The games industry – Page 2

*which isn’t actually as corrupt as some people claim

Many people, myself included, would say game reviews are the most important part of being a games journalist.

We can write news articles, previews, blog pieces and the like about a game until we’re blue in the fingers, but all this coverage is mere hype building up to the ultimate question: is it any good?

Because of their importance, it’s also no surprise that reviews are the one aspect of games journalism that gets the most criticism and accusations thrown at it. Some of this is justified, much of it isn’t.

It sort of goes without saying that not all my reviews were this memorable — Not all my reviews were this memorable, sadly

In my nine years at Future Publishing I wrote over 500 reviews: mostly for Nintendo games but also the occasional Xbox or PlayStation title. And I still regularly get bold souls telling me my opinion is ‘wrong’, as if I have anything to gain by telling people that shit game I played was brilliant.

Here, then, is the first part of my definitive guide to the world of game reviews: how they work, the daft ‘objective review’ myth, the shitshow that is the embargo system and that most dreaded of numbers, the score.

This initial part deals with embargoes and the power battle that sometimes goes on between reviewers, publishers and PRs.

As in my introductory article, I’ll be adopting the ‘fake Q&A’ technique again for this. After all, there are plenty of lovely folks out there who think we journalists are as corrupt as Magneto’s floppy disk collection, so it may be best to address this slightly controversial topic using some of the genuine questions I’ve been asked over the years.

Right then, let’s get stuck in. Deep breaths, everyone. Continue reading “The corrupt* world of video game reviews – Part 1” →

If I had a penny for every time I’ve been asked that question, I’d have around £1.13. What can I say, I’m a realist.

It’s completely understandable. Playing video games for a living? Who wouldn’t want a job like that? Of course, the real thing isn’t quite as straightforward and stress-free as that but let’s not bullshit: in the grand scheme of things, tight deadlines and low wages aside, it’s still great fun.

The short answer to this question is an annoying one: there is no answer. Pretty much everyone working on a games publication took a different route to get there, and no single method is better than the others in my opinion.

Therefore, I can only really tell you how I did it, and hope it gives you an idea of how much of it was down to ability and how much was down to sheer luck. Afterwards, I’ll give some advice on how you can give yourself the best possible chance to get your foot in the door.

Before I do though, here’s the most important tip: if you just want to do this so you can get free games, you might as well not bother now. The point of this job is to use your knowledge and expertise to advise readers on the best games they should be spending their hard-earned cash on, not to build your own Xbox One library on the cheap.

If you’re only in it for the freebies, get a different job that pays better (trust me, there are plenty) and use that extra money you make to buy all the games you like.

Continue reading ““How do I become a games journalist?”” →