NeoGamr as a computer games only site, an evaluation

[HawkMan]

So it's now been quite some time since NeoGamr changed to focus on just PC gaming.

Now lets see if this has really been a good or even necessary change.

Firstly I was skeptical of the whole change to start with. the idea was to focus the site. Of course the problem was that the site had very few visitors to start with so narrowing the focus of a site with very few visitors to start with seems counterproductive.

From what I can see since then, Visitations to the site have not really increased, there's still barely a handful of comments and many topics are never commented at all. Meanwhile at the same time. a lot of big and important console gaming news have come and gone, news that could have been used to pull traffic to NeoGamr. But instead Neowin insist on keeping the site focused on PC gaming. At the same time those same big gaming news have been posted on the Neowin frontpage.

The irony in this is that the big news that have been posted on Neowin have pulled a lot of visits and comments, while the ones posted on Neogamr draws nothing.

So then it seems that either neogamr should again become a site for all gaming news, console and PC alike, especially now at the dawn of a new generation. alternatively, drop the whole neogamr project and pull gaming back as a category on Neowin where the news get lots of visits and comments.

As it is right now I, as I guess many others, see little reason to visit Neogamr. with the limited amount of gaming news I can't go there for all my gaming news, and the PC gaming news is generally later. Had the site had all gaming news I wouldn't have minded if it was later than other sites as it could be my one stop gaming news site. In addition the lack of any discussion in the comment section also makes me less interested in visiting. As such it would make most sense to just merge Neogamr back into Neowin where there's healthy visitors and discussion, that or at the very least make Neogamr an all gamign site and make the connection with neowin a lot stronger and cross link news posts between Neogamr and Neowin.

[devBrian]

What was the reason for straying away from consoles? Fanboys?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

What was the reason for straying away from consoles? Fanboys?

I think most of the staff besides Larry are more PC focussed, and it's a lot of work to cover both realms.

If they want a good run they'd best spend time following the Playstation Event on the 20th and GDC/E3. Thing is though in general, gaming news sites are everywhere, it's a very saturated website market.

[Lovell]

I actually completely forgot about Neogamr.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

It seems nice to me.

[compl3x]

The irony in this is that the big news that have been posted on Neowin have pulled a lot of visits and comments, while the ones posted on Neogamr draws nothing.

It also seems to me that sometimes stories that are on the NeoGamr site are put on after they've been in the gaming forums. Plus, considering the fact you can just visit https://www.neowin.net/forum/forum/296-neogamr-news/ and see the titles and choose not to bother going to neogamr.net doesn't help.

I think the only time I check the neogamr is to look at weekend sales.

[tim_s]

Here is some of my opinions,

1: broad subjects sometimes can reduce viewership vs focused subjects. The traffic and audience would be the decider of the approperiate change. I would agree that PC gaming would drive more traffic based on the fact traffic competition would be reduced.

2: This would be opinion for lack of growth (knowing we have not used any shared metrics to determine this), people are going to where traffic exists. I.e. why would someone go to a social site where only a small amount of social activity exists?

My first assumption would be that traffic sent to NeoGamr primarily is driven from Neowin, which would raise the question: Why would one leave Neowin where all their friends operate within and already has active discussions for a new site where this is not the case?

I do not think the question is: Whether NeoGamr's focus change is a problem but more that was segmenting Neowin in the first place was a good strategy when the subject is clearly already handled.

Since money and time was spent I would of invested in strengthening the offerings within the current Neowin gaming forums. Long term costs would have been reduced, resources pooled, traffic shared. We could of worked within the already existing successes and geared more for the audience.

[spaceelf]

I think broader console coverage makes sense AFTER the new consoles are available, but not before. Frankly I've been so disappointed in the PC gaming market lately I'll be jumping ship.

[HawkMan]

Actually the time to drag in the console news is now, before launch, this when the rumor mill is the hottest. after launch the rumors are gone and you're left with just regular game news.

[Noir Angel]

I'm quite pleased with this stance. Too much of the Internet seems to cater specifically to console junkies these days, it's nice to see someone that gives PC gamers some attention.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

NeoGamr has changed?

