Looking Back on a Year of Video Game Writing

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By thatpinguino  Staff

Hey Duders! I just noticed that this week marks a year since I dedicated myself to creating weekly content here on Giantbomb. I’ve been putting out either a written blog or a video or both every week for the last year and I just can’t believe it. That’s 80 blog posts in total (though it’s probably closer to 77 due to some accidental double posts). In this last year I’ve learned a ton about game writing and video creation and I would like to take this post to look back at some of my favorite posts and some of the lessons I’ve learned.

I worry that game writers are going to need to be as personality driven as this guy to stay employed at all.
I worry that game writers are going to need to be as personality driven as this guy to stay employed at all.

I’ve found out that TLDR is crushingly prevalent when it comes to game blogs on Giantbomb and on gaming articles in general. The shorter and less critical my blogs were the more comments they received and the more views they got as a result. The more my post fell in line with previously established gaming feuds or narratives, the more response they would receive. It turns out that a hastily written blog post about Kingdom Hearts or a blog about which Final Fantasy is the best inspires more reader engagement than just about any original idea I can come up with. It is hard to express how disheartening this is to see as someone who loves to analyze games and think about them critically. I can only imagine how disillusioning this must be to people who have been at this longer than I have. You can spend weeks on a thought-provoking piece, but a short piece on why Cloud is the worst FF protagonist will likely drive more readership.

My most commented on and most read piece was a blog post on why game critics should be worried about their jobs and my experience writing about games for this last year has only strengthened those views. Traditional reviews and basic gameplay discussions still pull in community participation like no one’s business and articles that come at games from a more literary angle do not. If anything the violent backlash to critical reviews that mention anything like social commentary makes me even more scared for where game sites are going. It seems like a very vocal part of the core gaming audience really does not want games writing to expand beyond how games are currently examined. That audience also seems to not want to pay anything for access to coverage. No growth + no money is a bad recipe for long term health and I don’t see youtubers filling the void as a good solution either. At any rate, if the audience for long features like the ones I like to write is super teensy, then that’s a real bummer for me.

On the bright side I have found that the people who do read my stuff are generally super knowledgeable and engaging to talk to! I have had more deep and rewarding discussions about games in the last year than ever before. The people who consistently follow my work have been the inspiration that has kept me going. I recently had someone commented on one of my old blog posts on FF8’s combat system (that really showed me how far I've come since I first started writing about games) and in their reply I saw some fresh readings and thoughts on a game I’ve played over 10 times. That is what I write this stuff for. I think my post on lenticular design and Nintendo game design (which is on the front page of GB right now) and my post on FFX and Titus’s relationship with his dad are some of my strongest TLDR work from the last year. When it comes to shorter stuff, I’m proud of my piece on sports talk radio in FFX and my piece on Ken Levine leaving Irrational Games.

This image has served me well over the years
This image has served me well over the years

I’m also happy with the acknowledgement that my work has received on GB at large. I’m a weekly fixture on ZombiePie’s Community Spotlight. I’ve had 4 posts featured on the Community Showcase in the last year as well as a shout-out or two in Patrick’s old Worth Reading columns. I can’t thank everyone enough for all of the support. It’s easy to feel like you’re throwing hours of work into the void when you post things online, but things like the Community Spotlight let you know that someone appreciates your hard work. I can’t say thanks enough!

I also really like how my Deep Look videos have been going. I’ve come a long way from a production standpoint since my first video over 6 months ago (oh man was my audio setup terrible early on) and I’m happy with where my series has gone. I’ve covered a bunch of different games in a way that I really enjoy. I think I’m getting closer and closer to a voice and a tone that is informative and fun, without veering into the type of pandering that I dislike in Let’s Play videos. I don’t know where my videos will take me, but I’m excited to find out. My personal favorite is definitely my look at Vivi in FF9 so if you’ve finished FF9 and want to hear some more about what makes Vivi so great, then maybe check that video out.

Now that I have a year of steady work under my belt I think I’m going to try to get some of this stuff published somewhere. I already have some feelers out on a piece and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I hope that some of the work I’ve put in over the course of the last year gets me somewhere in the games industry. I don’t necessarily want a full time games writing job (outside of working for GB itself) since my day job is really sweet and I still have some games I want to make, but I would like to write a column with my name on a byline somewhere.

GB is the best online community that I’ve ever been a part of and the support you all have shown me is more than I ever expected. Thanks to all of the readers and commenters that have made this year so memorable for me. I look forward to many more.

