• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Have you heard of... Bringing under-the-radar games into light on GAF

Do you think this is a good idea?


  • Total voters
    20

Guilty_AI

Member
For a while now, i've been trying to come up with ways that could help bringing some attention to games the general public might not get much contact with.
The average user on GAF is fairly old (at least compared to a lot of other gaming forums), meaning generally busy individuals with families and full time jobs, and the population here isn't that big to begin with. As such, it isn't strange a lot of people in the site would never have heard of certain games that rely mainly on word-of-mouth to spread, especially those users that don't frequent other forums too often. So, how could we shine some well deserved light in such gemstones?

The first, and probably most obvious, means to divulge such titles would be making |OT|'s of whatever game you feel deserve attention but isn't getting any. However that has it set of limitations. For starters, the purpose of |OT|'s is generally to keep the conversation of ultra popular/hyped games in one place, basically the opposite of our main objective here which is to create/revive the discussion. Also, they're generally used for titles being released, when its not uncommon to play less known games years after it came out.

"How about creating a big thread specifically for those types of games?" Unfortunatelly that would be too messy. There are all sorts of genres and niches with varying degrees of popularity out there, and throwing them all into the same place wouldn't make for good discussions. One thing that could work, however, is to create threads for specific niches, like a community thread dedicated to Visual Novels, for DOS games, for good cheap games, for Point 'n' clicks or freewares.

"Couldn't we simply create topics discussing such games?" Yes, and thats generally the idea i'm getting at here. The point is that by standardizing the format of these topics, it would make the search easier for other users looking for these less known games recommended by their fellow GAFers, as well as avoiding multiple threads on a single title. To do that we'd need an identifier on the title and/or a tag (Like HYHO or something).

I'm starting this discussion because i've seen some users commenting about wanting this, but i don't know what everyone truly thinks. So please share your thoughts.
 

Concern

Member
this is a great idea. There are plenty of Rocket leagues and Fall guys out there that im sure we're missing out on.

It'd be great to help out smaller devs who worked their asses off on these games.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
this is a great idea. There are plenty of Rocket leagues and Fall guys out there that im sure we're missing out on.

It'd be great to help out smaller devs who worked their asses off on these games.
Yeah, i'm particularly always up for different types of games too but its not like i can find them all by myself. It'd be great to see the sort of weird stuff the community would recommend.
 

Concern

Member
Yeah, i'm particularly always up for different types of games too but its not like i can find them all by myself. It'd be great to see the sort of weird stuff the community would recommend.


They should make an ot for this. I mean most AAA devs don't seem to have the same passion for this anymore besides making cashgrabs. Indies are pretty invested in their projects.
 
I think it's a neat idea. Maybe have a rating system too via 'likes' or 'triggered' reactions to games?

I have been misguided by community to play shit titles 😵😲 just as much as truely great stuff 😘😋.
 

Relativ9

Member
Still one of my favorite indie games of the ps3/360 era, and criminally underplayed by the the usual crowd of hardcore gamers I talk to about it: Knytt Underground. I used to do video reviews (my script/edit but my colleges voice) so here's a pretty comprehensive video on how I feel about the game.

 
Last edited:

Guilty_AI

Member
I think it's a neat idea. Maybe have a rating system too via 'likes' or 'triggered' reactions to games?

I have been misguided by community to play shit titles 😵😲 just as much as truely great stuff 😘😋.
Considering they tend to be largely niche titles, its natural you wouldn't like everything you see. But i suppose something like a poll could be useful.
"Played it and recommend"
"Played it but don't recommend "
"Heard of it but didn't play"
"Never heard of it"
 

RedVIper

Banned
Yeah I though about doing something similar, but I had the idea of doing a weekly thing were I'd post a few lesser known games with a small review of each. But I think the threads would just get buried and I'm not sure it would be appropriate for the mods to make it a sticky.
 

mili2110

Member
Brawlhalla is a game that no one is talking about here on GAF. I don't know why. It's like Super Smash Bros for all consoles and phones. There are big tournaments for 1 mio $+. This game is so much fun.

 

Guilty_AI

Member
Yeah I though about doing something similar, but I had the idea of doing a weekly thing were I'd post a few lesser known games with a small review of each. But I think the threads would just get buried and I'm not sure it would be appropriate for the mods to make it a sticky.
It wouldn't really need to be a sticky, just have an appropiate tag or something.
I also don't think absolutely every thread would be getting 5 pages, i suppose it would be the job of OP to try and make it look interesting. Naturally only a few would caught peoples attention but i still think it'd be worth it.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Brawlhalla is a game that no one is talking about here on GAF. I don't know why. It's like Super Smash Bros for all consoles and phones. There are big tournaments for 1 mio $+. This game is so much fun.


Yes, there are also other fairly well known titles that i just don't see much people talking about here. For the launch of Hades 1.0 for example, there were only two people, including myself, who were willing to make an |OT|. Nothing on games like Stormworks, Helltaker, Star Fetchers, only one or two threads for games like Spiritfarer and Bullets Per minute that quickly got buried, no |OT|'s for Risk of Rain 2 and almost no one talking about it.

I suppose separating a tag or a theme specifically for when you want to divulge or share lesser known games could help in at least making such threads live for longer, even if with sparser posts. It would also help people looking for new stuff to play.
 
Discussing actually niche games on GAF is hopeless in my experience. If I want to do that I go to Metacouncil or Reddit or even the Steam thread on Resetera. I’m not against a single thread dedicated to niche games here though. I feel like with separate threads for each game they will all die in minutes.
 
I like your ideas OP, but i think OT threads are impossible, it will be drowned out by console war threads in no time, a megathread would be better. title tag is also a good idea.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
Discussing actually niche games on GAF is hopeless in my experience. If I want to do that I go to Metacouncil or Reddit or even the Steam thread on Resetera. I’m not against a single thread dedicated to niche games here though. I feel like with separate threads for each game they will all die in minutes.
I like your ideas OP, but i think OT threads are impossible, it will be drowned out by console war threads in no time, a megathread would be better. title tag is also a good idea.
The problem with megathreads is that it would become too messy or disorganized, the variety of niches is just too big. The best option for such an approach would be to create specific threads in the community forums dedicated for specific types of games, like a Visual Novel's community for example.
A tag wouldn't save game specific threads of getting buried, but it could serve as a lifeline for the people actually interested.
 
Last edited:

Tschumi

Member
I am not in a position to reflect meaningfully on your op, but i will mention that Majesty 2 is an insanely good take on rts/economic sim.. feels like you're a gamemaster for wow...
 

Guilty_AI

Member
I mean, i myself have been trying to do it too.



But it never hurts to inspire more people to do their own, or try to improve the situation in different manners
 
Top Bottom