I can’t speak for everyone, but I do get the feeling that a lot of people start out writing about games because of the “free” stuff – but that stuff always comes with a commitment to cover the game/product, unless it’s unsolicited. Now depending on the coverage that free game/product gets, it’s either a worthwhile investment for the site or it isn’t. Getting a free game that retails for $70 is a good deal if you don’t bother to write about it. It’s also a good deal if you write a 50-word review (like in my Chart days). But when you’re spending hours on playing the game and writing about it, things make less economic sense, especially if you had no desire to play the game to begin with.

In episode 10 of our podcast, Adam touched on something when we asked him what his deal was, and why it was that he appeared to hate so many games. The meat of it was that he’s been gaming his whole life, so he knows the kinds of games he likes so he sticks with them. Then he mentioned that other forms of entertainment writing don’t have the same reviewer trying to cover everything – and we actually see this with games coverage. The ideal situation is that you have people writing about the stuff they want, and I suppose with a large enough staff you would be able to cover everything (though then that could give way to some hurt feelings, if a game is really sought-after and more than one person wants to review it, for instance).

So that’s actually part of a larger discussion (though not necessarily a debate) which I’ll be glad to have with you in person some time, maybe even at an industry event. I see where you’re going though – you’re thinking on a different scale altogether and the site you’re with (which from the looks of it is Console Creatures) is one I’ve already heard of and definitely has that potential for some exponential growth. I’ll definitely be following it now, so consider these eyeballs part of your audience.

The people that approached me to help them out with the site already have all the industry contacts, the free stuff is already flowing to their doors, so we’re not in it for that. They just want to take advantage of the network of companies they have established a relationship with, and take their site to the next level in terms of exposure and, eventually, revenue. Hard to do if you’re only producing a handful of articles a day…not impossible, I’ll admit that, but much harder.

If people like the content of this site, even if it’s just one article, great. So if people want to come here, read one thing, and then bugger off, that’s fine. I have neither the time nor the inclination to whore this place out for a quick buck. I’d rather just spend the time writing about stuff I actually care about or doing something else entirely – something I find meaningful.

I’ve been working in interactive media for over a decade, so I’ve heard just about every kind of gimmick there is to generating revenue and having sustainability, etc. in an online manner, and this includes stuff that you have touched upon.

I appreciate your comment and in no way does my reply to it reflect my opinion of you, the person. The things you’ve mentioned are good guidelines for people to follow if they’re looking to generate some income from a website. I just don’t fall into that category as I am not motivated by the accumulation of wealth.

Unless you have a fat savings account, living off mom & dad or spouse, or just don’t have a need for spending cash, you’re going to require a form of income. Creating a website that caters to a large community in an industry that relies on mass marketing, word of mouth, etc. and one that has the benefit of being fun to get involved in with all of its perks, is a truly enticing prospect, especially if you’re looking to make a few bucks off of it. One of the only ways to accomplish that is eye balls…lots of eye balls. Unless you have a staff of 5-10+ writers working 8 hours a day putting up thoughtful and unique pieces, your visitors will get bored fairly quickly and move on to other sites that have lots of ‘stuff’ for them to spend time and mouse clicks on. I’ll call it the 10/90 theme… 10% unique content, 90% filler. If your 10% content is interesting enough to draw an audience to your site, then it’s the 90% that will keep them there, and eventually they’ll continue coming to your site, drawn in by that 10% hook, and kept in with time-consuming news bites and PR content, which they can read just about anywhere, but it’s at YOUR site you want them to get it at. Now you have the opportunity to present yourself to potential advertisers and media partners as a place people with like-minded interests go to catch up on daily news and be entertained by your personalized content. Again, the more eyeballs you get to your site on a consistent basis, the more valuable your piece of WWW property becomes.

