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[ As requested by YungJazz here is what I think of Newgrounds ]

[ CLICK HERE for the Halloween Collab 2010 Information and "forum" ]

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I've been visiting Newgrounds since I was in 7th grade. I've seen what Newgrounds was, how it evolved, how it came to be what it is today, and hopefully have an idea of where Newgrounds is heading. Newgrounds used to be a place I just visited because they had great games, funny animations, and sadly...a free collection of porn that was as entertaining as it was sexual. That was then. As I grew, Newgrounds seemed to grow. I began to notice the talent the website offered, or perhaps the talent just got better and everybody finally took notice. I don't know, but Newgrounds did evolve.

Soon I began to see the hard work and talent that animators and artists put into their works. The games got more complex and more entertaining and I immersed myself more and more into the community. I began to see that past the porn and the immature games and such there existed a large and strong community of talented individuals who had a place to show their work, whether it be their art, animation, games, or music. I began to see Newgrounds in a new light, and with the re-design and more tools offered to the creators of such content, my views of Newgrounds changed drastically. Newgrounds was no longer a site that I went on for twenty minutes after school, but a site I would sometimes browse for hours on end just to discover all the content people were throwing out, or to get into arguments with people on the forums about politics or why the new Star Wars movies are horrible compared to the old ones.

Newgrounds can be viewed many ways depending on your perspective, but I believe you can group these perspectives into two categories : developer and user. By developer, I mean somebody who creates content for the site, from art to music. As a user, I mean somebody who simply views the site and interacts on the forums. For the user, Newgrounds is simply another portal on the internet where they can go and get high quality entertainment for free. They can play games, watch movies, or if they're so inclined, browse the forums and get in internet arguments with strangers half a world away. For this user, Newgrounds hasn't changed much since the initial launch of the automated portal. Newgrounds has always offered high quality entertainment for free, just the amount of content has changed, and arguably the quality. It is now easier for strict users of the site to find what they're looking for, and Newgrounds has made it easier for them to find something else when they're not expecting it.

For the developer, I think Newgrounds has changed a lot since the launch of the automated portal. Newgrounds has always been a place for people to freely host their content and get feedback, but over the years, these people have grown in number and have created a large community. As the community grew, Newgrounds evolved to meet their needs and continues to do so. The community has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people expand their work, expand their talent, and further enjoy their respective hobbies. Some have been lucky enough to get noticed and now work in their respective industries. Newgrounds has also made it so that developers, especially game developers, make money of the advertisements in their movies and games. While it may not be enough to support a family, or even yourself unless you make it big (Toss The Turtle is a great example), the fact that Newgrounds has this option separates itself from the other portal websites on the net. Newgrounds also sponsors many games and movies, and although I don't have first-hand experience in this area of Newgrounds, I can only imagine that it benefits the developer even more.

Another way Newgrounds has grown from its large community is that Newgrounds is widely known on the internet. As the community grew and Newgrounds began to create better and better content and showcase it, the community went out and spread the word of Newgrounds on the web. Newgrounds has spread by its community, and Newgrounds has taken care of its community (see MONEY above).

Still, what sets Newgrounds apart from many other websites is that it has a face. In fact, Newgrounds has many faces. Not only are major developers and users recognized among the community, but the staff of Newgrounds is very present in the community. A quick glance in the forums and you'll notice that the staff are very friendly to the user-base, especially when the users are asking for help. They are around and they treat everyone with respect(if they deserve it). Sometimes you forget that these people are the reason Newgrounds even exists, that you're talking to the founder or the major programmer or whatever of Newgrounds. They have created an atmosphere of community and friendship that is hard to duplicate anywhere else. What's even more impressive is that the Newgrounds community regularly meets in real life locations, where users, generally the older crowd, meet up and discuss whatever they want. It shows that Newgrounds is a strong community when you can get people to meet up in one location.

Newgrounds changed its slogan from "The Problems of the Future, Today" to "Everything by Everyone" when they re-designed the header, and it as the right thing to do. From where Newgrounds was at the time to where it was going and is still heading, Newgrounds has and continues to live up to its slogan and name. Newgrounds is breaking new ground with their userbase, their content, and the way the community takes care of each other every day. Newgrounds is truly a website where everything you see is created by everyone on the site. The artists create the art, the animators make the movies, the programmers make the games and apps, the musicians create some of the most creative and best music the internet has FREE access to, and the fan-base keeps the energy alive. Newgrounds is hard to describe, but easy to get involved in and feel why the community is so strong.