[PSA] Now Appearing on Beyond 8-Bit Radio

I'm coming at this a little late, but starting with episode 106 (we're up to 109!), I am now a recurring member on Beyond 8-Bit Radio.

Hosted by a star-studded cast of some of the most devilishly handsome men this side of the Potomac, Beyond 8-Bit has been around for a number of years. While my appearance will more than likely be "there" for the most part, I can't guarantee I'll be there each recording.

Sick of reading what I have to say? Then just listen to me ramble for the better part of an hour!

[EXTRA INCENTIVE] Stakes Raised for Destroyed Controller's Logo Contest

Here's the deal: the contest for creating a logo for the website hasn't been as...lively as I thought it would be.

The original contest prizes were a 3-Month card to Xbox Live, and the runner-up won a Flaming Helmet Avatar prop for your, well, avatar.

I've decided, with a recent freebie by Microsoft, to up the ante for those that are willing to take part in this contest. Wanna see how the grand prize winner will be rewarded? Hit the break and find out.

Help Us Out: Create Destroyed Controller's Logo!

I'm quickly approaching a year and a half running Destroyed Controller, yet I have no banner/logo/favicon for it. I don't know shit about Photoshop, and I don't have the patience to learn the intricacies about it.

That's where you come in.

If you feel like you have the time and dedication to create the logo to be used for this blog, keep a few things in mind:

Going on a Hiatus

It's been over a week since I've done anything here, and there's for good reason: I've finally gotten a job after three months of searching, so I'm dedicating as much time as I can to said job.

I have some editorials I've been working on throughout the past several months, adding a paragraph here and there, and I hope to finish them up. I do have a fairly sweet treat in store for those who frequent the site, and I'm just hoping that I can pull it off.

In the meantime, your RSS inbox will seem a bit paltry, your noggin may seem flaccid on news, and your frothing for gaming news should be fulfilled by other sites who are actually at Gamescon, but I'll be back. When...well, I'm not sure. Maybe sooner than later.

New Design...Again

Since Blogger updated overhauled their template and customization tools, I decided to take it a whirl, and I've been tweaking features in it around to see how I can get a good feel to the site, and I think I've gotten something that I'm most comfortable with. Gone are the huge post widths and a few sidebar gadgets, and I made these decisions to streamline the site and make it more navigable and easier on the eyes.

You'll notice that everything has flip-flopped, that all gadgets are now to the left, with those ads at the very bottom of the site. Sadly, I can't figure out how to edit HTML through the new customization tools, so the CC License and SiteMeter thingamajigs will have to wait. Also, with the lack of HTML customization, I can't add in the Disqus commenting system, so the old school system is here until then. [Going into 'Design' surpasses the HTML editing, so I had to do a bit of digging to get back to the OG layout to add in these features. Disqus comments are back online, SiteMeter and CC-License tags are up and functional again.] The post archive is now smaller, now archived by month solely, rather than each individual post; this helped with the sidebar width-constrictions in place by Blogger. You'll also notice the sectionalization of each gadget, and the posts are grouped by date in the main portion of the site.

There are still some customization things I'm still looking for, but for now, this is what you'll be seeing from now on. There will be a few tweaks here and there, but nothing drastic from what you see now.

Hope you enjoy.

Now Contributing for Push-Start.co.uk

I really should have mentioned this when it happened, but I was approached by a strapping gentleman by the name of Christian Davis via email from Push-Start, a website based out the UK, to contribute my writing to them. He said he was a reoccurring reader and he liked my writing. I talked to him and the founder, Daniel Pepper, and they brought me on board.

I'm not 100% exclusive to Push-Start - I will be allowed to contribute to them, and republish my work here on Destroyed Controller if I so choose - but my writing for them should start soon; they set me up with site admin access and my account for WordPress. I'm still going through their qualifications and regime for posting to make sure I make a good fit with them, and that I don't offend their readers (read: no swearing).

I'm purely contributing to their site; Destroyed Controller will still be up. Compare it to Ben Heck writing every once in a while for Joystiq. Don't consider it "picked up" or "acquired by" or anything like that, however, my posting frequency will more than likely dwindle here and pick up at Push-Start.

Perhaps I can go from "One gamer's voice and half-assed dev-blog" to just a half-assed dev blog.

New Comment System: DISQUS Support

If you go to make a comment, you may have noticed something...different. After getting tired with numerous spam comments that lead to Japanese porn sites or things of the like, I took it upon myself to search how to report these users. Well, all the Googling led me to a blog post about DISQUS, quite possibly the best third-party blog comment moderator I've seen.

Installing was a breeze, thanks to another Blogger user, TV Tech Girl, as her instructions on how to do so are simple and quick. Everything is dynamic, so updating/changing things around won't have me re-editing the code to the page.

You'll enjoy being able to login using your Facebook account now for easier commenting on your behalf, and allow me to track your ass down say if you decide to spam (bad mouthing really isn't that big of a deal, but don't get too deep in your own shit). This way, if you don't want to use your Google account, you won't have to make another account just to comment, and hopefully start to draw in more people with an easier commenting method.

Enjoy the new comment section, as I know I won't have to worry about those dickholes spamming anymore.

Destroyed Controller Logo: Anyone wanna help?

I hate seeing that orange blogger 'B' for my logo. It's ugly. I need something new. I have no Photoshoppin' skills at all, so I'm asking the itty-bitty bit of people who pass by through here to come up with something, if you care at all to do such a thing.

Elements? Well, considering the blog is called "Destroyed Controller," I figured using that as a reference point. A simple, elegant, font-based logo without too much jazz going on, and a teeny-tiny square one for the browser address bar and RSS feeds.

Too much to ask for? Ehh, what's the worst that could happen? I might actually get something.

What's that, a reward you're asking for? Little Johnny, listen, I'm a small time blogger with big dreams for my game developing skills that I still need to develop (ironic, no?), so there's not much I can offer other than the site's life span's worth of gratitude.

kthxbai

New layout

After being so damned sick of blogger's restricted post width, I found a tutorial on how to change the HTML around - something I'm not too knowledgeable of - to do such a feat.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a guide for the TicTac template, so I had to change it back to the Minimal (or whatever it's called).

Enjoy.

I finally looked at my SiteMeter stats for the first time...

Holy balls. 479 visits this week. 520 total. That means, prior to this week, I only had, what, 40 visits? Seriously, what did I do to get that many hits this week?

SiteMeter doesn't show you the current day's stats, so I know it wasn't my Brütal Legend video on YouTube (FYI, I will always use 'ü' when typing Brütal Legend. Get used to it). I wonder what it could have been. I barely advertise the site anywhere...