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#1  Edited By thatpinguino  Staff

I forgot to shout-out the Giantbomb Community Endurance Run! That event was some of the most fun I've had playing games in a long while and I'm proud of how much money were able to raise for a good cause. My FF8 speed run was a blast and the final race to completion between FF8 and MGS3 was great. If I didn't get into video production I doubt that I would have participated, but I am glad that I did. I'm looking forward to the next event!

Avatar image for majormitch
majormitch

1336

Forum Posts

2197

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 119

User Lists: 31

It can definitely be a little disheartening when the obvious topics like "Best Final Fantasy game" will seemingly always be the big discussion starters, where more thoughtful prose is more often ignored. I read a lot of tennis articles as well (by some great writers too), and they've expressed many times how just mentioning Roger Federer in an article leads to substantially more comments/views (usually devolving into the same old debates as well). There are plenty of video game equivalents, and it gets old revisiting the same topics.

I haven't had as much time to write this past year, but I enjoy writing on GB because, like you said, you can write a more thoughtful piece and find those knowledgeable few who are willing to spark a detailed discussion. That's the most rewarding part, and since I have no ambitions of embarking on a career in writing, I'm allowed to only focus on the stuff I enjoy writing about and discussing, larger audience be damned. It would get trickier to do that for a living, but if you could pull it off then more power to you.

Anyway, congrats on a year of sustained, high quality writing. I've read a number of your posts, even if I don't always have time to dive into comments/discussions (this past year has been crazy for me), and it's good stuff! Keep it up! :)

Avatar image for slag
Slag

8308

Forum Posts

15965

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 45

Hey @thatpinguino!

Congrats on a year of cranking out quality blogs! GB lost some of its very best bloggers this past year, so it's nice to have you filling the void their absence created.

I had some comments on your Lenticular design essays and South Park deep look, but the site gobbled both and I didn't save them elsewhere. :(. Fwiw I there have been a couple of your blogs I didn't read deliberately because I don't want to spoil myself on some title I haven't played yet.

That's a downside to the internet blogs it's that it is hard to gauge reception sometimes so many people like something but don't perhaps have anything to add. I suspect that is a facet to tumblr's popularity is that the way it shares your posts helps the creator get that emotional validation/reciprocation that is so important to a creator. And as far the disparate nature of the responses you get, well you have more or less re-discovered a phenomenon that is plaguing just about every facet of internet interaction these days ( a systemic bias favoring confimation bias, short declartive comments etc). It is a tremendous problem I think that is devouring the US political system in particular. I really don't have any idea how society is going to fix this or even if it can.

For now anyway the PewDiePie's and Kotaku's of the world rule the day.

But I did want to say in regards to your point about Stick of Truth's economical design, I've been playing Suikoden and Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride lately and it is amazing to me how much "faster" those games feel than their 3D/Polygonal counterparts even in the same series (e.g. Suikoden Iv and Dragon Quest Viii: Journey of the Cursed King) despite really not being very different in terms of quality of content/writing. I have to wonder if the fact that South Park is 2d actually was a one of their keys to success. Just the sheer act of Traversal in a 3D plane adds so much time to games like Dragon Age: Inquisition, that makes any filler fetch quest type things that much more I guess noticeable. So when you play a 2d RPG like SouthPark it feels that much more economical and action packed.

I also think vocalized speech probably contributes as well (although obviously not in SP's case). I know I personally read a lot faster than someone speaks, so I can power through story bits without feeling cheated because of how fast I can consume those say versus a modern RPG. I think that's perhaps the biggest difference between FFIX and FFX is that divide.

Anyway really enjoy your work!

Avatar image for liquiddragon
liquiddragon

4314

Forum Posts

978

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 19

congrats on your year of content creation, that's really cool man. if you extrapolate what you found out about what attracted the most or seem to be the most popular, i guess that's why so much mainstream entertainment is so derivative, well-worn, unoriginal, and predictable. the challenge i guess is to find a right balance where you can be happy and proud of what you created and still attract a decent audience. anyway, i do avoid a blog if its too long but i'll go and read some of your stuff sense you devoted so much time into the site.

Avatar image for macka1080
Macka1080

257

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Congratulations on setting and achieving such a worthy goal! Keeping to a consistent deadline like that, especially when it is self-imposed, is a laudable accomplishment, and such motivation is a valuable trait to possess. I've read a few of your posts, and they are all well-composed and thought out. Also, your Deep Looks are great; I quite enjoyed the Brutal Legend one a few weeks back.

Keep up the great work, and best of luck in all your future writing!

