• Stripped colons from game feed filenames
• Fixed fullscreen not resizing the flash properly
• Fixed users being able to create multiple accounts with one Facebook account

5.4.4

• Improved flash embedding in Internet Explorer
• Fixed potential security issue with the personal message form
• Moved untranslated phrases to the language file
• Fixed ‘make featured’ button getting stuck when repeatedly clicked

You can read more here: http://www.forum.avscripts.net/showthread.php?t=8639

phpArcade has it’s own template system, enabling you to completely personalize your website as much as you wish! There’s no need to scramble through php code. A running demo can be viewed here so you can view its functions.

DEMOS:

ArcadeT, OnlineArcadeWebsite

>>>Download<<<

This is a list I have complied to show the Top 8 Best Av Arcade Pro Designs – Now you may not agree with my chosen sites, if so feel free to comment and tell me why! The list is complied based on the site’s design, rather than its popularity – this list was going to be 10 but no other sites powered by Av Arcade stood out from the crowd.

When deciding on a site, it most have a good site design, navigation and overall layout was key – while also my own personal taste has some weight.

And here they are, Well done to each of the sites listed!

1 – Mangima

2 – Albinoninja

3 – NoobOwned

4 – Oacie

5 – NinjaClanArcade

6 – WebBreak

7 – NoWares

8 – OMGItsaninja

Looking forward to your comments!

Are you able to give us a short insight into your background?

I started programming (or making websites) so i could manage my clan site for a game. But quickly turned into a real thing. I realised that making websites is not just a hobby but actually a business. Thats really how i came into this business.

What do you do in your spare time?

Gym, Football, Friends and that’s all I can think of at the moment.

How did the idea of TAPs come to you?

I used to mod other scripts a lot but I really needed something that was mine, and that did what I wanted it to do.

What was your biggest challenge getting TAPs to where it is now?

Developing it. Theres a lot of barriers when developing a script, not just developing a script but litterly anything (Such as coding/graphical issues). The biggest problem was, keeping my self motivated and not giving up easily. Another thing was my server being a total mess on the beta day. It just made my life 3 times harder.

Do you own any other script/sites

I do run sites which is one reason I developed TAP. A few include: www.flashjolt.com , www.playonlinegames4fun.com At the moment my portfolio is rather large, so I am planning to reduce the size of the sites I own.

In the short history of TAPs which date stands out the most for you?

Probably the release day of TAPs, which was the 2nd November.

Have you taken any steps in the design of your script to accommodate for SEO?

A couple. I have included some basic features like redirecting www.mysite.com/123/SOME-RANDOM-NAME.html to www.mysite.com/123/THE-REAL-NAME.html I do believe its duplicate content and most scripts dont take that seriously. Other than that custom Meta Descriptions and title tags are the SEO things. But tbh, theres a limit in what a script can do to boost your SEO rankings

With the creation of so many different arcades, where do you think the industry will be in 5 years time?

I think arcades will slowly die out… Many people come to this business thinking they could make money within a few months and thats not the case. Many people will also give up, the sites that provide unique features and have the $$ to invest will stand out.

What are your top 5 SEO tips for arcade beginners?

Links Building

Content

Those are the 2 things I think are important

Then there is stuff such as the following are also very important;

H1 Tags

Emphasize text.

Making your site for the user not the search engine

TAPs is still very new, what are you main objectives to get a foothold in the Arcade sector?

I want to provide “good” support to my customers rather than providing no support and selling a lot of copies.

Why does your script stand out from the rest?

For the following;

GEO Trading

Graphs

Hour based stats

Are we going to see any major updates in the coming months?

Not major but minor updates like 1.2 hopefully once we can get 1.1 sorted

1.2 will probably be more trade related updates (newer monitoring features).

For the Online Gaming industry what do you believe is the greatest challenge going forward?

Providing Unique Content.

Who is your direct rival in the Arcade Script world

I dont think there are many, but ATS is one… i am not against it either. Great script, it was the script i used to use aswell!

What is the key features that make TAPs stand out from the crowd?

GEO Trading.

What do you believe are the key points to run a successful arcade?

Unique Content

Investing money

What, in your view, is key to retaining gamers on an arcade site?

Providing somethign they are interested in rather than providing every game on the internet

Once again, Google can ban you if you do not have a Privacy Policy in place – so waste a few minutes now and get it right!

Once you have got a basic Privacy Policy on your site, You need to make sure it’s Google compliant - So look at the following Privacy Policy snip, that show’s how to make your policy Google compliant.

