Writers needed for video game journalism site.

DJ HYDEHEART

This is really one of my dumbest flows ever.
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
10
Age
35
Location
Houston
Gil
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First off, I don't know where to put this so if it doesn't belong in this thread, please move it accordingly.

I'd kinda like to introduce myself a bit (again). I know I've been on the forums for a while but I haven't had anyone ask me who I am or anything (and that's not saying that you should.)

My name is Bryan. I am 20 years old and I currently live in Houston, Texas with my mother and my stepfather. I am currently attending University of Houston (as a sophomore come Fall), with a major in Print Journalism and a minor in creative writing.

Video game journalism had always been on the top of my mind and I always have pretty good plans on going about it but I never really put it to action yet. My writing is sophisticated and somewhat witty if the opportunity shows itself. I've pretty much mastered AP writing but, I don't really plan on going into the newspaper business, rather I'm geared towards magazine and website journalism. As a subscriber to Gameinformer and VIBE magazine, you can tell that I've been inspired to make a goal for myself to be able to write for publishers such as these two and maybe more.

Anyways, I at least want to start out by opening up a small, yet crafty website strictly dedicated to the reviews of current video games on all platforms. My only problem is that I can't really do it alone and I'm going to need some help.
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Here are some of the requirements that I'd like for my writers to have:

I need at least 4 or 5 writers with decent writing skills. This means great grammar, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc. All of this should be second nature for the writers. Drafts should be written and written again and if needed, I will critique and make suggestions for improvement before writers proceed to publish.

Writers must have a fair amount of knowledge about the gaming world. I do expect your knowledge about all consoles that are currently in the market, knowledge about the three powerhouses in the gaming industry, game publishers, certain game directors, and of course, any announcements by either company or publisher that has been made 2 or 3 weeks prior to publishing (and of course you'll have outside sources to gain access to that type of information, but the rest of the stuff you should know).

Reviews will be neither be overly negative nor overly positive unless the game content shows that it's either a very good or very bad game. Writers WILL NOT write solely on the bias towards or against a game company, publisher, game genre, or the game itself based on it's series, fanbase, etc. Writers will call it right down the middle, analyzing every aspect of the game such as it's characters, story, gameplay mechanics, special features, pros and cons, and most importantly the lasting appeal. Writers will also keep in mind about what audience the game appeals to. Game rating has yet to be figured out, but I don't want a 5 star rating system. I want to be able to implement something else besides giving it either a good, bad, or middle. Writers and I will address this issue when the time arises.

Writers MUST DEVOTE ALOT OF TIME PLAYING GAMES. I currently work at a grocery store and due to the apparent disagreement with me and my supervisors and employer, I only work weekends. This means that I can devote my whole time Mon-Thurs reviewing games for a long period of time. If I am currently taking classes at UH, I will adjust to playing games accordingly based on the time I that I can measure. Writers must be able to find time and be able to measure how long they are able to play the game to the point where they have enough information for review. Writers must keep in mind that not every game is enjoyable but it MUST be reviewed if the game is hot and has just came out. Hot games are always reviewed first, then we work our way down.

Writers must be able to obtain a Gamefly subscription. Since buying games just to review them seems to be a chokehold on our wallets, I urge writers to use a Gamefly subscription service in order to save time and money. You can return the games anytime when you're done and there are no late fees. To rent 2 games at a time it's $22.95 a month plus tax, and for one at a time it's $15.95 a month. I haven't subscribed yet but if people are willing to get in on this project, I will.

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That's pretty much the gist of it.

I also need someone who has completely knowledge of Wordpress so that we may create our work there, but if that doesn't pan out well, I can settle for Tumblr.

If any of you are interested please do not hesitate to contact me in a PM or email me at djhydeheart101@gmail.com, or you can respond here if you want.

If there's anything else you like to know or if there is anything that I haven't discussed or made clear please let me know.

My main goal is to get this going and to be able to make it long-lasting, so that when the time to get a job in the field arises, I'll have this project as a portfolio for all my work that I have done, but again, I can't get do this alone and I'm going to need other writers for motivation, creativity, etc.

Plus, this whole idea sounds fun, don't you think?
 
Personally, I would love to be able to do this. However, I'm rarely satisfied with video games anymore. Simply stated, they're not as good as they used to be. Also, I cannot get a gamefly account. Laid off at the moment. :sad3:

Also, I'm from Houston myself. I hope you can get your magazine up and running. :yay:
 
Personally, I would love to be able to do this. However, I'm rarely satisfied with video games anymore. Simply stated, they're not as good as they used to be. Also, I cannot get a gamefly account. Laid off at the moment. :sad3:

Also, I'm from Houston myself. I hope you can get your magazine up and running. :yay:

Ah, I appreciate the support.
What part of Houston do you live in, btw?

I'm in 3rd Ward
 
The only problem I've got is lack of funds for the Gamefly subscriptions because I'm in College and don't have a job. However, other than that, I'd probably be perfect, because can you guess what I'm going to college for?

Game Design and Concept Art for Game Design. That and I'm basically a videogame trivia hound, especially when it comes down to my favorite genre, Role-Playing Games.
 
I'm not even sure if Gamefly would ship out to Canada or if they have a Canadian service. Otherwise, I do have a steady EI income of just a couple hundred bucks every two weeks, as I'm also currently unemployed. I'm not in school, but plan on upgrading a few courses so that I can do a course next year. In a couple weeks I'll have all the few time in the world to do shite.

But are you going to be based solely on reviewing new games? I have a fair bit of knowledge on, and have spent more of my gaming life playing some old school games, have you thought of doing a Retro Gaming Section/type... thing?
 
