Okay, so perhaps this would be better suited as a Twitter sort of thing, but considering how long-winded I can be I thought it would be wiser to go into detail about my question rather than doing a series of Tweets.
One thing that has slightly irked me as of late within the games journalism industry is how certain sites, whether it be large ones such as GameSpot or smaller scale indie run sites, have been putting their writing staff to the forefront. By no means do I think any video game site should be run in a somewhat Borg/1984 like fashion in which everyone is part of one hive mind and there's no real indepedent thought. What I'm talking about more is how some sites will design features that immediately push a particular writer, or perhaps simply a personality in the case of YouTube style off-shoots, to the forefront in such a way that it makes them the central attraction (such if it's an attractive gal used to "attract" young guys) rather than the core content.
I'm not neccessarily getting in a hissyfit over stuff like what Jim Sterling does since that's his primary schtick lately. But when I see sites such as GameSpot do a plethora of features in which they have the faces of their writing staff Photoshopped onto images or simply have feature X hosted by person Y, I wonder if that's what people, specifically the readers/viewing audience wants. Again, I don't have a problem with certain writers getting a bit of a spotlight from time to time or being the primary reasion a person may visit a site. It makes perfect sense for some folks to have their favorites and people that they rely on when it comes to their views and general thoughts about reviews and the general happenings within the industry.
So here's my primary question for anyone that is actually reading this: Do you like features on gaming sites that heavily feature/focus on a specific writer or do you just want to read good content that actually makes the game/developer the focus?
If you want to give me your thoughts then just leave a comment here or hit me up via Twitter.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
The Name Game
Whereas my last blog post was a bit of a pipebomb style ramble about the state of games journalism and how crap it can be at times, this newest post will be a bit more focused on what I sought out to achieve on this place to begin with: chronicle the creation of my new video game site.
I'll admit that progress has been going slowly on the development front, but considering I'm the only person working on things right now (which isn't exactly new territory since I was a one man machine on Shogun Gamer), I'm not freaking out about things just yet. However, one very important element that I've been wrestling over within the depths of my crazy mind is the actual name of the site.
A few potential names for the site have popped up, one of which has already been taken by a rather piss-poor micro-blog, so I'm certainly in the brainstorming mindset of as now. The one conundrum that I have is what sort of tone I want to establish with the name since it'll essentially be the key pillar for the site, branding across other platforms such as YouTube, and revenue avenues such as advertising with 3rd party partners and merchandise. The element that I'm thinking about closely in connection with the name is whether or not I want to follow the somewhat long established pattern of having a name be "___Gamer".
Obviously I was already part of a site that followed the ___Gamer pattern since I co-created and worked on Shogun Gamer for five years. Even then, that name somewhat surfaced out of our collective asses without much thought given into it, which I honestly think is the case with most indie/micro gaming sites that are around today. Shogun Gamer obviously had a catchy name to it, though it really had no brand logic behind it; it was just a cool name that elicited a vision of some sort of ninja like gaming figure. It wasn't even until the fifth year the site was active that we finally had a proper logo, which was created two years prior, and even then Shogun Gamer didn't have much of an identity to make the name actually make sense.
So branching out entirely on my own I'm looking not to make some of the same mistakes that Shogun originally did and other sites continue to make these days. I think it's understandable for some folks to follow the ___Gamer routine since its been so ingrained within gaming culture more or less - despite the actual use of the word "Gamer" having a rather negative connotation amongst some people given the usage within maligned marketing campaigns of the Mountain Dew and Doritos variety. So what's the best way to go about things, use the word Gamer within the name of a site or do something else?
Such a question is what I'm asking myself on a daily basis as I try to think of names and then subsequently check to see if they're available in all the key fields. The alternative of not using the ___Gamer pattern is choosing a name that's a bit more out there yet still drums up the thought of gaming within the masses. Stuff like Polygon or IndieStatik is clever stuff that works, but the danger, at least in my mind, of going down that path is selecting a name that may be a bit pretentious or simply too damn out there for people to accept.
