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I hope you enjoy reading this interview guys, brought to you by ArcadeAdmin.Com
Now Andy explores how Av Arcade came to him, and how he believes the direction of the arcade world will go - Its getting to be a a crowed place and only those who have something unique will stand out - Anyways time for you to read;
Enjoy the read guys;
What do you do in your spare time?
I spend a lot of the time on the computer browsing various sites, researching different things. I play numerous games such as Team Fortress 2 with friends and on special occasions even leave the house
How did the idea of Av Arcade come to you?
I always liked the idea of starting a flash game site and attempted to. But I used Joomla and was individually adding the embed code for games each time. Flash game scripts existed, but were prices at around $100 and so were out of my price range. I decided to learn PHP. Not directly because I wanted to make a flash game script, at first I made another simple script called the link script that allowed users to add links to sites a bit like digg.com but a lot more simpler. Someone then suggested I make a flash game script, and so I did… in 2 days. So, the short answer to be honest is someone actually suggested it.
What was your biggest challenge getting AV Arcade to where it is now?
There haven't been any major hurdles to jump with AV Arcade. As it was initially free, it meant I didn't really need to advertise it. People told other people, my site got a high ranking in google for the keywords that matter and the rest took care of itself. I have been quite lucky.
Do you own any other script/sites?
AV Arcade is the only script I work on. But I am absolutely looking to branch out and create a new script. I cannot be totally dependant on AV Arcade.
In the history of Av Arcade which date stands out the most for you?
30th October last year was a big day as it was the release of AV Arcade Pro and the first time I charged for the script. I had no idea how well it would go down, but it worked out great.
How do you think Google, and the way it indexes a site affect the way Arcades operate?
It's important to try and get as high in the search results as possible. But due to most arcade sites lacking unique content, arcade owners are battling hundreds of others for high rankings for the same keywords. I see small sites trying to use the keywords 'free flash games' but it's never going to get them anywhere near the top in any search results. Arcade owners should focus on more unique keywords for SEO success.
With the creation of so many different arcades, where do you think the industry will be in 5 years time?
I think in 5 years things will be quite similar as they are now. Not much has changed since 2005. I think flash game sites will focus a lot more on the social aspect. I expect pages to be a lot more alive than they are today with things like notifications popping up with highscores that are being set while you are playing the game and a feeling that you're apart of a wider community all playing games together.
Why does your script stand out from the rest?
No other script is currently being supported as well as AV Arcade. Most haven't been updated in months, others in years. I don't think AV Arcade's forum community can be matched either, the sheer number of people available who are on the forum every day helping and creating mods is huge.
Are we going to see any major updates in the coming months?
I've started work on 5.3 which will mainly focus on refining what is already there and adding a few things. The aim is that no templates will need editing in this update as new functionality will be an expansion of what is already there.
For the Online Gaming industry what do you believe is the greatest challenge going forward?
I'm not sure to be honest. I think Flash may be installed on less computers in the future with HTML 5 making progress. But there's no good alternative to flash right now when it comes to online games. I think there needs to be a replacement or something Flash-like that browsers support out of the box.
Who is your direct rival in the Arcade Script world?
If someone else is selling or distributing an arcade script, they are a business rival. There's no single script that is more a rival than any others.
What do you believe are the key points to run a successful arcade?
Decent games! Considering people are creating arcade sites you don't hear much about people selecting decent games for their site. If a user tries to play 2 games on your site and they are both no fun to play, that user isn't going to stay on your site. Pick your games individually. This is a great example of where quality really matters over quantity. A bad, buggy game is as good as having a blank square on your site.
What, in your view, is key to retaining gamers on an arcade site?
As above. Add decent games and add them regularly. If you can't work on a site full time, release games on a certain day of the week. Your arcade site probably doesn't have unique content. What your site can offer though, is a great selection of games so your visitors don't feel the need to look anywhere else.
