Two weeks ago I posed the question to you readers: where should I be getting my gaming news and reviews from? Most of the responses that I received were quite good so I want to talk about some of those and share my thoughts on how I feel about the sites that I looked at.

Kombo – http://kombo.com

I’ve had a bit of a history with the sites that preceded Kombo, going all the way back to Gamecube Advanced, 5 years ago. I was a fan of the old Advanced Media Network that they had going until I eventually grew dissatisfied with the lack of evolution and like a lot of people I packed up and went else where.

Returning to this site, I came in with a fresh mindset. When this site was re-launched (from the Advanced Media Network to Kombo) one of the most significant changes was meant to be the new editorial stance that everyone was undertaking with their writing. Fair enough I say, we need more editorial based content. Unfortunately I guess my take on editorial and Kombo’s must be very different. Focusing on the news, it appears as though the site has adopted this new and very popular “lets be like Destructoid” model which I think is a very glitz and glam approach to gaming news . This style of writing is meant to be highly reflective of the writer’s personality (you know, “blog-like”) which usually means that it’s quite polarizing and often a little over the top. These people are meant to be telling me the news so I can’t see the justification for them to attempt to force an overly strong personality into their articles.

When I read over Kombo’s news articles it felt as though this streak of personality that they’re trying to adopt feels unusually forced into each article. This greatly affected my enjoyment and understanding of their articles. In many cases I found myself reading over what I the author had written several times because I did not pick up on their writing nuances.

I guess their editorial spin comes into play in other areas as well. The team still writes some quite good features, one of which I personally would like to share my thoughts on next time. Writers and editors now have their own blogs which are easily accessible from the main page, unfortunately I didn’t get to take a look at those. The community is more integrated and generally the site looks a bit more fresh (despite the design being derived from a 6 year old web template).

Being an old forum veteran and previous fan of these sites I guess I had hoped more from these guys. Unfortunately from what I can gauge from the style of writing it really does they they have fallen victim to being another Kotaku derivative which is most unfortunate, even the modified site design reflects this. It represents that much to my past proclaim that this site has indeed not evolved like it should have and as such has had to latch onto this growing fad.

1UP – http://1up.com

Whats to say about 1UP? They have awesome podcasts and I can never figure out how to use their damn forum system. It’s the podcasts that everyone loves, me included. I’m not really a regular listener to any of their podcasts but my brother is absolutely fanatical about the Games For Windows podcast. I occasionally listen to 1UP Yours and EGM Live which are pretty good, perhaps a bit too excessive on the information front though. Despite their high calibur of conversation (which is truly admirable) I couldn’t possibly keep up with them every week. I do listen to Retronauts which is once again very factual and an information overload.

It was these thing which first attracted me to the site. Their news was a little different though, it isn’t bad by any means it just wasn’t really what I was after. Firstly, I think that Kombo should be looking here for inspiration on a stronger editorial approach as these guys do a great job in that department. There are consistent features and editorials which is very please, unfortunately most don’t particularly pique my interest but it still good to see none the less. The site itself also looks fine as well, no gripes there.

What gets me though is the lack of news and just how cluttered their RSS feeds are. The news is by no means infrequent but I found that for me personally it was a little lacking. When I was subscribed to the site I received roughly 10 news articles in about 3 or 4 days per console. This is fine for each console. The problem I found though was that too many of these articles were shared over all feed streams. That is, one article would get posted under all console categories and I would consistently receive the same articles in each feed. Sure this is fine when you are talking general industry news that is significant for all consoles but most of it wasn’t. Even some Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 orientated news was being shared across the board. It seemed that within the week or so that I was subscribed that there was very little to individualize each feed.

Eventually I got fed about over being confused about this and just moved on. I guess this would be fine if I subscribed to an all in one feed but I’m not interested in going down that route. I’m a little disappointed that this was the case as I was quite optimistic about this site. Still though I can see the appeal.

EuroGamer – http://eurogamer.net

When it comes to UK gaming websites and magazines there are the positives such as the localized PAL content and then there are the negatives like jokes about pants. Fortunately I haven’t heard anything of pants since I started reading the site. Phew!

I have decided to make EuroGamer my destination for news and reviews and here’s why. Firstly design wise this site is fantastic, I love it. As someone whom does a bit of design (I mean c’mon how good is this site design? [/sarcasm]) I have an appreciation for sites that utilize effective design principles. EuroGamer does this not just with a bunch of spiffy graphics but also with the a strong, modern layout which is a real breath of fresh air. I find that the more I study design the more I fall in love with beautiful layout and this is a fine example of that.

Content wise, the site also has its own media which is great, there is easy access to video and screenshots from each page. News, reviews and preview are in good supply and are also notably relevant. I compared the front page news on all of these sites that I surveyed and EuroGamer had the most useful and relevant news out of the bunch.

