The Hyperspin Report Evolved

[jackhammersalm]

Before you start bitching I've cleared this with Tom before posting this but if this is in the wrong section move please accordingly and please point in the right direction

right now that's out of the way lets' start

I'm jackhammersalm, editor, author and writer for http://www.thehyperspinreport.blogspot.co.uk

I've been doing this for over a years now and feel this the need to go further. Why am I here talking to another forum. Well I'm involving HS, Here, emumovies and a host of other forums to bring you an evolved product which covers the arcade classics to the modern classics (we are PC, MAC or LINUX gamers basically). I want feedback from anybody who has read my blog and I want to know which direction I need to go in. Even a new name for the blog would be useful.

read what i've written since last december. rest is a hyperspin status update on the facebook page

and tell me what is needed

I'm interested in hearing from you.

I will read everything as I use Tapatalk to read stuff at work

[Adultery]

Moved to the appropriate forum.

I don't know who you're talking to, but I don't think anyone is gonna "bitch". We're not a bunch of elitists here, and there's room for choice in everyone's setup. However, starting a post off with an insult is generally not a good way to get folks to be receptive.

/my 2c

[jackhammersalm]

my apologies really but some consider this spam. so there was need of it. sorry if you felt insulted but necessary to be honest. now the insults have ceased. lets get to making a blog better.

[Adultery]

Nah I wasn't insulted at all. I want you to feel welcome.

I apologize if it came off wrong, it's hard to send emotion over the interwebz. I was just offering advice. I'm sure your project will be that much better if you're undergoing a reconstruction, and I'm sure you'll discover that we have a very friendly community here. Glad to help in any way I can.

[nullPointer]

Dude, I was totally going to bitch, until I read this part:

Before you start bitching I've cleared this with Tom before posting this but if this is in the wrong section move please accordingly and please point in the right direction

So I told my inner Janice Dickinson to calm down ... for now. ... Nah totally kidding ... as Adultery said I think you've overestimated the number of bitches here (wait a sec ... maybe 'level of bitchiness' is more PC)

I've briefly perused your blog in the past, and I think it's a cool thing that you're dong for HyperSpin, but being that I'm not a HS user I haven't spent a lot of time with it.

So it sounds like you want to expand on the amount of content you cover, and you're wondering what that expanded content should include? I would take a good look at the venerable RetroGaming with Racketboy for some inspiration. Their coverage of retrogaming is just about second to none in the blog-o-sphere as far as I'm concerned. Having said that Racketboy used to include cool articles specifically dedicated to different emulators, emulator plug-ins, etc, but it seems they've backed off from emulation articles in recent years. I'd like to see more of that sort of thing.

Reviews of Emulators

Interviews with Emulator Developers/Development Teams

Ditto the above with frontends.

Maybe a "Builders Corner" featuring articles, plans, and project spotlights on arcade and pin cab projects.

Just a general emulation community focus would be a cool thing.

[jackhammersalm]

I do that currently

[nullPointer]

So don't change anything but the name? I don't know ... I guess I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here.

[Adultery]

Basically, you're still doing a blog about HS, but you're here looking for suggestions about non-fe content, although it is still a HS blog?

I'm lost, I thought you wanted suggestions on it from a GameEx aspect, as in you were expanding to encompass all front end software. I'm not trying to be blunt or rude, but I'm not sure a bunch of GameEx users would want to contribute to, or read, a blog about our competitor. Unless I'm missing something here, which isn't totally out of the question.

Again, I mean you no disrespect, but if our users here were HS enthusiasts that would make a lot more sense to ask for help here, idk.

To me it's kind of like Sony asking for ps4 advice on an xbox one forum, ya know?

[nullPointer]

The one other aspect I was going to mention, was that I think that The HyperSpin Report could benefit from the skills of a good editor. Double check for grammar, punctuation, spelling that sort of thing. During the couple times I've read it before that was one aspect I noticed. Hopefully that comes off as constructive criticism and not just criticism. Even the pros use editors, so it's not intended as a knock on your writing or anything. I think it's one aspect that could add a polish of professionalism to the blog, rather than a "community labor of love" sort of affair (not that it can't continue to be that too).

Not to be that Grammar Nazi or anything ...

[jackhammersalm]

one of the many flaws of blogger no decent editor

[jackhammersalm]

Basically, you're still doing a blog about HS, but you're here looking for suggestions about non-fe content, although it is still a HS blog?

I'm lost, I thought you wanted suggestions on it from a GameEx aspect, as in you were expanding to encompass all front end software. I'm not trying to be blunt or rude, but I'm not sure a bunch of GameEx users would want to contribute to, or read, a blog about our competitor. Unless I'm missing something here, which isn't totally out of the question.

Again, I mean you no disrespect, but if our users here were HS enthusiasts that would make a lot more sense to ask for help here, idk.

