Being a games journalist: Part One

It feels kinda odd to be writing an article about what I do, I mean, what is a games journalist anyway? How do you talk about your passion without sounding like you’re full of yourself or worse, sounding like you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Well, I’ve been writing about video games for a long time. I’d like to think that I know a little bit about how most of it works by now (or else I doubt I would have been employed as long as I have been). I guess for the purpose of this blog (since it’s a gaming blog), I can focus specifically on what it’s like to be a games journalist (as opposed to a freelancer) and hope I don’t bore y’all to death

I’ve wanted to write something like this for the longest time. When I started writing about video games I didn’t know a thing about online publishing, or publishing in general. All I knew was that other people thought I had a talent for putting words together and I LOVED video games. I let one of my work mates and friends coerce me into writing for Gameplanet and the rest, as they say, is history.

Passion be damned!

So for me, being a writer is something that has always been there for as long as I can remember. Personally, I think that you need to have more than just a passion for playing games to become a decent games journalist. Being able to play video games is only a small part of the process. Then you have to sit down and mull over what you see and hear and experience and put it into words that will excite and move your readers. I know that might sound kinda lame, but that’s really how it is for me. Of course, the problem with games journalism is that we are speaking about opinions and in a sense, that isn’t true journalism (well, not as I’ve been made to understand it). Journalism (especially news journalism) is about reporting on facts and statistics. It’s very rarely about opinions or what you think or feel about something. In fact, I was taught to write in the exact opposite way to how I do now which is kind of ironic when you think about it.

These days you can call yourself a ‘journalist’ and write about anything you want. With online publishing, everyone is a critic, everyone a writer. I’d like to believe that for people like me who wanted a serious career and studied journalism to pursue that, there is something worthwhile about understanding that journalism is an art form and a discipline just like any other. It’s more than just putting a bunch of fancy words together and slapping them on a website or page.

As a games journalist, I’ve been pretty lucky to have worked where I have and to have gained the experiences I have in a country that is so small (in terms of scope and market). I’ve learned from people who have been writers for many years and I’ve learned some tough lessons about what it’s like to be part of a publishing business working for the ‘man’.

So you still want to be a games journalist?

So I guess if you wanted to become a games journalist, the best thing to do is to START WRITING and don’t stop. If you can write for a website that focuses on video games, all the better. You never know where that may lead. Try and gain as much experience from other people as you can. And always look for opportunities to do more. You’ll be surprised how easily you will be rewarded when the time comes for putting up your hand when nobody else will.

I guess that’s it for now, more to come in Part II.