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{{Infobox Company |
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| company_name = Newgrounds |
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| company_logo = [[Image:nglogonew2006.gif|center|200px]] |
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| company_type = [[Private company|Private]] |
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| company_slogan = Everything, By Everyone (Formerly "The problems of the future, today!") |
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| foundation = September 1995 |
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| location = [[Glenside, Pennsylvania]], [[United States|USA]] |
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| industry = Internet services |
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| key_people ='''Tom Fulp''': Founder & [[Chief executive officer|CEO]]<br />'''Ross Snyder''' & '''James Holloway''': Back-End Programmers<br />'''Tim Miller''': [[Sysadmin]]<br />'''Will Stamper''' & '''Jeff Bandelin''': Web and [[Web Designer|Media Designers]]<br />'''Wade Fulp''': Administrator & Public Relations<br /> |
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| homepage = [http://www.newgrounds.com www.newgrounds.com] |
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}} |
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'''Newgrounds''' is a [[website]] headquartered in [[Glenside, Pennsylvania]], [[United States|USA]] and created in 1995 that primarily hosts [[Adobe Flash]] [[Flash cartoon|animated films]] and [[online game|game]]s. The site was created and is owned by '''Tom Fulp''' (born [[April 30]], [[1978]]), who still oversees every aspect and regularly produces in-house content. Newgrounds is distinguished from other Flash websites by its sophisticated and impartial [[automated]] [[Animation portal|submission/rating system]]. |
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Newgrounds allows its users to submit their own flash movies, games, and music, and view submissions from other users. Over the years Newgrounds has grown significantly, by relying on the cooperation of its visitors. Newgrounds ranks in the top 600 sites on the Internet according to the website [[Alexa Internet|Alexa]].<ref>http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=newgrounds.com&url=newgrounds.com</ref> Visitors are encouraged to review and vote on submissions. The [[voting system|rating system]] produces lists that direct visitors to the most popular flash movies and allows the site designers or users to easily locate any submission based on a number of factors, including score or [[Newgrounds#Portal awards|Portal Awards]]. The site has over 1.2 million registered members<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/rankings/</ref> and over 390,000 flash submissions submitted as of June 2007. Of those, around 100,000 still exist as a result of the auto delete system known as "blamming."<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/stats.html</ref> |
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On 16th July 2007 Newgrounds underwent a total redesign which changed the site, while keeping it aesthetically similar. |
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== Voting system == |
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The automated portal system has a simple voting system in which a user can vote from a scale of 0 to 5 on a submission. The system deletes low-scoring submissions and sends their reviews and stats to the "[[obituaries]]", which is a list of ''blammed'' entries since [[March 14]], [[2001]]<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/rip.php?id=17915</ref>. An entry is blammed when its score is below a certain threshold based on how many votes have been cast (with the required average score increasing with more votes). After 200 votes have been cast, and if the submission retains a score above the "blam" threshold (has a score of 1.6 or greater after 200 votes), it is "saved" or "protected" and thus permanently kept on the website (unless it is removed by an administrator, or if the author chooses to delete it). Authors have recently been given the power to manually delete their submissions (rather than wait for an administrator to do so) if their flash meets the following criteria: |
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* Has less than 400 votes. |
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* Hasn't won any portal awards {{seealso|Newgrounds#Portal awards}} |
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* Hasn't been featured in any collections or the front page. |
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=== Experience and levels=== |
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Any unregistered user can vote on new submissions, but the power of one's vote can be increased by registering at Newgrounds. Once registering, one's vote is automatically increased. After that, as a member there are two ways of increasing the worth of one's vote (known as "Voting Power"). The primary method is to gain "[[experience points]]" (also known as "Grounds Gold"). Members may gain 10 experience points per day by voting on 5 different flash movies or games in the Flash Portal. Another way of increasing one's Voting Power is done through the acquiring of Blam and Protection points (see below). There are 60 levels, all of which are static in their experience requirements. This is different from the previous system with 30 levels, where a sliding scale based of the highest level user affected the experience requirements. |
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To illustrate a user's level, an icon of a weapon is shown on each member's userpage and below their names on each of their [[Bulletin board system|forum]] posts <ref>(see [http://www.newgrounds.com/lit/levels here] for both the icons and experience requirements for each level)</ref>. Levels influence one's voting power in the Portal and indicate amount of experience. Thus higher levels do often command respect. Certain amounts of experience also unlock secret flash and options, although this has often been overlooked. |
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=== Blam/protect system === |
