GBAtemp.net acquired by CNET Networks

[shaunj66]

GBAtemp.net acquired by CNET Networks
The beginning of something good

Dear members, GBAtemp is now over five years old and is continuously growing in both size and popularity in ways we would never have expected in the past. As you can imagine, keeping such a popular website running smoothly and without hiccups is both an expensive and tedious task.

Up until now the sites hosting has been funded by the staff and more recently our affiliates whom we thank very much. Unfortunately we have reached a point in our GBAtemp's life where it's impossible to keep the site running by ourselves; we don't have the time or funds to keep this community online 24/7 -- a huge task for such a small group of staff members who have day jobs to attend to.

You may have heard rumours in the past few weeks or months that GBAtemp was considering an offer from an interested party. These rumours are true. Today we become an official CNET Networks channel partner and the site becomes full property of GameSpot.

As you may have noticed, we have recently been experiencing a lot of down-time, this is completely due to the transferral of the site to a CNET Networks owned server and this move is nearing completion.

This is no reason to be alarmed; the community here at GBAtemp you know and love will remain, the site will remain basically the same but a few small changes here and there will need to be made to fall in line with CNET Networks partner site policies.

Please understand that this move is the best move to insure we keep GBAtemp alive. We are simply not able to keep on maintaining a site of this size by ourselves, nor fund it, so with help from our good new friends at CNET Networks and GameSpot a large weight has been lifted from our shoulders.

You will notice a few new staff members have joined the site today; Ryan, Adam, Liam, Peter and Ian. Please welcome them aboard. I'm certain they'll do a great job and have already moderated forums very well at both CNET and GameSpot.

Now I'd like to fill you in on a small few changes that must be made in order for us to continue, some aren't ideal but we will soon be making more new changes that should please everyone.

- Adverts on the portal - This helps us to fund the site. Adverts will NOT be placed inside threads, as to keep the community happy -- discussion will go uninterrupted.

- 'Testing Area' to close - By request of CNET Networks we are unfortunately having to close the 'Testing Area' sub-forum. This is out of our hands.

- Censoring - Profanities will be censored out in discussion to make the forum more family-friendly. Posts will be more heavily moderated in order to insure no illegal discussion takes place.

- Latest ROM Information and News under discussion with CNET Networks - We are trying our best to keep GBA, Nintendo DS and Wii "scene" release information on the site, we are currently under negotiation with CNET Networks and will let you know its fate as soon as we do.

Some changes will take immediate effect, others will be gradual, and more will be made in the future. As has always been the case with GBAtemp, we are always striving to be the best Nintendo console related discussion forums and will stop at nothing to insure that continues to be the case.

So to wrap up, GBAtemp is now the property of CNET Networks, Inc and their partner site; GameSpot. Big changes are underway with more to come in the future.

Thanks for your co-operation and loyalty,
Thanks from all the GBAtemp Staff - new & old,

Signed,
- The GBAtemp Forum team,
- CNET Networks, Inc.

 

[CNET_Peter]

Hey everyone!

My name is Peter Johnson (but please call me Pete!)
I'm a long time lurker, but I never got around to registering before.
I am now glad to be part of the team, hope to make GBAtemp a better place!

I'll see you around!

Pete

 

[CNET_Adam]

Hey everyone! You can call me Adam, as per the username! Duh!

I'm new here but have heard nothing but good things so I look forward to working with you all on making GBAtemp.net a better place to be.

- Adam (@CNET)

 

[CNET_Ryan]

Hi folks! People call me Ryan, but my freinds call me... Ryan, weird huh??

So glad to be here, I've heard a lot about this little place from the bigwigs.

 

[CNET_Ian]

Hi I'm ian!
I'll be your waiter for the duration of the flight..... lol, talk about mixed metaphors! glad to be here, though it's a far stretch from hawaii

 

[CNET_Liam]

Liam's the name, moderatin forums is me game... wanna chat? Really though, ever need any help, I'm around.


Edit: oh yeah, just wanted to add something, can't wait to get rid of this horrible avatar.
FYI, we're supposed to keep it for a week or two until people get to know us.

 

[lagman]

Welcome people, hope things doesn't change that much and that this is truly the beginning of something good for GBAtemp.

 

[Sinkhead]

Good times have been had, and good times will continue to be had.

To a bright future at GBAtemp with our new partners!

 

[Zarcon]

So we're finally doing this huh?
I hope GBAtemp stays as it is or perhaps even gets better with this.
It's a shame the timing's so awkward though, oh well, people have a few days to let it sink in.

 

[Costello]

Hello guys

I hope our members will not misunderstand the purpose of this operation.
I'm very sad to see that some of our long time staff members decided to leave, I just want to tell them something: once you realize that GBAtemp isn't changing this much, you might change your mind. And when you do, we will always be there for you and your position will be given you back.
Thank you for everything you've done, Thug, Ace and Spikey (hopefully the list doesn't get bigger).

Anyway, all the staff is very thankful to CNET for allowing us to continue this adventure with you all.
I would have been so terribly disappointed to shut GBAtemp after so many years!

Thank you CNET!

 

[laurenz]

Hooray, I've been waiting for this forever!

 

[Spikey]

I stand by my decision to quit with this announcement.

Bye bye GBAtemp!

 

[Salamantis]

Hello to everyone new here! I really hope changes in GBAtemp won't be too big, and that our community will stay.

I knew about this for like a month now and Costello told me to keep it quiet. I know things won't be too bad, but I hope that our lost members will come back.

 

[HAK_Devil]

A little early for April's fools isn't it

 

[Mangofett]

Testing Area is gone? No more illegal discussion? THE f***ing RELEASES ARE GETTING JACKED?

This site has no purpose. Bye.

 

[superrob]

"This is no reason to be alarmed; the community here at GBAtemp you know and love will remain, the site will remain basically the same but a few small changes here and there will need to be made to fall in line with CNET Networks partner site policies."

Yes but.... the testing area... it was a big part of GBATemp. And now its just dead.......

I hope this is some kind of sick joke else i wont stay very long here anymore..
And its propperly a joke the links arn't even on any Cnet sites

 

[neveras]

According to the internets April Fool's jokes are done on March 31st.

 

[jgu1994]

Wow, this sucks.

 

[xalphax]

hello and welcome!

 

[Fat D]

is it not a few hours too early for a brit to post this?