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Seeking: game journos
etoychest
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I've touched base with a couple of you individually already, but as things are picking up steam I wanted to put out a more public inquiry. Many of you might know me from my old site, eToychest.org. It was great fun running that site, and I got a lot of support from this community before I was forced to step away from it as I moved on to other jobs in the industry. But as I continue to work for sites like Joystiq and Gamasutra, I find that I have been bitten by the bug again, driving me to also create something my own. But if I am going to do this, I want it to be different, which is the point of this already long-winded post.
In the wake of all the controversy over how games are scored by those of us in the gaming media, I recently had a bit of an epiphany on what to do with the website anothercastle.com since a friend of mine and I have had the domain for ages, I wanted this new project to be something fun and unique -- and also driven by my love for the indie game journalism community. To this end, I am looking for writers who might be interested in contributing to this project. But, before you respond, this site is....different. Essentially, this is a community project for people who are already writing for other sites and publications.
What I'm aiming for is that for game reviews, each game is going to be fielded by 4 different writers from across different sites and walks of life, with one of those writers being myself as the lead reviewer. As an example for what I'm aiming for, see below:
http://anothercastle.com/review-bioshock-160.php
In some ways this is similar to the school of thought EGM has always subscribed to, and I have always thought this to be the mag's chief redeeming quality...so I'm stealing it. Each review will be able to be read in under 5 minutes, making them something like bite-sized opinions of titles, which also helps since I know like me, most journos have little time to commit to large outside projects.
For meatier pieces, I have some folks I am working with on articles and such to balance things out, but yea as far as game reviews go Another Castle would be a sort of an hors d'Å“uvre to bigger game review sites. As said, this is a pretty unconventional game site, not a daily game news blog (I'm prohibited from running one of those even if I have the energy due to being under contract with other sites). This is all about multi-viewpoint reviews and the occasional feature by me or another writer. Think of it as a soapbox for writers.
A number of sites and established writers have emailed me showing interest in the effort, but if there are any lurking here, please feel free to shoot me a line, either in PM here or at etoychest@gmail.com.
In the wake of all the controversy over how games are scored by those of us in the gaming media, I recently had a bit of an epiphany on what to do with the website anothercastle.com since a friend of mine and I have had the domain for ages, I wanted this new project to be something fun and unique -- and also driven by my love for the indie game journalism community. To this end, I am looking for writers who might be interested in contributing to this project. But, before you respond, this site is....different. Essentially, this is a community project for people who are already writing for other sites and publications.
What I'm aiming for is that for game reviews, each game is going to be fielded by 4 different writers from across different sites and walks of life, with one of those writers being myself as the lead reviewer. As an example for what I'm aiming for, see below:
http://anothercastle.com/review-bioshock-160.php
In some ways this is similar to the school of thought EGM has always subscribed to, and I have always thought this to be the mag's chief redeeming quality...so I'm stealing it. Each review will be able to be read in under 5 minutes, making them something like bite-sized opinions of titles, which also helps since I know like me, most journos have little time to commit to large outside projects.
For meatier pieces, I have some folks I am working with on articles and such to balance things out, but yea as far as game reviews go Another Castle would be a sort of an hors d'Å“uvre to bigger game review sites. As said, this is a pretty unconventional game site, not a daily game news blog (I'm prohibited from running one of those even if I have the energy due to being under contract with other sites). This is all about multi-viewpoint reviews and the occasional feature by me or another writer. Think of it as a soapbox for writers.
A number of sites and established writers have emailed me showing interest in the effort, but if there are any lurking here, please feel free to shoot me a line, either in PM here or at etoychest@gmail.com.
etoychest on
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I think it's a neat idea for the site. I'm helping out with it, and I think there's gotta be a couple of you who would want to as well.
I like the idea, but I think it should go a step further. Maybe you could do audio/video discussions to accompany the written reviews. I want to listen to people make and counter arguments.
However, it seems.. lazy.. to not have some sort of video/audio/screenshots accompany the snack-sized reviews. Of course, the site is under construction and I do understand that there is plenty of time to add these little creature comforts.
I look forward to seeing the polished and complete product.
That's part of the charm though. Getting a very brief "what do you think of this game" from several folks at other sites seems like something I can easily get into the habit of checking frequently (I'm horrible at reading game news sites usually).
4rch3nemy, if anything adding those things seems like it'd take away from what the purpose is supposed to be. eToy said bite size, and from the looks of it that's achieved. Maybe a thumbnail screen or two on the left side there.
