Before starting with this rant, I just
want to say that I appreciate all NES websites on the
'net. You could have a Geocities site of only one page, that
of which containing a big kitten in the center, and only the
words: "I love the NES!" on it. I would still respect
it because that's what the internet is all about: sharing
ideas and feelings. No matter how small or big, every site
has something special.
Now that I have said that, I am going
to totally contradict myself and rip a part one site
in particular that I consider to be the worst NES site ever.
No names will be mentioned and the web address is blurred
to protect the innocent. (If you do happen to stumble across
this site, good for you.)
(Click to Enlarge)
The first screen I captured is of the
opening page introducing the site. Looks fairly normal and
perhaps even professional, right? However, upon further investigation,
it turns out that both the background and sprite have been
ripped off of other NES sites without any credit given. I
couldn't think of something worse as a webmaster than spending
a good amount of time saving a .pcx from NESticle, editing
it, putting into an animated Gif program, and edit some more
only for it to be stolen by a single right click.
The second thing I see wrong, and which
bugs the hell outta me, is the spelling. I know that nobody's
perfect, and I too have a few spread across my site, but nothing
this bad or outrageously obvious. Where is the PUNCUATION,
huh!?
"we are about the classic gameing
system Nes I hope you enjoy your stay at memorie lain ( for
the older ones) note: we do not sport regular nintendo roms
we here think they suck"
The thing that scares me the most is
knowing that the webmaster is 14 years old. This is what happens
when you elect a C- Republican president into office to take
care of our nation's educational system. PAH-ZING!
(Click to Enlarge)
Take a look at the second screen-shot.
Lookee here, more things I despise on websites. Spelling and
grammar mistakes galore, check. Incoherent blabbering, check.
English lessons aside, the most important
thing about a site is ..well.. the site. That is, I meant
to say, the content. Since there is a vast array of NES fan
sites on the internet as it is now, it is essential you include
things that cannot be seen elsewhere to bring in and hold
on to an audience. By the looks of it, the creator has strived
to meet the complete opposite. Instead, there is yet another
codes section and the two most popular games in Nintendo's
history (Zelda and SMB) have shrines. 'Tis a shame, ain't
it, Tiny Tim? Cratchit works on Christmas morning.
The next thing that I would like to
point out is the second most important aspect of a site: updates.
A lot of pages suffer from this problem, and I'm sure I'll
soon eventually fall into a slump some time in the future.
Case and point: the last time the webmaster updated was December
18, 200. Damn! The year 200! That's even before Columbus
sailed to America! (Please excuse my blatant sarcasm. I blame
it on the modern sitcom. Damn those instaneous laugh factors
and the Jewish producers who write them!)
Any one update that takes more than
3 months to upload better be twenty copies of the library
of congress on a 56k modem.
(Click to Enlarge)
So now I bring you to the third, and
final, screen I have under display. No surprises here, there
are more misspellings, but hold up. Is this is the actual
content of the site? Codes are on many other sites, but I
guess he wanted to include them anyway (like I have a instructions
section, etc.), so let's check out them.
Hm.
Interesting. I keep clicking on a game
and I don't see any codes. (Da-da-da-da-da-daaaa... SARCASM!)
What's the point of having a code section if there ARE NO
CODES? And if this part of the website is under construction,
a helpful: UNDER CONSTRUCTION text would be nice. Or better
yet. WORK ON IT AND THEN UPLOAD THE PAGE BEFORE YOU MENTION
IT.
Let's skip to my final thought of the
day: If you are going to make a site, make one! Pat yourself
on the back and take others' opinions with a fine comb. If
you like your site, good for you! But, if you want other
people to give it the same praise as you do, try to do
the complete opposite of everything the above. Another very
helpful guide I recommend reading is written by a nice, Canadian
hippy man by the name of OSG (osg.disflux.net).
Check out his section 'How to...NES Site' for more ideas.
