How to bring GPU back.

JC316 said:

The problem with that is the vastly different reviewer styles and layouts.

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Different styles add variety to reviews. The layout would have to be based on whatever score system is used. Each review focuses on a single point of that score system. There's two ways you can see the reviews: combine all the reviews of one author for a single game (would appear like a review you see pretty much everywhere) or see reviews of multiple authors for each aspect of the rating. It would kind of be like a metacritic + professional review.

You're score system would have points like:
-First Impressions (aka Introduction)
-Graphics
-Audio
-Gameplay
-Innovation
-Synopsis (aka Conclusions)

If only one thing really stood out to the reviewer, they could write and rate just that point. That way the reviewers expertise will always shine through.

Another way to look at it: each of the points should answer a specfic question. For example, graphics: If I were looking for eye candy, what would I find and will it make me speechless with beauty? Or gameplay: If I were a gamer, would I like the depth of story, characters, and length of the game? Or audio: If I were an audiofile, would I love it, hate it, or somewhere in between? What does this game offer for each demographic of gamers?

Themailman has a good idea but the problem will be getting the traffic to the site to warrant all of the time and effort that goes into running it.

I would go there but would the average gamer know about it?

I forgot GamePowerUp even existed lol

I miss the place, but at the end there it was little more than just cleaning spam every moment I had to take a look at the forums. Frankly I'd still rather see a part of GPU forums start as an expanded section here...there could be review contests, more console stuff, hell maybe an interview or two. I did get to interview the of the game designers for C&C Tiberian Sun back in the late 90's when I had my C&C fan site up, that was just a blast, but I was also a lot better and much more willing to run things and since it was my site I had control to change what was needed when I felt it needed it.

For GPU to be truly successful a solid and unique approach would be needed, that and the strongest support possible from the TPU community to get the word out there and support the site whether or not it had a different forum. Though I would like to see a future GPU not be a TPU clone, if that's the route it would go...extending TPU for gaming would be the way to do it then imo.

Getting it out there, then providing something unique, getting good news fast, getting quality and unique reviews that feature some likable personalities, a site that's easier on the eyes with quick and simple navigation, something simple at first...give GPU a focus point, start it with support of consoles, then add handhelds and pc support down the road maybe? Get one topic honed and polished, see if there's support worthy of even having the site again, then start making it grow. Too many ways things could go and I really wish I was more motivated on this topic as I was around 2 years ago, but alas I'm not, so frankly give us a better gaming forums section in TPU Forums and grow from there, if it takes well enough, use the same forum on both sites...create a site once enough people would be willing to support, donate and visit via use of word of mouth in the forums. When people start wanting TPU Game reviews more and more, and want to see more game news, and get active more in the forum part, getting a better reason and more solid ideas for an actual GPU site again would be a better reality imo. That's my 2 cents at this point, I miss the place, but at the same time it was more like chores at the end than anything entertaining, I don't blame W1z for closing up shop. But I still think a Games section on these forums with PC, console and handheld to start would be a good place to get some ground and rally better support for a possibility of growing that forum section into a unique site down the road, that or maybe I'm on crack lol!

There are already forums and sites out there that code and do stuff, I just reinstall GTA:SA to get in on some action, and have found lots of sites "dedicated" and "the site" for mods, updates, etc... and very few have the ease of use, content, and technical expertise to handle the users.


Really GPU is a viable option , if, and a big if here, you can find the people to handle the site and make it worth while. W1zz spends probably 20-30 hours per GPU review, and that is just a card and some benchmarks. Imagine a game: technical data, performance, gameplay, subjective likes and dislikes, does it work on Windows 7, Vista, XP, X64, OSX, Linux under Wine, what mods are available, how to tweak, patches.......


I can easily see a game like GTA4 would need at least two to three weeks for a decent review, and supposing that 50% of viewers did like hte review and choose GPU as a viable opinion for games, what happens when every other game comes out? Are you going to buy them all?


