Surprisingly many gamers either aren't aware of RSS or don't understand the value of RSS. In order to rectify this problem I decided to create a post that not only explains RSS but demonstrates its power. I feel that once gamers recognize it's power they'll be subscribing to sites like N4G.
Lets begin with a definition of RSS:
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.
Before RSS, in order to keep track of updates on a website you had to use traditional bookmarks in your browser and manually return to them on a regular basis to see what had been added. Thankfully that is now a thing of the past. RSS aims to eliminate the drawbacks of traditional bookmarking.
The beauty of RSS is that it brings the latest content you want, to exactly where you want or need it most. For example, if you want to keep up to date on whats happening at N4G.com you can subscribe to one of many RSS feeds. Once you subscribe you'll be automatically notified of anything that changes on our site. For another example think of your favorite game. Now I imagine if it's a game your passionate about, your going to want to know the latest news and information about the game. A great way to stay informed about the game is to subscribe to an RSS feed that the game's website publishes.
Now that you understand the value of RSS, lets put it in action so we can demonstrate its power. The best way to utilize an RSS feed is to get yourself a "RSS reader". When it comes to RSS readers there are tons of options. You'll need to figure out which option is most convenient for you. For the sake of this post I will demonstrate one of the more popular options.
Gamers surf the web for all kinds of information. Whether your searching for news, reviews, videos, guides, etc, the search engine your likely using is Google. You may or may not know but Google now offer a customizable homepage. This is a very powerful feature if you use search engines often like many gamers do. Basically what it allows you to do is to tailor your homepage to exactly the way you want it. Once configured, every time you go to do a search on Google your taken to your custom homepage. You can see an example of a Google homepage configured with RSS readers here:
As you could probably guess this is a great place to have an RSS reader. That way every time you do a search on Google, you have right there at your finger tips, the latest information from your favorite websites. On your Google homepage you can add to it what is referred to as a "gadget". One of the available gadgets is an RSS reader. So when you subscribe to a feed you can add it to a gadget on your homepage.
Now I hope this cleared up some of your questions about RSS. Also I hope that you too can now take advantage of the power of RSS. For an additional example of a site that is worthy of your RSS subscription check out Noobspeak.com
"VoodooDuck are today very proud to announce that their cozy collection adventure, ‘Collectors Cove’, is coming to PC and consoles on March 12th." - VoodooDuck.
"Patattie Games and Curve Games are today very happy to announce that their cozy-punk record shop sim, ‘Wax Heads’, is coming to PC and consoles on May 5th." - Patattie Games and Curve Games
Gamesbeat caught up with Blackley to extract some wisdom about Microsoft’s journey in games, what he thinks Sharma should do, and where gaming can go next. Part of his message is hopeful, but Blackley sees a lot of peril on the road that Microsoft is following. And it makes him worry about the future of gaming.
How does one subscribe using IE 7?
If your subscribing in a web browser it shouldn't matter whether its IE7 or Firefox. Just follow these steps:
1.) Create a Google Account
2.) Go to a site you want to register on like: http://www.noobspeak.com
3.) Click on the RSS icon on the site.
4.) When your taken to their RSS Feed page( http://feeds.feedburner.com... click the add to Google button that has a '+' symbol next to the Google Logo.
5.) Then choose 'Add to Google Homepage' Button
6.) If your logged in it will add the feed to your Google Homepage, if your not already logged in then you have sign into your Google account.