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From: Tim Evanson <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Porn Sites: the winner is.... Date: Sun, 18 Jan 98 14:47:32 Organization: Erol's Internet Services
Well, OBVIOUSLY the best, #1 awesome porn site on the Web is the RAME Home Page at http://www.rame.net. :) I'm not sure that I can really compare performer sites with studio sites. (I won't consider here the various "resources" pages like the RAME Home Page, the Skinflicks Online, the RAD Video gay News pages, or the Adult Film Archive.) And I do have to say: Web sites are always "works in progress." You should revisit a site often, to see if it's updated or changed. You'll be surprised. Some of the most awful sites out there end really are "first efforts" and yet in a couple months they are so professional you'd swear they spent a cool million on graphics, servers, and development. Of the gay porn studios, I'd have to say the best is Titan Media's home page (http://www.titanmedia.com/). Clean site map, easy to use with different ways to search (title, performer videography, etc.), and responsive to email. (Anyone ever try to get Falcon to respond to email? Won't happen.) Honorable mentions have to go to: All Worlds http://www.allworldsvideo.com/ -- Although under reconstruction currently, the site was a good one. Boxcovers were shown, the pages loaded quickly, it was updated fairly frequently (with some lapses), and it had some okay search features. It looked amateurish, though (much like my home page does, which is why it isn't up yet). Clair Productions http://www.clairproduction.fr/clairhome.html -- The ONLY truly good non-American gay porn studio site. Gero-Schweiz could be so much better, but... And those damn Rotru International and Potro Video sites are just porn picture sites with some videos attached. The Clair Prods. site is quick-loading, easy to navigate, is updated often, and provides descriptions of the videos (albeit in French, you mono-linguistic Americans!). Centaur Films http://www.centaurfilms.com/ -- Recently, this site underwent redevelopment, and it's snazzy now. Although it loads slowly, it has a terrific site map, is easy to navigate, and is updated fairly often. And it doesn't slap you with "other offers" of phone sex or toys or whatnot. Hey -- I come for VIDEOS, not dildos. Forum Studios http://www.forumstudios.com/ -- Another site that was good when it went up, and hasn't changed much. Although they split their videos into "Erotic" and "Leather" for some totally unknown reason, the site is good. The map and navigation features are very clear, and the presentation of product is clean. Only two things bug me: 1) It's not updated all that often, and 2) there aren't any descriptions of films. Hot House Entertainment http://www.hothouse.com/ -- Snappy! They had a good site to begin with, and they're remodeled since to make some of the graphics snazzier. I like a lot their slicker graphics, and they now offer t-shirts and tank tops with their various logos on them (neat!). Navigation and site map couldn't be better presented, and the site loads fairly quickly once it's up. La Mancha http://www.lamancha-video.com/ -- What can you say? The best "small studio" site around. Although the presentation is a bit under par, the site provides you with a LOT of background information on the studio's projects, performers, philosophy, and hands out a free production diary, too. YAY! Studio 2000 http://www.studio2004men.com/ -- I have to give this site the "Most Improved" award. When it went up, it was clunky and slow and hard to gain access to (it had lots of other pages up front). But its recent revision removed many of the animated images, made the site MUCH more quick-loading, and provided a lot of updates. I like it! I can only hope they KEEP updating it; that hasn't been a big priority for them in the past, much to my disappointment. SITES THAT SUCK BIG Video -- no catalog, not updated that often, navigation is difficult, loading is slow, no graphics, and they advertise "star chat" when there is no updating of this area. Bijou Video -- NO graphics, hard to find their video titles, IMPOSSIBLE graphic-heavy catalog (even my Pentium 130mhz with 32 RAM fails to load it), over-emphasized items like their CD-ROM catalog and other services, and almost no way to access the reviews. Falcon Studios -- CRAPPY, CRAPPY, CRAPPY. The useful stuff is pay-to-play, they don't provide any catalog or on-line ordering pages for free, they don't answer email, they get information wrong (Vince Rockland had left gay porn, and Falcon touted him as a "gay porn star" during the entire time), they don't update the site. God, it's horrible. It's as if all they think the Net is good for is downloading images (which they do provide, big deal, like I can't get more and BETTER images off the binary groups). HIS Video -- Not even a studio site, it is just a porn site that is hard to navigate. Vivid Video -- Ditto. NO online catalog, no way to order videos, just a lot of AVI's you can buy and some nudie pics. BIG DEAL. WISH THEY WERE ONLINE BUT THEY AREN'T Bel Ami -- Duroy will regret not having a Web site for the rest of his life. It not only shows extreme unprofessionalism in the industry, but we are already witnessing the decline in the popularity of his movies. (Can anyone say "directorettes make his films while he sits downstairs reading the paper?" I can.) And no, the Club 2001 site does not count. And he kills every fan-based site. What's the deal??? Bad move, buddy. Catalina -- NO SITE. I can't believe that they are the ONLY major studio that can't come up with a site. Here's a good bet: Lazy Tim Evanson is gonna have a Web page before Catalina. 