With the need for competition between gamers becoming more fierce how do you anticipate changes within Av Arcade to accommodate?
I'm not sure right now. But as online gaming evolves, so will AV Arcade.
I spend a lot of the time on the computer browsing various sites, researching different things. I play numerous games such as Team Fortress 2 with friends and on special occasions even leave the house
How did the idea of Av Arcade come to you?
I always liked the idea of starting a flash game site and attempted to. But I used Joomla and was individually adding the embed code for games each time. Flash game scripts existed, but were prices at around $100 and so were out of my price range. I decided to learn PHP. Not directly because I wanted to make a flash game script, at first I made another simple script called the link script that allowed users to add links to sites a bit like digg.com but a lot more simpler. Someone then suggested I make a flash game script, and so I did… in 2 days. So, the short answer to be honest is someone actually suggested it.
What was your biggest challenge getting AV Arcade to where it is now?
There haven't been any major hurdles to jump with AV Arcade. As it was initially free, it meant I didn't really need to advertise it. People told other people, my site got a high ranking in google for the keywords that matter and the rest took care of itself. I have been quite lucky.
Do you own any other script/sites?
AV Arcade is the only script I work on. But I am absolutely looking to branch out and create a new script. I cannot be totally dependant on AV Arcade.
In the history of Av Arcade which date stands out the most for you?
30th October last year was a big day as it was the release of AV Arcade Pro and the first time I charged for the script. I had no idea how well it would go down, but it worked out great.
How do you think Google, and the way it indexes a site affect the way Arcades operate?
It's important to try and get as high in the search results as possible. But due to most arcade sites lacking unique content, arcade owners are battling hundreds of others for high rankings for the same keywords. I see small sites trying to use the keywords 'free flash games' but it's never going to get them anywhere near the top in any search results. Arcade owners should focus on more unique keywords for SEO success.
With the creation of so many different arcades, where do you think the industry will be in 5 years time?
I think in 5 years things will be quite similar as they are now. Not much has changed since 2005. I think flash game sites will focus a lot more on the social aspect. I expect pages to be a lot more alive than they are today with things like notifications popping up with highscores that are being set while you are playing the game and a feeling that you're apart of a wider community all playing games together.
Why does your script stand out from the rest?
No other script is currently being supported as well as AV Arcade. Most haven't been updated in months, others in years. I don't think AV Arcade's forum community can be matched either, the sheer number of people available who are on the forum every day helping and creating mods is huge.
Are we going to see any major updates in the coming months?
I've started work on 5.3 which will mainly focus on refining what is already there and adding a few things. The aim is that no templates will need editing in this update as new functionality will be an expansion of what is already there.
For the Online Gaming industry what do you believe is the greatest challenge going forward?
I'm not sure to be honest. I think Flash may be installed on less computers in the future with HTML 5 making progress. But there's no good alternative to flash right now when it comes to online games. I think there needs to be a replacement or something Flash-like that browsers support out of the box.
Who is your direct rival in the Arcade Script world?
If someone else is selling or distributing an arcade script, they are a business rival. There's no single script that is more a rival than any others.
What do you believe are the key points to run a successful arcade?
Decent games! Considering people are creating arcade sites you don't hear much about people selecting decent games for their site. If a user tries to play 2 games on your site and they are both no fun to play, that user isn't going to stay on your site. Pick your games individually. This is a great example of where quality really matters over quantity. A bad, buggy game is as good as having a blank square on your site.
What, in your view, is key to retaining gamers on an arcade site?
As above. Add decent games and add them regularly. If you can't work on a site full time, release games on a certain day of the week. Your arcade site probably doesn't have unique content. What your site can offer though, is a great selection of games so your visitors don't feel the need to look anywhere else.
With the need for competition between gamers becoming more fierce how do you anticipate changes within Av Arcade to accommodate?
I'm not sure right now. But as online gaming evolves, so will AV Arcade.
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