Pragmagic

The impetus for this post/rant/tirade is this well-meaning advice-oriented post on G4TV called (appropriately enough!) How To Become A Games Journalist. First, the good sir Scimeca gives some good, less obvious advice. Things like “learn to network” and “learn to pitch”? Both things I don’t see mentioned often enough. But I see a few of these kinds of posts a year (though I am entirely too lazy to look for examples), and over the last few years, I’ve developed this knee-jerk response that I usually hold back. It goes like this: You will probably not get into the games press in any meaningful fashion, and you will almost certainly not make a living doing it. 

“But Arthur,” I hear you say, “you got in! Why would you say that? And why are you such an asshole?”

I’m an asshole genetically. I got it from my father, who probably got it from his father before him. Also, I have an opinion, and am OK with a) having it, b) expressing it, and c) know that it might turn out to be the wrong opinion, and d) am still ok with expressing it unapologetically anyway. Those things qualify me as an asshole. Anyway.

“But why would you say I can’t get into the games press in a meaningful way?”

There are lots of reasons. 

note: You’ll see me use the word (probably). These are blanket statements based on general probabilities. I don’t know you personally, in all likelihood. I can’t tell you personally if you absolutely won’t make it in the games press. They “you” I use here is an indefinite “you.” It’s non-specific. 

There ain’t much room.

I will just ballpark a couple of observations about the size of the games press in an attempt to grant you some perspective on this. These are factually correct, as far as I know.

1. There are more musicians who make their living having their music played on the radio and MTV than there are game “journalists”* making a living writing about video games in North America. 
2. There are more people playing professional football in North America than there are game “journalists” making a living writing about video games in North America.
3. There may even be more women playing professional basketball than there are game “journalists” making a living writing about video games in North America.** 

The short version: there’s not a lot of room in here. And it doesn’t seem like that’s changing. If anything, with organizers of events like E3 making it more difficult every year to get press credentials, it’s probably getting smaller every year. 

“But Arthur,” I hear you saying (you’re an interrupting motherfucker, you know that?), “new people break into the industry every year! I see them do it!” 

You’re right. They do. I did (which I’ll get to in a bit). But that’s because there’s a freakishly high attrition rate in the games press. In that regard, my comparison to the number of people playing sports professionally or performing on MTV/radio is even more apt - athletic careers are short. Pop music careers are short. The point is, people leave, which makes some room. 

Except when it doesn’t. Every time someone at an outlet leaves, someone, somewhere, is thinking “maybe we don’t need that head anymore – maybe our remaining staff can pick up their slack.” Maybe that person never says it out loud, or maybe they’re made to understand reason. But they are regularly heard, and it’s not uncommon for higher-ups to see the logic there.***

When that position is listed, there will be hundreds, maybe thousands of applications submitted.**** It is enormously difficult to stand out. And that job might actually be spoken for, more or less. And there are other reasons, such as…

You’re (probably) not a good writer. 

First, no. Not everyone working in the games press is a good writer. Many aren’t. There are reasons why they got in anyway, and I’ll cover some of those. But back to my point: you’re probably not a good writer. 

That’s right, I said it. That isn’t to say you’re terrible (though there’s a good chance you are, in fact, terrible). Maybe you paid attention in English in high school. Maybe you are one of the ever-dwindling number who learn how to properly string a sentence together. Maybe you even went to college and studied writing (man, what were you thinking)! Maybe you got good grades, maybe you got some pats on the back. I bet nobody ever told you something you wrote was bad before. 

That’s because it’s rare to find people in positions of guidance and authority who has the will to tell people they aren’t good at things. We live in a society where “You Can Do Anything You Set Your Mind To!” Well, bullshit. Writing is as much talent as it is a teachable skill. People with talent need teaching and guidance, for sure, but at some point, either you have it or you don’t.

That isn’t to say you’re a bad person, or have less worth as a human being because you can’t write. I wasn’t born with 20/20 vision, and I’m 5’9”. I’ll never be able to do plenty of things, or do them well. I don’t go out of my way to do the things I’m not very good at because I prefer to focus on the things I can do. 

I read an awful lot of game writing outside of the official enthusiast press. Most of it is really bad, for a variety of reasons. But reason number one is a lack of writing ability. Maybe the writer can’t express their thoughts clearly, or maybe it’s just basic sentence construction. Maybe the writer doesn’t know how to fit their opinion into their work. Regardless, it doesn’t matter that you started that gaming blog on your own, that you post every day, that you know all about what’s going on. If you don’t have that basic, minimal natural affinity for writing, you probably shouldn’t be writing for a living. I would say I’m sorry for telling you that, but I’m not. You can always get a little better at something like writing, but you (probably) won’t ever be really good at it.

Also, you’re still probably not writing as much as you should be. 

You (probably) aren’t good enough at interacting with people. 

Working in the games press requires a great deal of one-on-one and one-on-many interaction with other people. Some of that is practical – being able to take proactive action to get the things you need from PR and publishers to do your job is IMPORTANT. 

