"What We Are . . . What We Hope to Achieve"
A Band of Gamers is the result of numerous conversations between Joel and Bill regarding a shared concern over what we considered to be a growing problem within the videogame industry . . . namely the problem with reviews. It wasn't so much that the reviews published by the multitude of "big names" in the business weren't well written, but that we valued them considerably less than the reviews and recommendations from our more trusted gaming community. From these discussion we arrived at A Band of Gamers, a portal made available to that same trusted and valued gaming community to create and post game reviews of their own.
So, what can you do to participate? It couldn't be any easier.
- Join A Band of Gamers
- Play a Game - Console, Handheld, Mobile . . . it doesn't matter
- Have an opinion of that game - good, bad, or indifferent
- Select "Community Reviews" from the A Band of Gamers tool bar and tell us your thoughts through the Writing/Editing Review Tools link
The tone and style of the review is entirely at the discretion of each ABOG member. Also, it should be noted that we are much less concerned with a final game-review grade or score and considerably more interested in the reviewer's overall opinion of the game. Most important of all, have fun with it. Convince us why a game is great, or warn us to the tragedy of a game purchase gone awry.
Since it first launched, A Band of Gamers has become much more than an intuitive tool-set for community reviews. The community has embraced A Band of Gamers as a site that encourages intelligent and ongoing discussions, as well as providing an opportunity to schedule new and recurring gaming events - promising an experience more in-tune with laughs and a good time than with your level of gaming expertise.
Rounding off this venture, Joel and Bill began the A Band of Gamers podcast as a means of spreading this community-driven idea while encouraging other like-minded gamers to join in on the fun. Although the podcast (delivered every other week) may entertain a variety of topics, the focus always returns to videogames; with an emphasis on our growing community and their valued interactions with the site and with each other.
Give us a listen, peruse the site, and join us for a variety of gaming events.