The Journalism family photo. L-R: Barbara Journalism, Games Journalism, Michael Journalism
Today I’m going to tell you about a person who gets a lot of abuse and criticism on the internet: Games Journalism.
Games Hayden Journalism was born in Portland, Oregon in 1979. Its parents, Barbara and Michael Journalism, could tell that at a very young age Games was destined for big things.
Games played its first video game at an early age, and was so blown away by what it witnessed that it decided to dedicate its life to preaching the good word of gaming to others.
At the time, the best way to reach these audiences was through print. So, a young Games Journalism released numerous magazines, charging gamers a small fee to find out about the latest games. Continue reading “Games Journalism: That Prick”→
If you’re the sort who even slightly follows gaming news you’ll probably already be aware that FIFA 16 will feature women’s football teams for the first time in the series’ 22-year history.
To say I’m excited about this is an enormous understatement: not just because it offers the ‘new content’ FIFA critics demand on an annual basis, but because of what it stands for.
Let me be honest: I’m not a massive follower of women’s football. I would be lying if I pretended to know a lot about it. I’ve only been to two women’s games and though I keep an eye on the Celtic Women and Scotland Women teams, my involvement doesn’t go much further than knowing Kelly Clark is a bloody good player:
What excites me, then, is what I might end up learning about women’s football by playing FIFA 16. I’m not the sort of person who’ll just randomly watch a football match (men’s or women’s) if my team isn’t playing, but I am the sort of person who’ll play a random match on FIFA regardless of what team I’m controlling.
*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.
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.
I’m still coming to terms with it, but the fact I was even allowed to do it for so long – nearly nine years – makes me so proud I genuinely have a little shiver of excitement every time I think back on it.
For those who don’t know me, I am – well, was – a video games journalist. Based in London but originally from Scotland, I’ve worked exclusively on Future Publishing publications my entire career. And now I’m not.
I started on 2 May, 2006, as the Staff Writer for Official Nintendo Magazine. I was then promoted to Games Editor in March 2009, before being asked to take control of the Nintendo Gamer website in April 2012.
Me, in happier times. That’s me on the right
Then, after Nintendo Gamer was closed down (not my fault, honest), I became Games Editor of CVG – something I was immensely proud to accept given that publication’s incredible heritage – in January 2013.
Sadly, as you may have heard on the social grapevine, CVG is closing down, and since Future couldn’t find another role for me I was given the big Game Over screen.
To continue that predictable metaphor though, I’m still clutching a handful of 10p coins (part of me still likes to pretend arcade games still cost 10p like they used to), and I want to continue.
I still want to write about games. It’s the only thing I know. While it will no longer be my 9 to 5 job, and this saddens me, I still hope to get some freelance work for other publications from time to time, so hopefully you’ll still be seeing my name dotted around various sites and magazines.
Even if I do get freelance work sorted, I still have so much I want to say about this incredible hobby. I’ve been playing games religiously ever since I was four years old (27 years ago) and I still adore them. Which is why I’ve started this blog. Continue reading “Attract Mode – Welcome to Tired Old Hack!”→
Tired Old Hack 