The latest and most up to date Vizzed news.

Well after days of complications, Vizzed Board is back for good!

Well we had some complications with the current server so instead of fixing it, I decided to transfer to a new server. Well the new server had some complications and so I decided to revert back to this server. I've decided that instead of migrating to a new server in the future, I'll just get a 2nd server and place the database on the 2nd server. I can't possibly describe how many difficulties I went through but I've invested about 50+ hours on these problems over the past few days.

Anyways, Vizzed is back for good and nothing was lost. You can go back to posting and playing games like usual.

As a bonus to make up for the 3 days worth of down time, RGR Games will be free, 0 Viz, for the rest of summer (even if it'll cost me a ton of extra money, I feel I owe it to you guys).

For more information, questions, feedback, etc... refer to this thread:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13982

I've just spent the past 3 days (and 20+ hours) optimizing the site to increase performance and speed. Unfortunately this required me to spend most of my Saturday working on this, however it was definitely needed since the site was starting to get real slow and the SQL Server kept crashing due to so much database strain and I wasn't going to put something like this off to the side. I'm sure everyone has noticed the huge increase in site speed (note: the RGR game pages were taking up to 5 seconds to load before, now they're well under 1 second - in other words, about 10 times faster)



All games are free for the next few days
That's right, all games are free to play for the next few days. I'm making some DB changes and therefore I can't allow any data to go to or from the DB that involves purchasing or selling games. This means that while the games are free to play, you wont actually be purchasing them when you go to play them. Also because of this, you currently cannot sell your games that you have.

For those who are tech savvy, here's exactly what I did: Currently I have 1 DB table dedicated to keeping track of all the games that every user owns. The problem with this is that there's over 300,000 rows which means that every time a user goes to a Game page, it has to search through all of those rows to see if the user owns the game. What I plan on doing is making a table for each individual system. One of the reasons why the game pages are a lot faster now is because I removed the script that searches these rows, just until I've got a DB table for each system. I'm hoping to have everything taken care of by Monday, which means games are free until probably around Monday.



Improved RGR Search
A lot of Google Bots would get stuck or lost in the RGR Search engine which would cause a little strain. Basically they'd end up on pages that would display no results. Here's what I did to prevent this:

When you go to search for a game, Tetris for example, the systems that have the game 'Tetris' would be clickable and let you view only Tetris games for whatever system you clicked and all other systems are dimmed but if you click them, it just takes you to the system but it wont try to display tetris games for that system since the dimmed systems don't have tetris games; same thing applies for the letters.

Another nice new thing I've added was that if your search results return nothing, the RGR will try to make a recommendation. So for example, lets say someone tried searching for Pokemon games for the Atari 2600, since none exist, it would give you recommendations of Pokemon games for other systems.

This also increases my Search Engine rankings since Search Engines will be finding and displaying good pages in the RGR instead of bad pages with no results.



Other Optimizations
I did optimize various other pages which included the Message Center, RGR Pages, Index, and a few other things.



For more information, questions or comments regarding these updates, please post here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13899

Click Here to vizzit the Vizzed Ebay Store

Most of you probably have seen by now that Vizzed recently opened up a store on ebay and is giving out 500 Viz for every US $1 you spend in the store. The store is about half way over so be sure to take advantage of this offer and the below offers:

Most of the Games in the store have dropped in price between 25% - 50%

Also, Pokemon Cards have been added to the store!

For more information about the store, go here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13422

I've just added 1200+ Nintendo and Famicom games (famicom games are listed under NES). The RGR should now have just about every single Nintendo and Famicom game ever made, I was surprised at how many Nintendo games were missing and I've also had a ton of requests to add more Famicom games. What is the Famicom? Well it's basically the Nintendo in Japan. You can find the newly added games here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/index.php?system=nes&sort=id

I've also added 2000+ Atari 2600 games. I was surprised at how many games were missing. This update also includes a bunch of hacks. You can find the newly added games here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/index.php?system=a2600&sort=id

Atari 2600 games are now 1 Viz. Since the games are so small, it was silly to even charge 5 Viz. Plus a lot of games suck. Another reason for this is that there's been a lot of people who have bought Atari 2600 games, didn't like them, rated them a 10 to get some of their Viz back, and than sold it (which results into a full refund). Well now that the games are only 1 Viz, you don't get any Viz for rating them or selling them.

Apple II games are now 5 Viz. Not a big drop in price but they went from 7 Viz to 5 for similar reasons to the Atari 2600 price drop.

For more information regarding the new games and price drops, or if you want to leave feedback, go here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13632



3 new little features for the RGR Search engine.

Random Game
You can now have the RGR randomly pick a game for you by clicking the 'Random' button. It randomly picks a game based on your specifications. For example, if you type in 'mario' in the search box and click 'Random', it'll randomly bring up a game with 'mario' in the title. If click to display only game boy games and click 'Random', it'll randomly pick a game boy game. And of course if you have no specifications, it'll randomly pick any game in the RGR.

First Game
This is for users who are impatient or in a hurry and want to go directly to the game they are searching for. So if I wanted to search for 'Moto Roader' and wanted the RGR to take me directly to that game, I type in 'Moto Roader' and click '1st' and I'll be brought to that game automatically. Now there are some games with the same title as others, the RGR will randomly return either the one with the most views or the one with the highest rating. Just like the 'Random Game' feature, you can adjust your specifications. For example, I can click 'Sega Genesis' and than type in 'Bomberman' and it'll direct me to the 1st 'Bomberman' game the RGR finds for the Sega Genesis.

