As a site GBAtemp has been around for more than 20 years. Starting as a place to share the latest GBA ROMs and later evolving into the forums we know today, we’re a site that lives and dies by its community, and it’s the larger community I’m hoping to reach out to today.

What I’m wanting from this is to see the general thoughts and feelings of the folks that log into the site daily, especially when it comes to reviews, news, and editorial content. The aim of this is to use the feedback we get to better focus our content and hopefully write things people enjoy both reading and engaging with, as well as covering more topics people are genuinely interested in. I'm really wanting this to be an ongoing effort to have the front page better reflect the unique nature of the site, and that starts with this. If you've got any thoughts, you can either reply to this topic, or if you're happy to provide some more guided feedback, @shaunj66 has put together a short feedback form that you can find below. Anybody filling this out will receive 100 XP on the site for their participation, so please do check this out.

Feedback Form

Please note XP is awarded manually and may take a few days to appear on your account.

I will take a moment to clear the air on a few topics I’ve seen come up over time on the forum, if only to save people asking and speculating going forwards. As an editorial team we aren’t compensated for our contributions to the site, be it posting news, bespoke editorial content, or reviews. While we are usually able to keep the things we’ve reviewed, we aren’t paid anything from those providing the items or game codes, nor are we incentivised to score things highly. Each reviewer tackles a game or hardware review as they see fit, with the score being their own decision. The only time I’m aware of where this hasn’t been the case was with our Tears of the Kingdom review, which Costello summarised here for those curious about that.

In terms of revenue streams for the site, GBAtemp is funded by a mixture of account upgrades and advertisements (these provided via Playwire). Sponsored posts have been run in the past, but where they were posted they were clearly marked as such. As things stand today we don’t run sponsored content, nor to we use affiliate links with items we review or cover more generally.

GBAtemp Patrons

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I also want to thank everybody above who supports the site monetarily, but also those that just keep coming back and contributing. Whether you financially support the site or not, you are an important part of what keeps things running, and I do want to acknowledge that.

If anybody has any questions about the things I’ve said above or about how things run behind the scenes in general, by all means post them too. I’ve always tried to be transparent where people have asked questions, and I’m happy to answer anything to the extent of my knowledge.

 

[CoolMe]

Didn't know there was a survey..

It froze on me on the 10th page and couldn't select anything, the page reloaded by itself and my heart skipped a beat for a sec 'cause I've been writing/filling this for the past 25mins.. good thing all of it was saved!

 

[Lostbhoy]

I'm easily pleased... Not sure to what to suggest other than what's going on already!

As important as the sites content obviously is, it's the people that make the site what it is. I feel it's a great community with a brilliant sense of humour and fantastic knowledge across the board.

So keep up the good work.... Everyone!


(do i get extra xp for being an extra suck ass?? )

 

[JuanMena]

GOD DAMNIT FORGOT TO PLEA FOR REACTION

 

[impeeza]

GOD DAMNIT FORGOT TO PLEA FOR REACTION

that was my only comment!

 

[eternal]

Before I even look at the survey...where are my requested updated emoji reactions?!

I will say to this point that there's no kind of sponsorship or financial incentive for the things we cover or review. Speaking personally I try to cover things that I think I can at least find an interesting angle for. For the things I would consider fringe (the office chair I looked at recently as an example), I try to make it relatively clear what I feel the reason for it being here is. In that case it was because when we've previously covered gaming chairs, people brought up ergonomic office chairs as a better alternative in the replies.

It is challenging if you think something is too far removed. On one hand I would prefer to know as general feedback, but on the other it can end up a bit of a dogpile where that becomes the focus. It's something worth thinking about if nothing else, so don't feel bad about criticising it, especially in this thread. I'd rather know than not while we're actively asking for feedback.

Seriously though it's good y'all are (finally, again) looking into taking more requests/seeing what people want to see from the lovely community here.
I personally use the site to read the most recent news even if its late, and I like to lurk around the PC forums since Im somewhat knowledgeable in that, but I wouldnt mind seeing more video game reviews on RPG and Puzzle type games.

I dont think I ever looked into this, but how does a member submit a request for games to review if thats possible?