What really has me floored though is the professionalism in the writing which is simply superb. In contrast to Kombo’s writing style (and many other sites, keep in mind people they aren’t alone here!) which reads like the author is desperately screaming personality at you, EuroGamer’s news and reviews have a fantastic sense of character which doesn’t feel the least bit forced. Their writing has a strong sense of character that is expressed through subtle justification relevant to the text. For example they can use their own critique of an element in a game to trigger persona. This is how it should be.

And they do this so well, the authors wrap their own character in logical and clean language which just feels so much easier to read while still being wholly entertaining and amusing. The reviews are great too, I like them because they contain more critique while still sticking to a review frame work.

I’m also pleased that their content does not have a strong UK flavour to it. Jokes about pants, references to Yorkshire pudding, nods to pounchy “football” players and love letters about Robbie Wiliams being the world’s greatest male act have all (fortunately) been kept to a minimum. The content though is relevant to Europe which means that it is in principle the same as Australian news and releases. All good things. You know I am genuinely surprised that I managed to find a new outlet for online gaming news and reviews which I feel so passionately about. I’m so happy.

And the Rest…

As for the other suggestions lets see, Crispy Gamer seemed to be a nifty little site but it isn’t a significant enough player yet to have an adequate news and reviews stream. I couldn’t find GameSeekr even when I stuck it into Google, not sure about that one. Lastly All Game seemed great but it wasn’t really what I was after. So thank you everyone for your contributions, I guess this means that I should change the site poll now eh? Hmmmm….

So with this I have been on the hunt for a new authority figure to tell me what is going on in the world of gaming. My problem is that I have been reading IGN for a few years now and I don’t really know where I should go next. I have already subscribed to the 1UP network feeds but I fear that they may not be a comprehensive as I’d like. Then again I could munch into gaming’s favourite junk food; Kotaku but yeah…I don’t really like their style of writing.

This is where I cry out to you; my readers. Please show me the light.

I have selected a few default sites and put them into a site poll. When selecting my options I realized that I am gonna have to cut it with one of the big wig sites. So please vote and help me make up my mind, the poll is on the right hand side of the navigation menu. I have also allowed an ‘other’ option and if you select this then please tell me what it is by either commenting in this post or sending me an email.

Of course, if you would like to elaborate on your selection I’d love to hear it. So let me know just below or send me an email.

Its funny how even though I had never planned to post up this feature every month, ever since I started I have unknowingly been doing just that. Which would make this a monthly segment. Over the past month I have been considerably busier than normal outside of the blog and as such my list of links aren’t as strong as last time. But as always they make great additional reading if you enjoy reading what I have to say.

Brainy Gamer Podcast #10 – Brainy Gamer

In the past month I have come across Brainy Gamer; a blog dedicated to intelligent discussion on a variety of important issues relating not only the industry but also software and design. The blogger over there; Micheal Abbot, is the most sincere and genuine bloggers that I have come across. He has a real passion and interest in games and it shines through with both his writing but even more so his podcast.

I have selected Podcast #10 for two reasons; firstly it is the latest podcast and has a bunch of interesting observations about GDC and the snark among some bloggers and journos which I find very interesting. Secondly after the main interview there is a 20 second advertisement for this blog (by Matty Jay) followed up by some generously kind words from Micheal. The Brainy Gamer blog comes highly recommended by me and I think that you’ll really enjoy it.

Best Of GDC: ‘Making Games For PlayStation Network – The Facts’ – GameSetWatch

GameSetWatch will be running through some of the best GDC lectures that were perhaps lost amongst the crowd. This time they are looking at a lecture by Chris Eden from Sony talking about some of the more internal Playstation Network information such as what is open to PSN developers, cost and a few interesting statistics. Quite an informative read.

Character Profile: Moblins – Man Bytes Blog

Corvus from Man Bytes Blog shares some thoughts about the Moblin characters in Zelda: Wind Waker. Out of all of the personality in The Wind Waker I find the moblins the most interesting. There is just so much charm in the character design and animation.

You are Lose! Blog

I discovered this blog from a reader comment and have been impressed by the recent slew of content. Much like this blog;You are Lose is an enthusiast gaming blog with a keen eye for notable, game design observations. Korey’s blog is mainly about the game software, so I think that you’ll enjoy this one as well.

1Up Network Director Dan Hsu Explains his Company’s Recent Overhaul – Level Up

N’gai Croal interviews Dan Hsu from the 1Up Network about the recent changes with staff positions and the new alphabetical grading system. Rather insightful.

Pure Pwnage Series Review + Episode 16 – Ed Borden PWNING 9-5

Ed Borden over at PWNING 9-5 has shared his thoughts about episode 16 of the internet show; Pure Pwnage and provided a series run down. If you haven’t already heard of this show then head over, read the summary and see if it sounds like something for you.