Writing for GR: 10/10-10/16

I came home like some kind of digital-plastic Santa Claus last Friday. I got the assignment for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and a short write-up about the Level Up storage tower. Warriors of Rock came with a guitar too. Frankly, it was difficult walking to the train and then riding home with these two big boxes. I know I got some looks, but such is the life. I guess I can't complain too much. How many people would readily stand up and take my position away from me?

Anyways, needless to say I was exhausted last weekend and it's taken me this long to write a wrap-up post. Better late than never. My Playstation Move reviews are still being processed, but until then, check out my review of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

REVIEWS

Front Mission Evolved

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

MANIFESTO

Windows Phone 7 Devices Land in November

What's Wrong with Metacritic?

EA Shares Fall 6% After MoH Reviews

Black Ops Uses the Butt of an AK47

Losing $15,000 On An MMO?

Seeing Past Shortcomings in Lords of Shadow

Native Netflix Hits PS3 Oct. 18

Charitable NES Signed By Duke Nukem

The Office: Blake's Casual Friday

GR Release Round-Up

Writing for GR: 10/03-10/09

I wrote up my first paid preview for GR this week, and although I'm not a huge fan of skateboarding games anymore, Shaun White Skateboarding got a positive outlook. I also finished up Front Mission Evolved and wrote my review for that. It'll be posted next week.

More importantly, I'm on the Playstation Move, Sports Champions, Start the Party, and Eye Pet reviews. Altogether that's a hefty bit of writing work, but it's been coming to me easily so far. I'll be sure to include those in the round up as soon as they're published. This coming week? I'm all about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Until then, check out my week of manifestos.

PREVIEWS

Shaun White Skateboarding

MANIFESTO

Obama Boomshakalaka

Watch This Medal of Honor Ad Under the Influence

Vanquish Trailers Get Better and Better

Red Dead Redemption Straps Guns to Nuns

Video Games Can Be Work Too

Fox News Picks Palin Over Obama in NBA Jam

I Think This Is Stupid

Post Revolution: DJ Hero

Just Caust 2 Stunt Contest Won

Alliance of Valiant Arms Launches Lockdown

Writing for GR: 09/26-10/02

The first of my Game Revolution weekly round-ups sees my first paid review and a round-up specifically tailored for Game Revolution. It's kind of like how Neo was plugged into the second Matrix.

*Head 'asplode*

REVIEWS

Red Dead Redemption: Legends and Killers

Dead Rising 2

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene

MANIFESTO

Mario Puts On A Show In MLS Seats During Match

Peter Moore An NBA Elite 11 Delay On His Forearm

Claptrap the Revolutionary

3DS Wants To Make Your Eyes Bleed With Old Games Too

Post Revolution: Mass Effect

3DS Details Get A-More Specific In This Post

Xbox Live Dashboard Update Preview In Picutres

Black Ops Lets You Etch Dirty Words Into Your Gun

Voice Chat Catches Criminals

Revolutionary Round-Up

Holy Crap I've Been Gone A Long Time, Here's a GR Manifesto Recap

Just like the title says, here are all the Manifesto posts I've written and have yet to plug on PLAY READ WRITE.

Bumper Stickers Worthy Of A Gamer's Rear End

RB3's Keyboard Gives Me The Power Of Love

So Tired...

Firefall Goes Free-To-Play

Tron Bonne Added To MvC 3 Roster

GR Unboxes Halo: Reach

PAX Prime 2010 Round Up

Celebrate Mario's Birthday In Style

GR Plays Halo: Reach Together!

Tester Season 2 Cast Announced

Dead Space 2 Trailer Gives Me The Creeps

You Won't Be Alone In New Vegas

LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Teabagging

APB Gets Caught, Gets Death Sentence

Friends From Afar Doesn't Seem Too Friendly

Liars and Cheats Out On The 21st

Even More TGS 2010 Screenshots

Human Revolution TGS Trailer Is Awesome

Enslaved and New Vegas Dev Diaries, Sneak A Peek

Wesker And Spider-Man Join MvC3

DJ Hero 2's Full Setlist Revealed

GTA IV Always Needed A Gravity Gun

Post Revolution: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Reeeeacch Racer!

LIVE Update Preview Open

Saxton Hale Demolishes the Red Team

Earn Microsoft Points While You Sleep... I Mean Search

GR Playing Liars and Cheats This Weekend, Double XP

Mega Man 8-bit Deathmatch, Bring It On Snake Man!

Phew! I think I'll spare any readers I have left of the daily posts that only contain links to the Manifesto in them. Weekly updates will fit much better. If you're out there and you'd like to contribute to PLAY READ WRITE and help keep it up to date, drop me a line and I'll send you an invite to post on this blog!

Someone's got a job at GR

I've been interning at Game Revolution since November of last year.  I've frequently referenced my work over there and linked to my reviews and daily manifesto posts.  It's been a lot of fun and I really enjoy the work, but it remained a labor of love.

Sure, I got games for free and, if I chose to, was able to sell them off for some funding, but I wasn't exactly paid for my writing.  As a result, PLAY READ WRITE saw a fair amount of my original content.  I was never really sure what I should post on the site.  What was worthy?  What wasn't?

My editor Duke e-mailed me the other day and now my work at Game Revolution has turned into a paying gig!  I won't say what I'm getting paid (it isn't much), but it's still nice to hear my writing is worth paying for from someone who would know.

I'll be posting 2 or 3 items a daily to the Daily Manifesto blog on GR's homepage.  You can read my writing there directly, or you can keep it tuned to PLAY READ WRITE.  I'm going to start posting links directly to the Manifesto posts I write, right here on my blog.  Feel free to click on through, or just comment right here on PRW.