DoubleClick DART cookies

We also may use DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some Google AdSense advertisements). This cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (”interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (For example, if you have been viewing sites about visiting Las Vegas, you may see Las Vegas hotel advertisements when viewing a non-related site, such as on a site about hockey). DART uses “non personally identifiable information”. It does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. You can opt-out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx

You can choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. Unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added.

Once you have got this on your arcade – your well on your way to make your first dollars with Google Adsense – Questions/Comments welcome!

Its highly recommend that you upgrade your arcade to the latest release as a matter of urgency, as there are some key vulnerabilities that are fixed by this release.

Enjoy!

Are you able to give us a short insight into your background?

Sure, I’m full-time freelance web designer/developer working from my home office located in Vologda, Russia for clients worldwide. You’ll see few recent examples of my work at http://misvstyle.com.

What do you do in your spare time?

Nothing special actually, spend the little amount of my free time walking with my beautiful wife, drinking wine with friends, playing billiard… hopefully will get the xbox slim soon, once it’s in stores here.

How did the idea of ProArcadeScript come to you?

I always had a product for sale, first time it was a downloadable game, than it was a utility… one day I’ve decided to stop developing standalone applications and switch to php scripts. Not sure (it was 4 years ago), but I think I got a design project those days, I was asked to design a gaming site running on another arcade script. And, working with that project, I’ve got the idea – I can do a way better script.

The script which will easier to customize and manage. You know, I’m often working as web designer and html coder for my clients, and therefore I was surprised how badly script logic is separated from visualization (templates). Those of you who is familiar with MVC will understand me… I guess that’s enough for this question

In any case now I think it’s my path from standalone apps to SAAS projects.

What was your biggest challenge getting ProArcadeScript to where it is now?

The architecture. I do believe it’s always the biggest challenge, in any serious application or script or whatever project.

Do you own any other script/sites

Yes, one of those was mentioned in my first answer. There are few more, but that’s another story

In the history of ProArcadeScript which date stands out the most for you?

I think it was the first release, I was so excited about it.

How do you think Google, and the way it indexes site affect the way Arcades operate?

I can be wrong here, but looks like Google doesn’t like much our arcade sites, no matter which script the sites are working on. Google “sees” tons of similar pages full of duplicate content and therefor does not pay much attention to the sites. As a result, we have to sponsor games, release our own ones to drive traffic to our sites.

With the creation of so many different arcades, where do you think the industry will be in 5 years time?

Well, I have to say I don’t see much progress in our industry since 2006, maybe due to the fact arcade scripts is quite a tiny market, so no one can expect to see huge growth of a solution like the one we saw on the blogs market (yes I’m talking about wordpress). The only thing I’m sure about – there will be even more different arcade scripts on the market in 2015

What are your top 5 SEO tips for arcade beginners?

I think the following tip worth any other 5: Write your own descriptions for every game you submit to your own arcade site.

Why does your script stand out from the rest?

ProArcadeScript is easy to customize (did I say this?) and, as a result, you can build a site which stands out from the rest.

Are we going to see any major updates in the coming months?

Sure, I bet the competitors will be surprised

For the Online Gaming industry what do you believe is the greatest challenge going forward?

There are several challenges ahead of the industry, we all see that in the news headlines: the industry will have to decide whether or not HTML5 is good enough for online games, game authors are still in search for a good business model which will let them pay the bills for few months while they are working on really exciting games.

Who is your direct rival in the Arcade Script niche?

Every single script which distracts potential customers from my site in google search results is considered as direct rival.

What are the key features that make ProArcadeScript stand out from the crowd?

1. ProArcadeScript is very well structured, and as a result, it’s easy to customize it and to skin it.
2. It’s easy to import and install mochi games (in few clicks in the script’s admin)
3. Custom php pages can easily be integrated into the script (so your imagination is the only limit in the site’s features)
4. Nice-looking default theme
5. Read more at http://proarcadescript.com

What do you believe are the key points to run a successful arcade?

You must love online gaming, feel what’s fun and what’s not to your visitors… You should also be a good copywriter (read above why it’s so important).

What, in your view, is key to retaining gamers on an arcade site?

Everything mentioned in the previous answer Publish the best games ever created, highlight their best sides to the gamers and they’ll come back to your site again and again.

With the need for competition between gamers become more fierce how do you anticipate changes within ProArcadeScript to accommodate?

New platform is one of those, sorry, can’t tell more here – it must be a surprise.

Once again Thanks Sergey for taking part!

