[ANN]: CasualGameStore.com launched

[mash]

Budapest, Hungary, April 18, 2007 - Artex Studios, Inc. announced
today the launch - after eight months intensive test - of new
casual game portal CasualGameStore.com

CasualGameStore.com (http://www.casualgamestore.com) is a new, innovative game portal, developed
by Artex Studios, Inc. Artex is the leading Hungarian publisher
and developer of casual games. CasualGameStore.com (http://www.casualgamestore.com) offers more
than 700 downloadable "try before you buy" games for his
customers. This site is updated daily with new games, allowing gamers
to visit a single portal in order to find out what's new in casual
downloadable games.

"CasualGameStore.com (http://www.casualgamestore.com) is a downloadable game center, a community
portal and a news site for our customers and game developers. Our
daily updates are available via a weekly newsletter and our official
blog.

Gamers and developers like to discuss about games. That is why we
have created our forums, blog and other community features on
CasualGameStore.com (http://www.casualgamestore.com)

Our partners provide us more than 700 games and we will release
exclusive ones in the upcoming months." - said Jozsef Trencsenyi,
CEO of Artex Studios, Inc.


About Artex Studios, Inc.

Artex Studios, Inc. is a Hungary based independent casual game
developer company founded by Jozsef Trencsenyi. Artex creates
high-quality games for Windows, MacOSX, Linux, arcade, handheld and
mobile platforms since 1999. Located in Budapest, Artex is recognized
for games like Franklin the Turtle for GameBoy Advance or Collido for
Windows and MacOSX.


Contact:
Jozsef Trencsenyi
CEO
CasualGameStore.com (http://www.casualgamestore.com)
Artex Studios, Inc.
2072 Zsambek,
Honved u. 18.
Hungary
press@CasualGameStore.com

http://www.CasualGameStore.com (www.casualgamestore.com)

[whisperstorm]

STOP. Right now. Go to the help wanted section and get a graphic/web designer. Your site design is really bad. I'm looking at your logo and seeing jpg artifacts around your text.



Try to find the folks who designed sites like gametrove http://www.gametrove.net/

[mash]

What's wrong with the site? Do you think it's structure is bad or only the graphics quality / design?

[mrkwang]

I think it's reflexive-affiliate site, with some of your game. Right? Affiliate is not bad, of course. Anyway.

- No search window at all, and visitors must browse every list to find game.
- No genre category. Must add it. Not sure you know, people wish to browse the list with genre category.
- Must sort ABC type & Latest Update. Sort option could be better.

No offense, just my suggestion.

[Uesugi]

As Whisperstorm says, look at the gold logo at the top of your page. The URL in it is almost illegible.

Your banner says "Click here for more!" but isn't clickable.

The 30 day money back guarantee stamp makes the text hard to read.

Basically, your site looks cheap and thrown together and I would never give you my credit card number. Selling preorders for games that aren't out yet, with the chance to win a prize, with graphics like that... it just screams "scam."

Your site needs to look professional and genuine if you're selling a product.

[Josh1billion]

Nice site so far. I'm not a fan of what people call "constructive criticism," as it often comes off as insulting. Instead, here are some straightforward suggestions for improvement:

-for the individual game tables on the main page, I think you should replace the border. Instead of having the typical HTML table border, have a graphical border and background there.

-you should also change the font for the general text. something about the font just seems really.. dry. not game-oriented and fun, you see. it looks like Times New Roman I think.. maybe change that to at least Arial or maybe Verdana.

-replace the Order Now / Download Now / More info with an image that looks like a shiny button (similar to the header buttons, but probably either a red or green instead of gray)

-on that note, you may want to also consider changing the header button images from gray to a red, green, or blue, too. It'll make it more appealing, especially to the casual game market.

-the header buttons link to some stuff that customers won't usually care much about: Forums, Blog, About.. even Support isn't something they'll need often. Instead, "New Games", "Top Games" would work better, and maybe even some genres: "Puzzle Games", "Strategy Games", "Sim/Tycoon Games".. though of course the casual game market doesn't consist of many genres (unfortunately).

-the image at the top of your site, "Preorder Mahjong Zodiac and win a DS Lite", seems something you'd want as a little ad banner instead of the header for your site. Instead, a statement regarding your website (bad example: "Casual games and demos since 2007") and perhaps some screenshots would fit better.

Good luck on the site. I know it's painful to go back and re-do many things after you've finally launched the site, but if you consider these improvements, I think you can gain many more customers. Again, good luck, and hopefully we'll see my new game on your site in a few months!

[whisperstorm]

Please dont take my comments as insulting or negative. I think the idea for the site is great, and with some of the suggestions you already see here, your profits will improve. I do web design in my day job so when I run across a site that breaks the UI rules I react negatively.

If you find a decent webdev to help you out it could make a real difference.

[Nexic]

So many new portals...

I agree, I think the site looks a little basic and the top banner looks ugly. I would make a much smaller banner but save as a higher quality JPG.

[stayne]

It's only a matter of time before someone releases a PHP CMS for game portal sites :).

[mash]

Thank you for your suggestions, criticism, etc.
We will redesign our portal at May when we release Mahjong Zodiac.

CasualGameStore.com (http://www.casualgamestore.com)
Blog (http://www.casualgamestore.com/blog)

[Matthew]

Did this really take 8 months to make?

[mash]

No, but we make our upcoming games since 8 months and we wouldn't like to announced the portal months before the release of games.

CasualGameStore.com (http://CasualGameStore.com)
Blog (http://CasualGameStore.com/blog)