IDEA: Game of the Month Club

[Nz17]

So this morning I was kicking around the idea of how as a child my friends and I would often get the same game and each play it separately at our houses, but when we would be together we would all talk about what had happened in the game and share our common experiences with one another.

Feeling nostalgic for those days, I thought, "Why not try to incarnate that same experience now?" So I thought I'd turn to my local gamers at the DP boards and get their input.

The idea is simple: each month, a game will be chosen to be the following month's game of the month. Each person who participates will play through the game (or as much as possible) and the following month we will all share stories and thoughts about the game.

For example:
Month 1
Discussion about SMB
Next GOTM: Ninja Gaiden

Month 2
Discussion about Ninja Gaiden
Next GOTM: TMNT 2

Month 3
Discussion about TMNT 2
Next GOTM: Kirby's Adventure

Now I imagine it would be best to stick with common games for dead systems, as it is easier and cheaper to obtain those than new games for current systems (for those that need to do so). And this would generate a lot of good fun and chatting for all.

What do you think?

[Sylentwulf]

Personally, I think game of the WEEK might go over a little better. SMB for a month isn't going to get much gameplay since we've mostly all beaten the everliving hell out of it. Short of playing it one or two more times in a week, it wouldn't get played more than that in an average month.

[s1lence]

Yeah, Game of the Week would be better. Especially with the low attention spans of many gamers, like me.

[anagrama]

But a week is often not enough time to fully get to grips with a game, especially if it's something more involved than yer typical platformer or shooter.
We run a Game of the Week at SMS.com, and while there's some great titles that come up, I rarely have time to play all the way through them in a single week because these days I just haven't got the time to play games for hours on end every night.

How about splitting the difference and going for a fortnight?

[thegreatescape]

Didnt head honcho Joe used to do something like this? I dont exactly remember how often it was, but I seem to recall a "random game generator" of sorts. I suspect he's pretty busy with setting up the store though, and besides, I dont think Joe's was weekly/fortnightly/regular was it ?

[Flack]

The random game generator still exists, but the firmware needs updating and it crashes quite a bit, which explains its irregularity.

I know some of you but probably not all of you know that we run a weekly MAME Club, where we pick a different game every week to play and discuss. I had a few people say that a week was not long enough so the last one has been stickied in the Arcade Alley for the past three weeks and has a total of seven responses.

[Nz17]

Hmm, maybe we should then consider having a biweekly/fortnightly period for GOTMC.

MAME Club plays and discusses the same game all in the same week? I don't know if GOTMC should do that: if everyone is playing the game concurrently, would that be constructive or destructive to generating more posts during the game's run? Or would trying to play through the following GOTMC game be too distracting while discussing the previous one?

[njiska]

How's this sound:

1. At the start of the thread you announce the game, depending on the size of the game you annonuce how long we will play it. Say a week for a simple platformer like SMB, fortnight for something more involved like Metroid and a Month for big games like Metal Gear or Zelda.

2. After the play time is expired we disscuss the game for one week and hold a poll to determine the next game. Suggestions can be PM'd the to creator of the thread and the top 5 (discounting repeats) become our poll for the next game.

3. Repeat.

Sound fair?

[fpstream]

Sounds like a good compromise all around.

[Falcon]

We have enough members here to do this, so whenever you ready, lets get started.

[segagamer4life]

Yeah, Game of the Week would be better. Especially with the low attention spans of many gamers, like me.



wha.... attention......... span.......




wait.... what were.. we talking about?

[Nz17]

Sound fair?

Sounds good to me. I'll get the first event started!

[njiska]

Sound fair?

Sounds good to me. I'll get the first event started!

Sweet i can't wait.

[-hellvin-]

Sounds like a fun idea to me. I'd love to throw some pc gaming in there ;D.

[Richter Belmount]

im in =P =D

[njiska]

Yeah since this has moved on to a new thread it might be a good idea to lock this one. The first game is star tropics and the thread is here http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=70007

[Vectorman0]

Aren't we going to need extra time to allow people without the game to acquire it? I know I would be interested in this, but by the time I had the game of the week, everyone would be onto the next.

And before anyone mentions emulation, it's just not the same. That would be like reading a PDF hunched over your computer, as opposed to reading a book on a nice comfy couch.

[njiska]

Aren't we going to need extra time to allow people without the game to acquire it? I know I would be interested in this, but by the time I had the game of the week, everyone would be onto the next.

And before anyone mentions emulation, it's just not the same. That would be like reading a PDF hunched over your computer, as opposed to reading a book on a nice comfy couch.

Not if you running full screen with scanlines and a spliced NES controller. :P

[THATinkjar]

Could we run a GOTM for current gen games and past classics?

[MarHel78]

Cool! We used to do this on a German forum during the holiday season. Last christmas (I gave you my heart...) we played Omikron the Nomad Soul for DC.

I've got StarTropics, too. This should be a good opportunity to get cracking on this baby (as Ross Geller said last night on DVD).

(disregard the text in parenthesis, if you want)