I want to build a web site where gamers can converse via video. Where do I begin?

September 28, 2009 7:16 AM

I want to build a web site where gamers can converse via video. I'm thinking of something a bit like a Seesmic targeted toward gamers. Where do I start?

I'm not a developer, but I can poke around in code a bit on my own. I wouldn't be opposed to using a roll-your-own-social-network solution and doing it all myself as a hobby. I also wouldn't be opposed to hiring a developer off elance and positioning this as a business. I don't really know where to start in either direction. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have experience with Wordpress and Drupal.

posted by raddevon to computers & internet (8 comments total)

I just realized I didn't elaborate nearly enough on what I want to do here. I want to have a fully integrated solution where users can record their video and/or audio directly through the site for sharing. I want each submitted video to have its own comments. The comments may also be video or audio and, once again, the recording would all be done through the site. I don't want to send people to YouTube or Vimeo to upload their videos before coming back to submit them.
posted by raddevon at 7:22 AM on September 28

Yikes. I just checked out Seesmic for the first time in a while, and it is not at all what it was. I take back what I said about wanting to be like Seesmic. That said, a more detailed description of what I need is probably in order. I want users to be able to post videos to start a conversation. Others can post video replies to those.
posted by raddevon at 7:32 AM on September 28

Sorry for the spastic posting. I found the old Seesmic.
posted by raddevon at 7:37 AM on September 28

What’s wrong with having youtube host the videos and having users embed the videos themselves? It seems to me that it would cut down your programming requirements by an infinite amount, and most gamers will already have youtube accounts anyway.
posted by Think_Long at 7:41 AM on September 28

@Think_Long: I don't mind having them hosted on YouTube. Is there anyway I could still allow users to record their videos from my site? I want the experience to be fully integrated. I don't want people to have to go to another site then come back. I feel that muddies the experience.
posted by raddevon at 7:45 AM on September 28

You're basically wanting to do what Xfire has done, but with video comments?
posted by cmgonzalez at 9:54 AM on September 28

@cmgonzalez: One person would post a video to start a conversation. Other users would post their comments on that video (also in the form of video). Xfire actually records your games which is not really necessary for what I'm trying to do. They also require an external app to do the recording. I know there are ways to record with Flash once the user gives the Flash movie access to their webcam. Youtube has inline recording that works very well. I want this site to have that inline recording so that people aren't having to post somewhere then copy and paste the URL back on my site.
posted by raddevon at 6:45 AM on September 29

On the server side, Red5 could help you, I think. You could check out their showcase of apps - on the client side, this recorder seems directly relevant.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:41 PM on October 21