAS, on the other hand, was so good that I'm totally unsurprised it lasted only six episodes. The clip show in the second episode was pure brilliance. Not to mention the trial episode where the Korean Animators had to make up an ending. Everyone rememebers "Bear is driving! How can that be?!" fondly. If you don't, YouTube it. I'm sure that scene's up there.

The State - Weird and silly humor. Most of you probably haven't seen the State, but you'll recognize its alumni from Reno 911 and you might know Michael Ian Black from VH1's "I Love the *" series. Probably the best thing MTV ever did.

Stella - Man. Stella, man. This show was at least ten years ahead of its time. Take everything that was good about the State and double it. And it stars three of the former State members. No surprise there.

Stargate SG-1 - Another one that I didn't get into as soon as I should have. I didn't start watching until the final season, but Stargate SG-1 swept me off my feet. Thank goodness for Sci Fi channel showing it all the damn time. The mythology of the show is great, but Richard Dean "MacGuyver" Anderson really makes the show.

The Daily Show - Political comedy from great writers performed by competent performers, and skewering some of the most revolting aspects of the mass media today. Maybe the only show on the list that actually provides society with something we need, rather than just something that we love. Although I do that too.

Firefly - Like Buffy in Space. Strike that. Like Buffy meets Cowboy Bebop and with even cooler dialogue if that's possible. One of the greatest reasons to hate the Fox network.


Honorable Mentions, also in no particular order:
Sports Night
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
What can I say? Much love for Aaron Sorkin.

Arrested Development
House
Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The Riches
The first one is another reason to hate Fox. (Three seasons?! What?! Arrested should've had at least five) The last three are reasons to forgive them....a little. The Riches would be a bit more forgettable if it didn't give me a weekly dose of Eddie Izzard, though.

Home Movies
Futurama
The Boondocks
The Venture Brothers
Adult Animation done right. Adult Swim gets a lot wrong, but these are not those things. Admittedly, they've lost Futurama, and Home Movies was originally optioned by another network, but the Boondocks and the Venture Brothers prove that they can find good original content too....even if their homemade stuff leaves a lot to be desired. The Venture Brothers very nearly made that top ten, by the bye. If next season is as much an improvement as last season was, it probably will. And it wasn't even remotely bad even in the first season. The last two prove that American adult animation can actually be pretty, and the Ventures proves that it can do it without aping Anime, so extra points there, too.