I updated the NG history to include the remainder of 2020 and instead of re-inventing the wheel, I’ve copy and pasted it in this post as a retrospective. I’m not sure if that makes me efficient or lazy! I did end up adding additional thoughts in the first reply, after hitting the character limit for this post.
This would be a good time to note your favorite NG happenings of 2020, in case the history needs additional updates. My writing isn’t very elegant due to all the information I’m dumping out; hopefully I’ll improve it over time.
2020 Retrospective
We kicked off the new decade with a campaign to transition Newgrounds away from third party ads, with an emphasis on the Supporter upgrade.
In January we celebrated Pixel Day and announced a Phaser Game Jam, using the free Phaser game development framework.
Ruffle Flash emulation was introduced on select Flash content, with more and more classic content crossing over with each incremental update. If you’re a fan of Flash preservation, consider becoming a Ruffle sponsor!
In March, COVID-19 triggered a global pandemic and many communities went into lockdown. During this first month, we updated the private messaging system to be mobile friendly, kicked off a HaxeFlixel Game Jam, with the theme "Alone, Together" and hosted a Shelter in Place Art Jam.
In April we introduced Stripe payments for our Supporter upgrade and updated this Wiki layout to look better on mobile. We also hosted a Talking Pet Animation Jam!
May included Pico Day and the Musk Jam; an animation jam inspired by Elon Musk.
In June we hosted a Persona 4 art contest.
July introduced back-to-back video watching in our playlists, collections and search, with a test of our new video player. We also launched our Neo Geo Jam.
In August, @MindChamber hosted Robot Day, @Sevi hosted the Music Inspired Art contest, @NickConter hosted a NEAR DEADline art contest, the Clock Crew celebrated Clock Day, @Xinxinix hosted a pARTy contest and @TheNewgroundsPodcast hosted a Summer Block Party! It's cool to see the community step up to host so many events all at once.
@Krinkels hosted Madness Day in September and we announced our Among Us Jam, inspired by the huge success of Among Us. Among Us creators @PuffballsUnited, @ForteBass and @Aemu all have history on NG and were interviewed by TheNewgroundsPodcast!
September also saw the release of the infamous Final Fantasy VII Collab. Bring a raincoat!
We capped September with the formal launch of our new video player, with a wider layout, 4K support and frame by frame scrubbing.
In October, Ruffle achieved a milestone where Flash games made with AS2 now have working medals and high scores. We celebrated our annual Halloween Spooktacular and made ongoing improvements to the new video player.
@JohnMontoya hosted a SNES Music Contest with celebrity judges and @Troisnyx hosted a Worst Song Competition after the event went on a five year hiatus.
@Spadezer wrapped up the final round of the annual Audio Deathmatch.
In November we kicked off another drawing tablet giveaway. This time we solicited support from the community and raised almost $4,000!. As of the end of the year, 51 tablets have been shipped out and 37 have been announced via daily news posts. Each daily post includes a featured Flash game that is now running without Flash thanks to Ruffle. The daily posts will continue in 2021!
@Cleod-9 hosted a Fraymakers Art Contest, to coincide with the Fraymakers Kickstarter. The Kickstarter was an insane success, raising $364,922 after an initial goal of $46k. The art contest also had lots of beautiful entries.
November 1st marked the debut of Friday Night Funkin’, one of the most popular games in the history of Newgrounds. This has been especially exciting because web games haven’t been too popular over the past decade, ever since the Flash scene imploded. FNF is doing a lot to make web games cool again and will no doubt inspire a new generation of artists and devs. It’s also a dream collab, with @ninjamuffin99, @KawaiSprite, @PhantomArcade and @evilsk8r having all met on NG.
I can’t gush about games without also noting the Milk Bar Lads, who made Bonkers and Dead Estate, two of my favorite games of 2020. They are also major contributors to making web games cool again.
In December we updated the movie and game hubs, to utilize larger thumbnails, watch movies back-to-back and browse by specific before / after date ranges. We intend to update the video player with things like in-player voting and reviews, which would also be good additions to our in-page audio player.
@GeoKureli, @BrandyBuizel and @NickConter teamed up with an army of artists, musicians and developers to create the greatest ever Tankmas ADVENTure. Every day we were treated to new art, new music, new games, movie premiers and costumes to wear. So much love went into this event and it elevated the entire site.
@Xinxinx hosted a Secret Santa Art Trade that resulted in 377 pieces of art! I don't think there was ever a better December in the entire history of NG.
Throughout the year, Newgrounds received numerous quality-of-life improvements, fixing bugs and improving functionality. All these little changes add up over time! It has been a joy to watch Ruffle get better every day, too, supporting more classic Flash with each update.
Ok, that’s it for the retrospective! Does it need more emotion and reflection on the meaning of life? Probably. I wrote more thoughts in the first reply below.