In some ways I'm am leaning towards selecting a name that doesn't use the word Gamer within it since I do think that our industry, both the general games industry and games journalism, needs to mature in a lot of ways. Sure, back in the day it was awesome to have stuff like GamePro or GameSpy, but the constant use of the word which is the key descriptor of our industry is somewhat silly in my mind. Imagine if every music magazine/site used the word music in its title rather than something imaginative such as RollingStone or Spin. Wouldn't that be silly as hell if we had dozens of major sites that used the word music or movie in its title since that what it covers? Again, it may make sense for people to use certain words in naming their publication since it allows users to easily find or remember it, but in the world of gaming I'm getting a bit burned out by seeing the words Gamer or Gaming used in every damn title.
So that's that I guess. The name game is continuing within my mind and I'm hoping to figure out something soon so I can go about securing all the proper stuff and get going 100% in branding design and site development (review stuff, image design, etc.)
I'll admit that progress has been going slowly on the development front, but considering I'm the only person working on things right now (which isn't exactly new territory since I was a one man machine on Shogun Gamer), I'm not freaking out about things just yet. However, one very important element that I've been wrestling over within the depths of my crazy mind is the actual name of the site.
A few potential names for the site have popped up, one of which has already been taken by a rather piss-poor micro-blog, so I'm certainly in the brainstorming mindset of as now. The one conundrum that I have is what sort of tone I want to establish with the name since it'll essentially be the key pillar for the site, branding across other platforms such as YouTube, and revenue avenues such as advertising with 3rd party partners and merchandise. The element that I'm thinking about closely in connection with the name is whether or not I want to follow the somewhat long established pattern of having a name be "___Gamer".
Obviously I was already part of a site that followed the ___Gamer pattern since I co-created and worked on Shogun Gamer for five years. Even then, that name somewhat surfaced out of our collective asses without much thought given into it, which I honestly think is the case with most indie/micro gaming sites that are around today. Shogun Gamer obviously had a catchy name to it, though it really had no brand logic behind it; it was just a cool name that elicited a vision of some sort of ninja like gaming figure. It wasn't even until the fifth year the site was active that we finally had a proper logo, which was created two years prior, and even then Shogun Gamer didn't have much of an identity to make the name actually make sense.
So branching out entirely on my own I'm looking not to make some of the same mistakes that Shogun originally did and other sites continue to make these days. I think it's understandable for some folks to follow the ___Gamer routine since its been so ingrained within gaming culture more or less - despite the actual use of the word "Gamer" having a rather negative connotation amongst some people given the usage within maligned marketing campaigns of the Mountain Dew and Doritos variety. So what's the best way to go about things, use the word Gamer within the name of a site or do something else?
Such a question is what I'm asking myself on a daily basis as I try to think of names and then subsequently check to see if they're available in all the key fields. The alternative of not using the ___Gamer pattern is choosing a name that's a bit more out there yet still drums up the thought of gaming within the masses. Stuff like Polygon or IndieStatik is clever stuff that works, but the danger, at least in my mind, of going down that path is selecting a name that may be a bit pretentious or simply too damn out there for people to accept.
In some ways I'm am leaning towards selecting a name that doesn't use the word Gamer within it since I do think that our industry, both the general games industry and games journalism, needs to mature in a lot of ways. Sure, back in the day it was awesome to have stuff like GamePro or GameSpy, but the constant use of the word which is the key descriptor of our industry is somewhat silly in my mind. Imagine if every music magazine/site used the word music in its title rather than something imaginative such as RollingStone or Spin. Wouldn't that be silly as hell if we had dozens of major sites that used the word music or movie in its title since that what it covers? Again, it may make sense for people to use certain words in naming their publication since it allows users to easily find or remember it, but in the world of gaming I'm getting a bit burned out by seeing the words Gamer or Gaming used in every damn title.
