• 26Oct 12

  Defining the Editorial

  Disclaimer: This is not the greatest editorial in the world. In fact, it's not even a tribute (or an editorial). This is, however, a guide to writing great editorials while increasing your chances of making the front page. In the words of William H. Bonney from Young Guns 2: I'll make you famous.

  What an Editorial is Not:

  An editorial, by definition, is an opinion piece that extends beyond the opinion of a game, a movie, an object, or the trivial and mundane. An editorial is not an update of your opinion of a certain title, or your opinion of a title after finishing it. An editorial does not ramble randomly. An editorial does not scratch the surface. An editorial is not coverage from a show or your opinion regarding an event. An editorial is never a status update!

  Go it? Good. Now for something constructive.

  What an Editorial Is:

  An editorial is an opinion piece that covers current topics, subjects, arguments and industry trends. A rant about Resident Evil 6 earing a 4.5 review is not an editorial--but writing about modern reviewer's bias towards first parties games is. See the difference? I hope so.

  Writing a Great Editorial:

  An editorial should be more than just an opinion, even if it's directed towards a larger theme like nudity in games or the rise of mature titles: A great editorial backs its argument with facts, cited when necessary, and is knowledgeable about both sides of an issue. A great editorial includes as many of the 5 w's when necessary (who, what, when, where, and why) but expands beyond stereotypical writing and includes the why it's important to readers and the why they should care. Naturally, it's better to show in writing than it is to tell with words, and that's just as applicable with editorial writing.

  The best editorials also cover issues currently trending. This means being aware of the world around you and the workings of the industry and its audience. It takes time, it takes being knowledgeable about a broad spectrum of topics, and it means taking a little heat from your readers from time to time. You can't write to please everyone! Besides, if all gamer's had educated opinions, Call of Duty as a franchise wouldn't have existed after the second installment of Modern Warfare 2. See what I did there? Now, if I was writing an editorial I'd back that opinion with fact. Oh, and did I mention a great editorial invites conversation? Well, there you go.

  Finally, the greatest secret to becoming a good writer--be it with blogging, writing editorials, or just writing assignments for class--is simple: Read often, write often. It takes practice, and even professionals have off days. Push yourself, but be forgiving if you don't succeed right away. And don't think I'm joking about reading either! Learn from the masters! Better men and women have gone on before you and you'd be a fool to not learn from their example. Besides, if you don't enjoy reading you might as well give up the craft of writing right now. That's right, turn that TV on and drift back into insignificance. The two go hand in hand.

  Well, I hope that helps. Anyone interested in having their work featured on the front page should check out writing for Chalk Talk first. Many of us got our start there and the topics are always interesting. Also, add me as a friend or drop me a line if you need a little help. I've been fortunate enough over the years to receive a lot of help from others so I'm more than willing to return the favor to anyone interested in improving their writing.

  ~Saigo Out~

  • Posted Oct 26, 2012 1:07 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 4Sep 12

  A Gamer's Guide to Back to School

  Whether school started weeks ago or haunts your future like a blind date, your charming and oddly irresistible friend -Saigo- has your best interests in heart. In fact, his "Back to School" guide (with the gamer in mind) is so ripe with riveting wisdom and essential insight that you'd be a fool to forsake it! If education, regardless of your grade level or aspiration, is still on your horizon, then sit back, relax, and enjoy this outpouring of knowledge! But if you've somehow managed to crawl through your own academia then move along...and move along quickly! You free people with your jobs and careers and money aren't welcomed here! And be quiet! People are studying!

  Anyhow, I've written five steps to make the transition from summer slumber to fall frenzy as easy as possible and I hope it helps. I've just begun my senior year as a journalism major and after changing the direction of my career from law (as in lawyer), to forensics (CSI is a lie), to English (gag me), and finally to journalism (yay!)...I think I've figured this school thing out. So, without further ado, here are the 5 steps to making education a better experience, from a gamer, to a gamer, and I sincerely hope they help.

