Nerd Bacon News: May 2015 (1)

E3 is fast approaching!  Although we want you guys to go ahead and start thinking about what role you might be willing to play during the event, we still have a good deal of time to prepare.

Until then, let's keep doing what we're doing.  Reviews are always a priority, so let's review!  Don't forget that you don't just have to write game reviews.  We always love to host hardware reviews as well.  Got a favorite light gun, or an unusual controller?  How about a nice piece of performance-boosting PC equipment?  Or maybe you can give us an expert rundown on a classic console, including things like processing power and other specs?  It's all fair game, and if you've never written one before, you'll find that it's a bit of a different experience.  Plus, you'll score yourself a Hammer Badge!

If you're a member who's reached at least 10 published articles, you can also branch out into DIY articles or top 10 lists.  We'll talk more about DIY pieces a little further down.  Top 10 lists should be pretty self explanatory; you can see our collection of such articles by clicking here.  They take a little longer to put together than a standard review, but they're always a big hit on social networks and they're good for stirring up the interest and opinions of readers.  Top 10s are a great way to show off your expertise, be informative, and craft an entertaining article all in one blow.  And you'll get your very own Box Hat Badge to go with it!

So for the time being, let's keep doing our thing.  Priorities for May:

1. Write reviews!
2. Help us recruit.  Pass along the application URL - http://nerdbacon.com/apply/ - to anyone you think might be interested.
3. Support us on social networks and keep up with the Twitch streams.
4. Consider assisting us with editing, social networking management, and other needed areas, including the newsletter.
5. Start thinking about your role in our E3 coverage!

 

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Next Month: E3

We've been building up to it for some time now, and although E3 is still in the distance, it's time to really start buckling down and getting ready for the flurry of information that's going to hit.  We'll touch on this more during the next newsletter, but if you're interested in getting involved in this year's E3 coverage, now is the time to start thinking seriously about it.

What does covering E3 mean?  It means staying on top of the information coming out of the expo by whatever means possible.  With so many videos and streams being broadcast directly from the event, it's best to use these primary sources whenever possible.  We don't want you guys and girls out there scouring other news sites for the latest info; we want you watching the events themselves, first hand, whenever possible and writing up your own reports.

News articles are, in general, held to a higher standard than reviews.  The trade-off is that news articles become irrelevant very quickly whereas reviews remain as relatively timeless sources of information.  E3 coverage will be held to an even higher standard since we will be working so hard to write, edit, and publish these articles as quickly as possible.  If you've never written a news article before, contact us so that you can get your feet wet before the madness begins.  Typically there are no second chances with E3 news.  If the article isn't up to snuff the first time around, there just isn't time to revise, resubmit, and re-edit the piece before the news runs cold.

Also important to remember is that E3 is not just about June 16^th - 18^th!  There will plenty of information coming out beforehand and plenty of expert analysis up for grabs after all the big reveals, so we can really have fun with this during the entire month of June!  For those ready, we can start putting together some "E3 hype" articles out there now to build up to the event.  If you've got something to say about E3 before it gets here, then say it!

This is just a rough idea of what the coverage will be like.  If you're interested in participating, don't let this discourage you, just know that we take it seriously and we want you to take it seriously as well.  We really do need as many of you helping as possible, so don't be shy about "signing up."

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D.I.Y. - A Closer Look

A lot of you may not even know that we have a DIY section of the site; fewer still may truly understand what it's about.  Whether we're talking about a punk demo tape or your latest home improvement project, "DIY" means the same thing: do it yourself.  When it comes to DIY in the world of gaming, this covers a surprisingly large range of activities, just under the surface of "normal" gaming, that many gamers are wholly unaware of.

I want to take just a couple of minutes to address Nerd Bacon's DIY section and in the process draw some attention towards it and hopefully explain a little about why it's here and what its function is.

