A Chronicle of my life as a Game Reviewer.

• 17Aug 08

  The Journey to Journalism - The Beginning (May - August '08')

  "And so it begins..."

  As I mentioned in my previous Blog, my newfound goal in life is to become a professional games journalist. I began that journey with simple reviews and articles at mmosite.com, and through blog pimping, forum surfing, and arse kissing am beginning to leave the nest for new and exciting adventures over the Internets. This is my story.

  In the future, this Blog should serve both as a chronicle of my life as a budding writer, and also as guide for those walking a similar path. Life is a series of checkpoints, as are the paths we take. If by some chance you happen to find yourself walking the same path as I, these words may one day serve you, as the words of others have me.

  So, where were we? Ah yes, Aeronauts - my very first review. I wrote my review of Aeronauts and posted it in my Blog at mmosite.com, then began my now staple ritual of refreshing the page every 6 seconds hoping that someone had read it. 4 hours later I had 9 views and was the happiest 21 year-old down under. When I woke up the next day I had over 100, and a shiny new sticker signifying that it had been recommended, mmosite.com loved my writing, the people loved my writing, and my journey had begun.

  Over the following 3 months I wrote as often as I could find the time, working a full-time job made this exceedingly difficult, but I still managed to squeeze in 8 hours a day of reviewing, writing, and designing new layouts for my work. For the most part this was an easy ride, I've always loved playing games and I've always loved to write, combining the two felt as natural as running through an open field in my birthday suit (Not that I do that regularly or anything...) and I enjoyed nearly every second of it.

  But don't be fooled; there are times when you lose motivation. You read your work and wonder if it's any good, you compare it to others and realise that it's not, but if you're truly interested in achieving your goal then you will always find the positive. For me, it was that with time I would get better - when I felt down I would read my review of Aeronauts, then my most current and discover how much better the quality was, then commit myself to improving on the next.

  After finding a writing sty le and layout that I was happy with it was time to start pimping. Blog Pimping - or promoting your work is another of the many trials you will face when starting to write on the Internet, and it is also one of the most important. No matter how good you write, no matter how pretty the design is, if no one knows that it's there then it isn't going to be read. So I began exploring the forums at mmosite.com, and creating new topics with links to my articles and reviews, so that others could see them too. This turned out to be a great success, adding hundreds of views to my work, and helping to get my name out there just a little more.

  After succeeding in my attempt to pimp the forums at mmosite.com, it became clear that the next step was to move out of the nest, and to the rest of the net. Being an Aussie writer I found it more comfortable to begin with Aussie-based sites, and it wasn't long before I had found myself a few more homes to settle into.

  It's funny, I speak of this as if it was so long ago, but in reality this was just last month. Just last week my first console review for Super Smash Bros. Brawl appeared at gamerau.com, 2 days I received confirmation that I would be given the opportunity to write the MMO Meltdown section for PixelHunt.com, and 20 minutes ago I realised that I was finally level 3 on Gamespot.com and could begin to post some of my reviews right here.

  As I mentioned in the beginning, this will be a chronicle of the events of my life as a games journalist, you have now heard the beginning. Where does it go from here? Well, to me quitting my damn call-centre job and writing full-time I hope, but only time will tell.

  If you've any questions, comments, insults or fruit to throw then please feel free to leave a note below or send me a PM whenever you have the time. Thanks for reading folks, and remember to check back in a bit over a month for The Journey to Journalism - Part 2 (September '08').

  • Posted Aug 17, 2008 6:23 am PT
  • Category: Writing
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• 29Jul 08

  Cody Hargreaves - A.K.A Neramaar

  So having stumbled for one reason or another upon my very own Gamespot Blog, you (like me) are probably wondering just who exactly I am...and well if you're not, it doesn't really matter - I'm going to tell you anyway.
  
  The Past
  
  Door to Door Sales, Call Centre Customer Service, Programming and Networking Certificates, Assistant Manager...it's safe to say that for a 21 y/o Aussie bloke, I've been around the block. No matter how many jobs I start a year, how many promotions said jobs entitle, or how many whiney customers I get to hang up on for swearing at me...yet sneakily repay in full via prank calls from my personal phone, every 7 minutes until 7AM - I've never been able to settle down. Like most people, I don't like my job or the thought of doing something I don't enjoy, unlike most people I lack the patience to continue doing said job for more than half a year. Recently, I began writing reviews for Video Games...I've always enjoyed writing...but I never knew I'd enjoy it as much as this.
  
  The Present
  
  Almost 3 months ago I wrote a review on a small time MMO named Aeronaughts for Mmosite.com. After playing so many random MMO's over the years, and with none of them satisfying my urge for gaming pleasure, Aeronaughts gave me uncontrollable urges to inform the general public of the experience I was undergoing. People read it, and they liked it - and in the subsequent months I began playing and reviewing as many games as time would allow. Soon after they started paying for the reviews, and requesting specifically which games they needed reviews for - and like that shock you get from the first time you piss on an electric fence I realised that all this time, the thing I wanted to do with my life was right under my nose. Hell I'd been doing it my whole life, just not publicly.
  
  The Future

  
  I'm going to spend my life writing reviews professionally, most likely barely making ends meet, and loving every god damn second of it. Keep your big houses and flashy cars, your showers with built in TV's and golden toilets - I'm not here to get rich, I'm here to do something I'll never tire of, and hopefully get paid enough to eat as a bonus. So where to begin then? Well, my guess is right here, on the interwebs. I'm going to get my reviews on as many websites, e-zines and newspapers as the good gaming lord will allow, and I wont be stopping unless It's required by law that I do.
  
  Where do you come in?
  
  Okay so you don't know me, you probably don't like me, and you probably don't really want to get to know me. But, you're here, and you're still reading this drivel so I must be doing something right! Seriously, if you really want to help me, be brutally honest with me. If I write something fantastic, let me know so I can keep doing it. On the other hand, if after reading something of mine you feel as though I have violated your brain-space (not in the good way) tell me where I went wrong and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. I'm serious about making it in this industry, as hard as it may be - but I'm confident that if you're truthful with you're replies then eventually I'll be writing things that you actually do want to read, as opposed to rubbish like this. ;D
  
  Thanks for reading...both of you...and let this be the beginning of many great gaming and reviewing years to come!

  • Posted Jul 29, 2008 10:55 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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