But some of that goes beyond asking PR person A for product B. It’s hard to explain, but working in the games press isn’t just about completing a task and clocking out. You have to build relationships with PR (in an ethical way). You need to build relationships with your colleagues. You need to build relationships with  your editors. This sounds really simple in print, but it seems beyond some people. And really, this seems like where many individuals who break into the games press stumble and flame out early. You need to learn how to talk with people. And most of you (probably) aren’t interested in building relationships with people. It’s hard! And if you don’t do much public speaking, then you’ll probably have some problems with it. 

I can’t really elaborate on this more effectively without being even more potentially offensive. But your ability to work with people in a professional and respectful way, and to build good working relationships while retaining your integrity is critical. Probably as critical as your ability to write clearly.*****

You (probably) don’t live in the right part of the country. 

This is the easiest one to remedy, right? You can just move to San Francisco! Or Los Angeles! Or New York! They just happen to be three of the most expensive places to live in the United States. Freelancers don’t HAVE to live in those places, but it’s another hurdle if you don’t. Bloggers don’t HAVE to live in those places, but it’s another hurdle if you don’t. If you can’t make it to stuff easily, then you’re harder to give work to. 

I’ll put it this way: Gamespot, Gamepro, and IGN are all on the same street in San Francisco, within 5-10 minute walks of each other. 1up was also on the same street, but now they’re in IGN’s offices. 

You’re (probably) not lucky enough.

There are people who write about video games for a living that aren’t very good at it. Chances are, they got their jobs through a combination of some of the other factors I mentioned - the lived in the right place or could afford to move there, or they built the right relationships. Maybe they were just so dogged that someone got tired of telling them no. 

That, and they got lucky. Super, super, super lucky. Luck plays a huge part in getting a job in the games press. Luck isn’t everything, but there are plenty of great writers who are great with people that live in the right place that can’t get jobs. Luck plays its part, just like any job. This just happens to be a job with an incredibly small number of available positions, much less openings. 

There are other hurdles that I’m much less qualified to speak to, like the hustle required to freelance for a living, or what it takes to start a blog and make it work as your job. I haven’t really done those things. And I’m sure I’m missing even more things that mean you (probably) won’t make it in the games press. AND, I haven’t touched the pay issue (and I never will, because no, I’m not going to tell you how much I make – that’s weird). 

There are plenty of things that can help you get into the games press. There are exceptions to things like geography. But these are the things standing in your way. And for a majority of you, they’re things you can’t change enough. Be realistic with yourself. I don’t want you to give up all of your dreams. But you need to be honest with yourself about what your capabilities are, and how hard you’re willing to work. And you need to accept that it might not happen. 

But, you know. It could. It did for me.

Postscript: How *I* got into the games press. 

I don’t want to do the David Copperfield thing, so to sort of break down how I got in:

1. I started a gaming site with Anthony Gallegos as a thesis project and a way to write about games and see what happened.
2. I moved to the Bay Area to be closer to the games press.
3. When Anthony got a gig at 1up, it was a chance to have an in at an outlet. Newsflash: this is how it works with pretty much every job. Almost every job I’ve ever gotten has been because of who I knew, which allowed me to get my foot in the door long enough to get some eyes on my stuff (and yeah, that might be another reason why you will (probably) not make it in the games press: You don’t know the right people.
4. I did some freelance for 1up. 
5. When everyone at 1up got laid off, I helped create, edit, and publish Rebel FM as a tool for everyone to keep their names out there. This was most valuable in helping me express myself and cultivate my opinion on games. And the exposure was helpful, obviously.
6. I did more freelance, for PC World doing laptop reviews, and then for Gamespy doing game reviews (through building a relationship with Ryan Scott at Gamespy).
7. Rebel FM helped me get a job at Team Xbox, which led to IGN when everyone at Team Xbox was let go. 

So obviously, luck and building relationships was important to building my career. Now that I have a career, maintaining relationships, networking, and dealing with people is incredibly important to keeping it alive and growing. 

And my motivation for all of it is writing – I love writing. I love my job, but what I love most about it is the writing. And yeah. I’m good at it. That helps. And… I don’t really know what else to tell you, for now. This is already much too long. 

Footnotes

*I say “journalists” here because I don’t meet many actual journalists writing about games. I don’t really consider myself a journalist. But that’s the term that the subculture has latched onto (largely in part as a means to ridicule the profession, in my opinion), so that’s sort of what I have to use. 

**This is the only one I’m not sure about. There are 12 WNBA teams, with 11-12 players per roster, which means in the neighborhood of 135 or so professional women basketball players. This stat isn’t selected to be misogynistic. There just aren’t many pro women basketball players in North America, and there aren’t many professional game press writers. 

***Websites are businesses. Either they’re run effectively or they shut down. Part of effectively running a business is figuring out what you can do without. I don’t mean to insist that the manager that says “let’s not hire someone to fill that spot” is a bad person, or an idiot. It’s a business decision. 

****That’s assuming you can find the job listings in question. There’s not really a conspiracy to keep you from seeing them (usually). But there’s not a great way to get a job listing out there for everyone to see in a public, efficient manner. No, craigslist doesn’t count. 

*****Going on a message board and trashing specific people in the game press? Probably a bad idea! Talking shit about outlets and people on Twitter? ALSO A BAD IDEA. In case you haven’t picked up on it, it’s a small goddamned industry. People remember these things, I promise you.