When David and I got Nerd Bacon off the ground, one of our first jobs was to partition the site into major categories.  At some point, or maybe over several points, I mentioned that I wanted to start collecting this wealth of "DIY-ish" gaming information scattered across the web into a single place where people could come and get their fix for various projects.  Nerd Bacon may not yet be the web's premier hub for such information just yet, though we have built up an appreciable selection of articles.  I say "articles," but they're more like guides.

Most of the articles that I (The Cubist) have contributed to the DIY area were born of a particular project that I wanted to undertake.  When attempting these projects, I found that I often had to visit several different websites - often upwards of 4 or 5 - to acquire all the requisite knowledge to undertake some of these tasks.  Some websites were great at walking me through one step, but I was invariably directed elsewhere for instructions on how to do something else critical to the overall success of my project.  In short, I had envisioned a place where a reader could get from point A to B and hit points C, D, E, and F in between all in a single place.

So what is a gaming DIY project?  Well, it can be anything from manipulating software to crafting original hardware.  One of my first articles (and projects) was to create a composite output cable for the TurboGrafx-16 (TG16).  The TG16 doesn't natively support composite output (well, technically it does, but it lacks the proper external connectors), so I made a cable!  One of our members, student 20, has published an excellent series on the concepts and ideas behind modding and NerdBerry offers up a guide for starting a Sega Dreamcast collection for under $100.  Past members have tackled subjects such as building computers and emulation basics.  One of the most practical and least time intensive topics is that of burning your own games for older systems.

Not everyone will be inclined to mess around with their existing equipment, but for those of you that are tinkerers, start documenting your experiences and help us fill in our DIY area.  And for those of you who thought, "there can't possibly be anything that would interest me" in our DIY section, take a look around; you might be surprised!  If you have something like a Dreamcast or Sega CD lying around, you owe it to yourself to see just how easy burning your own games can be.

Take a look around Nerd Bacon's DIY section!

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Review Spotlight

• A Virtual Life in Plastic: An Overview of the Barbie Games - Sarus Vakarian
• We've been trying to get several of you more involved with our Beyond Bacon efforts lately, and Sarus pulls through in fine form.  Check out her journey through Barbie's video gaming evolution.

• Shrek Fairy Tale Freakdown - GBC - ZB
• We could all probably come up with a million horrible ideas for games, but a fighting game revolving around the characters of the movie Shrek, on the Game Boy Color no less, has to be near the top of that list.  ZB manages to almost make this sound like a fun game...

• Suidoken II - PlayStation - Rhutsczar
• Be sure to check out the review for this PS1 sleeper hit, one of today's rarest and most expensive PS1 games!  In-depth and informative, take note of the deft balance between commentary and explanation is this article from Rhutsczar.

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Google+?  Tumblr?  Anyone? Bueller?

I know I'm always hounding you guys about social media, but it's for 2 good reasons: 1) we need the help, and 2) no one's volunteering!  The more I mess around on Tumblr, the more I like it.  Our posts are reaching non-followers and non-followers are even reblogging some of these posts, which is very cool.  I know Facebook generates plenty of activity and that many of you help us out on that front and that's great, but I really want to put some heavy focus into Tumblr where there's a greater emphasis on content rather than socialization.  Even visually speaking, there's a ton that can be done since Tumblr lets you input your own CSS.  We have a paltry 7 followers and yet the last 4 posts have all gotten notes from people other than those followers.  In short, there are people out there that are interested in what's going on at Nerd Bacon . com, we just need someone with the time and energy to help us tap into that.

Still not motivated?  It all comes down to what we've been saying all along: the more prolific we are on social media, the more hits we drive to the site.  The more hits we drive to the site, the more ad clicks we get.  The more ad clicks we get, the more money make!  And this isn't money for us, this is money for the site.  We'd love to pay you guys, and that's one of our number one goals, but we're going to need your help!  So if you have any experience with Tumblr or if you think you can figure it out, let us know!

