Slide to Play

Slide to Play (known also as SlideToPlay or STP) is a video gaming website that covers gaming software from the Apple iTunes App Store developed for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The site includes reviews, previews, news, features, an audio podcast, and a video podcast. The site was launched on September 1, 2008, by its founder Stephen Palley, co-founders Adam Buchen, and Conor Egan, all of whom had previously worked together at the large gaming-enthusiast website GameSpot, and Jeremy Wood.
At launch, Slide to Play had a limited feature set, but a month after launch, a more robust set of user functionality came online, leveraging the phpBB forums software to add a forums section to the site. This site update brought with it the addition of user comments on site stories. Later in the third quarter of 2009, more user functionality was added, including functionality to allow registered users to rate games and write text reviews to provide their own insight.
On October 6, 2009, GameSpot and Slide to Play announced that the sites had reached a content-sharing agreement in which the larger site's new mobile gaming hub would use a sampling of review content created by Slide to Play. According to Slide to Play, its "staff worked closely with GameSpot editors to select reviews of the most prominent games the iPhone has to offer... titles from major publishers like Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Digital Chocolate, ngmoco, and Capcom, as well as a good selection of the indie gems the platform is known for."
History
Though it was only first launched in September 2008, there have already been a significant number of changes that have affected Slide to Play, including considerable growth of its staff as well as a full site redesign.
Notable staff
As Slide to Play's audience and traffic grew, the company expanded its editorial staff considerably; a number of freelance writers were tapped to allow broader editorial coverage of more games, as well as to expand the site's news coverage.
The site also began a search for a new head of the editorial department. After several adjustments, the site decided on Andrew Podolsky, a former editor for popular games website 1UP. Andrew remains in charge of the editorial department, assisted by Senior Editor Chris Reed and Associate Editor Tim Rattray, who had previously been an editorial intern for the site.
STP v2.0
Since the launch of Slide to Play in September 2008, the single largest upgrade to the site went public on June 30, 2009, when STP 2.0 was released. This release included an array of changes and enhancements that was succinctly summarized by a story enumerating the changes: "STP isn't just a blog any more."
The changes made include:
# Full gamespaces. For every game in the Slide to Play database, there was now a specific page with the game's icon, description, stories, videos, screenshots and more.
# User ratings. Users could now numerically rate any game in the database on the same 1-4 scale used by the Slide to Play edit staff.
# In-depth browsing of games. Users could now find game based on a wide criteria of data, from genre, all the way to support for specific features or restrictions, like games that featured online leaderboards or allowed you to play with other people online over the Internet.
# Better App Store integration. This feature brought three new pages to the site: one to view the newest games, one to view the games that had most recently received a version update, and one to view the games that had most recently received a price change.
# Improved search. Searching now smartly divided game results from story results. Additionally, search would now use developer and seller name to find games in addition to game titles.
# A new section for videos that made browsing possible and gave each video a permanent landing page.
# Social sharing. Every story and video now had easy "share" widget functionality built right in to offer users an easy way to post links on Digg, Reddit, and other social sharing sites.
Editorial department
As Slide to Play has expanded in size and number of editors, there has been an expansion of the types of coverage it has encompassed. Nonetheless, general review policies generally remain now what they did at launch, albeit with a few changes.
Rating and review system
The current review format at Slide to Play remains today what it did from the site's launch. A reviewer who has thoroughly played a game writes a review long enough to express the premise and overview of core components of a game, which may include its appearance, gameplay, sounds, story, and features. The text of the review should outline the positives and negatives about each facet of the game.
Each review requires a short list of "pros," a short list of "cons," and a "bottom line," a sentence that concisely summarizes what the reviewer thought of the game.
There is also a score associated with a review: Slide to Play's scoring system is a four-point scale, each number corresponding to a brief text descriptor: a score of 1 means you should "avoid" the game, a 2 score indicates you should exercise "caution" before buying the game, a 3 score indicates a "good" game, and a perfect 4 score designates the game as "must have."
O.A.T.S. and editorial independence
In February 2009, Steve Palley wrote an editorial entitled "We Solemnly Swear." In this article, he explains a trend he noticed in the newly burgeoning marketplace of iPhone gaming editorial coverage, namely "that certain sites using gutter tactics like selling reviews on the sly" vis-a-vis selling advertisements and getting editorial coverage in exchange. Palley then outlined a plan of attack against editorial outlets engaged in such a practice, suggesting that a multilateral code of ethics be voluntarily agreed upon by sites wanting to make the editorial process more transparent.
A code was introduced one month later as part of a new organization, known as the Organization for App Testing Standards, or O.A.T.S., an organization Slide to Play cofounded with TouchGen, The Appera, and 148Apps. Membership within O.A.T.S. requires members to agree and abide by an oath which states first and foremost:
Since its founding, the number of editorial sites that have agreed to uphold the O.A.T.S. pledge and become members has grow to over fifteen.
Some examples include:
* Rock Band
* Zenonia
* Dungeon Hunter
* F.A.S.T.
* Glyder
Lowest scoring games
Slide to Play has handed out multiple "avoid" scores, the lowest possible for a variety of reasons, such as poor controls, or being buggy, or just altogether lacking any element of fun.
They can be browsed in the "games" section and sorted by score.
Review updates
Slide to Play has been known to update a review, and even the score of a game, when subsequent version updates are made available. Sometimes these updates can fundamentally change the opinion first given.
One such example is Puzzle Quest which was first described as a "janky port" that was something of a "tragedy" because of all of its glaring bugs and technical flaws. However, by 1.3, all the issues were addressed and the reviewer acknowledged, "here's simply no way Puzzle Quest isn't a Must Have at this point."
Cheap Shots
On June 2, 2009, Slide to Play reviewed Embargo, a naval combat game. However, this review did not have a score, nor did it have the customary Pros, Cons, and Bottom Line that had been features of every previous review. The change for Embargo represented a new type of review that would appear from time to time: the Cheap Shot. Slide to Play described the new format:
Cheap Shots have since been discontinued in favor of full reviews. Some Cheap Shots have been updated in full review format.
Features
In addition to previews, reviews, and news, Slide to Play also publishes feature stories.
For one, there are multiple recurring feature series, such as Under The Radar. This is a hand-picked selection of indie games released within the last week.
Additionally, Slide to Play has released several buyer's guides centered around specific genres, like the action buyer's guide as well as the adventure buyer's guide.
More frequently, the site uses Twitter to interact with the community and solicit input about iPhone gaming or any other number of topics in the form of Tuesday Twitter giveaways, which reward the winners with a prize.
Additionally, the Friday Slide feature, which hasn't appeared with the regularity its title might suggest, is an opinion piece written by a site editor.
Podcasts
Slide to Play has a Podcast called "Slide To Podcast," a weekly discussion that roughly averages an hour in length per episode. The first episode, titled "A New Hope," was released on April 28, 2009. Frequent hosts include Steve Palley, Jerermy Wood, Andrew Podolsky, and Phil Synowiec; guest hosts often include iPhone game developers and the subject of conversation typically centers around upcoming or recently released iPhone games.
Slide to Play also hosts a less frequently updated video podcast entitled "Slide to Play Video," and are typically fairly short; they're generally less than ten minutes in length. Typically they're used to showcase real video footage from upcoming noteworthy iPhone games and are often accompanied by a voice-over from a Slide to Play editor.

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