Well, I finally got around to messing with an idea I've had for about a year. What I'm showing here is basic layout experimentation and a little of the direction it's going to go in.

What *isn't* there is the PHP database engine that will actually drive the site. The intent is that not only does the site put forth a predicted review score - the READERS also can vote on it. Once the reviews start hitting the web, the site will then compare the real review scores to what we predicted they would be.

http://www.gamepsychic.com

If anybody is a whiz with MySQL and PHP, let me know. I could use a little assistance in teaching myself the zen of it.

you know, i had the idea about 2 years ago to do a games/software review site in a vaguely similar fashion: on-staff people to do reviews, with website viewers "out there" able to submit their own (mini-)reviews as well, with still yet another layer of people (also site viewers) being able to vote on the reviews themselves. it was kinda complex to deal with, and it wasn't anything psychic, but it was an interesting idea.. to me, at least.

also, having spent time hanging around here, reading everything that "real reviewers" post, i feel like i made a good decision in NOT going forth with the idea- i don't have quite the grasp on all of this stuff to make it happen.

- mike - somewhere in east-central illinois -

Well, I'm trying to make this as light and easy on myself as possible. I spend a fair amount of time looking at previews and fiddling with betas anyway. All I really have to do here once I get the framework up is take what I know about a game that's a month or so from release, guesstimate what average review score it's going to get and write up why in pseudo psychic babble. Then, move on to the next. Not like I'm writing a full-on preview myself.

Key things being that I need to make it super fast and easy to update for myself, and automated enough that I don't have to play with HTML after the initial setup is done.

First, you need to date it so that when the reader looks at it, he or she knows when the prediction was made.

Second, you should probably link to a few previews.

Third, we can't really judge it until we see how you handle the game after the reviews start rolling in. That's when the concept will prove to be entertaining or not. It is a neat concept though. One of the biggest problems I see is that most of the review scores will bunch between 2.5 and 4 stars, so I'm not sure that the "Gamepsychic" getting it right will be all that surprising.

The way psychics work in the real world is they make a boatload of off the wall predictions and hope one comes right and then they trumpet. Therefore, I think you should be predicting things like "John Romero will have sex change operation!" and "Sid Meier will get a hair weave!" :)

Azurom,

I don't work with MySQL specifically, but I've done a lot of querying against Oracle and Sybase. If you have any sql questions, I'd be happy to give it a shot.

"Therefore, I think you should be predicting things like "John Romero will have sex change operation!" and "Sid Meier will get a hair weave!"

Actually Romero is a hermaphrodite. He already has the biggest penis (Ferrari) and breasts (Stevana) money can buy.

I predict nobody will find that funny.

That's a good bet.