By Alton Jerome McFarland
Game Zero (located at http://www.gamezero.com)
is a website primarily devoted to providing information about the
video game industry. Articles, news, and reviews constitute most of
the site's content, but not all. The site also contains peripheral
features like comics and playable online games.
Although Game Zero does contain some information related to computer
games, the site is chiefly concerned with coverage of console based
gaming. With an 'Articles' section whose archives boast titles like
'Playstation - Hip or Hype?' and 'WAR! - Nintendo vs. Sega', Game
Zero attempts to cover whatever gaming topic is hot at the time. In
providing that coverage, though, Game Zero makes a serious effort
to relay pertinent information about the gaming industry and its mechanics,
not just rumors about the next cool game or projected statistics on
the number of polygons a particular system will render. The site takes
a very professional approach to issues in the gaming industry. A given
article may contain information ranging from a game company's development
cycle to the effect of changes that company's corporate infrastructure.
After browsing the Game Zero website, I was left with the distinct
feeling that the site's maintainers were dissatisfied with the state
of gaming today. In particular, I felt that the site was disappointed
with the increasing number of well-hyped, sloppily created games.
Game Zero's perspectives are those of veteran game players with years
of experience on different platforms. As a result, their commentary
is much more insightful than the adjective-laden hype one often encounters
on other such sites. Rather than just speculating on how cool the
next big game or system will be, writers of Game Zero approach the
gaming world with more skepticism than awe.
The sections of the site devoted to comics and playable games, provide
a nice complement to the rest of the site's content. Though the games
are simple (Tic -Tac -Toe, etc.), they provide sufficient diversion
to entertain the bored websurfer for a few minutes. Also, after a
few minutes of reading comics or playing games, one is often ready
to read another article or review. By incorporating those things into
their site (especially the serialized comic strip), Game Zero creates
a reason for visitors to refer others or to return themselves.