5-1 odds. Kristen Bjorn -- NO SITE!!! What the FUCK is that??? Okay, so he doesn't want to sell movies online and add a retail distributor side to his business. Fine. But why can't he at least ADVERTISE on his site? Why can't he provide information on his site? Why can't he sell an online retail page to a company who is willing to do it for him??????????????????? Man, how dumb. What a fortune he'd make... I have to comment on the het porn studios that have entered gay porn in a big way recently. Men of Odyssey has a decent site, but there's nothing special about it. Twisted Video and V.G. Productions are mediocre; they're more like distributors and online retailers than studios. And even then, GAYVid and RAD Video and WEGA Video and WallyWorld and other online retailers have them beat hands down. The lone hope may be the Pleasure Productions site, which is currently under construction. At least their logo looks good, and they put the gay stuff up front. I can't say that for Private, Elegant Angel, or other het studios which want into gay porn but never promote their product either on their primary site or by establishing a gay site. Performers Austin Ashley http://www.austinxxx.com/ -- Great site! Lots of info, updated a lot, revamped recently, owns his own URL, and responds to email. Is this the best site out there? It may be. Will Clark http://www.willclarkusa.com/ -- Great site! You can apply everything I say about Austin's site to Will Clark's site. The only thing I like better about Will Clark's site is that it provides a neat diary (which is a tad incomplete; he doesn't mention some of his many public appearances -- but okay, so he wants a private life, I get it). He also links to a lot of sites where he has a personal interest, like the one to the NYC leather bar "The Lure" where he often hangs out and where he participated in several leather contests. His links aren't to studios or AIDS stuff or to gay link pages. He links to stuff Will Clark likes. He doesn't pretend to be a gay service. Cool. Oh, and neat design. I wish Will would load up higher resolution pics, though. Bo Garrett http://members.aol.com/BoGarrett/index.htm --Nice site, although it loads kinda slow. Good pics of the stud, but I wish it was more informative. Ryan Wagner http://members.aol.com/RJWagner/index.htm -- This guy LOVES THE NET! WOW! His site was a one-page wonder when it went up at first. He said it was under construction, and to be honest I was VERY sceptical. NO MORE! He has added some slick graphics, lots of new pages, changed the look, and added a TON of information!!!! GO RYAN! I very much like his site. His is "bubbling under" just below Austin's and Will Clark's. Big Disappointments Johnny Rey, Donnie Russo -- too hard to get into, pay-to-play, no info. Face it, guys: We're not THAT interested in you. Chance Caldwell -- loads VERY slowly, just an escort service Ren Adams, Paul Becker, Chad Connors, Tommy Gunn -- just an escort service Oddly, Billy Dare's explicit site on GeoCities is gone, wonder why... You know, I actually sent him an email telling him to black out the cocks and assholes. I got no response. Gee, his site's gone... Do you think GeoCities took it down? HELL YES! They're DEAD serious about their no-nudity policy. And to think that it was actually a good site. You'd Think He'd Be On The Net List Aaron Brandt -- the guy works for an Internet company. You'd think he'd get online... Jim Buck -- He's part owner of VidKid Timo's studio. He's so fucking intelligent it hurts to think about it. AND HE HAS NO HOME PAGE! Kyle Brandon -- He had one once, and now it's gone. Dang! Ryan Idol -- Like Bel Ami and Bjorn, he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars not having a site. Jeff Stryker -- While his STUDIO has a site, there's precious little there about Jeffy. Ditto my comments about Ryan Idol here. Tom Katt -- He's online, he's well-known, and with the explosion in muscle studios you'd think he'd have a site. It'd be a big one. Chad Knight -- this veteran could do so well with a site. Cliff Parker -- Mention his name, and I respond with "Most under-rated porn star currently working." I don't know why he doesn't get lead roles. Most of the time, he's just a hard cock to fuck someone in a throwaway scene. He seems to want those leading roles, but can't figure out how to get them. My solution: Web site. Lukas Ridgston -- George Duroy, take note: DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Johan Paulik -- Ditto. Jackson Phillips -- I know Jackson doesn't want to spread his image around, and he has goals for gay porn that limit his exposure and his time in the business. Okay... But still, I wish he had a site. Karl Thomas -- This guy CONSTANTLY tours. You'd think he'd have a site to let us in on where he's appearing... Jack Simmons -- Now a director, you'd think he'd put up a site. He's online, so why not a site? Hal, Vince, Shane Rockland -- Hal had a site once. He took it down when he "got God." Now he's back, as is Vince. GET A SITE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shit. Okay, so maybe Hal doesn't wanna be onlin. But why not Vince, or Shane???? Ken Ryker -- Another victim of the "Ryan Idol Missed Opportunities" syndrome. Dallas Taylor -- Like Chad Knight, he's a long-time veteran who has a massive but quiet following. Cole Tucker -- Cole, pattern yourself after Bo Garrett. Both these guys have large followings that would visit a site. Tom Chase -- The biggest, most popular "super-cock" performer around, and HE HAS NO SITE. Mark Wolff -- He does private videos, he escorts, he does public gay porn videos, he does bodybuilding, he models. GET A SITE AND TELL US ABOUT IT!!! Jordan Young -- He's smart, hyperactive, writing films, practically directing films, performing, dancing. He needs a site. So far, all he has is a huge fan page via Asian Queen's site. Kurt Young -- Another one who is missing opportunities without a site. | |
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