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View Full Version : Improved Game Detail Pages Now Live!

djpretzel
03-16-2008, 02:48 AM
We just went live with extensive revisions to game detail pages.

Example: http://www.ocremix.org/game/final-fantasy-x-ps2/

As always, please report any issues/comments on this thread only.

The Good:
Composer list now includes composer icons, so from any game detail page you can easily put a face with a name
All songs are listed beneath a list of the five most recent ReMixes
ReMixes are listed on a separate tab, ala systems, organizations, etc.
Reference links to mobygames are provided for most games; we'll be expanding our list of references in the future, but for now, this should help visitors access additional information about games
Chiptunes tab is conditional and only linked when chiptune files are available (big whoop, I know, but it's nevertheless helpful)
Game detail page titles (what shows up in bookmarks and google results) now include year and publisher in addition to system
Last but certainly not least, we've integrated our aStore into a dedicated "store" tab for each game that either brings back the specific game record on Amazon or runs a search, with a sidebar of affiliate options as well.The Bad:

Game detail pages are now on a 12-hour cache and won't update immediately after a mix being posted unless I do so manually. I'm looking into ways of making that easier, but at least initially, there will be a half-day delay.In general, we REALLY need as many of you as possible to buy games through our store, because Google ads aren't covering hosting costs any more. We're trying to make it (far) more convenient for you to do so with some of these changes.

While I believe this is a substantial improvement over the previous game detail page, I still view it as something of a WIP; I'm working my ass off to make numerous improvements to the site, and have been for the last several months, and I'm not 100% finished with game pages, I just think they're at a point where it made sense to go live with what I had.

Hope you like!

Thanks,

-djp
John Revoredo
03-16-2008, 08:43 AM
Looks fantastic! ^_^
Dyne
03-16-2008, 05:53 PM
Very nicely done. Very clean layout.
Dhsu
03-16-2008, 07:11 PM
Very cool. I'd switch the "images" and "references" divs if it were me, but it's not so it's cool. :)

Edit: Also, defaulting to the "remixes" tab instead of the main one would be a lot more accommodating to my browsing habits. Dunno about other people, though.
Didaji
03-17-2008, 04:41 PM
Awesome :)
Dyne
03-17-2008, 09:31 PM
The one other thing I do like is the addition of the Chiptunes tab. I'll have to check out some old NES/SNES/GBA games to see what it looks like for sure, but that right there is also awesome.
DarkeSword
03-18-2008, 12:37 PM
Lookin' great, Dave. Any chance we could get RSS feeds for remixes from specific games/developers/etc.? We already have them for remixers (albiet cached, but still).

Might be a good way for game fansites to get in on the action.
djpretzel
03-18-2008, 04:21 PM
Lookin' great, Dave. Any chance we could get RSS feeds for remixes from specific games/developers/etc.? We already have them for remixers (albiet cached, but still).

Might be a good way for game fansites to get in on the action.

Well, for developers, only certain, large companies would make sense. Ditto for games, although I have an idea of how to do that in a way that makes a bit more sense...

I do see the value and def. wanna do it, but from a scalability resource perspective, I'm gonna limit it to things that make sense.

For instance, a Vic Tokai (http://www.ocremix.org/organization/id/69/) feed, or a feed specifically for Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (http://www.ocremix.org/game/princess-tomato-in-the-salad-kingdom-nes/)... probably wouldn't make much sense :)
Rozovian
03-18-2008, 04:25 PM
Edit: Also, defaulting to the "remixes" tab instead of the main one would be a lot more accommodating to my browsing habits. Dunno about other people, though.

I agree. People come here for remixes. If they're looking for info on the game, they can click an "info" tab (the one called "main").

I also agree on how great it all looks. :D
djpretzel
03-18-2008, 05:03 PM
I agree. People come here for remixes. If they're looking for info on the game, they can click an "info" tab (the one called "main").

I also agree on how great it all looks. :D

Well, we're interested in expanding the amount of info we have for games AND composers, and eventually integrating OCR albums, more links, etc.

I agree with both of you that right now, the remixes tab is the more likely primary target for visitors, but given the plans to add more resources, I'd rather not have to change it down the road. It's also consistent (I like consistency) with the revised composer, organization, and system pages.
DarkeSword
03-18-2008, 05:07 PM
Well, for developers, only certain, large companies would make sense. Ditto for games, although I have an idea of how to do that in a way that makes a bit more sense...

I do see the value and def. wanna do it, but from a scalability resource perspective, I'm gonna limit it to things that make sense.

For instance, a Vic Tokai (http://www.ocremix.org/organization/id/69/) feed, or a feed specifically for Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (http://www.ocremix.org/game/princess-tomato-in-the-salad-kingdom-nes/)... probably wouldn't make much sense :)

Yeah, no doubt. xD

At least until the planned Princess Tomato remix blitz happe-- OH SHIT HAVE I SAID TOO MUCH!? :-x
Dafydd
03-18-2008, 09:42 PM
In general, we REALLY need as many of you as possible to buy games through our store, because Google ads aren't covering hosting costs any more.

What are the hosting costs, roughly? And what's the total traffic amount every month? I'm just curious.

Also, mascot clickability. When? This summer, next year?
djpretzel
03-18-2008, 10:46 PM
What are the hosting costs, roughly? And what's the total traffic amount every month? I'm just curious.

Also, mascot clickability. When? This summer, next year?

$274 a month for the dedicated server, which may need to become $304 a month if we need another gig of RAM

+

$24 a month, give or take, for two dedicated mirrors at dreamhost and aplus.

total traffic, I'd need to aggregate stats from all the mirrors, and I'm too lazy. A lot?

Mascots are looking good for sometime before this summer or this summer at the latest, from what I know. We're still sorting of learning what MediaWiki is capable of and may want to tweak things before we go live, but a lot of the data is in there...
Dafydd
03-18-2008, 11:01 PM
EDIT: Sorry about that, I just realized Dreamhost is even cheaper than what I suggested. Sorry, sorry. Though I don't see anything at dreamhost or aplus that could add up to $24 a month - they're all much less or much more.

As for the mascots, yes, a lot of the data is in there. I have a few tweaks to carry out but what we're really waiting for is the code that gets you to a certain page of the wiki when clicking on a mascot. If that can be implemented before this summer, I'd be grateful. I really wanna wrap the project up. Sorry for bogging down the thread with semi-personal questions like this but you don't seem like the type who has the time to read his PM's. ;)