  Step 1: Join a Club--Make new Friends

  Almost every school you'll attend will have fun and active clubs of all shapes and sizes to join, add to your post-academic résumé, and have a little fun with throughout the year. Besides, clubs are a great way to relax, branch out a little, and even learn new skills as you meet others with similar interests and hobbies. Convenient, isn't it? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking clubs like the Chess club (unless Chess is your thing), I mean clubs like anime clubs, video game clubs, and even cuddle clubs (yes my school has one and no I've never found the need to go). Honestly, check out your local campus's Clubs and Organizations office and they'll have you on your way in no time...or just Google clubs and organizations at your school and you'll be surprised at the options you have.

  Nothing too interesting? Create your own! A lot of schools offer scholarship funding to successful clubs and will even offer grant money if you can sell the organization's board on the idea. Now get to it!

  Step 2: Meet with an Academic Counselor and Evaluate your Goals

  The best advice I can give you is to talk with an academic advisor, regardless of your current grade level, as quickly as possible. Explain your dreams, your ambitions, and what you want college to be. They'll set out the classes you'll need, the requirements of your program, and even correct your major depending on your interests and priorities. Take video game writing for example. Maybe your university has a game development program that minors in game writing--or maybe it doesn't and a degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing is your best bet to break into the field. Either way, and even if you think you know what you're doing, meeting with an academic advisor could take months, if not years, off the time it takes for you to finish your degree and get on with whatever career your heart desires.

  Step 3: Stay in Touch with Old Friends

  Just because you've moved, found new friends, and are dating a significant other, it doesn't give you an excuse to forget your roots or forget your old friends. Besides, with social services like Facebook, Twitter, Xbox LIVE and the Ps3 network, chatting and gaming with your old mates is still as rewarding as it was when they lived down the street. After all, a new beginning doesn't have to be an old end. Expand your world! Don't just move to the next phase of it.

  Step 4: Evaluate your Perspective

  Deciding on a career isn't an easy choice: You'll spend years of your life earning a degree to get a job you're stuck with for years afterwards. Is money a factor? Absolutely. It has to be to some degree or we'd all be doing volunteer work! But it shouldn't be the only factor in deciding a career because doing something you hate, regardless of how much you make, is only going to lead to a miserable life full of deathbed regrets. Life is just too short to be miserable for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week!

  Now some of you are lucky in the sense that you'll make good money at something you genuinely love doing, but for the rest of us it pays to take a step back and re-evaluate our perspective. Do you want to review games for a living? Great! Just don't expect to drive a Ferrari or to date a supermodel. You'll be playing games for a living but it's still work and I'm sure Carolyn Petit and Mr. VanOrd would both attest that reviewing games can be stressful, demanding, and often unrewarding when uneducated and biased prats are constantly complaining about scores because they differ from their opposing opinions. Remember the Zelda: Skyward Sword review? I don't want to shatter your dreams but taking a step back and re-evaluating your hopes is safer in school and a lot less painless than waiting for that backhand of cold hard facts we call real life. Just be honest with yourself--it'll save you a lot of heartache down the road.

  Step 5: Have Fun!

  Think about it this way: Every moment can either last the second it occurs in time--or it can last forever. Do you want your youthful memories to be full of digitalized the-princess-is-in-another-castle type adventures...or memories of real maidens (or princes if that's your fancy), epic conquests, and glorious tales of victory? Would you rather have the accomplishments of your life summed up by a pile of beaten game cases...or by something that actually matters?

  Now don't get me wrong, gaming is important to all of us, that's why we're here, but there's a time and place for it just like there's a time and place for socializing, studying, and sleeping. Even though you have more freedom to do what you want--you still have to be responsible--and this is coming from someone who had to plea with the bigwigs after getting my packing papers at the end of my first WoW induced semester. Perfect time to discover the game, right? But I'm saying this because I care, and I'm pleading with you because I've been there and was lucky enough to be given another chance. Just be smart about it and save yourself the heart attack and stress! Prioritize your responsibilities, and when you have time, game like every second counts...because it does.