So that's that I guess. The name game is continuing within my mind and I'm hoping to figure out something soon so I can go about securing all the proper stuff and get going 100% in branding design and site development (review stuff, image design, etc.)
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Tales From Your Ass: E3 Edition (And Other Random Tidbits)
First off I need to address that it has been a few days since my last initial blog post. Given how I'm somewhat new to personal blogging, I don't know if there's an exact protocol that needs to be followed when it comes to posting content since I assume that folks should be given a reason to actually visit and read my rubbish.
My delay in posting anything isn't a sign of negligence on my part, nor is it a warning sign that all is not well with my new gaming site. Unfortunately, my girlfriend for the last six years, who is also the mother of my 1 year-old daughter, was hospitalized for nearly two weeks due to a blood infection. So while I myself have been recovering from my own sudden flu incident, I've been tending to my girlfriend and of course been raising my sixteen month old daughter.
Now let's chat about some actual business in my typical way as I'll be calling people out and blowing up spots. As many of you no doubt know, the ever wonderful media event that is E3 2014 is nearly upon us. Being someone that has deeply been into video games for as long as I can remember, I must say that it was amazing when I first attended E3 myself since it lived up to the hype and hoopla I witnessed on the GameSpot streams or on G4 (RIP).
The problem it seems with E3 now is that it's such an easy target to generate hype prior to the event actually happening. Obviously the point of various publishers or PR companies is to generate hype for their games through early announcements or teases, yet actual game "journalists" will jump on any sort of E3 rumor for the obvious reason: to generate hits. It’s understandable for a site to drum up some hype in order to generate revenue via ad clicks or what have you, though seeing sites like DualShockers, GamingBolt, or OnlySP essentially post every possible rumor that is floating around is simply disheartening and it essentially takes games journalism ten steps backwards from whatever progress it may have made.
Sure, a site like DualShockers may preface their story by saying the details they’ve heard are “rumors”, but why bother posting something like that in the first place? Stuff like the recent Sony E3 conference details that “leaked” sound cool in theory, yet it’s obvious that it’s nothing more than a bunch of crap that will never happen since it’s playing up to every possible thing a Sony fan would want to see. Would it be awesome to see The Last Guardian make an appearance at E3 this year? Damn right it would, but there’s no way in hell that it’s going to be a 2014 title on any platform. The same goes for a new Wipeout game on the PS4. Why would Sony close Studio Liverpool and cancel a Wipeout PS4 game that was in early development only to reactivate the project again under a different studio? Wouldn’t it be easier to just let Studio Liverpool do business as usual, and perhaps make a few cutbacks, rather than stopping and starting up a project over the course of two years? But alas, sites like DualShockers will throw away whatever credibility they have in order to get some hits and have a dozen or so sites link back to them.
I’ll admit that I used to post rumor articles back in the day so I’m not going to act like I’m some sort of high and mighty chap that has never done any wrong. After all, posting rumors is a natural part of the games journalism business more or less since there have been some credible leaks from folks such as CBOAT and Ntkrnl on NeoGAF. The main problem I have with how most sites go about posting rumor articles is that it seems like they have no common sense as far as taking a second to think, “Could this really be legit or is it just pure wankery at its finest?” It’s also somewhat sad to me to see sites like GameSpot, which I actually still enjoyed post the infamous Jeff Gerstmann incident, to jump on the rumor bandwagon and go hog-wild by posting articles about everything. Does a site like GameSpot really need to go that avenue to gain hits given their other content (reviews, features, video content)?
It’s true that not every gaming site out there will post a crap rumor article, but it does seem like it’s an easy enough thing to do, thus a lot of sites will actually do that. I think getting excited about potential gaming reveals is a natural thing since we all like to get hyped about what sort of megaton or surprise may be made, however I would greatly appreciate if more writers exhibited some common sense and restraint as opposed to selling their integrity for the sake of getting a high CPM.
