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Crispy Gamer lands $8.25 million

New site has raised funds for its efforts to post news, reviews, and previews of video games--sans ad dollars from publishers.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger

Crispy Gamer, a video game site that has emerged from beta with 1 million unique visitors, said Monday it has raised $8.25 million from Constellation Ventures.

Crispy Gamer's executives have their sights set on attracting video game junkies. The site features the basics: news, reviews, and previews. But it boasts a unique revenue model. According to the company, it won't run any advertising from video game publishers.

Instead of going with such ads, Crispy Gamer will use its predominantly male demographic, ages 18 to 49, to attract advertisers outside the video game industry, such as tech and fast food companies. According to Crispy Gamer, the plan will allow it to establish a significant ethical barrier between game editorial and game makers.

Whether Crispy Gamer's strategy will work remains to be seen. The company is competing in a space dominated by two major players--GameSpot and IGN--that take game publishers' advertising dollars. To snub such money could be considered radical, given the interests of its readers. But Crispy Gamer wants to convince potential readers that it's taking great strides to be as independent as possible.

Disclosure: Both GameSpot and CNET are published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.