Scope of MacScene

Niemann

My goal is to incorporate a number of new features into the site over the next month, and have a steady flow of content. I really want 2010 to be great year for MacScene. I think we're finally on a stable and feature-rich platform (for the first time) and we're already seeing a lot of growth (a handful of signups each day).

But this begs the question; what kind of site is MacScene? I've spoken a lot over the years with IUG about expanding the horizons of MacScene to be more general (including Windows on Mac, general console gaming, general gamer news), and I've even brought it to the attention of the community before. And here we go again.

Below is a list of possible news stories, and I want to know if you think the MacScene community would benefit from them. Hopefully we can use this feedback to define the scope of MacScene. Some should be obvious, some are opinion articles, some are news from other sites; but I'm interested in the feedback.

Retro State - Super Nintendo (just like Retro State - Nintendo on the frontpage)
2010 Year of Tablet Gaming?
Zelda Soundtrack Reorchestrated (Free)
iPod Touch Sales Soar for the Holidays
Link of the Day: ROM Nation
Torrent of the Week: Complete NES ROM Collection
Diablo III: The Morlu Caster Revealed
Indie Spotlight: Wolfire Games
How-To: Play Modern Warfare 2 on your Mac
Sonic CD Remake Coming to the iPhone
Oregon Trail Released for the iPhone
Myst Comes to the iPhone
N.O.V.A. Review
How-To: Learn HTML Programming
About MacScene: History
Coming in the Year 2010: Console Gaming
Coming in the Year 2010: Emulation on the Mac
Interview with the PCSX2 Team
Interview with Richard Bannister
Details of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Leaked
WWDC Live Coverage
Comicon Live Coverage
Burglary Delayed By Mystery Game
In Our Dreams: Castlevania And Luigi's Mansion Knock Boots
Ghostbusters 3 Shooting This Summer For A 2011 Release

Sorry for the multitude of options, but simple yes and nos should help us get started. Even general comments are helpful. Thanks.

seanstar

Most topics seem fine. I may just be old-fashioned but I worry some about linking ROM sites/torrents directly, since there has been some legitimization of the scene in recent years and a good number of games are now honored as protected on a number of sites.

Con coverage, interviews, etc aren't bad per se, but in the longer term I'd rather not see macscene grow into a huge non-navigable corporate mish-mash of everything gaming. There are enough of those sites out there already.

mossy_11

I agree with seanstar about both the rom/torrent linking and careful selection of what to (not) cover on the site.

I'd say features should cover everything surrounding emulation and retro gaming on the Mac, including interviews, how-tos, developer/application/game spotlights, and commentary.

I'm also in favour of some coverage of the broader gaming scene, so long as it relates to the Mac and/or iPhone/iPod. There are plenty of sites that try to cover everything, but only a handful that have decent Mac coverage.

I like the variation of content style in that list, though, with the broader features and commentary coupled with reviews, interviews, and news that might fall under the radar. I'd been thinking about writing some similar stuff myself...

I'd like to add a few things to that list (which I'd be willing to write):

26. a (multi-part) feature on the current state of gaming on the Mac, which would cover history, recent (commercial and non-commercial) games, virtualisation/boot camp options, a brief overview of emulation, and a look to the future.

27. Retro Spotlight: Dark Castle (or any other old Mac game, especially if pre-OS 9)

28. New Star Grand Prix Review (and other Mac game reviews)

29. Game of the Week (pick a game that can be played in OS X - either natively or via emulation - and write something about it -- responsibility for this could be rotated between members/staff

EDIT: You better write the MacScene history article - I'd sure love to read it.

Niemann

Most topics seem fine. I may just be old-fashioned but I worry some about linking ROM sites/torrents directly, since there has been some legitimization of the scene in recent years and a good number of games are now honored as protected on a number of sites.

I agree...I'm very hesitant about this. Although the original logic behind not posting links to ROMs / ROM Sites (back when Emuscene was started) was to not attract shady file sharers / leechers. The legal issues are no longer much of a problem, I have seen a number of respectable websites post instructions to obtaining ROMs.

