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What Happened to the Fan Sites?

Castle

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Video games are a passion, of that there is no doubt. It's an indulgence that gamers are very fond of, as well they should be. But it seems to me like there used to be a lot more in the way of websites dedicated to facilitating that indulgence. The now (deservedly) defunct Game(F)ailers (GameTrailers) website used to host series retrospectives for fans to gush over, developer interviews and in depth analysis of video games (before the site decided to turn on its consumer base and commit cultural seppuku). The Escapist website used to be a bastion of nerd culture with game and movie reviews, analysis, commentaries, developer interviews and overviews of video game history and culture until they went insane SJW and obliterated all of their feature content. Publications like Nintendo Power and Playstation Magazine (which I think still exists in web form at least) used to be veritable shrines to nintendo and playstation fanaticism and a go-to staple for any fan with features, exposes', insider guides, contests and merchandise. In North America there was even a cable network channel devoted to video games - G4, before it completely lost its way and went defunct - with review shows like X-Play and Judgement Day, multiplayer showcases like Arena and Portal, and an assortment of other shows showcasing video games and various nerd culture.

Sure, now there are a plethora of youtube channels devoted to all aspects of gaming interests. ExtraCredits, AVGN (who's still on Cinemassacre), GameTheory, DidYouKnowGaming, SmoshGames - even more independent standalone channels like EmceeProphit, RetroAhoy, Chris Stuckman and The Rageaholic feature reviews, commentary, and veritable love letters to all things video games.

But is youtube all there is? Video game print publications have all but disappeared. Nintendo Power is no more. GamePro is defunct. Is PC Gamer still in print? As far as I can tell only GameInformer still exists in print mostly because Gamestop gives it to Powerup Reward customers as an added bonus.

What happened? Was there a cultural shift a-la Gamergate and the whole "gamers are dead" fiasco? Is commercialism to blame? Changes in technological trends and the rise of content creation on Youtube? Or has interest waned? Is there simply no want for these outlets for fan devotion anymore? Does anyone else miss these temples to gaming greatness, or am I just not looking in the right places for them?
 

Djinn

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Basically, no one needs them anymore. There are huge network sites for every purpose now that fan made sites are not necessary and have a lot of trouble competing. Especially when all the hard work in constructing the site is done, all one needs to do is sign up and start posting.

If you want info, go to a wiki, want music go to youtube, want merch go to amazon, want a community go to reddit, want fanart go to tumblr, want screenshots go to imgur,

The ones sticking around are ones that have been around for a long time now and have their own communities made already so they can keep on going, although probably not as strongly as they did in the past. I'm pretty sure quite a few of the older fan sites just migrated over to the bigger places that have the larger member bases. But newly made fan sites are a serious uphill battle. The challenge is trying to find something the larger networks do not have or at least do a poor job of, then attracting the viewership is the greater challenge.
 

Castle

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Basically, no one needs them anymore. There are huge network sites for every purpose now that fan made sites are not necessary and have a lot of trouble competing. Especially when all the hard work in constructing the site is done, all one needs to do is sign up and start posting.

If you want info, go to a wiki, want music go to youtube, want merch go to amazon, want a community go to reddit, want fanart go to tumblr, want screenshots go to imgur,

The ones sticking around are ones that have been around for a long time now and have their own communities made already so they can keep on going, although probably not as strongly as they did in the past. I'm pretty sure quite a few of the older fan sites just migrated over to the bigger places that have the larger member bases. But newly made fan sites are a serious uphill battle. The challenge is trying to find something the larger networks do not have or at least do a poor job of, then attracting the viewership is the greater challenge.

So the people have moved their fan content to all purpose sites like the ones you mentioned, so there's no longer any need for specialized sites like GameTrailers or G4 or The Escapist? That makes sense. And that would account for why it's maybe a little harder to find this sorta stuff anymore. It's no longer in once place. It's all spread out. That's good for creator content. Literally anyone can make a Youtube video or Deviantart fanfic or post memes on Instagram. We're no longer beholden to specific providers like Gametrailers or G4 or IGN or Gamespot.

Still, there's something to be said for having a centralized location for everything- a sort of video game fandom content nexus if you will just so one doesn't have to search far and wide for worthy material. You know? Like the pornhub of video game fandom :P
 

Djinn

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Yea but the price paid is the lack of small communities which some people prefer. Sometimes a large subreddit is not the place someone want so to go to. Or it is impossible to sift through some of the fanart sites and actually find anything.
 

Castle

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Yea but the price paid is the lack of small communities which some people prefer. Sometimes a large subreddit is not the place someone want so to go to. Or it is impossible to sift through some of the fanart sites and actually find anything.

That's true. The larger the user base, the more difficult it would be to maintain. I'm certain your job would be insanely difficult if ZDi benefit from exposure from being connected to a larger network (like the Wiki network - maybe ZDi is linked to that idk). More traffic brings a mess of problematic users, and this has contributed to the demise of many known sites. The Escapist has been largely wrecked by its notoriously inflammatory userbase. I would attribute this to the re-engineering of these sites to more resemble social media. Just the inclusion of a comments section has tanked many otherwise tolerable sites (9GAG). But not every content site needs to be a social media platform. You can view content without having to comment on it. But regardless of social media function, you're right, conglomerating all that content can make decent material more difficult to find.

Still, one could consider a hub that links video game related content from all across the web. Instagram, Tumblr, Imgur, Youtube, Gamespot, Gamer Informer, Cracked, Polygon etc. If it's gaming related it shows up and links to the associated site. You could link to GameTheory videos on Youtube, AVGN episodes on Cinemassacre, Articles on Game Informer and Polygon, Ten Lists on Cracked, memes on Imgur all from one place.
 
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It's 2017. The print media and time consuming to make websites are things of the past. People moved to youtube because there nothing matters except the content. The content there is the star and it's totally in your face. Also it's an easy way for the more popular channels to make that all important ad revenue.
 

DekuNut

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Still, one could consider a hub that links video game related content from all across the web. Instagram, Tumblr, Imgur, Youtube, Gamespot, Gamer Informer, Cracked, Polygon etc. If it's gaming related it shows up and links to the associated site. You could link to GameTheory videos on Youtube, AVGN episodes on Cinemassacre, Articles on Game Informer and Polygon, Ten Lists on Cracked, memes on Imgur all from one place.
Imagine what that would look like though. Every review of Breath of the Wild. Every trailer breakdown for Mario Oddysey. Think about how much people would have to sift through, ask yourself how you would choose which content to use and which content to skip over. There's just too much at that point.
 

Castle

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Imagine what that would look like though. Every review of Breath of the Wild. Every trailer breakdown for Mario Oddysey. Think about how much people would have to sift through, ask yourself how you would choose which content to use and which content to skip over. There's just too much at that point.

Uhh... a search engine?
 

Castle

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Wait... let me make sure we're on the same page with this.
Are you asking for a site that links the content on all these sites, or a site for people to upload items on the one topic?

Actually, this thread's veered a bit off topic.

But yeah, this

Are you asking for a site that links the content on all these sites
This. ^^^^
 

misskitten

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The same happened as did with all other fan sites, basically. There were a ton of fansites out there dedicated to all kinds of things, but now we have the all purpose sites and there isn't really a need, nor a "market" (term used loosely) for it anymore. People who might be interested in creating content are now making accounts at blog sites, creating pages/groups on social media sites, channels on video sites, because that is where their audience will think to look for them. Simple as that.
 

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