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The other method of gaining voting power is by accumulating "blams" and "saves" (also called "protects"). This system is often referred to as the "blam/protect" system. Existing primarily to encourage voters to vote on movies under judgment (thereby streamlining the process), users are given points based on whether or not their votes on flash under judgment reflect the flash's ultimate fate. Thus, if a user votes a two or higher on a flash that survives, the user is awarded a "save" or "protect point" and if a user votes a zero or 1 on a flash that is removed, the user is awarded a "blam point." Votes which are contrary to the flash's outcome award no points. In order to prevent [[groupthink]] and attempts to game the system, a submission's score and reviews are not shown while it is under judgement. |
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While blams and saves are tallied independently, only their total is relevant to one's "rank," a title given to a user on their profile which also determines by what percentage their voting power is increased. For example, a "civilian" (a user with less than 100 combined blams and saves) receives no bonus to his or her voting power, however, an "Elite Guard Supreme Commander" (a user with more than 30,000 combined blams and saves) receives a 60% bonus. Each rank is also accompanied by another icon, a badge/insignia, however, unlike the level icon, this icon is only visible on a user's profile. <ref>See [http://www.newgrounds.com/lit/portal_faq.html#blams_protects here] for a more detailed explanation and a link to a list of ranks, icons, and statistics.</ref> |
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==Portal awards== |
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When a movie or game is submitted to the Flash Portal, it has the chance to win any of the following awards: |
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* '''Daily Feature:''' The award given to the submission that scored the highest for the day. |
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* '''Daily 2nd/3rd/4th/5th Place:''' Lesser awards given to high-scoring submissions each day. |
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* '''Weekly Users' Choice:''' The award given to the submission that scored the highest for the week. |
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* '''Weekly 2nd/3rd/4th/5th Place:''' Lesser awards given to high-scoring submissions each week. |
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* '''Review Crew Pick:''' This award is given to the submission with the best "overall" score in reviews. |
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* '''Underdog of the Week:''' (Often referred to as ''UOTW'') This award is given to the submission with the biggest discrepancy between the review score and the popular vote. |
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* '''Turd of the Week:''' (Frequently referred to as ''TOTW'') This award is given to the submission with the lowest score that manages to pass judgment that week. If it has been edited once it has passed, it can no longer win this award. |
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** ''TOTW'' is seen as a bad award because of the poor quality and lack of user approval, ''UOTW'', however, shows an artist who isn't good with making flash but has the right ideas to attract an audience. |
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'''Other awards:''' |
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* '''King of The Portal:''' (Frequently referred to as ''KOTP'') This award is given to the user with the most portal awards during the previous month. Only the Daily Feature, 2nd, and 3rd Place awards count towards becoming ''KOTP'', with each award being worth 3, 2, and 1 point respectively. Whichever user that accumulates the most points during the month will be awarded ''KOTP''. The terminology ''King of the Portal'' is also often referred to as being held by StrawberryClock<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/clockcrewhistory.html</ref>. However, this should not be confused with the monthly award. |
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* '''Best of the Month:''' Since February 2005, the 2000 active highest-ranked (based on experience points) Newgrounds users, as well as [[moderators]] and nominees, have been able to vote for the best five submissions of the month (later updated to five movies and five games). Any submission that wins at least one of the first five awards above or is selected to appear on the front page within the month is eligible. Each of the ten winners is sent a check of $250 and usually another prize that changes from month to month and is often supplied by sponsors. In the case that a prize is won by a Newgrounds-exclusive submission made by NG staff, the prize is passed onto the next winner. |
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==Front page icons== |
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On [[April 19]], [[2001]] the first front page icon for a user-submitted Flash game was posted under the heading '''"Tom and Wade Recommend:"'''. The game that was posted was [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/15795 Taipan 3000] by Psycho_Goldfish, a remake of a popular [[Apple II]] game called [[Taipan!]]. |
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Over the years, as Newgrounds received more and more quality submissions the "Tom and Wade recommend" section grew from 1 to 2, 2 to 4, and 4 to 6 icons. There are currently 20 icons on the front page. The rate at which these icons was updated also increased, from weeks to days, eventually leading to the removal of the "Tom and Wade recommend" heading and becoming a staple of the front page, making it easy for new users to the site to find quality content. |
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Originally the icons were created by Newgrounds admins, as were the short text descriptions (The same process used for the collections pages), but this proved to be extremely time consuming and soon users were given the ability to attach their own icons with their submissions, and write their own brief descriptions. |
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In January 2005 the front page archive was launched, keeping a month-by-month list of Flash content that was deemed to be worthy of display on the Newgrounds front page. |
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On [[July 26]], [[2005]], the '''Icon Helpers''' system was launched for Newgrounds volunteers to make and submit icons for older Flash content that was lacking an icon, making the integration to automated collections pages much more effective. |
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==Newgrounds BBS (Bulletin Board System)== |
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The NG BBS consists of multiple forums. Some are all-access, where all users are welcome to read, post and reply. Some are reply-only, where one cannot start a new topic, but only read and reply to existing ones. Other forums are private, for use by moderators. |
