Welcome to the relaunch of Arcade Oasis.

I just wanted to welcome everyone to the official relaunch of Arcade Oasis. This site has been dormant for a while now and I've only recently found the time to invest in reviving it. That being said, I think it's been time well spent. The software has been completely overhauled along with the sites primary focus. So let's dive right in and discuss what we've been up to.

Originally, I envisioned Arcade Oasis as a forum site for those interested in building and restoring arcade machines. While I've kept those aspects of the site alive in the forums, I've extended the scope of what we cover to include all videogame related topics: classic, modern, computer, console, arcade and indie games. Add to that, we now have site staff that will be covering news in those various areas, as well as creating feature articles and game reviews specifically for this site.

As you will notice, the site now contains greater functionality than before.

Some of those features are:

Articles:

The front page of our site now contains news and articles. Content in this section is generally posted by admins and moderators, but members wanting to contribute can click the Add Article button if they wish to write up a piece for the site. I will probably come up with some submission guidelines, but basically any well written and insightful videogame related content will be seriously considered. We also have the ability to promote well written posts out of the forums and onto our front page as well. This could lead to some members becoming celebrated site contributors.

Forums:

The forum software we are running now is more powerful than our old software. You will notice improvements in the functionality as well as increased social networking features. Each member on this site has a user definable profile, can post site-wide status updates, edit contact info, add friends, send multi-member personal messages, etc. This site also allows you to communicate content updates to your favorite social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

Blogs:

Members now have the ability to start their own blog hosted right on Arcade Oasis or to link their profile to their offsite blog (if they already have one). Again, there are many ways to tie your social networks into this content. So why not create a free blog and experiment. This blog is accessible to non-members of the site so you can link to it as your main blog. However, you also have access controls over the content you post.. you can even assign editors to your posts.

Downloads:

We have a full featured files area that contains numerous categories of File Directories which you can upload to and download from. You also have the ability to comment on, rate and follow files. There is currently a 100MB upload limit in place for uploading files. The files will also need to be approved before they show up online.. so don't be concerned if your recently uploaded file is not showing up yet.

Gallery:

The Gallery section contains multiple categories of images which you can view, download, comment on, rate and follow. Have a great image that's not currently on the site? Upload it. Again, all images must be approved before they show up on the site.

Chat:

The chat system on our site supports up to 50 members at once. When someone enters chat you will see a red number appear over the chat icon.. this number represents how many members are active in chat. Also, you can detach the chat screen and keep it in a seperate window if you wish. The chat function is only available to registered members.

Calendar:

The calendar shows an active yearlong community calendar broken down by month. Members have the ability to post events, set up R.S.V.P's, etc.