That's the problem for me. I can't comment on NeoGamr due to work filters. It was a shame for me, as I used to enjoy reading the articles. Now I just go straight to the gamer's hangout for information.

[HawkMan]

I'm quite pleased with this stance. Too much of the Internet seems to cater specifically to console junkies these days, it's nice to see someone that gives PC gamers some attention.

And how does also having console news prevent that ? right now you have a basically dead site with few visitors and no traffic or discussion in the comments. people who play both PC games and console games don't go there because it only caters to one selection and has no traffic.

At the end of the day, having neogamr as such a focused site, will just mean there isn't going to be a neogamr.

[spaceelf]

Actually the time to drag in the console news is now, before launch, this when the rumor mill is the hottest. after launch the rumors are gone and you're left with just regular game news.

Seems to me like the rumors just recirculate the same crap for page views.

BREAKING NEWS: THE SAME BREAKING NEWS WE HAD FOUR MONTHS AGO! Woo!

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Actually I think Hawk is right, even if they are the same news with different words from time to time, rumors about new products are what drive traffic.

[spaceelf]

I'd rather have content that actually has a point than content for the sake of it.

[HawkMan]

Well, it's a news site. The point is to post news people want to read. Like it or not. People want rumors about next gen consoles, more than news about current games.

Also there has been a lot of new stuff in the rumors the last few months.

[HawkMan]

https://www.neowin.net/news/bungie-reveals-footage-of-first-post-microsoft-game-destiny

Another f the many recent examples of why the pc only focus of neogamr needs to be rethought, or the whole neogamr needs to be put down.

[Raa]

I've only ever dropped into it to skim over a news article.

I would prefer it merged back with Neowin - where I feel it belongs. :)

[HawkMan]

I've only ever dropped into it to skim over a news article.

I would prefer it merged back with Neowin - where I feel it belongs. :)

As it is, that's the best decision. Look at the comment section on that article I posted. It's full of comments and discussion. It has more visits and comments than all of neogamr's articles over a month.

Just roll the gaming section back not neowin and call neogamr a failure. Or duplicate the neowin gaming section with neogamr, and make it all gaming news,

[Jose_49]

As it is, that's the best decision. Look at the comment section on that article I posted. It's full of comments and discussion. It has more visits and comments than all of neogamr's articles over a month.

Just roll the gaming section back not neowin and call neogamr a failure. Or duplicate the neowin gaming section with neogamr, and make it all gaming news,

Or instead of duplicating the exact content, they could just create a link on neowin front page so it can refer it to neogamr.

[Alladaskill17]

Send me games, I'll cover the console side of things :laugh:

[nekkidtruth]

Somewhere, at some point, there is a big "I told you so" coming. All of these concerns were expressed when it was announced they would be breaking NeoGamr off into it's own site. Aside from the ridiculous name (my personal opinion of course), it really didn't do anything to spur traffic as it was apparently intended to do. The whole "Let's officially become a gaming news site, but not bother with most of the news in the industry!" wasn't really a sound plan...

[MightyJordan]

To be honest, I never even saw the announcement of the site's intention to shift focus to PC games. It's definitely not a sound decision, especially when the true next-gen consoles are very likely to be released this year. And I fully agree with you, HawkMan; I think it'd be best if NeoGamr was just merged back into the main Neowin site. It wouldn't hurt as well to turn to some of the Gamers Hangout regulars for help on some aspects, like articles, and the podcast. I reached out a few times in the past to help out with the podcast, but nothing ever came to fruition; I'd still love to give it a shot though. :)

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Since we no longer are doing the podcast I was thinking of starting to write some stuff again but forgot it was a PC only focus. That pretty much eliminates most of what I would want to write about.

[+virtorio MVC]

NeoGamr, as a gaming site, has ZERO personality. You can get gaming news anywhere, what drives people to sites like Giant Bomb are the people that run it.

I hadn't even realised NeoGamr had changed focus to PC gaming, and I try and make an effort to click on it at least a few times a week.