• by Shankar Gupta , February 23, 2006

Video game magazine publisher Future US will next Wednesday launch a new site, GamesRadar.com, devoted to news, previews, and reviews of PC and console games.

GamesRadar.com will incorporate gaming site CheatPlanet.com, which Future US purchased last June. CheatPlanet.com--focused on game cheat codes and hints--drew 1.7 million uniques last month, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. If those visitors also go to GamesRadar.com, it could quickly become a major gaming site.

The two most popular gaming news sites at present are News Corp.'s IGN.com, with 8 million unique visitors last month, and CNET's Gamespot.com, which drew 5.5 million unique users.

Several advertisers have already signed on for the GamesRadar.com launch, including Sony, Ubisoft, Atari, Midway, Majesco, and Konami, said David Cooper, the site's publisher. He added that the site also is in talks with non-endemic advertisers in the automotive and movie industries.

Future US--which owns Playstation Magazine, the Official Xbox Magazine, and PC Gamer--also intends to redesign CheatPlanet before integrating it into the new site.

Dave Martin, associate media director of Ignited Minds, which handled a media buy for Konami, said he anticipates that the redesign will appeal to the teen audience his client is targeting. "They've done a really great job of creating a unique package, a unique look and feel," he said, adding that the site was more "edgy" and "graphical" than either Gamespot.com or IGN.com.

But, he cautioned, it's not certain that teens will react as well as he hopes to the new version of the CheatPlanet.com site. "Even when a site goes through a minor redesign, we've seen dips in traffic, and this is more than just a minor redesign--this is a complete rebranding," he said.