Contest – What is Siliconera to you?

When I wake up in the morning to check my Netvibes, there’s only two feeds I have that lead to gaming news. One is Kotaku, and after I’m done reading that, the other is Siliconera. Although, ironically, I ended up posting Siliconera on my Netvibes after reading an article on Kotaku, with Sili as its source.

I never actually read much of the articles at first, but after losing out on a high end PC for my hubby on Kotaku, I saw Siliconera had a contest out that was easy to play, so, already dealing with a loss, didn’t hurt to try. A few months later and an unexpected response in the email, I thought it only fair to thank the blog by becoming a more active reader (just not much of a commenter.. I’m shy like that ^^)

Good thing I did.

Kotaku has all the big media game news I can catch up on, but in the end, when it comes to articles and the lesser fan favorites, the niche games I love, Siliconera is the blog that does the trick. Harvest Moon, Cooking Mama, JRPGs, and random asian games I’ve never even heard of but look so interesting after reading your articles, those are always present here.

And the funny bit is sometimes I’ll read about some things here first, like when you reported on Disgaea coming out for the DS, before it even registered on my Kotaku feed.

Kotaku is the big meaty steak main course on the video game dinner menu, but when you want a delicious exotic dessert to tie up the rest of the night and complete the meal, Siliconera hits that sweet spot and makes the dinner memorable.

I’ve got absolutely no idea what to say and I’m not really interested in the constest. I’ve just got up, I’m drinking coffee with a cigarette and my brains is still asleep. But I have to say that Siliconera is the most interesting video game website out there. It’s the only one I check everyday and the only one where I post comments from time to time (even if it’s pretty rare and that I don’t have much to say).

I’m pretty much bored with all the internet crap so when a website is great, it deserves a thumb up.

Please go on like this.

The cigarette is over, I’m going back to bed now.

i first came to siliconera for the import reviews back when i was living in japan. i would run down the review list checking out the literacy levels to see what games i could pick up for ps2 and xbox. the reviews were also helpful, but that literacy level thing was what really drew me. i first came across the site with a google search for “import friendly” or something like that.

since that time, i have been checking out the site regularly. at first, it was pretty much just for those reviews, but as the site changed, so did my usage. now i read the main page every day, and i like that it keeps me abreast of things that are of interest to me, often outside of the mainstream and most often japan-centered, whether they affect my game purchases or not. it gives me a window to the japanese gaming market, and i like that it is not too big. even with open comments sections, things remain somewhat quiet and mostly civil, generally limited to people who really care and/or have something to say.

the site has a more personal feel to it than most. if i weren’t such a lazy bum already busy with lesson planning and gaming, i would probably be asking about contributing to the site in some way. the community on siliconera is rather friendly and intelligent and that counts for a lot.

i know i should just leave well enough alone, but i’d like to add that while having a stable of writers is always helpful, i like the consistency of hearing from the same person again and again. seeing the same name on most articles really adds to that personal feel i was talking about.

btw, i know the name seems to lose all meaning once the T is removed, but it’s actually Sofmap. sorry, the english teacher in me, while on break at home, still feels compelled to make minor corrections on a regular basis. i hope my semi-frequent posting of corrections doesn’t piss you off or anything.