Who here wants to write about games for a living?

 
I'm currently a full time student at uni in England but i write about video games for my uni website and newspaper (going to try and be the games editor over the next couple of months), i don't quite know what i want to do once i have completed my course (an accounting and finance based degree) but i always have my eye of games writing jobs.
 
Anyway, i'm just curious how many people would like to write about games and how many people will try and do it for a living. Thoughts?

I used to, but now I don't.

*raises hand* I guess we're competing. Not like that means anything; from what I've seen, a lot of people want to write about video games.

I do for two small sites but I'd love to eventually get paid to do so. That of course is second to actually making them.

I'm a journalism major, but I really don't see a whole lot of opportunities to get into "gaming journalism."  No reputable gaming website/magazine/what have you is going to hire someone fresh out of getting their degree with no prior experience.  I'd like to hear from one of the guys about how they broke into the business.  
 
I also think that a lot of people have a skewed view of what journalism in general implies. 

I'll like to since I do enjoy writing. It's quite hard to get into that line of work though isn't it? I wouldn't really know but such opportunities are rare in Ireland when it concerns videogames. We've got a good IT/Software industry here but not so much videogames development. Though I do know the Havok Physics engine was developed in Trinity College Dublin.

" I'm a journalism major, but I really don't see a whole lot of opportunities to get into "gaming journalism."  No reputable gaming website/magazine/what have you is going to hire someone fresh out of getting their degree with no prior experience.  I'd like to here from one of the guys about how they broke into the business.    I also think that a lot of people have a skewed view of what journalism in general implies.  "

" @kmdrkul said:

" I'm a journalism major, but I really don't see a whole lot of opportunities to get into "gaming journalism."  No reputable gaming website/magazine/what have you is going to hire someone fresh out of getting their degree with no prior experience.  I'd like to here from one of the guys about how they broke into the business.    I also think that a lot of people have a skewed view of what journalism in general implies.  "

Last year IGN was hiring and they required two years experience from another publication big or small. You could easily get in on an up and coming site to get the experience that's what I'm doing. I also asked Kevin VanOrd from Gamespot how he got his spot and he said he was writing for a small site and was simply offered a position on Gamespot so if you are good the big sites will find you "

I would love to.

maybe, i don't really want to write. it's not for me i don't think. i do somehow want to get into the game industry, maybe draw characters or something. i don't think i would want to play a game for a deadline then write about my experience in a deadline. 
 
it sounds kind of fun to do but just wait until u have to write on a horrible game. i would assume that u would have to get noticed by the company. it would kind of be hard to get into the big leagues as they usually want experience already.

It'd be nice, but I don't think it's something I'm going to pursue. 

No thanks. I tried that once and it's not as glamorous or fun as you'd think it to be. It's extremely stressful and doesn't pay the bills. Actually, writing in general doesn't pay the bills 99% of the time. Stick with accounting and finance that's a much smarter thing to be in. There's good money in accounting and finance.

if you want to pay me to play video games for a living...i wont refuse

I'd prefer to write for video games, myself.

I would hate the job

Don't look funny at Bobo... Bobo doesn't like that.

I would like to, but would more like to actually write the games.  That's what I'm working on right now in school, writing for games and/or game production eventually.

I don't think I would want to.  I have no idea what my future profession is going to be, but it seems working in the video game press business might not be as awesome as some people think.
 
Edit: But honestly, Giant Bomb may be an exception to that because of their unconventional approach to video game coverage and their small crew.

" I'd prefer to write for video games, myself. "

Looking to go to a school for journalism. I'd love to write about games, but its more of a dream job than a "that's my plan" job.

I'm trying (And failing). Currently a contributor at beefjack.com.
 
Ha! See! I wasn't trying to plug the site I write for because I didn't include a hyperlink

If somebody will pay me for writing dumb posts on games forums, great! 
 
I can't see it happening, though.

Actually I want to make games

I write a lot of user reviews, but don't wanna be a video game journalist. 
 
I wanna make games.