Avatar image for wemibelle
Wemibelle

2742

Forum Posts

2671

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 76

User Lists: 11

An impressive amount of writing in a year! I would love to do some kind of weekly feature, but I can rarely come up with enough good ideas to do one a month, let alone one a week (aside from my reviews, which come at an infrequent rate due to being dependent on when I actually finish a game). Still, those pieces that are important enough for me to do a full post on end up being a great deal of fun to write and have a lot of meaning to me personally--even if most of them don't get read much. It seems like you feel the same way about most of your writing too, which is great to hear.

Good job and keep up the great work!

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#8 thatpinguino  Staff

@wemibelec90: Thanks! I find that new ideas are a real resource and to keep up a weekly output you need to ration the good stuff and find sources of content for when you are idea-lite. I started writing about Magic The Gathering because I know a lot about it and it constantly provides new stuff to talk about every few months without me needing to stretch at all. I've also found that working a full-time job and having a social life leaves me with not a lot of time to write and still play games so finding the time to actually have new gaming experiences is a top priority. Actually being disciplined and keeping deadlines definitely made me a better writer and I recommend it strongly if you want to pursue writing as a career or a hobby.

@macka1080: Thanks a bunch! I'll keep cranking out the weekly Deep Looks if ya'll keep watching them.

@liquiddragon: Thanks duder! Luckily I don't need to pander to get page views since I don't make a living off of this blog. Any money that game writing gets me will be a happy bonus as of right now. Even still, nothing draws in readership like writing about a popular topic. My Dark Souls 2 naked run write-up got a good amount of attention and it really showed me the value of staying topical.

@dudeglove: Yeah gaining voice-over experience has really helped my videos a ton. I stammer much less, use less filler, and there is definitely more energy in my voice now. I honestly wish I could re-do some of my early videos and replace them without anyone knowing. I used up some of my favorite topics when I had terrible audio settings and terrible execution. But with the way YouTube works I would lose my views and my current position and it seems like showing up highly in a search is as important as quality in terms of what gets you views.

Speaking of Ryckert's lies, as someone who works a full-time job, has a long-term relationship, and actually did work in college I cannot fathom taking his path into the industry. Half-assing a day job at McDonalds and not going to classes in college in order to churn out reviews for no money just does not sound like good life advice. I can't even see how that would work in the current climate. But then again Dan gives out a lot of poor life advice (Check out Danswers! Coming soon!). However, Dan's stories have taught me one thing: asking for opportunities is more than half the battle.

@slag: Hey duder! Thanks for all of your loyal readership.. You are one of the people who I can always count on for a good conversation and some feedback and I really appreciate it.

When it comes to feedback I just wish there was an upvote or like system of some kind on GB. There have been a few blogs that I've spent days on only to see them go away without drawing any comment attention. I was going to write a bunch on Lost Odyssey, but no one responded to my first crack at it so I dropped the series. I wish there was some way to keep blogs around beyond comments because some blogs are just hard to comment on and people just don't always have time to write well-reasoned responses to very long posts. I also wish forums and blogs didn't compete for space on the front page of the forum tab. Getting pushed out of the front page is basically night-night for a community blog on GB and getting pushed out by spammers or photo edit threads sucks.

I think South Park's 2D levels definitely play into what makes that game so snappy. Each screen is relatively small and you can traverse the whole map very quickly with fast travel and your run speed. I think the option to win fights without fighting is really what speeds the game up the most though.

I also noticed that I can play text based games much faster than games with VO. Thanks reading speed! Speaking of Suikoden, I bought Suikoden 1 and 2 and I'm looking into doing some video stuff with those games in the not too distant future...

@majormitch: Thanks! I can definitely see the low-hanging fruit articles on espn every morning. At least two or three writers need to write some hot take with little to no substance on every single topic. Its gotten so bad that I don't read any espn football analysis at all. With tennis I can imagine it being even worse considering how few dominant players there are at any given time. If half of the articles being written have to focus on like 5 or 6 men and women for years at a time I would think the repetition would be miserable. When it comes to my stuff, it always makes me a little sad when I get a new comment from a person who clearly didn't read my arguments at all and instead just zeroed in on the game I'm talking about. With the way blogs get bumped on this site all comments are invaluable, but it still makes me wish I had something more to say to keep the conversation going. I love engaging with commenters and I know a bunch of people who repeatedly show up in the comments have great points that I haven't considered.

Avatar image for mento
Mento

4958

Forum Posts

551063

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 39

User Lists: 212

#9 Mento  Moderator

Kudos for sticking with it, aren't too many of us weekly bloggers left around here. Of course, just trying to find something to write about every week can be a bit daunting in of itself.

