Kongregate is a gaming community that has been around for a few years now. Small companies and independent start-up game developers alike use the site to help promote their games. Even if you’re not a developer, and just want to play these games, you play a large part in the community that makes Kongregate stand out from the crowd. You can comment on and rate each game; games can receive updates to fix bugs, and are occasionally given new “badges” so that gamers can increase their level on Kongregate.

Developers are offered ad revenue for their games being uploaded to Kongregate, with a bonus based on exclusivity to Kongregate and their personal site. The best games get pushed to the front page where many players will see it, and some games will get features where a challenge for that game is placed on the front page that lets players earn something on the site. This can range from a card, for the Kongregate developed multiplayer card game “Kongai” to an entry into a giveaway of a gaming console or game.

The community itself is a great place for developers, and not so much for the actual gamers. The comments on the games really allow the dev to know what people think of the game, what works, and what doesn’t work. The chat room function on Kongregate that also tracks the gamer’s achievement progress, not so much. Occasionally you find a great room where people are having mature conversation, sometimes even about the games. However, having been a member for a couple of years now, I can tell you that the majority of the time you will be faced with religious debates, “what is better” fights, and 12-15 year olds trying to hook up with each other. So really, it’s the same as everywhere else you go.

That said, you could always just not pay attention to the chat, invite some friends to the site, and share favorite games with each other, while having fun. There are a lot of high quality games on Kongregate, and it would be a shame to not try it at least once. Gamestop recently acquired Kongregate, but according to co-founder Jim Greer the site will not change much. Hopefully Gamestop will be able to provide Kongregate with the resources it needs to grow even larger, and not change it from an indie game hub to a pay-as-you-play nightmare.

Rockstar recently released Red Dead Redemption, as if you didn’t already know. While this game is hard to call “unfinished” it certainly has its quirks: great story, though it gets slow at times, with a powerful ending that fits the game’s theme, amazing graphics for such a large and open world, and gameplay that’s player approved. So what’s the issue? Glitches galore.

There are plenty of odd things that can happen in single player, ranging from the occasional game freeze, to the rare breed of donkey woman. But more annoying, are the online glitches and sometimes faulty connections. I can’t count the times that I’ve been kicked from one free roam session to another because of connection issues. This of course might be my fault, but I never have issues with other games and always stay connected during private free roam even with multiple players, so for now, I’m chalking it up to the game. There’s also the issue of some challenges not registering, gang hideout missions never ending, and enemies spawning inside of rock walls that have to be killed with expertly placed sticks of dynamite.

But hope stands tall on the horizon. Rockstar has announced that they are sorry for all the glitches and are working hard on a patch for RDR as soon as possible. In the mean time, they are releasing two formerly preorder exclusive costumes for free as DLC.

Free DLC doesn’t make a good developer. Hard work that gets put into patches to keep the game fun, and running smoothly, that’s what makes a good developer. Sure, games like MW2 get their biannual ten dollar map packs and it keeps players satisfied and playing for a while, but it takes a real bold dev team to say “we messed up, but we’re fixing it.”

So thank you Rockstar, may you take your place amongst the most trusted game developing companies out there. I plan on playing a lot more Red Dead, even after I get that 100% in single player (stuck at 99.3% >_<) and I’m glad to know that when I find an issue, I can report it, and expect a fix to come out to keep the gaming fun and bug free.