(Last updated: 1 March 2005)
Who are BigKid?
A group of Australian gamers who wanted to offer games content relevant to Australia.
How did BigKid start?
Sometime in 1998 Ken got the idea to start a gaming site (from reading about how Anand started his impressive hardware site actually). He went to Bruce who knocked up some HTML and found a server to host the page. After a few months of half-hearted updating, the site stagnated. Six months later Rob had the idea to use the site for a college assignment and spent the best part of the next several months building the content to something actually worth reading. All three saw the potential, and got on board. The site itself has undergone several redesigns, including the addition of a database-driven backend to deliver news content.
Do you actually know what you’re doing or are you just a bunch of wannabes?
Well, apart from more than 50 years of game playing between us (probably much more) and ongoing enthusiasms for the industry, almost all the site’s contributors hold senior positions at game development studios in Australia.
So is BigKid a [current employer] pimp site?
Absolutely not. None of us worked in the industry when BigKid started, and although during working hours our loyalties are with the companies who employ us, when working on BigKid we are gamers first and last. We have a very active and aggressively independent attitude towards the games industry, and if ever there was a perceived conflict of interest or dubious use of the site the guilty party would suffer the collective wrath of the rest of the team. If you knew the level of passion with which most BigKidders hold opinions, you would understand what an effective deterrant that is. Our empolyers understand and respect our position, though it has never been an issue. In fact, there have been times we have avoided running stories to avoid any perception of bias - something which hopefully won’t be necessary in the future as it’s neither fair nor balanced.
With almost all of us being professional members of the games industry we have insight and understanding that benefits the site enormously. We are supportive of the entire gaming industry, and the Australian scene in particular. We don’t accept or recognise corporate distinctions. We want to play and foster the development of great games, period.
I have an idea for a game. Can you help me?
Unfortunately, probably not. Everyone has a game idea; it’s an industry proverb. You are going to need much more than an idea to get anywhere. Games companies are filled with hardcore gamers and enthusiastic, hardworking talent. They are rarely short of ideas and are generally working toward positions where they can get backing for their own projects. The hard reality is that the industry isn’t interested in ideas without substance, no matter how good they are. If you are serious, you need to do up a design document and very likely will need at least concept artwork and a working demo. Finding out what those things are and making them happen is entry level effort. Noone will take you seriously if you aren’t capable of pulling at least that much together. Games companies spend many thousands of dollars getting their ideas to that level for submission to publishers, and that’s what you’re competing with. If you email us about your idea the best we will be able to do is pass it on, and we will only do that if we think it would help. If you do the things just mentioned, you won’t need our help anyway.
There are other options than dealing with publishers though. You can self produce and self publish thanks to the internet. Whatever you do you will need to gather a group of people that can work together and produce passable art, code, and documentation. Other than that the best advice we can give you is to get into the industry, and one of the best ways to do that is to start in a Quality Assurance (QA) department. That’s what we all did. Alternatively, enter formal study or start teaching yourself to code.
I want to work in the games industry. Can you help me?
The best we can do is give you some basic advice. Start at a list of developers, pick one near you and fire off a resume. If you want to be an artist, compile as impressive a portfolio as you can. If you want to be a coder, write at least one little game, mod, or application that shows what you can do. Find out what you can study formally that will lead in the direction you want to go. Several Australian States now have specific games development courses. If you don’t already, play lots of games. We may be able to point you in the right direction if you email us, but probably not beyond what is already available on Sumea and BigKid.
So what use are you?
We’re a resource, and hopefully a bit of entertainment as well. You’re getting this for nothing. Don’t give us a hard time.
I want to start a website too. What do I do?
Find someone who can write very good HTML. Find someone who can write at least passably, and can spell. Start looking at hosting options because you are going to need some expandable space. Kiss goodbye to much of your free time. If you are going to do it all yourself, say goodbye to your life and make sure you have private health insurance. If you email us we may be able to give more specific advice.
How much money do you guys make?
None. We were signed with IGN for a year in 2000 and that pretty much covered our hosting costs and nothing more. We are currently gaining minor revenue from Google ads, but not nearly enough to cover costs. Publishers occasionally send us games to review, and as hardcore gamers that’s a nice perk. We give away as many review copies as we can, and that’s a nice thing to be able to do as well. We looked at business models from every angle and pretty quickly came to the conclusion that unless a site is pulling hundreds of thousands of hits a day (which we don’t), there is no way to make it pay enough to support full-time staff. Even then, it is a rough road, as the dotcom crash illustrated. The Web isn’t television. People are not going to pay for information they can get for free elsewhere, and they shouldn’t have to.
And in the end, BigKid is better off for it being that way. We are completely independent. Noone is paying us, so we have no obligations to anyone or anything except our own integrity, and no hidden agendas. We aren’t doing this because it’s our job or because we have to. We love games and the games community, and enjoy being an informal part of it.
What code does this site run on?
BigKid is powered by WordPress.
Is BigKid content available in other formats?
Recent stories from our main news page are also available as RSS 2.0 and Atom feeds.
Contacting BigKid
If you would like to submit news or provide feedback on the site, send us an email. [bruce@ or rob@ or monty@ if you catch the drift]