A Sad Day For Gamers Everywhere
What do you know, more problems. At least they're not too debilitating this time around.
Over this past weekend, I did a variety of things. First, for those of you who have no idea how I spend my spare time, I have a second job which allows me to work from home. I lift furniture and the like starting at five in the morning at World Market for my day job, but when I go home, I write for an internet video game magazine. The Gamehelper site that you see linked is where you can find all of my work. As always, there's a little bit of a story with that.
I consider Gamehelper to be one of the few good things I got out of San Francisco, the other being a few really good friends (one of which was a past roomy and also writes for Gamehelper). I call it my second job because I treat it that way, even though it's completely freelance at the moment. It's really too bad that my boss, who's a really good guy, can't toss his writers or editors any cash for their efforts. If he could start paying me tomorrow, he would make a career man out of me.
My boss and I actually met during a local vid game press conference while I was attending school in San Francisco. He said he was looking for help, and I signed up. I've never had this much fun at a job since. Here's a quick rundown of how the whole process of being a member of the press works for those of a curious mind.
Usually every one or two months, we receive an email that lists all of the games that we (for the most part) have access to for coverage. Looking at said list, and wiping away the drool, we input our names next to the games we would like to cover. Now sometimes you don't get everything you ask for, but this way he and the editors can get a feel for the writer's individual tastes.
Shipping the titles directly to your door (which feels like Christmas ALL year round), you're given a span of about five to ten days to write your article and send it to the editorial staff, whichever due date comes first. Remember when I said I actually called it work? That's because there is a particular format that you need to adhere to when writing your review, preview, etc., and it's pretty detailed for less than eight hundred words. For one, you can't just say a game is good or not, you need to back that up with examples from the game you've played. To break it down for you, an article also has to cover these basics...
There's the story, which is probably the most important of all, so the general public can know what the game is about. You'd be surprised how many consumers base their purchases on this factor alone. Then there's the areas of gameplay (controls and how well the system works), graphics, sound and overall value of the title in question. This can be focused on anything from a new feature or mechanic that hasn't been done before, or the meat and potatoes of an old technique used in amazing new ways.
So that's what I do, but let's backtrack to what happened over the weekend. I had the chance to write the article for the recent X-Men: The Official Game. Did I mention that you get to keep every game you cover? Yeah, I love that too. Even though it came out almost two weeks ago, I only received it this past Monday, and the third X-Men movie came out this past Friday. That left me about a three to four day time period to bust this thing out, which is the tightest of schedules when not going to a large event (like E3 which I've missed twice so far with being with Gamehelper...). It wasn't required by any means to get the article done by that time, but I buckled down and finished it early Thursday morning on my day off from lifting things. It was put up the same day the movie came out. I felt VERY accomplished. I went to go see the movie that very same night and was blown away in the process. Iceman finally covers himself in ice from head to toe, YES!
Now, if you look at the title of this post, you might have expected some sad news, yes? Well, before I was able to land my transfer (which I'm still amazed that it's gone so smoothly), I had to sell 98% of my video game collection - since the PSOne - all for the sake of having to eat. Did you wince? Good. I nearly cried. I won't go into how few games I have left, but I would not be lying to you if I said I only carry the bare bones nowadays.
That isn't it however. Perhaps a month or two ago, my computer decides that even after I spend a couple hundred on upgrades to keep in touch with the times, that it doesn't want to support PC games anymore. I spent a good week or more going back and forth with the tech support guys at NCsoft (the creators of Lineage II and the City of Heroes line), but nothing could be fixed. More sad.
I haven't even gotten to the icing on the cake. Mmm, icing... After seeing the new X-Men movie, my car breaks down. Yeah, which means that I don't have any transportation to bring my things to Seattle for the move. I only have a week and a half before I planned to leave, so what was I to do? Luckily, my landlady says that she'll hold onto my things for me until I get transportation to pick up the rest. This means that the only things I'll be taking with me, for a MOVE, are my clothes, some notebooks, my PSP (thankfully), and my bass (but no amp!). Needless to say I'll be roughing it for a while.
But the bus ticket is bought, and June 9th will be the night that I leave Sacramento, about eight hours after I finish my last day at work. I do start my day at five in the bloody morning. One of the kind ladies whom I work with at my day job is going to bring in a wheeled duffel bag for me to look at, since I don't even have anything to put my clothes in, short of a hamper. Yes, all the clothes I own when folded up can fit into a single hamper, so sue me.
On the bright side, everything seems to be working out so far, minus those few hurdles I had to cross. I'm looking to junk my car at a place called Pick n' Pull, and after calling for a price quote, they said that they'd buy it off me for $111 if I can bring it in. I hope it starts so I can do so, because the price drops to $86 if I need them to pick it up.
Also in other news, if you recall all of the projects I've been working on (the mask, the song and the like), expect the results to be found on deviantArt.com. I just signed up, thinking that after all this work is done, I just have to show it off. You can find me there, with the same avatar, with the name lastgenin. As of right now, I have two wallpapers up regarding the t-shirt I plan to make called Soulmate For No One. There will be blurbs on what exactly went through my mind as I create each individual piece, so if you want all the details on what I do, check it out.
My last post here had an original short story will be continued on deviantArt as well. So LiveJournal will be my thoughts and ramblings, and deviantArt will be my haven for finished work to share with the world. Don't forget that you can find links to my poetry and Gamehelper's site here as well, so both sites will be live and very active.