  Well, that's my two cents...and since I started classes a week ago I've got homework to do and deadlines to make. Best wishes and good luck to all of you, or, in the words of Gandalf of Narnia, "May the force be ever in your favor."

  -Saigo- Out

  PS: Let me know if any of you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help out.

  • Posted Sep 4, 2012 9:33 am GMT
  • Category: General
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• 3Aug 12

  To Forgive and Forget

  I've never been the forgiving type: Cross me once and you won't get close enough to do it again. Maybe I have trust issues? Maybe I'm slightly more intelligent than I am kind? Or maybe I just don't care. Either way, I don't forgive--I dont forget--and I don't go passively into the night: If you've seen the color of my blood, I'll know the color of yours soon enough.

  Now dont get me wrong, there are exceptions, and I'm not the type to bring the pain for every childhood travesty or adolescent nightmare I've endured. Take family for example, you're kind of stuck with them right? And how can you stay mad at people as beautiful as you anyways!? Even cousins and extended family get a longer leash...but take my kindness for a weakness? You'll get hit twice as hard. It's the principle of the thing and I've got a reputation to keep, you understand, right?

  So what happens when a game developer breaks my trust? You guessed it: One and done. Peter Molyneux of "Fable" fame guaranteed a masterpiece with "Fable 2" and lost a customer for life. Activision / Treyarch promised a new "Call of Duty" game but lost my business when I opened another map pack. The masterminds behind "Metal Gear" had me salivating for Snake's story in "Sons of Liberty" but one frosty-haired emo later and I haven't played another Metal Gear game since.

  After all, it's one thing to create a mediocre product and let your customers judge its content, but another to promise the world and charge full price for a chunk of soil and a cup of water. Sure, you might get your 60 dollars today--but you'll never see a cent from me tomorrow. Simply put: If you want my business, don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.

  Of course there are exceptions with game developers too, there has to be, and I'm far more forgiving of a company who sincerely attempts to redeem itself with a stellar encore to compensate for a mundane opening act. Take "Mario 2" to "Mario 3" for example, or the transition of the second "Grand Theft Auto" to the third. Now I'm not saying that either prequel was bad, not many bad games get sequels after all, but the reinvention of both franchises solidified them as industry leaders and fans the world over were quick to forget about their less-than-ideal pasts.

  Another example of a less-than-perfect game series that earns a "forgiveness freebee" is the "Elder Scrolls" franchise. Bethesda, bless their nerdly hearts, couldn't manage a bug free release if the sanctity of their sacred virginity depended on it. People expect it, just like they expect Bethesda to deliver a dynamic and engrossing experience on the grand scale, and year in and year out they deliver. Besides, Bethesda does a fairly good job of patching and updating their products in a timely manner as compensation. Could it be better? Sure. But most people let it slide because their games are often so superior, even in a fundamentally broken state, than the majority of the current titles and name-brand-milk-jobs on the market today.

  In truth, Bethesda is like that idiot friend we all have (unless you are that idiot friend) who has the best intentions in the world but cant do anything right without a few mishaps along the way. Sure they screw up and screw up often (Brink anyone?) but we appreciate them, admire their devotion to the craft, and acknowledge the good they do because, well, when they finally pull it off--they shoot the lights out. Putting their legal department aside, Bethesda is a developer who has earned its spot as an exception in the world of forgive and forget. As long as they continue to raise the bar with depth and gameplay, continue to update and improve their releases, and continue to keep the art and craft their primary focus in development: Bethesda will remain a developer whose flaws I can overlook.

  So what do you think? Any games / series that get the forgiveness go ahead that you wouldn't offer a similar title or franchise under the same circumstances? And do you think we have a tendency to treat the games we care about a little harsher than those of just another standard release?

  I'd love to hear your opinions.

  ~Saigo Out~

  • Posted Aug 3, 2012 6:31 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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