In other news: progress on the new has been a bit slow as of late for the obvious reasons. I still would like to get the site up and running more or less around August or early September, but I’m staying realistic in knowing that I’ll have a crapton of work to do in the coming weeks and months to build the type of site that I actually want to do.
That said, if anyone out there is interested in potentially working on the site either in a writer, tech aid, or other capacity then just let me know. I definitely would like to have a proper staff of writers so if you want to talk about games and let your voice be heard then shoot me a message either here or on Twitter. I’m not looking for people that have prior experience in writing, though it is a bonus, so if anyone is looking to break into the biz more or less then I’m certainly willing to help a chap out.
My delay in posting anything isn't a sign of negligence on my part, nor is it a warning sign that all is not well with my new gaming site. Unfortunately, my girlfriend for the last six years, who is also the mother of my 1 year-old daughter, was hospitalized for nearly two weeks due to a blood infection. So while I myself have been recovering from my own sudden flu incident, I've been tending to my girlfriend and of course been raising my sixteen month old daughter.
Now let's chat about some actual business in my typical way as I'll be calling people out and blowing up spots. As many of you no doubt know, the ever wonderful media event that is E3 2014 is nearly upon us. Being someone that has deeply been into video games for as long as I can remember, I must say that it was amazing when I first attended E3 myself since it lived up to the hype and hoopla I witnessed on the GameSpot streams or on G4 (RIP).
The problem it seems with E3 now is that it's such an easy target to generate hype prior to the event actually happening. Obviously the point of various publishers or PR companies is to generate hype for their games through early announcements or teases, yet actual game "journalists" will jump on any sort of E3 rumor for the obvious reason: to generate hits. It’s understandable for a site to drum up some hype in order to generate revenue via ad clicks or what have you, though seeing sites like DualShockers, GamingBolt, or OnlySP essentially post every possible rumor that is floating around is simply disheartening and it essentially takes games journalism ten steps backwards from whatever progress it may have made.
Sure, a site like DualShockers may preface their story by saying the details they’ve heard are “rumors”, but why bother posting something like that in the first place? Stuff like the recent Sony E3 conference details that “leaked” sound cool in theory, yet it’s obvious that it’s nothing more than a bunch of crap that will never happen since it’s playing up to every possible thing a Sony fan would want to see. Would it be awesome to see The Last Guardian make an appearance at E3 this year? Damn right it would, but there’s no way in hell that it’s going to be a 2014 title on any platform. The same goes for a new Wipeout game on the PS4. Why would Sony close Studio Liverpool and cancel a Wipeout PS4 game that was in early development only to reactivate the project again under a different studio? Wouldn’t it be easier to just let Studio Liverpool do business as usual, and perhaps make a few cutbacks, rather than stopping and starting up a project over the course of two years? But alas, sites like DualShockers will throw away whatever credibility they have in order to get some hits and have a dozen or so sites link back to them.
I’ll admit that I used to post rumor articles back in the day so I’m not going to act like I’m some sort of high and mighty chap that has never done any wrong. After all, posting rumors is a natural part of the games journalism business more or less since there have been some credible leaks from folks such as CBOAT and Ntkrnl on NeoGAF. The main problem I have with how most sites go about posting rumor articles is that it seems like they have no common sense as far as taking a second to think, “Could this really be legit or is it just pure wankery at its finest?” It’s also somewhat sad to me to see sites like GameSpot, which I actually still enjoyed post the infamous Jeff Gerstmann incident, to jump on the rumor bandwagon and go hog-wild by posting articles about everything. Does a site like GameSpot really need to go that avenue to gain hits given their other content (reviews, features, video content)?
It’s true that not every gaming site out there will post a crap rumor article, but it does seem like it’s an easy enough thing to do, thus a lot of sites will actually do that. I think getting excited about potential gaming reveals is a natural thing since we all like to get hyped about what sort of megaton or surprise may be made, however I would greatly appreciate if more writers exhibited some common sense and restraint as opposed to selling their integrity for the sake of getting a high CPM.
