WipEoutZone is 10!
Ten years after uploading the finished version of the site and writing "WipeoutZone is Go!" as the first news article, it all seems a bit of a blur in the rear view monitor.
We’ve seen some barren times between WipEout game launches that caused community activity to dry up. Yet we’ve also enjoyed the heights of WipEout Pure coming to us on a new platform, and WipEout HD’s arrival on the PS3 taking the forum traffic to over 2000 page views each day when it launched.
That increased traffic caused some friction in the community, due to an influx of new members who did not always share the same values as the old guard. For a while I mistakenly assumed that this was just the way communities evolved, and it took me some time to arrest that trend and get things back on the right path.
It has to be said that at several points I was considering closing the site down after it hit the ten year mark. However, I think the core values of the community have risen to the fore and I’m proud to say it’s once again a fine example of what an online community should be - welcoming, friendly, respectful, passionate, and fun.
When WipEoutZone launched in January 2001 there were 123 names and around a thousand records in a system that covered just WipEout 3 and its 8 tracks. As of today, there are 2477 participants and 36949 records in the database, covering 14 games and 113 tracks.
That’s a whole lot of fast laps in the space of a decade, no matter how you look at it!
I’d like to thank everyone who has taken part in this site, be it on the record tables or on the forums, these past ten years. It’s been a fantastic journey.
Now I think I’ll stick WipEout 3 Special Edition in the PlayStation and raise a glass to toast the game that spurred me to create this place. If you can, do join in with whichever version of the game is your favourite.
And let’s be friends for the next ten years as well.