Thomasorus
Member
About reviews again, Riposte asks a question about why people like me does not work on Kotaku or IGN. There are in my opinion many reasons but some are very straightforward or plain simple.
First, you already have someone in you editorial team that likes fighting games and reviews them. How do you say to this person "we are going to give this type of games to a contractor because we think he's better than you"? I actually started by making an EVO recap and after this, I reviewed VF5FS because the game came out during the E3 week and the fighting game reviewer could not make it. It was mostly luck (with help from a friend already there) and since the review was appreciated, I kept doing the next ones. But it was luck that made me take the place of someone else who was doing it for about ten years. He's not mad at me, he likes fighting games but he also has a ton of other games to review, so no problem.
Secondly there the editorial. The reviewer you already have has his own methodology and ways of doing things and it may not please us because it's not what we are looking for but... We are not the majority here. When I started being noticed with my reviews (it was for Persona 4 Arena and I did a very solid review about the decomposition of mechanics and how it influenced the game and the public it was for), a reader on the 1st video game french website asked the local reviewer why they didn't hire a specialist like me because his review was a bit lacking explanations. He answered politely (given the comment was basically saying he should stop reviewing fighting games) that the editorial line was not the same between our websites, which is true. The website I work for is more core gamer oriented, while the 1st VG website in France is very, very casual. I don't have any place there, because people just want to know if they should buy a game or not, they don't care about how it's done, what its trying to do/be. Sometimes you also make choices based on the game. For example I didn't review Injustice, another journalist did it because he was a comics expert and the choice between treating this game as a fighting game or as a comics game had to be done. I think they did it right even if it saddens I was not able to do it.
Then there's the money. I never wanted to be a video game reviewer in the first place. When I was a teenager playing on the PS1, friends were like "I want to make games" or "Imagine being PAID TO PLAY" and I was like "No thank you, I would need to play games I don't want to play". And of all the people of this period, I am the only one writing about games now, and being paid for this. For a video game reviewer, my salary is very good, especially in this time of troubled press. Since I am paid above the average, I work above the average. But even if the pay is above other websites it only covers the writing time. The study of mechanics, the time playing a game and discussions with experts would triple the salary and no website could pay this.
And finally, the carreer wall. My specialization takes so much time that it almost forbids me to review anything else. And the games I play outside of fighting games are often hardcore games or genres that... Already have their own reviewers like I am the fighting game specialist. It means that I can't make a living with my reviews, it's just an extra I do while doing another job. It's a fantastic position for me as I write on a big website about games I love, I also do focused articles about fighting games that are not reviews and they make good scores. I touch a lot of people and I am proud of it. But I can't live from this at all so it may be seen as a cold shower for many fighting game players that knows how to write. They are not enough games to make a living, and the games does not sold well enough (4 millions sold copies is the maximum this past 5 years, it's not a lot) to force a website to hire someone very skilled because it's not gonna be read that much.
That's all I kind think about but they are maybe many other reasons why you don't see specialized fighting game writes and in depth reviews.
Out-of-topic-edit: Q they are removing wisdom tooths or something else? If it's this, I support you 100% as I had mine removed one by one. The blood, the pain and the hole made my panic each time, like running in my appartment like a maniac. After the third one I canceled the rendez-vous and never went for the last one... Until this little bastard started moving and displaced all my teeth. Carry on man if you are in this situation, you'll thank yourself later. 100% support from me. :|
First, you already have someone in you editorial team that likes fighting games and reviews them. How do you say to this person "we are going to give this type of games to a contractor because we think he's better than you"? I actually started by making an EVO recap and after this, I reviewed VF5FS because the game came out during the E3 week and the fighting game reviewer could not make it. It was mostly luck (with help from a friend already there) and since the review was appreciated, I kept doing the next ones. But it was luck that made me take the place of someone else who was doing it for about ten years. He's not mad at me, he likes fighting games but he also has a ton of other games to review, so no problem.
Secondly there the editorial. The reviewer you already have has his own methodology and ways of doing things and it may not please us because it's not what we are looking for but... We are not the majority here. When I started being noticed with my reviews (it was for Persona 4 Arena and I did a very solid review about the decomposition of mechanics and how it influenced the game and the public it was for), a reader on the 1st video game french website asked the local reviewer why they didn't hire a specialist like me because his review was a bit lacking explanations. He answered politely (given the comment was basically saying he should stop reviewing fighting games) that the editorial line was not the same between our websites, which is true. The website I work for is more core gamer oriented, while the 1st VG website in France is very, very casual. I don't have any place there, because people just want to know if they should buy a game or not, they don't care about how it's done, what its trying to do/be. Sometimes you also make choices based on the game. For example I didn't review Injustice, another journalist did it because he was a comics expert and the choice between treating this game as a fighting game or as a comics game had to be done. I think they did it right even if it saddens I was not able to do it.
Then there's the money. I never wanted to be a video game reviewer in the first place. When I was a teenager playing on the PS1, friends were like "I want to make games" or "Imagine being PAID TO PLAY" and I was like "No thank you, I would need to play games I don't want to play". And of all the people of this period, I am the only one writing about games now, and being paid for this. For a video game reviewer, my salary is very good, especially in this time of troubled press. Since I am paid above the average, I work above the average. But even if the pay is above other websites it only covers the writing time. The study of mechanics, the time playing a game and discussions with experts would triple the salary and no website could pay this.
And finally, the carreer wall. My specialization takes so much time that it almost forbids me to review anything else. And the games I play outside of fighting games are often hardcore games or genres that... Already have their own reviewers like I am the fighting game specialist. It means that I can't make a living with my reviews, it's just an extra I do while doing another job. It's a fantastic position for me as I write on a big website about games I love, I also do focused articles about fighting games that are not reviews and they make good scores. I touch a lot of people and I am proud of it. But I can't live from this at all so it may be seen as a cold shower for many fighting game players that knows how to write. They are not enough games to make a living, and the games does not sold well enough (4 millions sold copies is the maximum this past 5 years, it's not a lot) to force a website to hire someone very skilled because it's not gonna be read that much.
That's all I kind think about but they are maybe many other reasons why you don't see specialized fighting game writes and in depth reviews.
Out-of-topic-edit: Q they are removing wisdom tooths or something else? If it's this, I support you 100% as I had mine removed one by one. The blood, the pain and the hole made my panic each time, like running in my appartment like a maniac. After the third one I canceled the rendez-vous and never went for the last one... Until this little bastard started moving and displaced all my teeth. Carry on man if you are in this situation, you'll thank yourself later. 100% support from me. :|
