Gaming Industry

[Zjuggernaut]

I'm going to start off by saying that I know that there's probably thousands of teenage geeks out there that want to get into the gaming industry because they like playing their Xbox but I'm serious about this and I've wanted to be a Reviewer since I was around 11/12 years old.

I've done Google searches on the matter and so far I've read "create your own blog", "submit reviews for non-profit" and "contact a gaming company to do reviews for free".

This is all fine and dandy but I wanted to ask you all, since a lot of you are helpful people, how would I go about this? Creating my own blog is easy enough but do any of you know where I can start? What companies to contact? What websites to get in touch with?

Any ideas would be fantastic, I've made an appointment with a recruitment centre about this for next Friday but any insight would be great.

Tl;Dr
I want to be a game reviewer. Suggestions?

 

[HobbeBrain]

BE LIKE THAT ZERO PUNCTUATION GUY

 

[Arseface]

^ Probs not that helpful

Basically I would start a blog, keep it up, make it interesting to read, etc. And I would do everything within my power to get it out there and people reading it. Contact ANYONE you think will help. Get other like minded people on board to contribute, contact every gaming company EVER, and every website that you think would be a good host for your content.

It's easy enough to do, you just have to be patient and persistent.

 

[Zjuggernaut]

^ Probs not that helpful

Basically I would start a blog, keep it up, make it interesting to read, etc. And I would do everything within my power to get it out there and people reading it. Contact ANYONE you think will help. Get other like minded people on board to contribute, contact every gaming company EVER, and every website that you think would be a good host for your content.

It's easy enough to do, you just have to be patient and persistent.

Thanks Arse! Any advice is really appreciated.

 

[Arseface]

Another thing I would say is be active. The more stuff you have to read, the more people will read it.

 

[Zjuggernaut]

Another thing I would say is be active. The more stuff you have to read, the more people will read it.

Fair point, if I get round to it It'll probably be more than reviews! Just have to think about what to write.

 

[Angel]

Yup, be prepared to work stupidly hard for little to no recognition - at least to start with. Do what bumface says but also branch out in the real world with stuff like offering to do a review for your local rag. Some papers will gladly accept free crap from someone if it means filling space and getting anyone at all to read their chip shop wrappings - you can also apply to local radio and see if there is any scope for either writing for their current reviewing section (if they have one) or perhaps joining/creating one yourself. There's a shedload of tiny stations out there which could be of use - same with hospital radio.

Where permitted, stick a link to your work in your signature/profile on anywhere you are part of. Set up a FB page promoting yourself, Twitter feed etc - go nuts with the social networking and abuse it utterly. Steve hates FB and Twitter but also knows that everyone else on the planet uses them so if you want to reach the masses then you need to use their medium of choice.

Pester for interviews, free crap and review everything you already own - include videos, pictures...attend expos (you can blag free passes if you can prove you are already involved with the reviewing/gaming world i.e. blogging, website etc) and anything that even slightly hints about gaming or the area you are interested in.

Above all, do it well. Show your passion, be yourself and be prepared for the internet to be opinionated on everything you say. Everyone has an opinion which roughly translates as knowing absolutely nothing very loudly - just take it with a pinch of salt and keep writing. Jim Sterling gets so much abuse it's hilarious, but everyone knows who he is (more or less) and he keeps going with it. And it's served him rather well.

 

[Zjuggernaut]

Yup, be prepared to work stupidly hard for little to no recognition - at least to start with. Do what bumface says but also branch out in the real world with stuff like offering to do a review for your local rag. Some papers will gladly accept free crap from someone if it means filling space and getting anyone at all to read their chip shop wrappings - you can also apply to local radio and see if there is any scope for either writing for their current reviewing section (if they have one) or perhaps joining/creating one yourself. There's a shedload of tiny stations out there which could be of use - same with hospital radio.

Where permitted, stick a link to your work in your signature/profile on anywhere you are part of. Set up a FB page promoting yourself, Twitter feed etc - go nuts with the social networking and abuse it utterly. Steve hates FB and Twitter but also knows that everyone else on the planet uses them so if you want to reach the masses then you need to use their medium of choice.

Pester for interviews, free crap and review everything you already own - include videos, pictures...attend expos (you can blag free passes if you can prove you are already involved with the reviewing/gaming world i.e. blogging, website etc) and anything that even slightly hints about gaming or the area you are interested in.

Above all, do it well. Show your passion, be yourself and be prepared for the internet to be opinionated on everything you say. Everyone has an opinion which roughly translates as knowing absolutely nothing very loudly - just take it with a pinch of salt and keep writing. Jim Sterling gets so much abuse it's hilarious, but everyone knows who he is (more or less) and he keeps going with it. And it's served him rather well.

Wow, informative! I think I'll do a quick google search for the numbers for local places.. Thank you for this.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

In a nutshell what everyone else has said. Get exposure and find an entertaining niche that makes you different from everyone else doing it.
Design, writing style, or even an interesting or funny way to judge a game would be places to start looking. You want to create an internet persona so try to make everything fit that theme unless you want to be gaming blog X on site Y.

Yahtzee started on YouTube and was given an offer after he'd shown what he could do. I think your chances of being picked up would improve if you focused on getting a following rather than contacting major gaming media outlets. Get a following, get an offer. If you book them they will come.

On a somewhat related side note, I'm thinking of looking into whether Game Informer would take an intern from my University's Journalism department. Pretty much the same reasons as yourself.