Games - Eurogamer

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	Games - Eurogamer

Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news and reviews. It was established in 1999 by the Eurogamer Network Ltd., and grew to become one of the most important European based websites focused on video games. Eurogamer Network claims that the site has the largest readership of any videogames website in the UK, and it is the only such site whose traffic is independently audited by the ABC Electronic system.

Most of the reviews (measured on a single 10 point scale) are made with European or PAL releases of the games, but given the time disparity between Japanese or North American/NTSC releases, some reviews are done using the latter. The version used, however, is always indicated.

Other features include traditional screenshot galleries, a forum and video, demo and patch downloads (which use the BitTorrent distribution method). A new addition is , which provides trailers and other video content directly in the browser using Macromedia Flash technology. This was facilitated by moving their servers across London to a cooler hosting facility on Saturday, February 11th, 2006.

The site was redesigned in May 2005 and continues the core idea of providing reviews for free (unlike other gaming websites, there are no "premium accounts" or any other kind of paid privileges). While the reviews are seen as ones of the most reliable (and strict) on the internet, some of them caused some controversy, such as Halo 2 (the single player review received initially an 8/10 mark, one of the lowest according to GameRankings.com , later revised to 9/10 combined with multiplayer) and the Xbox version of FIFA Street (8/10, one of the highest according to the same site ).

Some of the Eurogamer staff also work on , a gaming industry portal also operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd.

Community

Originally, the Eurogamer community had to use the comments attached to articles and news stories. These could quickly shift from a discussion of the reported topic to other topics, referred to as a 'Hijack'. In 2002, the forum was added with the stated purpose of providing a location for "off-topic" discussion, and was quickly taken to heart despite some initial reservations. The forum is now a key aspect of the site for some of its users.

Through the forum, many video games' presences have been graced with a Eurogamer clan. These consist mainly of online First Person Shooters and Massively Multiplayer games, most notably Battlefield 2 (which is responsible for the longest thread in EG history), City of Heroes, World of Warcraft and (before the demise of the thread) Eve-Online.

Eurogamer has its own gaming server, aka. "The Dirtbox" in honour of its original administrator which is open to regulars and the general public, currently running Battlefield 2.

Over the years the community has extended beyond the confines of the Internet and there are regular Geekmeets (social occasions usually held in London) and LAN parties where a variety of console and PC games are played.

Commonly Used Shorthand and Smilies

(o/ - putting on coat after making a particularly bad joke

o_O - a look combining disgust, disbelief, pity and incomprehension

+1 - I agree

o/ - Hand up

\o/ - Yay

/o\ - We bow down in the presence of your infinite daftness

/curtains - Used to denote a moment of extreme (self induced) happiness

/goat - As in 'sucks from the coooooooooock of goats'

/bucket - As in, oh, God, I need to throw up

FTW As in "For the win". Borrowed from various other gaming forums, roughly equates to "is the best", but often used in jest. Eg. "Rise of the Robots FTW!"

\o? Scratching head in confusion

Running Gags

The Eurogamer community has a series of running gags, some of these are:

The Eurogamer food of choice is Marmite on toast and Jaffa Cake but some prefer the charms of Jammie Dodgers. Separately, preferably.

Curtains - comes from WOPR's old habit of saying "/wipes dick on curtains" every time something nice happened.

The Eurogamer mode of transport of choice is the motorbike, more commonly referred to as the 'm0t0rb1k3' often used in the question 'Does it have m0t0rb1k35?'.

Meh - Commonly used by forumites to show their disinterest in any given topic, post or subject.

(Something) is better than Halo
(referring to the 8/10 score that Halo received).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Eurogamer ]

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