In other news: progress on the new has been a bit slow as of late for the obvious reasons. I still would like to get the site up and running more or less around August or early September, but I’m staying realistic in knowing that I’ll have a crapton of work to do in the coming weeks and months to build the type of site that I actually want to do.
That said, if anyone out there is interested in potentially working on the site either in a writer, tech aid, or other capacity then just let me know. I definitely would like to have a proper staff of writers so if you want to talk about games and let your voice be heard then shoot me a message either here or on Twitter. I’m not looking for people that have prior experience in writing, though it is a bonus, so if anyone is looking to break into the biz more or less then I’m certainly willing to help a chap out.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
So Begins The Journey
Despite being a member of the ever esteemed video games press industry for the past five years, I've never been a fan of personal blogs. Sure, I will go on Twitter and Tweet like a madman when I want to discuss random stuff or blow up some spots, but when it comes to discussing things in a format like this I've always been hesistant.
Yet here I am, chronicling my journey of starting from scratch and building a new video game site in the year 2014. Being a person that was essentially reared on magazines such as GamePro (RIP), The Official PlayStation Magazine U.S. (RIP), and PlayStation Magazine (RIP), I've always been into video game journalism - something that I think most people these days aren't. There are certainly those who have gigs at some of the big sites, such as Polygon and Gamespot, who have a passion for games and discussing them, but for the most part it seems like those who create original video game sites do it merely to acquire free games or to have a resume for whenever they seek a job within the games industry (which deserves a Goodluck Bro given how volatile the landscape has been in recent years).
So yes, I love video games, but I also care about how they're covered; thus I'm starting a new website. Some of you that may be reading this may know that for the last five years I was at Shogun Gamer. Having co-founded that site, I can safely say that I was the driving force behind it since I did a crapload of reviews, sought out interviews on my own, and create every piece of content I wrote under my own supervision. Sadly, Shogun Gamer was ripped away from me so I'm starting anew.
This blog will basically serve as a chronicle of my progress made on the site in the coming months. Okay, that may sound a tad pretentious, but I promise I won't pull a Polygon documentary out of my ass and talk about the woes of going from one solid job to another. Obviously in my case I don't have a company backing me with cash so it's much more of a grassroots effort, but this blog will mostly serve to provide my thoughts on things, how I'm approaching the site, and perhaps asking for feedback from folks.
And just to let folks know, the site could be online in late August or sometime around September. Building sites and creating content isn't easy after all.
Yet here I am, chronicling my journey of starting from scratch and building a new video game site in the year 2014. Being a person that was essentially reared on magazines such as GamePro (RIP), The Official PlayStation Magazine U.S. (RIP), and PlayStation Magazine (RIP), I've always been into video game journalism - something that I think most people these days aren't. There are certainly those who have gigs at some of the big sites, such as Polygon and Gamespot, who have a passion for games and discussing them, but for the most part it seems like those who create original video game sites do it merely to acquire free games or to have a resume for whenever they seek a job within the games industry (which deserves a Goodluck Bro given how volatile the landscape has been in recent years).
So yes, I love video games, but I also care about how they're covered; thus I'm starting a new website. Some of you that may be reading this may know that for the last five years I was at Shogun Gamer. Having co-founded that site, I can safely say that I was the driving force behind it since I did a crapload of reviews, sought out interviews on my own, and create every piece of content I wrote under my own supervision. Sadly, Shogun Gamer was ripped away from me so I'm starting anew.
This blog will basically serve as a chronicle of my progress made on the site in the coming months. Okay, that may sound a tad pretentious, but I promise I won't pull a Polygon documentary out of my ass and talk about the woes of going from one solid job to another. Obviously in my case I don't have a company backing me with cash so it's much more of a grassroots effort, but this blog will mostly serve to provide my thoughts on things, how I'm approaching the site, and perhaps asking for feedback from folks.
And just to let folks know, the site could be online in late August or sometime around September. Building sites and creating content isn't easy after all.
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