Tag: Housekeeping

Okay, tomorrow is going to be the first RPad.tv Uno invitational…or something like that. I want to get a few games of Uno going on Xbox Live. If you’re interested, please leave your Gamertag in the comments section. Also, let me know if 4PM PST works for you. I can be flexible with times. Also (again), I need a volunteer to head up another game. I’m hoping N8R is up for leading the other session since I can’t beat him in Uno anyway.

Hey guys and gals! I’m strongly considering adding site registration for comments, but I wanted to see how you felt about it first. The good news is that it’ll keep other people from stealing your handles. The bad news is that it’ll require you to…er…register.

Ever since I posted that DS2 story at GDC 2010, the site has been getting a ton of comment spam. It’s not the usual variety that gets easily filtered by WordPress. It’s like spam 3.0 or something. Adding registration would help cut that out.

Anyway, let me know what you think and I’ll flip the switch (or not) by the end of the week.

In about two hours I’ll be doing to subway/LAX Flyaway Shuttle combo to catch my flight to San Francisco for the Final Fantasy XIII launch party and Game Developers Conference 2010. I’m excited to go, catch up with friends, and visit my old home, but part of me wishes I was stuck at home this week for FFXIII, Pokemon SoulSilver, the TNA/WWE wars, and American Idol. Ha!

While I’m gone, I’m counting on you guys and gals to keep me informed of what’s going on in the world outside of GDC. You’ve been doing a phenomenal job of keeping me informed on Lost — so much so that I don’t actually have to watch it. I’m really looking forward to your reactions on TNA/WWE going head-to-head (Sting, Jeff Hardy, and RVD on TNA tonight?!?).

I’ll be posting stories, previews, and lots of pictures from San Francisco. It’ll be like you’re going to GDC with me! When I get back, I promise there will be Xbox Live Arcade Uno!!! There’s some Newcastle Brown and Boddington’s in the fridge. Try not to burn the place down.

– If you read RPad.tv through Firefox or Internet Explorer and you don’t mind installing a toolbar, please let me know. The site’s ranking has been slipping and I need your help to bring it back up. If you’d like to help out, please shoot me an email at raymond {at} rpad.tv. I’d super appreciate your assistance!

– N8R helped me out with two great interviews: an interview with EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich and an interview with BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschcuk. Please check ’em out if you have a chance. The one with Jesse is probably the best PadCast I’ve posted so far.

– After a dip in traffic due to DICE travels, last week was pretty good. I’m schedule to go to GDC next week, but I should be able to post regular updates. Speaking of GDC, if there are any panels you’re interested in, please let me know. I’ll try to hit them up on your behalf and write about them.

– The Amazon links were the best they’ve been since December! A couple of people bought Heavy Rain through my links, while a special someone bought toilet paper, plastic bags, and batteries to support the site. Every little bit helps, so thank you very much!!! I know it’s a pain, but please try to use my links if you buy anything from Amazon.

– Yeah, I totally forgot it was Presidents Day. I was wondering why my inbox wasn’t flooded with the normal Monday press releases and PR people weren’t picking up the phone. Ha!

– Some of you might have noticed a large Amazon box after every post and before the comments section. It’s a new feature I’m trying out. It’s kind of big and obnoxious, but it’s also pretty useful. You can search Amazon without having to leave RPad.tv! Try it out and let me know what you think. If it bothers you, I’ll remove it.

– Last week I posted two interesting videos. This super cool Super Street Fighter IV video didn’t get a lot of traffic, but it’s awesome and I recommend that you watch it. This Leona Lewis Final Fantasy XIII video got a bunch of views thanks to N4G.

– I started using a new advertising company last week. So far it appears to be much better than the last one. Hopefully it picks up.

– Traffic last week was strange. Monday through Wednesday things were pretty slow, which made me enter the “what the hell am I doing?” zone. Thursday and Friday were much, much better and totally saved my week/sanity.

– I’m set to go to DICE this week and I should have some fun interviews lined up. There’s a slight chance I won’t make it because I’m having hotel issues and don’t want to be schlepping around the outskirts of Vegas with a bad knee. Hopefully I’ll sort it all out today. Once I do, I’ll be asking for your question, naturally.

– The Super Bowl poll is pretty close. If you haven’t made your pick, get on it!

– There was a lot of cool video content last week. If you haven’t checked out the PadCasts with Ring of Honor world champion Austin Aries and Tarver games president/co-founder Chris Cross, please do. They’re both excellent people (in very different ways). As always, giant props to N8R for putting these together.

– On the gameplay front, don’t forget the Anders character reveal for Dragon Age: Origins Awakening and this super-cute clip from 3D Dot Game Heroes.

– Remember, since I’m not on a real ad network yet, my Blip.tv video posts are more lucrative than straight text posts. Your support would be immensely appreciated.

– Speaking of which, here’s my periodic nag about using my Amazon.com links. My friend recently bought a $500+ leather bag through Amazon and forgot to use one of my links. Ouch. If you can remember and are purchasing anything through Amazon, I’d super appreciate it if you entered Amazon through one of my links.

– Traffic has been steady since my last housekeeping post, but it’s not really growing. If you like a particular story or video, please share it with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, N4G, Gamekicker, etc. I’m enjoying the site and loving the interaction, but things have to keep heading up. Since I don’t have a marketing budget, I really need y’all to spread the love.

– As far as traffic sources go, N4G has been down, Gamekicker has been up, and NeoGaf has been way up. It’s interesting to see what the various audiences like or don’t like. Some idiot on N4G rejected my piece on the Dante’s Inferno movie because the site doesn’t post reviews on Avatar or Spider-Man. That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Last time I checked, a major game publisher wasn’t directly involved with Avatar or Spider-Man.

– Enjoy the Super Bowl and let me know which commercials impressed you!

I’m meeting up with SwitchGames (a peer-to-peer service for trading games) founder Jason Crawford this week. He’s a cool guy and I’m looking forward to hanging out with him, but I figure I should try to slip in an interview while I have the opportunity. With that in mind, is there anything you’d like to ask Jason? If your question is used, you’ll be mentioned in an upcoming RPad.tv “PadCast”!