Just launched a new site.. ideas for launch exposure?

dreamache

dreamache

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Jun 26, 2006
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UpcomingGames.com (link)

Been working my ass on this for the past 3 months. Almost every aspect of the site is 100% custom.

The primary purpose is the home page, to use the forms / criteria to quickly check out which games are coming up for specific platforms, genres and popularity. I scored the domain for $400 as it's a decent keyword so I figured I'd build it out.

Each game has its own dedicated hub page, example:
Brink | Release Dates, Forums and More (Made it so I can specify custom backgrounds for popular games).
- The twitter feed and youtube api is somewhat unreliable if the game name is generic like "Brink" so I need to tweak them a bit more.

One part that took quite awhile was custom building the forums from scratch, but it allowed me to do a lot of cool stuff that would have been near impossible to hack from an existing board solution..
Brink Forums and Community
- One thing that's cool, if a game is releasing on xbox/ps3/PC, a forum is generated for each of the 3.
- To combat the issue of having over a thousand+ forums for each game scattered all over with hardly any posts, I included a global "Off Topic" forum that will get populated quickly; so when visitors hit the forum pages, at least 1 forum will be populated.
Off Topic | Brink Forums
- I was also able to do cool stuff like show forum avatar in latest response, stuff that would normally take a ton of hacking work to do in other boards.

There's still quite a bit of work to be done and probably countless errors I haven't stumbled on yet, but it functions for the most part. Because of the chart and the insane CSS, it will only work on the later browsers as well.

I'd love to hear feedback..

  1. What was your immediate reaction on the site/idea?
  2. And do you have any ideas on a launch that can get me a lot of exposure?

I'm thinking of having a contest, join and "Like" the site and be entered into a prize draw to receive 10 free game preorders or something. I have several ideas floating around but I'm interested in seeing what you guys come up with.
 


Contests and prizes are the best way to get it spread around places like facebook quickly, and among friends.

Just an idea off the top of my head, why not go after some of the top YouTube channels and guys doing video game reviews. Get a mention from them that they utilize your site to plan their purchases and get in the know about what games are coming out, when they are coming out, and what platforms they are coming out on....

Ive done a few things where Ive done that with video bloggers on YouTube, and the pricing is pretty reasonable for the hits it can get you.

Potentially even work out something where you pay them a small fee to get into the forum of their favourite game and post advice? Not sure if they would want their subscribers to stray to your forum rather than their channel..but if you can get game conversations involving those types of guys it could be a huge initial boost to the forums.
 
Nice job on the site

initial reaction, what do you do with the thermometer, I figured you would be able to do something with it. I guess you needed something there not sure if I like it or not. I also am not nuts about scrolling and scrolling and scrolling but again I don't really have a suggestion to fix it. I would also make the game icons a little bigger (i know more scrolling) so they stand out a bit and is easier to figure out what game it is. The rest of the site is really cool. I love the idea of the forums and all the game details.

As to a launch I think your on the right track with the contest. Have some major prizes maybe a console bundle or something.
 
What was your immediate reaction on the site/idea?
Click to expand...

I would like to see a bigger difference between months. Make the bar on the side thicker and more visible so its immediately obvious when one month ends and another starts. Maybe in different colors.
 
It needs a better banner and a some sort of graphic between the banner and the games list. Check IGN for an example.
 
I like the site. It is something i could actually see people using and bookmarking. Also looks like you're in position for a SEO win. A++



If you're planning on making any money on preOrders.....


Need to make the 'PreOrder' more prominent on the individual game's pages

I was looking at Portal 2 and i was like... well now what?

What if i want this game? I had to search for the PreOrder section.



Also the twitter stream is going to cost you money if you don't make your own PreOrder section stand out more. Otherwise a user might just decide to click on a twitter users tweet with the amazon link in it.
 
Overall, it looks good!

My Only Suggestion...

I'm part retarded, so this probably doesn't mean anything, but between the header and the actual list of the games that are coming up, I think you should put some "explanatory content"...

For example, if I just stumbled upon this site and looked at the homepage, it would take me a little while to figure out what it was all about. I would be more apt to click back instead of hanging around to figure it out. Even though the domain is upcominggames.com, it could still use some explanation. (When I first clicked on the link before reading your description, I thought it was a schedule for upcoming sporting events...)

Something as simple as "Check out all the new games coming out soon - discuss, preorder, etc" and then maybe a small image above your dropdowns saying "choose your platform" or "choose your genre"...

It has just been my experience that it is sometimes good to "hold your visitors hand" and guide them through your website. Obviously, you have put a lot of time and effort into this, so you know everything there is to know about what you are trying to do, but your visitor only has a few seconds to figure it all out. I am guessing there are at least some people dumber than me out there that won't be able to figure it out quickly either...

Overall, though, it looks great and it's clear you put a lot of hard work and effort into it. I just think a few small tweaks here and there to make the user experience a little easier would pay off in spades...
 
Once the site is established, the current home page will be perfect. Until then, give a reason for the first time visitor to lurk around. A bunch of tabular data is not enough. You can still have all that, but show the visitor something good & compelling above the fold to make him stay and possibly sign up.

Great domain name, by the way. Good luck.
 
I have a 35k list of gamers. I'll blast them w/ an email of your choice for a small ad space on your site somewhere. PM me if you're interested.
 
first thought: this would be a better app than website.

second thought: what does thermometer have to do with release date?

then the insane twitter feeds, missing games, hoax info, etc.


cool idea though :)
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll be making some changes.

I was thinking instead of the useless twitter feed for each game, have it list articles from selected gaming RSS feeds (ign,kotaku,1up, etc..) and order them by latest; problem is, I've never worked with RSS and I'm not sure how I would go about combining all of the feed data and ordering by when it was written and only listing stories with the game name in the title. There something out there like this already, or need to have it custom coded?
 
I'd probably advertise on gaming / team forums - cut a deal so no money changes hands
 
i would say mass mailing is a good way to gain mass traffic... do some jv's .. offer free stuff .. contest.. things like that....
 
Facebook:

20 Different advertising campaigns that lead to a direct link to that hub page on your site. Find the 20 most popular games this year, target, win.

SEcond,

Your site doesn't look like its about gaming. You don't give a nod to the hardware (Controllers, Xbox logos, TV's, etc) or the software (Popular characters, cartoony looks, explosions, whatever)

Just some thoughts. Best of luck. Looks like a great concept.
 
First reaction: "Nice, like a mahalo of game releases. I bet a gamefly offer would do great."

Sorry not exactly your target demo :-)

Awesome site though. If this were my site I'd be brainstorming some game-inspired linkbait. "Women of video games: Upskirt edition"

P.S. Thread made me think of AVGN. Still making new shit and kicking ass.
 
Site looks real good. Thought the top seems to be missing something near logo/search area. Maybe just needs one banner up there. But it looks like a players site, so visitors shouldn't right it off at first glance on arrival. Someone above mentioned contests/freebies, which seem perfect for what I'd assume is the target. Some of the bigger tech & gaming sites have a hot female anchor/host to do 2 minute video segments on game or tech news of the week... and if I remember correctly, you're the guy here at WF to do a cool intro.
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launch - think pr stunts. I'm sure you don't have the budget to blow up and armored car like Zynga recently did, but read up on things done and maybe you can find an angle. Tip - breaking a world record can get significant press and exposure (if its crazy and makes good tv). Now you just need to find the right match for your site and audience.
 
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