1.Uniquness

What makes your arcade stand out from the crowd? It’s the way in which you make it unique, that means offering something that no other arcade has, even if its just a theme – its unique and a good talking point. When I talk about uniqueness, its about how you can do something different, its all about the users, make the user feel at home by offering them something unique(different) – in return they should pass on your site with word of mouth (and social media)!

Don’t stick with the status quo when it comes to managing an arcade [such as game layout, social media, use of game tags and categories] go wild and try something new, be unique – this is be one of your key selling points!

2.Theme

This is a key area of your site. Put your self in the position of a user, would you use your site with its current design/navigation? Sometimes I see arcade theme’s that are a horrible to use/navigate – remember semantic development is what you need to aim for, with all your pages being valid! The theme is what’s going to engage with the user, ensure its what your target audience wants to see form your site, but also ask for feedback!

Take examples such as miniclip, a nice simple design, thats easy to navigate and assessable to all users (even those with an impairment). The design is what’s key, you may have poor quality games, but if the theme stands out from the rest, your still going to get an audience.

Design it, Make it Unique, and get FEEDBACK from your USERS

3.Features/Modifications

This is a key area in my view, having something to engage and retain the user while also attracting new users into the mix. Areas such as leaderboards and chat rooms on games all increase user participation and retainment. Offering features such as Facebook Connect are also a good way of retaining the user, while also attracting new users – use the FB Connect as a method to connect to the users profile and update their status with games they are playing on your site.

4.Search Engine Optimization

This one is a no brainer, but still it always has to have a comment on this area. Always focus on SEO to some extent, within your titles, descriptions and page layout (tags cloud) – also link build and link exchanges, try to use social media as a tool, twitter “tweets” are a good way to drive traffic to your site!

5.Quality Games

Well we’ve covered all aspects about the site, but what about the content – the reason people come to your site? Always focus on having good quality games, that engage and retain the user on your site. Also try to use social media in this area as well to share your site and the quality games you have. Ensure you take the time to play each of your games, and write custom descriptions and How-to-Play instructions. Quality games are only part of the solution, but linking within the other sections and you’re on to a winner!

A side tip – Look at the big picture! Always look to see what your competitors are doing, even trailback their link exchanges and try to match them – It’s all about how you can be successful, not how others can be!

-I’ll update this post when I get time, at the moment I still need to formulate my idea’s!

Be sure to head over to Av Arcade and check on some of the new features coming to 5.3!

New features include;

New Admin Panel

New Game Feeds

Suport multipul leaderboards

Removing games from the site

Support for DCR games

Look out for more news!

Are you able to give us a short insight into your background?

Sure! For the best part of six years now, I’ve been developing PHP scripts. It all started seven years ago, at the age of just twelve, when I became part of a gaming clan forum. The owner, just a year older than I was, was my initial inspiration into the world of web-development. He could do some great things with PHP.

Then, through simply playing around with open-source php scripts, I was able to start writing PHP scripts myself! I began developing MODs for AvArcade fairly recently though. I decided to set up tazgames.com and looked into the best script to use, and came across Av Arcade. I love the script, and love the community even moreso. That’s all the motivation I need to work on it!

What do you do in your spare time?

I tend to use my spare time to study new programming languages or features, or simply alternative methods of manipulating programming languages. On a more fun level though, I also enjoy playing a free FPS called Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, if I’m feeling like taking some time off!

How do your mod idea’s come to you?

Usually I get asked to create the MODs I make. Or I see a request on the AvArcade support forums, so I take it upon myself to fulfill it! Sometimes I see a really cool feature on a website, and realise something similar would benefit my own site, so I’ll produce a MOD everyone can use. However, sometimes it’s purely an impulse idea I just randomly think of – those ones, I have to jot down though, as they’re there one minute, gone the next!

Do you own any other script/sites?

I run several websites, but I don’t like to build connections between them, so the only ones I publically announce ownership of are: www.chuckun.co.uk, www.tazgames.com, and www.visitors-online.com

I used to own a couple of simple open-source scripts. However, I stopped distributing them, as I didn’t feel they reflected my ability as a programmer any more, as I wrote them years ago. I hope to release some new scripts soon though!

Which is your best Mod to date?

The Report Game MOD was my best MOD for AvArcade. Since that was used in AvArcade 5.2, I would say my best MOD in development, is the Mass eMail & Newsletter MOD. I have some great ideas for the mod, such as scheduled mailing and other nifty features which will make it a true must-have!

What’s the though process behind developing a mod?

