Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

An interesting press release came through the wires today, and it would appear that Shrapnel is going to take on the giant that is Wargamer.com, although nobody is yet saying it. A battle of the giants? Also, I notice Matrix Games, a competitor to Shrapnel, has a direct relation to Wargamer.com financially. Of course there's nothing on that site at the moment, and so it does look like a bit of a spoof. What have Shrapnel got planned?

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

Sorry, but the idea of a publisher or developer sponsored web site ever being independant, complete, or unbiased seems extremely unlikely to me.

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

Actually alot of the ones out there are already tied into one. Such as Wargamer tied to Matrix. I mean I see your point but unless you want to do one yourself its hard to see where one will happen that ISNT tied into someone. Gaining that much interest in gaming develops ties. And the "big ones" are considered to be biased by advertising money and shelfware.

Have you read the Shrapnel "About Us" link?
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/about.htm
If not then I highly recommend it in light of this discussion. I liked where it was coming from as far as tackling the publishers, and I think I like it for tackling the game sites.

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

Actually it's more than a financial relationship, Matrix Games bought Wargamer.com awhile ago. We aren't specifically going after Wargamer.com, but we're being fairly transparent that the site is owned by us from the beginning. That way people can use their own judgement to decide if they think our coverage is biased.

That isn't the main reason for the site. What is frustrating is to see a lot of quality independent games get reviewed by someone who knows nothing of the genre and it reviewing it just to get a free game. Did I tell you the story of the reviewer that I had to explain the concept of turns to (because he had only played RTS's).

We want to start a relationship with the other independent developers and publishers to put an outlet for our products out there with writers who will appreciate the offering. We also will not comment or review games in retail, this is only for those folks who either aren't in retail by chance or by choice.

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

And we promise not to vote ourselves "publisher of the year." http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif

(Moderators: Feel free to move my post if you see fit!)

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

Would you think it fair to say then that Wargamer.com is the "mouthpiece" of Matrix games?

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

I wouldn't say that at all. I know many of the folks who are on staff at Wargamer.com (as a former staff member myself) and I think they try to be fair. However we wanted to be pretty up front with our relationship from the beginning.

The main reason for the site is to give independent games more of a voice.

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

Very nice, but on the site, www.thegamingnews.com/ I think the design ins't really up to snuff with it's competitors. I'm not saying it should be flashy, but it should look a bit stronger.

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

It's a place holder at this point so we can have people contact us who are interested in contributing. It is in no way representative of what the site will actually look like.

Re: Shrapnel to Take on Wargamer.com?
 

Dont change it too quickly. I majorly like what it says. It really puts out the statement right from the beginning what you guys have in mind.

Do you want "the call to go out to all the corners of the earth"? I can drop some "check this out" into some of the newsgroups it would fit in