How do you determine how well it runs? I can run GTA4 at max settings pretty much, but still not GTA:SA as the game really is poorly optomized, single core only. So a test setup with a dual core overclocked to 4.2Ghz is going to outperform aquad at 3.6Ghz? Totally game dependant. Or do you have multiple benchmark and gameplay rigs setup, and this is only for the PC version, what about the 360, PS3, PSX, Wii, etc..... and who pays for those?

Try a partnership with a "Direct KEYs" website...we do have a few members that own that type of site...Work out a GPU REVIEW AND Run promo's For the First week of the Review....Does not always have to be a new game JUST A GOOD GAME...I'm sure smaller Direct Keys WEBSITES would like the exposure (free) and it would help bring folks to the site

As far as video reviews go, I can't lay down the information in a video like I can in a written review. I am terrible at speaking in real life. I repeat myself, stutter, and my train of thought tends to lurch into reverse instead of forwards so I tend to go backwards in my argument than forwards... however, my writing is much more refined as I have the chance to make long pauses in your thought and edit what I say before submitting it, thus resulting in a far stronger argument.

A link to some gameplay footage with commentary would be a nice supplement, but I can't simply produce a video review alone.

Mailman, looking back I did pretty much say what you said. I admit I don't thoroughly read threads unless something really catches my interest. I was making a comment about the original idea about how to make GPU unique, and it turned out to be pretty much what you said, just worded differently.

hat said:

As far as video reviews go, I can't lay down the information in a video like I can in a written review. I am terrible at speaking in real life. I repeat myself, stutter, and my train of thought tends to lurch into reverse instead of forwards so I tend to go backwards in my argument than forwards... however, my writing is much more refined as I have the chance to make long pauses in your thought and edit what I say before submitting it, thus resulting in a far stronger argument.

A link to some gameplay footage with commentary would be a nice supplement, but I can't simply produce a video review alone.

Mailman, looking back I did pretty much say what you said. I admit I don't thoroughly read threads unless something really catches my interest. I was making a comment about the original idea about how to make GPU unique, and it turned out to be pretty much what you said, just worded differently.

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I can do video reviews with no problem. Speaking doesn't bother me if I know what I am speaking about.

FordGT90Concept said:

I think a long distance vision should be a 3D web browser for use with GPU and other sites. As far as I know, it hasn't been done yet and could easily be the web browser of the future.

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I suggested that a couple of weeks ago ... http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=102866

Would be a lot of work (probably why no one else has done it).

TheLaughingMan said:

If you want GPU to be something unique, honesty would be a start. No inflated review score scale, and no twisted personal opinion because it is or isn't your favorite genre. Give a honest personal opinion about the game as a whole, details about likes and dislikes. I could do without a score too. A final "would I buy it?", "would I recommend you buy it?", "should I rent it first?", etc. would be a refreshing change.

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You just contradicted yourself. Any opinion regarding a game is going to be a little bit twisted according to the tastes of the reviewer. I could honestly say I hate Command and Conquer. Others love those games. Neither person is "right," it's a matter of opinion. When reviewing things like coolers, GPUs, and power supplies you have hard numbers like temps and FPS counts to back up the claim of "is this any good." Games are a lot more subjective.

Why should you care if I like a game? It's what you think that counts.

Comparisions based on multiple users.


For example, three fourths of our editorial staff believe tits are the breast thing ever, however one believes a shorn beaver is better than sliced bread.


Subjective, tasteful, and attractive to pimple faced teens and 20 something players too.

sneekypeet said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I would prefer video reviews. Sorry for those who don't have the right equipment, or sound like a chorus of bullfrogs when they narrate, but I think clips of the game in action are a must. I would much rather see in real time what you are discussing, and I think it can give the reader/watcher a much better overall feel for the game, and judge for themselves whilst you (the reviewer) judges the game.

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You can combine text and in game movies?