I'm not even sure if Gamefly would ship out to Canada or if they have a Canadian service. Otherwise, I do have a steady EI income of just a couple hundred bucks every two weeks, as I'm also currently unemployed. I'm not in school, but plan on upgrading a few courses so that I can do a course next year. In a couple weeks I'll have all the few time in the world to do shite.

But are you going to be based solely on reviewing new games? I have a fair bit of knowledge on, and have spent more of my gaming life playing some old school games, have you thought of doing a Retro Gaming Section/type... thing?

Yes, actually.

One of my ideas were to have someone review some retro games since most sites don't cover those very well anymore.

If you're able to use an emulator and if you're a very sophisticated writer and you believe that you can make an effort in contributing to the site, then I think I can get an opening for you.


I used to live on Little York in the North Side. Now I live further North, around the Humble area, but still in Houston.

Ha.
I used to go to school in Humble.
 
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Yes, actually.

One of my ideas were to have someone review some retro games since most sites don't cover those very well anymore.

If you're able to use an emulator and if you're a very sophisticated writer and you believe that you can make an effort in contributing to the site, then I think I can get an opening for you.
I can do this easily. A lot of my favorite games are for older systems anyway, and I'm currently on a quest to traipse through the root RPG genre trinity: Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic. I could also provide insight on old-school JRPG series like (Shin) Megami Tensei, Dragon Quest/Warrior, early Final Fantasies and their connections to the root RPG trinity mentioned above as a way to introduce JRPG fans to WRPGs through familiarity.
 
I can do this easily. A lot of my favorite games are for older systems anyway, and I'm currently on a quest to traipse through the root RPG genre trinity: Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic. I could also provide insight on old-school JRPG series like (Shin) Megami Tensei, Dragon Quest/Warrior, early Final Fantasies and their connections to the root RPG trinity mentioned above as a way to introduce JRPG fans to WRPGs through familiarity.

Back off, I came up with it first. :ness:

Also I had a plan of doing a whole lot of (not just JRPG) old NES/SNES games.. the whole Mario series from 1-World, and why 2 isn't technically a 'real' Mario game... an analysis of games that were similar to, but got overshadowed by the Legend of Zelda series, early Sonic series and it's progression (although it's not Nintendo, but still)...

DJ, are you looking specifically for playing a game and reviewing it, or reviews with additional analysis of it's impact on gaming, whether it could have been more if this other game failed... how it did for the company..

I also wanted to go a fab article on ET for Atari if I can get a proper emulator for it. :awesome:
 
Oh, reviews for older games, eh? I may be able to do this after all. I'll write up an article in the next few days and send it to you to see what you think of it. :griin:
 
Back off, I came up with it first. :ness:

Also I had a plan of doing a whole lot of (not just JRPG) old NES/SNES games.. the whole Mario series from 1-World, and why 2 isn't technically a 'real' Mario game... an analysis of games that were similar to, but got overshadowed by the Legend of Zelda series, early Sonic series and it's progression (although it's not Nintendo, but still)...

DJ, are you looking specifically for playing a game and reviewing it, or reviews with additional analysis of it's impact on gaming, whether it could have been more if this other game failed... how it did for the company..

I also wanted to go a fab article on ET for Atari if I can get a proper emulator for it. :awesome:

Information such as the one about the history of the games can play a part of the review, however I solely want to focus on reviews right now.

I do plan to, further down the line, start writing up on gaming topics that are discussed everyday. Partnerships and what it means for the company, the good and bad of online play, 3D gaming and what it means for gamers, girl gamers, stuff like that.

If you'll be in charge of retro gaming reviews, I'll also let you write up analysis of different games.

Please send me an email so we can discuss further.
You look like a good candidate so far. Plus I have one more writer in addition to the 5 that I need.
 
How about satirical game reviews? For example, I have a review I wrote a while back about Superman 64 being the greatest game ever made. (Obviously, it's not.) It's a rather funny read. XD
 
I've dabbled in this before, I can write pretty entertaining reviews, but the only problem is I feel that I'm the average jaded gamer. I'm trying to compare all the newer games to the more creative games from back when. These days I am iffy to say that 3/10 games I play are good.

I can take a game and pull it apart in around fifty different ways, which would make fan-boys/fan-girls hate me forever. If the game is good though, I usually give it proper praise. I add my own... :hmmm: Libido. So I would love to, but game designers need to come out with more creative stuff and break away from the mold. Till then Hell no.

Nice to see a writer though =).
 
Information such as the one about the history of the games can play a part of the review, however I solely want to focus on reviews right now.

I do plan to, further down the line, start writing up on gaming topics that are discussed everyday. Partnerships and what it means for the company, the good and bad of online play, 3D gaming and what it means for gamers, girl gamers, stuff like that.

If you'll be in charge of retro gaming reviews, I'll also let you write up analysis of different games.

Please send me an email so we can discuss further.
You look like a good candidate so far. Plus I have one more writer in addition to the 5 that I need.

Cool, this sounds like a really neat idea you got going on with it. I've always got a friend who may be interested, he does a lot of gaming reviews and has quite the quirky personality. Here's his wordpress site if you want to have a look at it, and I'll give him an email if you're interested.
 
Cool, this sounds like a really neat idea you got going on with it. I've always got a friend who may be interested, he does a lot of gaming reviews and has quite the quirky personality. Here's his wordpress site if you want to have a look at it, and I'll give him an email if you're interested.

Ah,

I've got a site coordinator who's familiar with Wordpress, but do give him an email and let him know what I'm doing.

I'd be glad if he can help us. His wordpress looks good.
 
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