I ought to try my hand at more video production content as well, since you mentioned it. It's a very sensible thing you're doing, branching into both video and written articles. GB wouldn't be where it is today if they hadn't seen the writing (well, videos) on the wall before everyone else in the professional games journo biz.

Still, I'd like to think there's still niches out there for the heavy written stuff, especially for busy folk who can read an article far quicker than they watch a whole video. (Hmm, maybe I could split the difference with some annotated video LPs? Might have to store that idea away for later. I imagine getting the timing right with those would be a real pain.)

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#10 thatpinguino  Staff

@mento: Video production was a godsend for me. Making videos with substance takes me a few hours of attempts and recording, but that lets me recycle ideas that I've written before in a way that people might appreciate more. I love explaining the subtle things that make games great and having video is super helpful for that. I don't think I could keep up me weekly output without video or some kind of writing that is out of my wheelhouse.

My blog on where game criticism is going and Dan's hiring definitely made me want to start some video production of my own. I've seen too many strong writers lose jobs to people with strong camera work to not invest in strengthening my video chops. Also YouTube is a potential way into the industry all by itself so making videos just ups my odds of getting paid to do game stuff.

I think there are niches for heavily written stuff, but you need to find a publication that values that writing enough to support you if your numbers are not high. A place with subscriptions or a personal patreon might be a better business model than the traditional view/hit based model for someone who is trying to go for quality over popularity and ease of consumption. I love reading your work and I hope you keep it up!

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#11 thatpinguino  Staff

@dudeglove: Do you have any preferred sources of vocal warm-up routines? I've watched Anchorman, but I assume those warm-ups aren't industry standard.

Avatar image for descends
Descends

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Keep up the written work! I definitely prefer reading things because it lets me consume things at my own pace, whether that is faster or sometimes even slower. I don't think I have ever played an RPG without completely ignoring all VO outside of cutscenes; between Diablo 2 and Path of Exile, I have probably played through close to 100 times and NEVER read any of the story because the text scrolls as slow as the VO.

I haven't checked in for all your work but the things I read from you the most are the longer written pieces. It's really interesting to see what makes certain games special for other people.

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#14 thatpinguino  Staff

@dudeglove: Thanks for the warm-up ideas! My setup is a desk with a Blue Yeti mic on its packed in stand with a pop screen attached to a mic stand. I have been plugging in my headphones to my computer, but I'll give plugging it in to the mic a try! I could see how hearing my own voice could be helpful. I also record everything in one long take and up until a few videos ago I played and recorded simultaneously and I think it shows. The few times when I had a co-host really highlighted why GB has the format it does and why Quick Look Solos and Bombasticas have mostly vanished from the site: those are way harder than having someone to riff off of.

@descends: I don't plan to stop writing any time soon so no worries there!

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#15  Edited By thatpinguino  Staff

Its officially one year since I started this writing every week thing! Woot! Thanks again to everyone who has helped me along the way. I'm drivin this thing till the wheels come off.

No Caption Provided
Avatar image for hellerphant
hellerphant

312

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 1

Hey Duder, great post. I'll admit I haven't read any of your stuff outside of the latest Nintendo article, but to hear that you have been pushing content out consistently and hitting your goals. That is often the hardest part to fulfill when you are starting out.

I was the PC editor of an online outlet for 3 years, and I couldn't agree more in terns of frivolous content being more popular than aetixulated, researched pieces.

For instance, one month I published a skill tree guide for Dead Island. It received 150,000+ views in two days. A top ten list of the hottest indie games got 50,000. An in-depth interview and preview of Hotline Miami, well ahead of release garnered only 3,200. It is disheartening, but it seems to be how most of the internet operates.

In terms of getting those well thought out pieces published, print mags have been my bread and butter. Game Informer AU were more than open to pieces that online outlets weren't. Problem is print media is on the way out, but more often than not they pay decent rates compared to online.

Anyway I'll be following your work in the future, and I look forward to reading your weekly articles! I might start posting some of my pieces here as blogs now too - you have inspired me!

Avatar image for thatpinguino
thatpinguino

2988

Forum Posts

602

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#17  Edited By thatpinguino  Staff

@hellerphant: Those viewership stats are deeply depressing. Someone needs to find a way to monetize length of views or depth of engagement because pumping out disposable stuff really does the writers and the readers a disservice.

I would think about submitting a column to a print magazine if there was one I could contribute to. But alas, all of the gaming print magazines are either gone or owned by Gamestop.

Thanks for reading! You should join in on the GB blogging community. The site can always use more blogs.