Angled Whiteboards

On the dotted line.

I’ve had an item sitting on my Angled Whiteboards to do list since we launched 1.8: “figure out how to turn the Gotta Getta Game feature into some sort of recurring fun-ness.” Leave it to the Something Awful goons to beat me to it.

Presenting the brilliant Let’s Play GameTap thread.

Oh me, where to begin? May 31 will bring lots of great new titles and features, including a whole new website where you can actually do stuff.

First, you might as well get used to referring to the GameTap you know and love as the Deluxe Player. In the past, we’ve talked about design changes that you saw in the Deluxe Player. Now we get to talk about design changes you’ll see there AND on the web AND in something new, the Lite Player.

We’ve been awfully quiet the past few months, working on a complete website/Deluxe/Lite experience that integrates a ton of features you’ve asked for. Features like user ratings, related games, user profiles and avatars, forums, enhanced search, shared playlists, quick game launch, and more.

On May 31, the tap opens to full blast - all these features (and more), plus free games, retail games via digital distribution, brand new games free for subscribers the very same day they go retail [read: Tomb Raider Anniversary, to begin with], GameTap TV on the web.

So, today you’ll see plenty of coverage out there talking about free games for people who don’t subscribe. (All you subscribers - another new term - you’re GameTap Gold!) What does that mean for you? How about more challengers in popular free Challenge! games [Metal Slug and King of Fighters series, anyone?], more folks mixing it up in the new forums, and a generally expanded community of like-minded gamers. And only you get unlimited access to all the games in the catalog, whenever, wherever. It’s 24/7.

It’s way cool. (And it’s been a crazy few months!)