Wondering what the business plan looks like for a start-up getting funding in this climate? Look no farther than Crispy Gamer, a new gaming website that officially launched today with $8.25 million in seed capital in their pocket. The start-up, which has been in beta for six months long, aims to be an independent source of video games news, according to VentureBeat. They'll compete with existing sites like GameSpot, Joystiq, and GameCyte, which are owned by major corporations, and, in many cases, affiliated with game makers. In a seeming paradox, these website haven't had any substantial growth recently despite corporate budgets.

So what made Crispy so appealing to investors given the big name competition and their lack of growth? Crispy CEO Chris Heldman told GigaOm (via the New York Times) that he thinks those sites don't speak to gamers. And he cites an interesting trend he noticed as evidence. Corporate gaming sites may not be growing—but the gaming industry itself has exploded. What that means, he says, is that the existing websites weren't hitting gamers' sweet spots—and that the reason is those sites' corporate polish and spin. Heldman decided to develop a business model for Crispy, then, that centered on the idea that gamers want honest, unbiased information reviews and information about games. So, before seeking investment, Heldman and his crew set out to prove that his hunch was right. The results were clear. In just a few months, they built a website getting more than one million unique monthly visitors. And VCs, as we know, like a proven model. What's unclear is how Crispy's spin-free approach to reporting gaming news will mesh with its ability to get advertisers that readers perceive aren't influencing the site. But for now, it appears that Crispy's one million readers may have been all VCs needed to write them a check.