To me it's kind of like Sony asking for ps4 advice on an xbox one forum, ya know?

you've hit the nail on the head. why would I ask other forums into something that doesn't concern them. The simple answer is WANT more content. the hs report was born out of curiosity. I also want to give coverage to other frontends (I'm an ex 3d arcade guy before hyperspin) and I want to cover more. So from the getgo I decided to ask the various scene if they would be interested to help

[Draco1962]

I guess I am of the same mind as null regarding the name and with Adultery as to the intent. I have to admit to being a little put-off by the first post as it was assumed that members would start bitching. I can think of 1000 ways this could have been approached that would have been less offensive and more inclined to welcome feedback.

An online blog or site that caters to sharing information and promotion of various front-ends and is FE-neutral would be nice. If the intent is just to provide "filler" because HS does not provide enough to keep you happy or active enough does not interest me. Of course, I may not be picking up on the true intent here.

[jackhammersalm]

I guess I am of the same mind as null regarding the name and with Adultery as to the intent. I have to admit to being a little put-off by the first post as it was assumed that members would start bitching. I can think of 1000 ways this could have been approached that would have been less offensive and more inclined to welcome feedback.

An online blog or site that caters to sharing information and promotion of various front-ends and is FE-neutral would be nice. If the intent is just to provide "filler" because HS does not provide enough to keep you happy or active enough does not interest me. Of course, I may not be picking up on the true intent here.

precisely my point I really want to provide a concise view of all emulators and front-ends. hence in december hs report is going through a name change for a start. filler isn't enough for what i got in mind. I really want to share real information about every front-end out there now. lines are blurring now. time help new users pick the right choice. the hs report was born out of boredom but people read it. its simply time to move on and up. I covered a few front-ends on the report. giving my view. Now time for the whole picture, not just a little part. I want to do more for the new user without being biased or anything.

[jackhammersalm]

if anybody interested My current incarnation of the blog is out

[nullPointer]

Nice update jackhammersalm. Thanks for the shoutout!

So I'm not sure if you're still looking for suggestions or not, but there's something else that's occurred to me. You mentioned in your most recent post that one of the things you fight is the burnout of maintaining a regularly updated blog. This is totally understandable.

Currently each of your entries is in a "magazine style" format in which one blog post contains several articles. You even maintain regularly occurring columns and whatnot. It's a reasonable format, but for short-attention span(and time-starved) bastards like myself, it means that I'd probably read a single post in several shorter increments.

So what if rather than taking the approach that each post is an entire issue of a magazine, you took an approach that each post is a single article within the magazine? Each recurring column could appear as single posts, and each individual post could focus exclusively on a single topic (a single game review, a cabinet building feature, a single community update, etc.). This would be great for attention span (and time) deprived persons like myself, but I also think it might help to avoid the burnout associated with trying to keep up with generating huge monolithic posts. You could certainly still feature a month-end "magazine-style" recap, but in it you could maybe write up a general month-end summary with links back to the individual articles appearing during that month.

Just a friendly suggestion, and naturally you'll do what you feel is best for the blog.

[jackhammersalm]

I'm always looking for new ideas. it's why I'm asking otherwise I wouldn't be here

[jackhammersalm]

Nice update jackhammersalm. Thanks for the shoutout!

So I'm not sure if you're still looking for suggestions or not, but there's something else that's occurred to me. You mentioned in your most recent post that one of the things you fight is the burnout of maintaining a regularly updated blog. This is totally understandable.

Currently each of your entries is in a "magazine style" format in which one blog post contains several articles. You even maintain regularly occurring columns and whatnot. It's a reasonable format, but for short-attention span(and time-starved) bastards like myself, it means that I'd probably read a single post in several shorter increments.

So what if rather than taking the approach that each post is an entire issue of a magazine, you took an approach that each post is a single article within the magazine? Each recurring column could appear as single posts, and each individual post could focus exclusively on a single topic (a single game review, a cabinet building feature, a single community update, etc.). This would be great for attention span (and time) deprived persons like myself, but I also think it might help to avoid the burnout associated with trying to keep up with generating huge monolithic posts. You could certainly still feature a month-end "magazine-style" recap, but in it you could maybe write up a general month-end summary with links back to the individual articles appearing during that month.

Just a friendly suggestion, and naturally you'll do what you feel is best for the blog.

like you I write magazine style because like you, My time is also limited and at the time I started this as a facebook status over time I developed into what you see today. I admit I'm still learning everything here (infact I never stop). what you are ask is like a bite size version like weeks of all the goings on each forum. am I interpreting this correct. I write once every three weeks and I spend that time researching all I'm going to put into that report. I normally write notes on my phone or laptop then translate my musings into something useable. however I would agree with you in some respects on this. look to the blog post in the next couple of days for my musing on this subject

and again thank you Null

[jackhammersalm]

I've put an update up on the blogsite

[jackhammersalm]

Currently the new site is live

the3rdlevel.net

Just no content at the moment because I need to start adding to it.