" @finmon: I find it hilarious that Modern Warfare 2 was nominated for best writing. "

I'd be interested in writing but I'd rather get into the development side

I want to write about games and make games, but the deeper I get in to making games the harder it is and more discouraged I become - so I'd be happy with just writing about them. 
 
I actually already do write about games, over here. I also do video reviews, too - I write, voice, record, and edit everything myself. Things can only go up for me from here.

I'd actually want to write games for a living--and get paid for it. I'm currently a news/review writer for a small site, but I hope I get to write gaming articles and have a good salary for it as well. But it's not that not getting paid is a bad thing. Having this "job" is okay with me, because I like writing about games. I love talking about them, I love to write about them. Generally, that's good enough for me.
 
The only downside of it is just the existence of deadlines and such. I like having a flexible schedule and not really worry about those kinds of things. I'm also still trying to get used to writing, and still have a long way to go. Doing that for a small site for now helps me practice the craft I guess.

Maybe you guys who are writing for sites and blogs could post links?

I would like to write about games I enjoy, but as a professional reviewer you would need to play all sorts of games even the down right terrible ones. In the last 12 months Jeff has had to play Darkest of Days, Rogue Warrior and FUEL. I mean seriously, I would pay not to play those games.

I'd love to. I may have a freelance gig writing reviews for a small site ( noobfeed.com) that was offered to me by said site's staff, but I'm not getting paid for it. So I figure it could at least help land me a job somewhere.

I either want to write about games or develop them, I have yet to decide.

wouldn't want to write about games, im aiming for concept art 

I would love to write about them for a living, but I have almost accepted the fact that that might become more of a hobby than anything else. Once I upgrade my desktop I plan to start video reviews and such, but it would only be because I want to talk about games. Hey! That is why I am on the forums here. Perfect.

 
It's really interesting reading everyones responses, i think i would also be happy writing as a hobby of some sort. I think the scariest thing about wanting to write is the thousands of small gaming sites out there, it's scary but at the same time great to see people giving it a go. It's pretty nice having newspaper clippings and print-outs of my work that i can keep away somewhere; i'll give writing in general and writing about games a shot, at least with work experience. Seems like there is a future writing army hidden away in these forums if i were to add another gaming site to the sea currently swaying in the internet!  
 
I'm off to bed, probably, good luck to everyones crazy game orientated job goals.

I'm going to college for journalism and writing, but I have no real intention of getting into game journalism.

I'm thinking about become a video game journalist.

I'm currently in college for an English degree which I hope I might one day be able to apply toward finding a job within the enthusiast press.  These days "writing about video games" is hardly journalism.  From podcasting, to video reviews, to the Quick Looks that Giant Bomb does here, there are plenty of ways to find one's self working within the video game press. 
 
So long as you keep applying yourself toward reaching that goal, it'll happen.  You just need to keep in mind that it's a difficult field to get into, though not quite as arduous as you could be lead to believe.  Remember that it's unlikely to happen right out of high school, or college, or whatever.  Make sure you're willing to do other things, but at the same time never deviate from that defined goal. 
  
And there really isn't as much competition out there as you think there is.  Sure, there's far more demand for a job in this field than there is supply, but at the same time there are an over-abundant number of people striving toward a career in games journalism that really just aren't good writers.  I couldn't count on the combined appendages of myself and my current three college roommates the number of inquiring forum posts I've seen related to this that are written in broken English. 

I'm actually pursuing a career as a video game programmer but being a video games journalist does seem an extremely appealing idea.

One thing I left out is that location is a big stone wall to climb over in terms of setting out on this particular career path.  You're not going to be writing about games from Ohio or Michigan or New Jersey.  You need to get over to the Bay Area, and to some limited degree, New York City.  Even if you're willing to relocate upon landing the job, most businesses and publications are going to overlook your resume and writing samples in favor of someone immediately local. 
 
Also, not to hijack the thread or attempt to stroke myself here -- although that would appear to be exactly what it is that I'm doing -- if the aspiring games writers here could have a look at my user reviews here on the site and offer me either compliments or criticism, that'd be excellent.  I'd be more than happy to return the favor.