Dan Amrich
Los Angeles, CA
Male, 41
I started reviewing videogames professionally in 1993, when Genesis and SNES roamed the earth. Over the next 15 years I worked for magazines and websites like GamePro, GamesRadar, Official Xbox Magazine, and World Of Warcraft Official Magazine, while freelancing for Wired, PC Gamer, and many others. In an attempt to guide the next generation of reviewers, I wrote and published Critical Path: How to Review Videogames For A Living in February. Ask away!
Sure, they try. I mean, it's in their best interest to be polite and accommodating and put you in a good frame of mine about their product. The trick is not to let it actually affect your decision. Giving me access to more information -- developer chats, deeper Q&As with the team -- often makes me like a game more than trinkets or trips because I understand more of what's going on behind the scenes for real. I understand the team's goals better and what they are trying to do with the game. T-shirts are nice and all, but if you want to impress me, give me knowledge and understanding instead. :) There is a line that can be crossed, and it's up to every writer not to cross it. For 15 years, I had no trouble seeing and respecting that line.
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Not just try -- it's required. It's irresponsible to review a game where co-op or multiplayer is an important element and not properly play those modes. For pre-release games that are not yet publicly available, the PR team will arrange for devs or the QA staff to play in those modes with you. If the game is publicly available, go online. Not having friends is not acceptable -- play with strangers, since that's what other people in your situation would have to do. There is no excuse and no reason why a reviewer could not play a game like L4D in single-player mode as well as co-op mode. Playing a game to its fullest before writing about it is the job. Accept the responsibility or don't accept the assignment.
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I do a lot of my gaming on 360 and iPad because I worked at OXM and it is most available in my free time, respectively, but I could just as easily be doing it on PS3 and 3DS. My playing a lot of 360 should not influence you in the slightest. I am platform agnostic and I have active disdain for the so-called console wars. As if we don't have enough divisive issues in the world, some brainiac decided that one machine dedicated to playing games had to be empirically better than another. Downright ridiculous. Play what makes you happy on whatever you can put your hands on. The important thing is that we're playing games and enjoying it.
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I'm not familiar with today's educational games. I have never reviewed them, and I do not have kids, as I mentioned above. :)
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Help Desk Technician
Are you required to report it if you find something suspicious or illegal on a client computer?
Aircraft Mechanic
Did you ever catch something critical right before a plane was about to take off?
Pharmacist
Have you ever given someone the wrong prescription?
Too late to ask this one. They already are.
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Yes, and burnout is a very real side effect of the job. I've worked with people who were so determined to cling to their dream job that they were unaware that they were grumpy and bitter about something they used to love -- when play becomes work, it's very easy to only focus on the negative sides of the work, like deadlines or office politics or technical issues. That can and does spill over into reviews if you let it -- and that can alienate readers and ruin your reputation. I took very few vacations at GamePro because I loved the work and there was always so much to do in a short amount of time; when I left I had banked a month of vacation time. I wish I'd taken it, because I went through a serious crisis of conscience while I was there, thinking "Is this it? Am I burned out? Can I still do this job and have my writing be worth something to other people?" And it did take a few weeks to realign my thinking; I was critical enough about my own performance and my own writing that I was able to see when I started to go off the track and self-correct. But yes, absolutely -- a combination of crushing deadlines and the inherent sameness of games within a genre (for instance, all FPSes are different, but they do all speak the same language) can make you bitter and jaded and very much in need of a vacation if not a career change. It's like eating candy all day every day -- sounds great when you're a kid, and when you get to try it, you love it at first...and then you realize it's just not healthy and you feel worse if it goes on for too long. You need to take it on moderation so you continue to love it.
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You're right, I did cover it in the book -- but I think games journalism simply evolved to incorporate more personal asides. NGJ can be very personal and powerful...but I think it's easier to make it personal and self-indulgent. To say something personal that also offers insight and a larger commentary is not as easy as it looks. I recommend getting a handle on OGJ first. Once you know the rules and why they are there, then you are better equipped to break those rules in a meaningful and evolutionary way.
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