Also, I'd like each reviewer to actually outright state stuff like "worth the 40/50/60 dollar cost to own right now", "wait for it to hit the bargain bins", "has great potential but wait for patches or for the price to drop, whichever comes first", "rent it first" etc.
And how about a little column with simple yes/no questions or predictions that each dev can answer like... "This game will still be worth playing 5/10 years from now." Maybe I'm weird but I'd find that stuff interesting/amusing.
And give me a way to rank each little mini-review.
I agree with you - to a point. I like the functionality and look of it as it is, but even a tiny link to a media page/section would go a very long way to making the site seem less dated and forum-y.
I have nothing else to contribute, that sentence just boggles the mind.
Maybe if the reviews happen to be split even between those who liked and disliked the game they could throw down and discuss one of the main points of contention. EGM kind of does that with their short reviews. I think in their Virtua Figher 5 review there was even a bit of smack talk and accusations of button mashing. Maybe it wasn't that one but I swear I saw it in one of their reviews and it was rather amusing.
That's from my blurb. FPS aren't all like Quake 2 now, they can have camera movement beyond just looking straight where the player is pointing. You know, bobble and stuff like that. In BioShock when you fight a Big Daddy and he is throwing you around the room the camera is doing some crazy and awesome shit.
That is much more editorial material than review material right there. Its also been done to death and brings up the same tired arguments repeatedly. Just talk about the game.
Man have you ever played Escape from Butcher Bay? It does some similar stuff when some guy socks you full-on in the jaw.
On topic: I would love to write. I haven't ever published anything, either via print or web, meant for public consumption but I would really love to start. It's just that I need things like assignments with deadlines to keep me motivated and focused
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This, yes. I've been toying with the idea of using price points as my review score ("this game is shit not even worth pocket change, $0/59.99" or "I would gladly pay more than I did for this amazing title, $70/59.99"). I really don't know how I'd handle things when they drop in price, of course, but it was a thought.
Still though, price being a factor in the review is something I'd like to see more of.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Did someone really manage to sneak that sentence past an editor?
It's an interesting idea, although it has been done before, but I think one of the reasons why it's not so well-practiced in the game industry is because of the fact that it's too plain to be informative to the reader. Even after those blurbs, I'm still left in the dark if Bioshock is a must-buy or rental.
I do agree that many reviews nowadays are very long-winded and read more like a glorified instruction manual then an opinion piece, but trying to use another extreme to counter the problem isn't going to make things better. There needs to be a middle ground.
I'm still alive and around if ya need me.
Maybe a little thumbs up or thumbs down at the end of each blurb?
It was actually pretty different before editing, then kind of fell apart. I was meaning to talk to etoy about that...
Here is a good story. I am at my office right now. This is the last night of layout for our college paper, The Keystone, this semester and it is also my last issue that I am editing. After this issue I am done being Copy & Line Editor, giving me plenty of time to edit a Web site...for some compensation of course.
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It's Gerstmanngate 2!!
(for the record, anyone who actually calls it 'Gerstmanngate' without any sense of irony, I will hunt down, drag out into the street, and publicly execute)
I had a 5 minute debate in my head over whether you were talking about the first-person "camera" or the actual "uses film" camera. I settled on the latter, which is possibly my fault, but still. Ambiguous.
I hope I'm not speaking for etoychest, but I dunno, you've got Savy Gamer. I'm sure if you wrote a couple tryout ones that were good you could be a regular contributer. I'd shoot etoy a PM.
edit -
Ooh, I hadn't even though of that. I dunno, I think it's safe to assume such a small part of the game like that wouldn't be mentioned in favor of the actual camera.
In case you did not know, Oklahoma, specifically the Tulsa/Oklahoam City area, was hit by a major ice storm over the weekend, leaving 150,000 houses and businesses without power, myself included (which of course means no internet). This morning I managed to find a Kinko's opperating witha generator, which is how I am sending this message. I hope to be back up soon, though the radio says best estimates are later this week while some predict middle of next week.
I am going over posts her and in my inbox now, but I just wanted to shoot this hear in case people were wondering why I have not replied. I thank you all for your interest, and hopfully power will be back on soon.
Until then, think of me when you go home to houses with temps above 51 degrees. Ugh. Take care.
Hang in there; hope power gets back up quicker than they're predicting. I might be spending the night at work...
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Everything there is totally in beta...I've hardly spell checked anything. But thanks.