And since this topic came up for people to get involved, Imma go ahead an donate again before schedule.

p.s. we need more emojis

GOD DAMNIT FORGOT TO PLEA FOR REACTION

 

[Zero-Cool]

Get in the van

 

[The Catboy]

The Catboy gave his thoughts

 

[Spectremint]

Personally I enjoy the forum and I think it's a great way to stay informed.
Only two complaints:

I wish people wouldn't be so negative towards news stuff. It feels like every time I see a news piece, a majority of the comments on it are going to be super negative regardless of if it's good news or not. Understandable for bad news, but I don't get it for the good.

Also, please calm down a bit with the DMCA announcements making it to front page... it's getting a little much.

 

[Scarlet]

I dont think I ever looked into this, but how does a member submit a request for games to review if thats possible?

By this do you mean you want to request that staff review X game? Or you want to submit your own review?

 

[ASSASSIN-Z]

Since this site was founded on appreciation of Nintendo's GBA console, there should be a post everyday related to something about the GBA. Or maybe a "Did you know?" banner showing fun facts about the GBA. Or incorporate something about the GBA in the ad videos. Without the GBA and flashcarts for the GBA, there would be no GBAtemp. Am I right? Who still has their GBAMP? Actually those of us with our GBAMP should get ad-free browsing. Or, how about this: if we have been a member for over 20yrs we get grandfathered in to ad-free browsing, and/or immunity from getting banned regardless of what we post? lol

 

[MaD_mAnIaC]

The first batch of XP bonuses have been applied

Thanks to all that completed the survey so far and left interesting feedback!

Just noticed we joined gbatemp on the same day ahah been here for a while

 

[AncientBoi]

 

[eternal]

By this do you mean you want to request that staff review X game? Or you want to submit your own review?

I hadnt even thought of reviewing games myself (again), but now that you put that bug in my head...
lol I was meaning for the staff to review first.

 

[Scarlet]

I hadnt even thought of reviewing games myself (again), but now that you put that bug in my head...
lol I was meaning for the staff to review first.

I’ll make a thread somewhere (user submitted news, site suggestions maybe?) later today where people can suggest things they would want reviewed or written about.

If you are interested in writing reviews yourself, by all means give it a stab in the user reviews section. We could look at having non-staff writing “official” reviews from time to time, but to do that we would generally need something to refer to to know you can get your thoughts across well.

 

[Captain-Z]

If your 'facts' include statements such as "trans women are still men" or saying "Donald Trump is the best President we've ever had", then you're actually lucky you weren't banned. Even if something is regarded as true by the majority, if it can spark conflict, it is best to not say anything at all. Saying something that you know full well will upset some people in a public forum is against most forum rules.

I didn't say anything like that at all. Where are you getting this from? And, yes I know the difference between facts and opinions.

 

[almmiron]

I'm from Brazil. I think I found gbtemp through the Yahoo search engine (yep, I used it a lot back in 2004). I created an account only years later. Whenever I had any tech doubts about older consoles, I searched and read info here, while learning (bad) English in the process...

Back then, I didn't have a computer, so I used to go to what we call a "lan house" here. I'm not sure what it's called elsewhere. It costs a dollar per hour to use the machines (back then). I was around 12 to 14 years old.

That's pretty much it. Almost every day i check the news of homebrew scene here.

 

[Scarlet]

I'm from Brazil. I think I found gbtemp through the Yahoo search engine (yep, I used it a lot back in 2004). I created an account only years later. Whenever I had any tech doubts about older consoles, I searched and read info here, while learning (bad) English in the process...

Back then, I didn't have a computer, so I used to go to what we call a "lan house" here. I'm not sure what it's called elsewhere. It cost a dollar per hour to use the machines. I was around 12 to 14 years old.

That's pretty much it. Almost every day i check the news of homebrew scene here.

I think “internet cafe” is the common term? Either way LAN House sounds fun lol

 

[impeeza]

I think “internet cafe” is the common term? Either way LAN House sounds fun lol

Brazilians have a very special and particular language, is fun to get the etymology of their terms.

 

[shaunj66]

The 2nd batch of XP bonuses have been applied.

 

[impeeza]

The 2nd batch of XP bonuses have been applied.

Can I get a second one, please sir