Don't worry, original content will still be posted to PLAY READ WRITE, as well as reviews I'm not doing on assignment, or items of interest and thought that make more sense here.

Gamestop has a 2 For 1 Deal Right Now...

And I wrote something up on Game Revolution about it.  Click the link here: http://www.gamerevolution.com/manifesto/gamestops-2-for-1-deal-1453

I gotta say, this is a small post for a reason.  Tomorrow will see several updates, one significant in terms of my writing career.  Stay tuned.

Writing for Game Revolution

Today, I'm heading into the Game Revolution office. I hate to say it, but the work I've been doing for them (not too mention the amount of time I've been spending reviewing games), has really monopolized what I do. When I have time to enjoy games, I just want to play Red Dead Redemption, or any number of the amazing games that have been released in the past month or so. My inbox is stuffed to the brim with E3 press releases and trailers, so I'm actually kind of surprised I've managed to snake this amount of time and update PLAY READ WRITE!

While I've done little writing for PLAY READ WRITE in the past month (and a half), I've written several things for Game Revolution. Here's a quick recap of all the work I've done for them:

REVIEWS

• Green Day: Rock Band: This standalone Rock Band title further proves that Guitar Hero has failed where Rock Band excels. Unfortunately, it didn't score any points for the band contained on the disc.
• Backbreaker: This football game did some interesting things in its attempt at dethroning (or at least making a decent sale's pitch towards) Madden. I was inclined to find some entertainment in Backbreaker, but ultimately, the things it did differently were just kind of wrong.
• Split/Second: I happily traded a reviewing assignment of Skate 3 for Split/Second. The title received high marks, and I felt that it did new things in racing and a sequel would do those innovations justice. It has found a place in my collection.
• Samurai Shodown Sen: At first I was excited about Samurai Shodown Sen, but I was unfortunately mistaken when I thought that it would be a 2D rebirth title. While I'm sure the game will find its place among fighting aficionados, there was no room for regular Joes like me.
• How to Train Your Dragon: I played the hell out of this title, and eventually got 1000/1000 Achievement points. This might have actually been the game's downfall. The threadbare mechanics and plot served to undermine what was actually an interesting turn on the franchise's video game entry. Needless to say, it received low marks.
• Resonance of Fate: I really wanted to like Resonance of Fate, maybe even love. I was looking for an RPG, but Resonance of Fate was too steeped in the old ways of JRPGs to really hold my attention. Even after finishing my review, I was fairly motivated to play the game and get more achievements, but I never got around to it and quickly sold the title to pay for Red Dead Redemption. I don't really regret that decision these days.

MANIFESTO POSTS

• Backlog Summers No More: With the release of Red Dead Redemption, Split/Second, and Alan Wake all in the same week in May, I realized I'd have little time for some older games I've still been trying to play through (again).
• Steam For Mac Off To A Buggy Start: The launch of Steam for the Mac was a little buggy, and the long unabated waiting period certainly made me all the more frustrated for it.
• That New Game Smell!: My excitement for playing Split/Second and Red Dead Redemption knew no bounds. I pondered about what I would do when I first cracked the cellophane on those titles.

Where have I been?

While there may not be too many readers to apologize to, I should at least apologize to PLAY READ WRITE itself. I obviously haven't been around for quite some time. My gamerscore is (a lot) bigger, I've written several reviews for Game Revolution (some high profile, some not), I've effectively ended my involvement with theiphoneappreview.com, and I've been playing a ton of games, some of which I'd really like to write a PLAY READ WRITE review of.

Can you blame me for being so busy? I'll admit a slight penchant for excuses, but some, like finishing the semester are completely valid. For a while, I was so focused on posting long diatribes that lasted for half an hour. I think I might have killed it for myself.

Over the next few months, I'd like to build a slight rhythm and post frequently in shorter lengths. Let's see how successful I can be. If only I got achievements for blogging....

Current Workspace

Long time readers of PLAY READ WRITE will remember my old workspace back when I was living at home. That was about 9 months ago now, and within that period of time, I've successfully moved out of my parents house and am now successfully cohabitating with my girlfriend Jenna! Achievement unlocked indeed!

I credit this successful living together situation with the fact that Jenna has been so patient with me and the amount of video game related crap I've brought into this small apartment of ours. I try to keep it neat and tidy, but we gamers cannot deny our true nature as lazy messy beings who like to spread wires and boxes everywhere. Like I said, Jenna has been very patient.

While my previous workspace had me sitting at a desk to operate my computer or play games or what have you, this current set up has more entertainment centric properties. Of course, it also takes up a lot more room too.

My TV is set atop Jenna's coffee table and classic suitcase. Her external hard drive also seats my Gundam Zaku MG model. Obviously my computer sits in front of that and my Xbox 360 is to the right. All of my games are to right of the 360 with Nintendo 64 games in the ziplock and Xbox 360, Nintendo Gamecube and DS games in the Mirror's Edge preorder bonus messenger bag. Sometimes I think it's pretty impossible to squeeze as many games as I do in that bag, but every time I clean everything up it fits as many games as I need.

The Nintendo 64 is underneath the coffee table on top of Jenna's printer and the Gamecube is to the left of that. While my set up is still tightly bound together in a tangle of wires, I'd like to add to it or expand it at some point and have shelves for games on display, and possibly a tower computer or an iMac, and a PS3 or a Wii.

Lately it's gotten a little dusty underneath the coffee table and I'm wondering how I can keep the older consoles from sitting under that layer of air-dirt and possible malfunctioning as a result of that. Does anyone have any ideas? How do you keep your gaming collection in pristine order?