All New Gibbage.co.uk Launches; Banners and Buttons now available... Gibbage.co.uk has changed. The best way to find out what I'm up to is to read the blurb up on the front page. Basically, I'm selling games, T-shirts and 'stuff', the difference between my site and all the others being that all profits I make are going to be put back into the industry. Ideally, that means handing huge envelopes of cash to struggling indie developers so they can go full-time and make amazing, innovative, funky games. It'll either work brilliantly or it won't, but what'd be really helpful would be if you'd all chip in somehow. Blog it, stick a permanent link on your websites, that sort of thing. And of course, if you're going to buy a new game, buy it from Gibbage.co.uk...! The front page now updates with news and stuff even if I'm not there, so hopefully there's a reason to bookmark it and keep coming back, now. I'll also be adding new articles by new people and more reviews, etc. Any thoughts/ comments much appreciated. Please bear in mind I'm still working on the actual site, so there's still bits and pieces still being tinkered with behind the scenes... Many thanks, Dan
Very cool and generous of you. A few random comments: The overall site, especially the game mini-banners, is really well designed. The larger banner ads. I would try to make it more obvious that those link to gibbage.co.uk, otherwise people tend to have "banner blindness" Tabs. Consider making the text larger, with more contrast. My eyesight is pretty good, but I had to get close to the screen to read them. You'll want to add title tags to each page. The most eye catching links on each page are the sidebar images that lead to other sites, which mostly talk about non-independent games. If your main goal is to sell cool indie games, I would try to downplay these or put them on their own page. The name and tagline might not be the best for separating you from all of the other indie sites out there. This seems like it should be the basis of your tagline, at the top of every page so every visitor understands what you're about. Hope that helps some. Good luck, Joe
All, frankly, awesome points, and definitely stuff I'll look into doing for the long term... thanks. D
Dan,I went to your site but could not find a small button logo. These look a lot better than just a text link, and I will put one of these on my site.
This is very indie! Good luck with such a great beginning! Now you just must to promote it like crazy!
How are you finding the devs to give money to? Is it in exxchange for a percentage of the profits of the game? (essentially are you trying to become an "indie" publisher?)
Dugg! I love the idea. Once you get a smallish banner/logo, I'll gladly give you a link on my (admittedly low traffic) site as well.
That all depends how successful the site is. Ideally, I won't be taking a percentage of a funded game's sales, but realistically that's what'll help fund other games, so I may well take a small slice, depending on the size of the initial investment. Once I've got enough cash, I'll be seeking out games myself and advertising that I've got the cash to stump up. There's a form to fill in (not uploaded yet, don't want to jump the gun!), in which devs explain as much as possible about the game and where's it's at in development, and I'll be funding those titles according to what I find most exciting. It's also possible that I'll be hiring coders/ devs to work on a design from scratch as a sort of 'Official Gibbage.co.uk Game', and funding development of that game. In which case, the vast majority of the sales profits will be pumped back into the kitty to support future projects. The important part to remember in all this is that, at present, I've already got a 9-5 job. Unless Gibbage.co.uk takes off in such a way that I need to work on it full-time, money earned isn't paying my rent, it's paying for more new funky amazing games. d
There's a post up now over at Gibbage.co.uk with banners and buttons and what-have-you to pop on your respective sites. Feel free to hack around with the images to make them fit your page, etc. If you're behind this project, please do take 5 minutes today to add a linky or two to your site, as it'll be a massive, massive help. Many thanks, Dan