If you have even the slightest interest in video games, odds arethose odds being 100 percentyou're already acquainted with the interactive entertainment industry's flavor of journalism, if only through its most prominent aspect, game reviews. You may not, however, know all the nuts and bolts behind those omnipotent out-of-10 scores branding every review. Gaming journalism exists for many of the same reasons as other forms of the practice. Consumers need advice (see Aliens: Colonial Marines for clarification), products need a standard, and information needs disseminating. The countless news articles, reviews, previews, interviews and videos that equally numerous gaming sites churn out primarily serve those goals, along with that whole "bettering the industry" thing. Those editorial and often blog-y bits fall closer to the human interest spectrumor perhaps gamer interestbut you get the point. So why do people make it all seem so complicated? Games journalism isn't that intricate an industry. Compared to other avenues, there are fewer numbers to work with (positively exhilarating financial reports notwithstanding), there's less red tape, and most importantly, there's more fun in the air. Games journalism is closer to automotive journalism than 5-o'-clock talk of murder and scandal; it's just a bunch of people reporting on games and the people who make them. The occasional studio closure, policy change or executive Twitter war is about the darkest things will get, but that doesn't mean the work is easygoing. With that in mind, let's take a look at 10 misconceptions many people have about the industry, and the truths lurking behind them.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
