About three years ago, Photics.com was reborn as a Guild Wars fansite. Before that, it was a Java Arcade. I keep going back to that childhood dream - to have my own arcade. Yet, being a shopkeep can be mundane work. I don't want to have sit around, waiting to make change for a $20 or refilling the token machine.

Enter the beauty of the Internet!

I like having my own website. The theme of the site has changed over the years, but I know I like having Photics.com around. One of the most popular parts of this site has been web-based games. With the recent revision of Photics.com, I've been thinking about adding a Flash Arcade to this site.

There has been a delema, which I've been running through my head. I switched to vBulletin because I knew that an arcade system could easily be intergrated. Yet, I haven't decided on which one... v3arcade or ibProArcade. Also, I'm not sure what to do about games. I don't want to just put clones on this site. I'm not sure of the legality. Somehow, I just don't feel right about posting clones of Pacman, Asteroids and others.

So, to do this right... new games will have to be created.

In a sense, ArenaNet has inspired me. I always felt that Guild Wars should have mini games at the Guild Hall. I always felt that casual games would improve socialization within the community. Eventually, I stopped campaigning for that feature. I realized that social gamers could hang out at Photics.com instead! If ArenaNet doesn't want to put a chess table in there game, I should just put one at my site.

I learned a lot while working on Gwen's Quest and other Flash games. Yet, the next step is going to be tougher. There's a certain quality that I'm shooting for. That's why this project has been taking longer than usual. I'm stuck in the idea stage.

Plus, right now, I'd rather play games than create them

This post is a good way to let you know what's going on. Also, it lets you know the purpose of this forum. I'd like to see a volunteer community form here, one where we all work on creating cool games. It's very hard to be a code warrior and an artist at the same time. This is a place where we can create Flash games together.

Sooner or later, I'm going to feel that need to create. Here's a list of games that I'd like to see at the arcade...

• Chess
• Pinball
• Pool (9-ball)
• Jigsaw Puzzle
• Side-Scrolling Adventure
• RPG
• Space/Plane Shooter
• Driving

If you feel like volunteering, this is the place to let the community know.

__________________
Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com