Well to be honest, I find thinking too much about how I’m going to do things, overwhelms me (if it’s complex enough to require thought). So I tend to dive in at the deep end, and just get on with it, and work out the arrangements as I go. This used to cause ‘messy’ coding for me, but I’m used to the general structure of things now.

The general process however, is to create the backend first, then front-end core features, then the template features the user sees to control the mod.

How do you relax at the end of the day?

Usually with a beer or a cup of tea, talking to my girlfriend, and watching a film – Oh the good life!

How do you think Google, and the way it indexes site affect the way Arcades operate?

The best idea Google ever came up with with regards to intelligent indexing, is ‘Sitelinks’ – the 4/5 links that you see some times underneath the top results for searches you make. If your arcade categories get recognised as the substantial navigation pages by google, and you have your categories listed under your homepage result on google, your visitors can instantly find just what they’re looking for! This will most definitely benefit the operation of your arcade.

With the creation of so many different arcades, where do you think the industry will be in 5 years time?

Well, a couple of years ago we saw the crash of the arcade website industry due to the influx of webmasters hopping on the band-wagon. However, I believe that the poor revenue caused by this is slowly forcing people to close their arcades. I think in five years time, people will avoid making arcades, and they will become more profitable again as the numbers of them drop.

What are your top 5 SEO tips for arcade beginners?

1. – Keyword density. Make sure you include premium gaming keywords where relevant. Such as “Play *game name* – The free online game from *site name*” instead of just having the game title. This is absolutely essential.
2. – SEO URLs. No doubt this is obvious, but it really is a must. Also be sure to include the category AND game name in the URL for perfect SEO.
3. – Page content. Arcade scripts generally dont offer enough word content.. Search engines do not like websites with few words.. So make sure you put extra words wherever possible, such as “Browse all our cool action games” instead of “see all” underneath each category..
4. – Image ALT tag. Arcades display a LOT of images.. Be sure to make use of the ALT tag within your script wherever images are used. This can generate interest via google images, and counts towards your page’s content type too.
5. – Page Titles. The order of your page title is crucial. And with gaming websites, I would reccommend using *gamename* – *sitename*, as anybody looking for a specific game isnt going to care what your arcade is called when they google the game, so you want the game name first.. However, take into consideration point #1!

Are we going to see any major updates in the coming months for any Mods?

The Mass eMail & Newsletter MOD will be receiving a lovely update shortly! Scheduled mail is almost ready – which has been long awaited by many, so watch out for that! I will also be releasing a few new mods too, with any luck!

For the Online Gaming industry what do you believe is the greatest challenge going forward?

Well it’s quite clear now that the market is pretty much at saturation point. Anybody looking to set up an online arcade is going to experience difficulties making any real money. The biggest challenge right now, as with most websites, is creating a unique environment to keep people coming back.

A major key now is social networking integration. As long as you have a plug to one of the major social networking websites, you have a chance of making your arcade work. However, even then you face a massive difficulty in making any good money. My advice is to stick in there, until the faint-hearted ‘give up’ with their non-earning arcades, and free up the industry a little.

What do you believe are the key points to run a successful arcade?

A unique theme is a must! And it must be ‘cool’ – if you make it look professional, it’s going to look too boring for an arcade.. You want something colourful and appealing to both children and teenagers.. So a ‘cool’ look is definitely the way forward!

Inscentive – Offer inscentives to make your visitors want to register.. Once they register, they will most likely return.. And if not, grab the mass email & newsletter MOD and make sure they dont forget about you!

Do something different – I believe that the only way to be truly successful is to do something unique that people will recognise.. Whether it be sending custom t-shirts out to anyone who reaches the #1 player, or creating ‘groups’ or ‘clans’ who will compete.. It’s always good to create a situation people will want to put effort into.

What, in your view, is key to retaining gamers on an arcade site?

As previously mentioned, inscentive, and unique ideas are key here. Creating awards, achievements, or prizes is always an easy way to keep people playing.. But a more automated (and cheaper) method is to create rivalry! Let people compete against eachother with highscores, and they will be determined to stay and claim the title..

Where do you believe online gaming will be in 10 years time?

On the internet, ten years is a LONG time.. Realistically, anything could happen. The way things are looking with the youth of today, gaming could even be banned in 10 years time. Now there’s a dreadful thought, right? But realistically, I believe in 10 years time, online gaming will be incredible. ‘Flash’ games may be created in HTML5, which leaves room for some incredible movement!

Thanks Chuckun for taking part in this interview! Comments welcome!