Well you can kinda do that when uploading videos to youtube, ala those annoying chat-bubble esque things that pop up sometimes. I did this (privatively) with Windows Movie Maker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IMvl6IegR4

I was more thinking like having a typical text review, but with some gameplay vids. It might just be me, but I really CANNOT stand video reviews.

i think getting GPU up is a great idea and traffic will come if it is put on search engines (GPU was not before) idk why it wasnt thought of to begin with tbh. themailman has a good vision and with refine ment and hard work it can be done. game reviews are much different then hardware reviews and that needs to be remembered, a hardware type review on a game would be boring an i for one would never finish reading it. i like the idea of video reviews for GPU. its all in the hands of w1zz i suppose but if it's not givin a real second FAIR chance then all it will be is just another forgotten failure. sad but true

Kreij said:

I suggested that a couple of weeks ago ... http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=102866

Would be a lot of work (probably why no one else has done it).

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The idea was also brought up when GamePowerUp was originally taken down:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1332300#post1332300

FordGT90Concept said:

The idea was also brought up when GamePowerUp was originally taken down:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1332300#post1332300

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Did you also notice that there is no response to any of these suggestions? from anyone?
Do you think it is because people are not aware of the 3D browser plug-ins and programming languages (VRML, X3D, etc.) or that they are simply not interested?

Bah ... everyone here has good ideas, but still no one has a vision for GPU.
I don't know if W1zz reads these threads after they wander into the realm of obscurity, but I am going to toss out something new for GPU.

GPU stands for GamePowerUp. What exactly powers up your games?

1) Reviews. Reviews do not power up a game. They are a just a subjective collection of words (or pictures) that may or may not be applicable to someone who wants the game or already owns it. Forget game reviews. Too much of a resource drain. If anything, just let people vote on a game. It, of course, will be horribley skewed by the the asshats, but it gives people something to do. The people looking at the voting can decide whether it is even remotely valid or not. All we need is links to a game page with a couple of screens and the requirements for the game from the developers.

2) Mods. Mods are great!! But they do not power up a game. There are a million sites that hold terabytes of game mod files. Why just be another? Let them google for mods. The only way we should host a mod file is if it fixes gamestopping bugs or improves the performance of a game for various hardware configurations. Mods that simply add content can be found elsewhere.

3) Patches. Patches make a big difference. We should host patches. The latest patches from the devs should be accessable from the front page while current and in a patch database afterwards.

4) News. News is critical. People want to know what's new, what's changed, and what's going on in the gaming world. However, they do not want volumes of information. Put gaming news on the front page by title only (yes, it must be descriptive) and let them click for the details. One of the things that was told me was that the front page news section was boring and read like a newspaper.

5) Fixes and tweaks. This is absolutely what GPU should be about. How to get your games to run better. New information on this should be front and center.

My whole thought is "Fast and Furious". No plodding though a whole bunch of worthless crap to find out what you want to know about a game to get it to run or run better. Let the big players out there spend their millions on the rest of the crap. You come to GPU to get your game to run as best as it possibly can on your hardware. No more, no less.

Let the discussion begin ...

so wuth kreij's vision and the mailmans drive do we the tpu members think this is a good idea? i say yes! maybe we should start a petition and present that to w1zz i will help however i can with gpu i work full time and am a father of four but i can still find the time to help somehow. lets get serious and do this. there has to be a way to convince w1zz to let this have a real valid chance at success

We don't need a petition. We need a starting vision for GPU that is realistic. We cannot compete with the likes of IGN and the other major players, nor should we. But their sites are lacking in many ways. The one that is always thown in my face is that I can't find what I need easily.

When the site is known for its niche, people will come. There are many other hardware sites than TPU, but people know what to expect here and they tend to stay because they are happy with what they get.

