About
! WARNING ! - this page is hopelessly out of date, you may find some more up to date info about me at my homepage - craig.neogeo.org.uk
This page is about this site, and about me.
About this Site
I bought a Neo Geo Pocket in January 2000, after reading about how great it was and wanting a portable console to replace my ancient Sega Game Gear. I bought a few games for it and found it was as good as I heard. In Febuary I started writing reviews of my games, with the intention of having them added to other NGP websites. I soon had even more ideas of what I wanted on an NGP website, so I decided to make one myself. I had previously created several websites about other games, so I knew what I was doing, but I decided to make my new site better than previous sites, as I was more experienced.
The first thing I did was think of a name for my site. That was quite tricky as I wanted it to sound good, but not similar to any other NGP, or other gaming, sites. I eventually decided upon Neo Geo Pocket Power, then started developing my site.
First I drew a rough sketch of my site and listed possible categories on a sheet of paper, then I used Dreamweaver 1.2, that I got free with a magazine to make the first simple outline page. I then altered a few things then started making a few real pages. I decided I needed some graphics to liven up my site so I sketched some logos then designed them using MS Paint and Ulead IPhoto Express (a photo editing package bundled with my scanner). I got some free buttons from Atomor then added text using IPhoto. I got the Javascript for changing the images from 1st Page 2000 (a great free HTML editor) and added it.
I then started designing the actual pages of content to make up the site, using Dreamweaver, and Arachnophilia (another great free HTML editor) to check the code, and alter it where neccessary. I converted the two reviews I had written, from MS Word files to HTML, using Arachnophilia.
I got a free message board from Bravenet, a tracker from Hitbox, a search engine from Atomz.com and a mailing list from Listbot after considering all the free alternatives. I chose those four as they were the most powerful with minimal advertising.
I decided to add a few banner adverts to the site to get a few pounds back for the time I put in. Filling the site weith adverts would just annoy all visitors (including me) so I settled for one banner at the top of each page. The adverts are supplied by Adictive, who give back reasonable amounts of money, instead a few pence per 1000 visitors like others do.
Then I used FTP Explorer to upload my site to a Freeserve account I created and I then started spreading the word about my site, via message boards and links from related sites. I now use WS_FTP_LE (also free) as I find it faster and more reliable for uploading.
And that's the story of Neo Geo Pocket Power, which shows it doesn't cost anything to create a nice site, just a lot of effort. More will be added if I have something worth adding.
About Me
I am 16 years old and I live near Inverness, Scotland. I am currently in 4th year at secondary school. I have two brothers and a pet cat. I got a Neo Geo Pocket Color in January 2000 a few months after its launch in the UK, after reading great reviews of it on various websites. The NGPC is the only console I own, though I also use my PC for gaming. My favourite PC games include Half Life, Age of Kings, Worms : Armageddon and RollerCoater Tycoon.
My other interests include Star Trek, football (soccer to you Yanks :) ), digital photography and model railways.
I have had internet access since Christmas 1998 and have created several other web sites including:
Craig's Age of Empires Site - My site about Age of Empires, a real time strategy game, occaisonally updated
Craig's Worms Site - My site about the Worms series of games, also occaisonally updated
Craig's Star Trek Gaming - My first serious site, about Star Trek PC games. It is no longer updated, though I may completely redesign it - basically create a whole new site from scratch.
I will extend this section if I can think of anything to add.