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===Categories=== |
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*General |
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*Where is/How To? |
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*Flash |
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*Politics |
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*Programming |
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*Clubs & Crews |
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*Audio |
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*Art |
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*NG News |
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*Network News |
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*P-bot's Postings |
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==In the media== |
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* '''Numa Numa Dance:''' [[Gary Brolsma]] first published his "[[Numa Numa Dance]]" on Newgrounds on [[December 6]], [[2004]], where it has since been seen more than 14 million times<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/206373</ref>, and copied onto hundreds of other websites and blogs, making it the second-most watched viral video of all time<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6187554.stm</ref> (only losing out to [[Star Wars kid]]). He has also received mainstream media coverage from [[Good Morning America|ABC's Good Morning America]], [[The Tonight Show|NBC's The Tonight Show]] and [[Best Week Ever|VH1's Best Week Ever]], and, according to [[The New York Times]], was an "unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/nyregion/26video.html</ref> In [[September 8]], [[2006]], he reappeared with a professionally produced video titled "[[New Numa]]"<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/337573</ref>. The release of the video has prompted the [http://www.newnuma.com/contest/ New Numa Contest] which offers up to $45,000 in prizes. |
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* '''Teletubbies:''' In 1998, Tom Fulp of Newgrounds created a spoof of "[[Teletubbies]]" called "Telebubby Fun Land<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/tubby/</ref>" which resulted in a law suit from the [[BBC]]<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/lit/bbc.html</ref>. This resulted in a boost of notoriety and media [[exposure]]. |
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* '''Attack of the Show!''' From [[July 5]]-[[July 8|8th]] Tom Fulp was a co-host on [[Attack of the Show!]] in which he would showcase and describe popular Newgrounds flash submissions.<ref>http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic.php?id=292044</ref> |
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* '''Kaboom!:''' In mid-2002, Newgrounds received notoriety for hosting Kaboom!, a game in which the player controls an apparent Palestinian suicide bomber who kills innocent men, women and children in Israel.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52268,00.html</ref> Despite receiving criticism and calls for its removal from Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League, and other sources, Newgrounds continued to host the game. |
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* '''Oklahoma City Escapades:''' Newgrounds received more negative attention in 2004 by refusing to remove Oklahoma City Escapades from its site, which is a game that spoofs the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.<ref>http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/219-02102005-447793.html</ref> |
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* '''Jeff Weise:''' [[Jeff Weise]], infamous for the [[Red Lake High School massacre]], posted a [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/195194 violent animation] on Newgrounds.com.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/national/24shoot.html?ex=1269320400&en=abb21f547fa16dd7&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland</ref> Its existence was discovered and widely reported after the massacre. |
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* '''The Virginia Tech Massacre media blowout:''' [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/378086 V-Tech rampage] and [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/374481 Virginia Tech Shootout!] achieved questionable fame after making fun of the [[Virginia Tech massacre]]. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Alien Hominid]] |
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*[[Castle Crashers]] |
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*[[The Behemoth]] |
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*[[Jeff Weise]] |
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*[[Salad Fingers]] |
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*[[Numa Numa Dance]] |
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*[[All your base are belong to us]] |
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*[[Adam Fulton]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/flashportalhistory2005.html A collection of historic newgrounds flashes] |
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*[http://www.newgrounds.com Newgrounds.com] |
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*[http://newgrounds-thesis.wikispaces.com/ Dissertation Focusing on Newgrounds] |
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*[http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/ Newgrounds BBS] |
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[[Category:Comedy websites]] |
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[[Category:Entertainment websites]] |
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[[Category:Flash cartoons]] |
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[[Category:Flash games]] |
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[[Category:Internet forums]] |
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[[Category:Newgrounds|*]] |
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[[de:Newgrounds]] |
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[[fr:Newgrounds]] |
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[[nl:Newgrounds]] |
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[[ja:Newgrounds]] |
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[[pt:Newgrounds]] |
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[[fi:Newgrounds]] |
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[[sv:Newgrounds]] |
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