Google+ is in a similar boat, but I understand less about it than I do Tumblr.  But numbers don't lie, millions of people are plugged into Google+ so that's where we need to be.  Again, volunteers are wanted...badly!

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Wanna Host a Twitch Stream?

Twitch streams have proven extremely popular so far and several of you continue to express interest in getting involved.  I don't know how many more weekly shows we can realistically support (we may have to start a sort of rotation)  but anyone is still welcome to get in on the action.  We're becoming more and more experienced with different means of going about streaming on Twitch, so if you're interested, drop us a line and we'll work something out!

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Get Involved! Get Greasy!

Hey! Listen up! We want you guys to help out and be a part of Greased! We'd love for you to send in comments, questions, and any other newsworthy information that might hold relevance to other members. We'll consider any other ideas you may have as well, so don't be shy. Make Greased yours!

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Site Developments

Besides the small badge expansion which we'll be working to implement, the only thing really going on on the site in the near future is E3 prep - getting the necessary pages and infrastructure ready for the event.

I know that most of you guys and gals are gamers and not webpage designers, but Nerd Bacon desperately needs a mobile overhaul.  If anyone out there has sufficient experience - and time - to help me come up with a mobile-friendly version of the site, I would be most appreciative.  I'm not looking to create anything fancy, just something that's manageable on the small screen, maybe one or both sidebars removed, an alternate menu for easier navigation, that sort of thing. It does have to be a major overhaul, just something that makes Nerd Bacon viewable on the small screen.  Ideally we will need 4 layouts - 1) portrait ~ 3" - 4" screens, 2) landscape ~ 3" - 4" screens, 3) portrait ~ 7" - 8" screens, and 4) landscape ~ 7" - 8".

I have a lot of great data that members sent me a few months back, mainly screenshots and measurements to show me what The Bacon looks like on different devices.  If someone out there with some serious know-how would be willing to work closely with me on this , I'd be absolutely thrilled.

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Site Stats (April 2015)

April started out really well when it came to visits, but we gradually began to taper off near the end of the month.  Time and time again we've proven that people will read our content but part of our job is get it out there to them!  We still need your help.  There's only but so much that David and I can.  A few of you have the ability to post on the Nerd Bacon Page on Facebook which can really help put our articles on the map when we're not around.  Also, getting a couple of you to truly manage our social networking presence would be great too!  Between writing, editing, recruiting, maintenance, and everything else, it can be hard to get around to pumping all of our articles like we should.  But you guys can help us out!  

Remember it all boils down to a very simple formula: more traffic = more ad-clicks = more money = your chance to get PAID!

For any of you experienced with social networking sites (even ones we aren't on yet!), please considering donating a little more time to us and help us pump those articles!

Visits - April 2015
	TOTAL	UNIQUE
Hits	7,334	6,437
% Increase over March	-15%	-11%
Average Per Day	244	215
Page Views
Total	40,551
% Increase	-11%
Average Per Day	1,352

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Until Next Time...

Keep the reviews coming whenever you can, but also be thinking more seriously about E3.  For the remainder of May and especially during the first part of June, we'd be glad to start accepting anticipatory articles regarding the event.  Maybe it's a well informed guess about what the biggest unveilings and announcements will be, or maybe it's something you're looking forward to.  You may even want to kick things off with a recap of some of last year's biggest moments or some of last year's unanswered questions!  Anything you can think of to get us and the readers into the E3 spirit would be great.

One of our main goals regarding traffic is to hit a cool 10,000, consistently, each and every month.  We edge a little closer or a little further each and every month, but a big push from you guys could make all the difference in the world!  Spread our articles around!  Help us manage one or more social sites!  Help us bring in new members!  Let's make a real effort to bolster our traffic during the rest of May!

That's it for Issue #3 of Greased.  Come to us as always with any thoughts, questions or comments about the site, May, E3, the newsletter, or anything else on your mind.

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