If this is just a hobby, or a way to bulk up your writing portfolio, or you truly just want to write insightful journalistic content with no concern for generating revenue, then all the power to you. But I just can’t see how, especially in the short-mid term, it can be turned into a revenue-generating venture.

I would love to debate this further, so please let me know if you agree/disagree.

Since writing and publishing this article, I’ve still been thinking about the state of games writing overall. If you think about this in relation to the field of journalism overall – where there is a definite shift in the production and consumption of news – it’s kind of silly to think that there will be ONE place where people get all their news. Why go to just one place when you can get all kinds of information from multiple sources, and multiple viewpoints?

Still – I hope those HUDisplay guys come around and do their own thing and do it well. Every voice matters.

I used to think the Canadian market was under-represented when it came to gaming news coverage. Then I got involved and found there are lots of Canadian sources for gaming news, both in the mainstream media and through smaller online outlets. G4 Tech TV’s Electric Playground comes to mind as the biggest Canadian source dedicated to gaming. But there are writers throughout Canwest that cover regularly, as well as the Globe and Mail, CTV and the Toronto Star. Then there are the dedicated website, such as this great site that cover gaming from a Canadian angle.

A lot of sites keep going by reporting every minute detail, but the sites and writers I enjoy are the ones that offer unique perspectives on things. This is what initially attracted me to Jamie’s writing, and what makes Gatmog’s site so enjoyable, too.

Considering that so many sites are run by people content to cut and paste press releases and write about anything as if it’s newsworthy or even remotely interesting, it doesn’t take a lot of brainpower to figure out that a good way to stand out is to put effort into your work. Some articles take more effort than others, and there’s a great deal of fluff on this very site just because it’s stuff I found humorous/interesting. But the anchors here, and the articles I enjoy writing, are the ones that take multiple drafts and several days to create. That said, I have a fairly laid-back attitude when it comes to things like page ratings. I’m just happy that I get to write, and happy that people, however many or few, read my work.

But I do think a lot of people get into writing about games because of the allure of “free games” as Gatmog has mentioned. Many only care about getting the free game, and not about writing about the game. So they pump out reviews without thinking about them – reviews not unlike the 50-word useless ones Chart wanted from me.

Anyhow, thanks again for your comments. If anything this whole thing should serve as a reminder that we should all strive to do better work and let everything else fall into place. I’m in no hurry to join a news network, and in fact I don’t think I’ll ever do such a thing. But “the future is in the future,” as Electric Six says. Who knows what it might hold.

A respectable philosophy and one I readily agree with as you know.

However, that’s no road to take if you want readership. All that usually needs is bold, often unsupported claims about being the “best” or “first”, or perhaps knocking down an established site or outlet in an effort to claim the mantle for yourself. I’ve seen it too many times before. One of the previous posters brought up the most important point: regardless of whether we agree with HUDisplay, they still got everyone’s attention.

Even though I’ve been operating my site since 2003 I didn’t feel slighted about the other sites that were mentioned in the discussion. I am not a news destination, and don’t ever want to be. I was more offended by how this ridiculous and unobtainable goal continues to be the aspiration of any video game-related website.

All this discussion of “high road” and “community” and “networking” means nothing if no one is going to improve the situation in this already saturated newsbite and screenshot obsessed culture. Rather than competing for “breaking news”, we should be writing about the video games. There isn’t enough of that. Most gaming websites want to do it all to keep the hits coming so they don’t lose their constantly fluctuating readership. This has nothing to do with the Country of Origin. It has everything to do with what we’ve grown to tolerate in the video game media establishment.

If you really want to make a difference, don’t worry about The Now. This industry suffers too much from that attitude already. Focus on the craft. The results won’t be felt for years, but at least you’ll feel like you’ve contributed something of value in the frustrating Search for Video Game Criticism. Or you can simply be replaced by some other person that’s more than happy to accept the press releases at face value and shovel out patchwork reviews like they were going out of style (and in case you haven’t noticed, they aren’t). But hey! Free games, right?