I'd like to add a few things to that list (which I'd be willing to write):

Those all sound like awesome ideas. From what I've heard from people on chat, anything that can be related to Mac and Gaming (and even occasionally general Mac geek news; rumors, cool Mac hacks, etc.) all while maintaining a focus on retro gaming is fair game (pun intended).

You better write the MacScene history article - I'd sure love to read it.

This would be an epic endeavor. Maybe I'll tackle it sometime in 2010. Thanks for the feedback.

dickmedd

mossy_11 wrote:

I agree with seanstar about both the rom/torrent linking and careful selection of what to (not) cover on the site.

I'd say features should cover everything surrounding emulation and retro gaming on the Mac, including interviews, how-tos, developer/application/game spotlights, and commentary.

I'm also in favour of some coverage of the broader gaming scene, so long as it relates to the Mac and/or iPhone/iPod. There are plenty of sites that try to cover everything, but only a handful that have decent Mac coverage.

I agree with all of this. I've always enjoyed a site free from links to ROMs/Torrents but it's your call.

I definitely think that things should still be as Mac/Apple based as possible. I already follow sites such as dcemu, which while being an excellent source of news for all consoles, has become a little widespread for my liking. I much prefer sites such as DCevolution and their dedicated How-to and help site DChelp which are uber-specific and focused on the the Dreamcast platform - perhaps something similar can arise on Macscene?

Dcemu
DC Evolution
DC Help

p.s. sorry about the extremely Dreamcast obsessed post! These were the first examples which came to mind!

jack59splat59

I'm gonna love the ComiCon live coverage. I hope I can help with the Pittsburgh one.

HDL

How limited should the scope be? Personally I think for a site called MacScene, it should include more info regarding the Mac and related topics and not just "gaming on the Mac." I'd like to see a focus on helping people "get the most out of their Mac." For example, we could offer info about many useful applications for OS X.

Assume someone just stumbled upon the site. He just recently bought a Mac and wants to get better acquainted with the options available to him. What are the best word processing options and where can he find them? What kind of components could benefit him (Perian comes to mind)? What are his options regarding Windows apps? What are the best instant message client options? Articles to help understand differences better (OpenGL as opposed to DirectX)?

There are so many topics that can be covered to help people get the most out of OS X, especially since it's harder for them to find answers for questions like these from someone they know in person.

jack59splat59

we should have gaming tourneys.

menace690

Along the line of tournaments, can we add and Xbox Live section to profiles? I never game on my Mac, but I play a decent amount of Console games.

Niemann

I'm a little naive, but what information do people need to game on all the various systems (PS3, XBox, and Wii). I believe the Wii has long gamer codes. If you send me the formats, I'll add a field to the profiles.

IUG

Xbox 360 and PS3 are just names. However for the Wii, there's the system ID and then there's an ID for each game.

jesus

Niemann wrote:

But this begs the question; what kind of site is MacScene? I've spoken a lot over the years with IUG about expanding the horizons of MacScene to be more general (including Windows on Mac, general console gaming, general gamer news), and I've even brought it to the attention of the community before. And here we go again.

Perhaps my opinion is less relevant to what Emuscene/Macscene has become and what it will evolve into. However for what its worth, I personally have always enjoyed the tight group of members continuously involved with the forum with users sticking to the site(s) for long periods of time, and even though some were not overly liked and particularly annoying (myself) I always felt welcome posting here. I would be personally worried that by perhaps overextending Macscene's target audience this unique aspect of the forums may be lost forever? Then again maybe im venturing too far into the past. :laugh:

Ps. Hi again everyone!

usingpond

Hey, just wanna say -- haven't been to the site in a few weeks, but I'm really liking the front page! I definitely think articles like what's currently up are a good way to go. I think we have to encourage comments a bit more, and though the site used to be a niche for all us emulation geeks, somehow more people gotta come here. Maybe post some articles to Digg if you haven't already?