Having been away for a few days and finally caught up with all this yesterday. Apart from Jeff Green and Shawn Elliot giving exceptional insights, what resonated with me most was Jim Sterling's excellent blog and more importantly the section about the sniffy attitude towards bloggers and enthusiast press that occurs at times.
I put myself firmly in the enthusiast category and have been writing reviews for over 12 years for different sites. That seems like a long time to write without having an actual job in the industry surely? Possibly, and I've been offered positions before and never taken them. Why? Because I don't feel part of the machine and when I see videos or listen to certain podcasts I know deep down that I have nothing in common with many of the so-called "faces" in the industry.
I just feel much more comfortable being in a position where I can just be honest about what I write and not beholden to an editor or a PR company leaning on me in any way, shape or form. I can't imagine what it must be like to be Geoff Keighley surrounded by all that junk food and beholden to bosses higher up the chain to promote all that tat. I've always considered him an ok kinda guy and I would love to hear the truth on how he feels about such promotions because he can't be terribly happy about it surely?
In relation to PR and how they react to negative reviews, the best reaction I think Console Arcade ever got was from the studio behind Dead Block. The site owner hated it (and his review pulled no punches) but the developers got in touch, saying they hoped we'd like their next game, which I actually did (Skydrift on XBLA/PSN) because it was *gasp* fun and enjoyable.
I'm happy to be where I am, maybe one day a position will come along and I could be part of something that allowed me the freedom I currently have within the industry? Probably not, but I still have my passion, my enthusiasm and that's fine by me.
I put myself firmly in the enthusiast category and have been writing reviews for over 12 years for different sites. That seems like a long time to write without having an actual job in the industry surely? Possibly, and I've been offered positions before and never taken them. Why? Because I don't feel part of the machine and when I see videos or listen to certain podcasts I know deep down that I have nothing in common with many of the so-called "faces" in the industry.
I just feel much more comfortable being in a position where I can just be honest about what I write and not beholden to an editor or a PR company leaning on me in any way, shape or form. I can't imagine what it must be like to be Geoff Keighley surrounded by all that junk food and beholden to bosses higher up the chain to promote all that tat. I've always considered him an ok kinda guy and I would love to hear the truth on how he feels about such promotions because he can't be terribly happy about it surely?
In relation to PR and how they react to negative reviews, the best reaction I think Console Arcade ever got was from the studio behind Dead Block. The site owner hated it (and his review pulled no punches) but the developers got in touch, saying they hoped we'd like their next game, which I actually did (Skydrift on XBLA/PSN) because it was *gasp* fun and enjoyable.
I'm happy to be where I am, maybe one day a position will come along and I could be part of something that allowed me the freedom I currently have within the industry? Probably not, but I still have my passion, my enthusiasm and that's fine by me.