So I think that should be enough for now... Go on, get out of here.
Over this past weekend, I did a variety of things. First, for those of you who have no idea how I spend my spare time, I have a second job which allows me to work from home. I lift furniture and the like starting at five in the morning at World Market for my day job, but when I go home, I write for an internet video game magazine. The Gamehelper site that you see linked is where you can find all of my work. As always, there's a little bit of a story with that.
I consider Gamehelper to be one of the few good things I got out of San Francisco, the other being a few really good friends (one of which was a past roomy and also writes for Gamehelper). I call it my second job because I treat it that way, even though it's completely freelance at the moment. It's really too bad that my boss, who's a really good guy, can't toss his writers or editors any cash for their efforts. If he could start paying me tomorrow, he would make a career man out of me.
My boss and I actually met during a local vid game press conference while I was attending school in San Francisco. He said he was looking for help, and I signed up. I've never had this much fun at a job since. Here's a quick rundown of how the whole process of being a member of the press works for those of a curious mind.
Usually every one or two months, we receive an email that lists all of the games that we (for the most part) have access to for coverage. Looking at said list, and wiping away the drool, we input our names next to the games we would like to cover. Now sometimes you don't get everything you ask for, but this way he and the editors can get a feel for the writer's individual tastes.
Shipping the titles directly to your door (which feels like Christmas ALL year round), you're given a span of about five to ten days to write your article and send it to the editorial staff, whichever due date comes first. Remember when I said I actually called it work? That's because there is a particular format that you need to adhere to when writing your review, preview, etc., and it's pretty detailed for less than eight hundred words. For one, you can't just say a game is good or not, you need to back that up with examples from the game you've played. To break it down for you, an article also has to cover these basics...
There's the story, which is probably the most important of all, so the general public can know what the game is about. You'd be surprised how many consumers base their purchases on this factor alone. Then there's the areas of gameplay (controls and how well the system works), graphics, sound and overall value of the title in question. This can be focused on anything from a new feature or mechanic that hasn't been done before, or the meat and potatoes of an old technique used in amazing new ways.
So that's what I do, but let's backtrack to what happened over the weekend. I had the chance to write the article for the recent X-Men: The Official Game. Did I mention that you get to keep every game you cover? Yeah, I love that too. Even though it came out almost two weeks ago, I only received it this past Monday, and the third X-Men movie came out this past Friday. That left me about a three to four day time period to bust this thing out, which is the tightest of schedules when not going to a large event (like E3 which I've missed twice so far with being with Gamehelper...). It wasn't required by any means to get the article done by that time, but I buckled down and finished it early Thursday morning on my day off from lifting things. It was put up the same day the movie came out. I felt VERY accomplished. I went to go see the movie that very same night and was blown away in the process. Iceman finally covers himself in ice from head to toe, YES!
Now, if you look at the title of this post, you might have expected some sad news, yes? Well, before I was able to land my transfer (which I'm still amazed that it's gone so smoothly), I had to sell 98% of my video game collection - since the PSOne - all for the sake of having to eat. Did you wince? Good. I nearly cried. I won't go into how few games I have left, but I would not be lying to you if I said I only carry the bare bones nowadays.
That isn't it however. Perhaps a month or two ago, my computer decides that even after I spend a couple hundred on upgrades to keep in touch with the times, that it doesn't want to support PC games anymore. I spent a good week or more going back and forth with the tech support guys at NCsoft (the creators of Lineage II and the City of Heroes line), but nothing could be fixed. More sad.
I haven't even gotten to the icing on the cake. Mmm, icing... After seeing the new X-Men movie, my car breaks down. Yeah, which means that I don't have any transportation to bring my things to Seattle for the move. I only have a week and a half before I planned to leave, so what was I to do? Luckily, my landlady says that she'll hold onto my things for me until I get transportation to pick up the rest. This means that the only things I'll be taking with me, for a MOVE, are my clothes, some notebooks, my PSP (thankfully), and my bass (but no amp!). Needless to say I'll be roughing it for a while.
But the bus ticket is bought, and June 9th will be the night that I leave Sacramento, about eight hours after I finish my last day at work. I do start my day at five in the bloody morning. One of the kind ladies whom I work with at my day job is going to bring in a wheeled duffel bag for me to look at, since I don't even have anything to put my clothes in, short of a hamper. Yes, all the clothes I own when folded up can fit into a single hamper, so sue me.
On the bright side, everything seems to be working out so far, minus those few hurdles I had to cross. I'm looking to junk my car at a place called Pick n' Pull, and after calling for a price quote, they said that they'd buy it off me for $111 if I can bring it in. I hope it starts so I can do so, because the price drops to $86 if I need them to pick it up.
Also in other news, if you recall all of the projects I've been working on (the mask, the song and the like), expect the results to be found on deviantArt.com. I just signed up, thinking that after all this work is done, I just have to show it off. You can find me there, with the same avatar, with the name lastgenin. As of right now, I have two wallpapers up regarding the t-shirt I plan to make called Soulmate For No One. There will be blurbs on what exactly went through my mind as I create each individual piece, so if you want all the details on what I do, check it out.
My last post here had an original short story will be continued on deviantArt as well. So LiveJournal will be my thoughts and ramblings, and deviantArt will be my haven for finished work to share with the world. Don't forget that you can find links to my poetry and Gamehelper's site here as well, so both sites will be live and very active.
So I think that should be enough for now... Go on, get out of here.