While I'm at it let me toss out some more information.
When you own a website and are looking for help managing it, there is one deciding factor that stands above all else when picking someone to help. Trust.
Each level of authority on a site places demands of trust on a higher level. I've been there, I know....
1) Admins. These people must be beyond reproach and not only have the knowledge and ability to develop and further the site, but you must trust them implicitly with what you have. It is a God-aweful job trying to find admins you can trust. When you find them you try to keep them.
2) Mods. A little easier, but you must still moderate the modertators when you own a site. If they all stay in line, life is good. Moderators can make or break a site. The mods here on TPU are great given the plethora of crap they have to deal with on a daily basis.
3) News posters. Easier than mods, but take a lot of time to make sure they are what you want for the content. Either way, it is still time spent. (Except for BTA, after he got all settled down he is one of the best news posters I've ever seen.)
4) The rest. Whatever people you give more authority to, to add content you have to keep an eye on them. Not that they will maliciously do things to subvert your site, but that their ideas are in-line with yours.

All this goes into the consideration of forming a new site, and that's not even part of the vision. W1zz, I salute your resolve and your continued conviction that TPU and anything new can grow and prosper.

... and there you have it. My thoughts, my experience, my opinions.

Kreij said:

Did you also notice that there is no response to any of these suggestions? from anyone?
Do you think it is because people are not aware of the 3D browser plug-ins and programming languages (VRML, X3D, etc.) or that they are simply not interested?

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It's a crapload of work and the only way it could happen is if someone was staffed to author the software.

X3D is a bandwidth hog (uncompiled text and lots of it; main reason why it hasn't and won't catch on). Client side software with networking limited to unique information is definitely preferred not only because it has far less bandwidth requirements but also because the sky (and the computer hardware) is the limit. In order for gamers to appreciate it, it has to be as game-like as possible meaning graphical settings, audio settings, key bindings, and the various environmental necessities like collission detection, surfaces, materials, means to interact with the environment, and a reason to interact. Because it is to be, in effect, a 3D website, it will require a lot of intricities to be worked out like how to present the forums/message board/bullitin board, how to present news sections, and how to handle downloads. Maybe the control systems could be so intricate as to allow one member to demonstrate how to do something to another member (like add a stick of memory to their computer) so that said member knows exactly what to do (a picture is worth a thousand words, a video/live demonstration is worth a million). Once you get the core down for a 3D web environment, everything else should naturally fall in to place.

Again, I would avoid anything strictly web-based due to performance considerations and limitations.

Kreij said:

1) Reviews. Reviews do not power up a game. They are a just a subjective collection of words (or pictures) that may or may not be applicable to someone who wants the game or already owns it. Forget game reviews. Too much of a resource drain. If anything, just let people vote on a game. It, of course, will be horribley skewed by the the asshats, but it gives people something to do. The people looking at the voting can decide whether it is even remotely valid or not. All we need is links to a game page with a couple of screens and the requirements for the game from the developers.

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I think a vote and a brief explaination for the vote would be best. Kind of like comments on a product at Newegg but much shorter (maybe only 255 characters). That makes it easier to weed out the "asshats" as well as giving a general idea of where the game fails and where it succeeds.



A tool that, I think, would be very helpful is a third-party game updater. You tell it what game you want to update, it figures out, by examining important files, what version you have, goes to the server, finds versions available to you (description of fixes as well), user selects how far they want to update to, and then it installs the patches in the order the need to be to get it up to date. Make updating stupid easy and put the control in the users hands instead of publishers.

i agree mailman connections are always needed. but how do we get them? that is the real question. we got to be smart about it also. not only news before anyone else maybe demo's before anyone else and such i think this could really catch on.

overclocking101 said:

i agree mailman connections are always needed. but how do we get them? that is the real question. we got to be smart about it also. not only news before anyone else maybe demo's before anyone else and such i think this could really catch on.

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the problem is that i find. is that software in general and games specifically are very hard to get early...i mean hardware is easy to get early ad review but games are rather difficult.

Solaris17 said:

the problem is that i find. is that software in general and games specifically are very hard to get early...i mean hardware is easy to get early ad review but games are rather difficult.

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We could pirate all the games early, but then GPU would not last long at all...