Country Origin on Search Results
Search results now tell you which country that specific game was released in. (U) = USA, (J) = Japan, (UEJ) = USA, Europe and Japan, etc. This will help you to avoid games released in certain countries. I also made little flags to represent which country each game is from.

For more information regarding the new features, or if you want to leave feedback, go here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13575

July VCS has Begun, and this will be the first VCS that I'll be handing out awards to the top 3 participants (using the Awards feature which will be available at the end of the month).

For more information and what the VCS is, go here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13556

You interested in earning 1000's of Viz for very little effort? Record yourself playing Retro Game Room games, you're already playing the games, why not earn tons of Viz while playing? Here's what you do to earn the Viz


Instructions

1. Record yourself playing a game in the Vizzed Retro Game Room. Your video can consist of short segments of your favorite games, a walkthrough, a commentary review or simply just showing off gameplay of your favorite game. Do whatever you want, just as long as the video consists of you playing a game (or multiple games) from the Vizzed RGR.

You'll need screen recording software:
I recommend CamStudio since it's free. Camtasia is probably an even better program but it costs money but it does have a 30 day trial.

2. You'll upload your videos to youtube to your own account. In the description of the video, at the very beginning of it, paste in your referral link. So for example, if you choose to play Pokemon Emerald in your video, go to the Pokemon Emerald game in the Vizzed Retro Game Room and copy your referral link from the page and post it into your youtube description. This way, every time someone clicks your link in your description, you'll automatically get 100 Viz per a person who clicks it and even more if that person signs up or registers.

Title of Video Recommendations:
The title of your video should use as many keywords as possible. So for example, if you're playing Super Mario Bros for the NES, your video should be titled something like 'Play Super Mario Bros for the NES FREE'.

That's it, your done. Read on to see how you earn Viz from this and what the rules are.


How do you earn Viz from this
As you already read, you earn Viz when your link is clicked. You ALSO earn Viz based on the amount of views your video gets. So for every 1000 views you video gets, you'll be given 1000 Viz (maximum of 10,000 Viz per a video). So as soon as your video reaches 1000 views, reply to the below thread posting a link to it and you'll be sent the Viz:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13317

Your video description MUST have a link to vizzed otherwise it does not qualify for the Viz.


Any Questions?
Please respond to this thread with any questions you may have:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=13317
This offer has no deadline.

Vizzed Board is now hosting the Final Fantasy 7 NES Upgrade Project, a team dedicated to taking the FF7 NES remake and upgrading it's graphics, music and a few other things to make it more like the Playstation version.

If you have some graphic talent, 8-bit composing talent or rom hacking talent, please apply for the position here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=12838


If you're interested in knowing more about the project, go here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=12837

The more support we can get, the sooner this upgraded game can be released! So if you don't have the talent to apply, please tell anyone you know that does have the talent.

June 2010 Competitions have started, you can earn up to 10,000 Viz in each.

Here's this month's competitions:

Final Fantasy VII Master Screenshot Competition
Get further into the game than anyone else.

D-Pad Hero 2 Highscore Competition
Have the highest score in this game at the end of the month.

Close Call Screenshot Competition
Take the best screenshot of a close call situation.

10,000 Viz is awarded to 1st place in each competition, 2,500 Viz is awarded to 2nd and 1,000 Viz is awarded to 3rd. Anyone can compete, the more the better!

You can now view and rotate 3D models of the game boxes for all the systems. This has been an on going project for the past 4 months now which I've put 100+ hours into. I probably wouldn't have began this project if I would've known it would have taken so long but I'm very happy with the outcome. I put a lot of time into the tiniest detail to get these things to look as real as possible. They aren't perfect but they add a nice touch and I really wanted to "wow" the user - it's also fun being able to see the original box and it's content on the front and back.

Here's a few good examples:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=3387 - Genesis Box (these were the hardest)
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=9066 - Nintendo 64
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=10643 - Game Boy Advance

You can rotate the 3D models, view the back, view the front and there's also an 'Enlarge Box' button which gives you a bigger view. Scroll down about half way down almost any game page, you'll see the 3D models on the right.

Some systems are missing boxart graphics while others need better resolution box graphics. I'm looking to hire a few people willing to help me add boxart graphics. Anyone interested, please reply to this thread:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=12650
Only requirement is that you have a lot of free time over the next few weeks. Also reply to that thread with any feedback you may have.

Vizzed has a facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vizzed/120725987944823?v=wall

Please add Vizzed to your page. If vizzed ever goes down for a long time, I'll be sure to post announcements and updates on there.

Here's how you can earn Viz:
I will give you 10 Viz for each person you suggest Vizzed to on facebook (no more than 10,000 Viz per a user and a minimum of 10 users). There's a feature that says 'Suggest To Friend', simply click that and click on all your friends to suggest them to it. If you suggest vizzed to 100 friends, that's 1000 Viz - easy! Just be sure to let me know how many friends you suggested the Vizzed page to by replying to this thread here:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=12321