So You Want to Be A Video Game Reviewer?

By Geoff Duncan May 31, 2007

So You Want to Be A Video Game Reviewer?

It might seem that writing about video games would be pretty straightforward, but any serious gamer can tell you there’s a world of difference between a well-written, knowledgeable review or article and the sorts of incoherent ramblings one typically finds in online forums, posted to fan sites, or (ahem) published on the Internet. If you really want to write about games—and have people pay attention to what you say—you not only have to have too be able to put words in a row and get the lingo right, you have to know what you’re talking about and write in an interesting way.

A new book, The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual may not be able to make your writing more interesting—you’ll have to do that yourself—but it can help you out with may of the other details that make up a quality game review or article. Endorsed by Games Press The Videogame Style Guide authors David Thomas, Kyle Orland, and Scott Steinberg combine decades of journalism, gaming, and freelance writing experience, and cover everything from IGJA usage and grammar practices to standard abbreviations, terms, and names. The book also offers valuable industry background information including in-depth entries on key companies and individuals, historical timelines, and a guide to game criticism which can help make your reviews and comments stand out from the crowd. The book also features a forward from Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Dan “Shoe” Hsu.

“The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual brings long-awaited clarity to the amazing, fast-paced world of electronic entertainment,” said co-author David Thomas in a release. “From enthusiasts to editors, developers to publishers, and even software retailers, armed with the information found within, we’ve all finally got the tools required to start speaking in a language everyone can understand.”

The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual is available for pre-order now, and is priced at $14.95 for paperback and $24.95 for hardcover.

[Editor’s note: Author Scott Steinberg is a contributor to Digital Trends.]

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Gaming

Square Enix just set a new bar for video game demos with its latest RPG

Key art for SaGa: Emerald Beyond.

The video game demo is starting to come back into fashion.

Companies like Sony and Nintendo are offering demos for some of their biggest games of the year, like Stellar Blade and Princess Peach Showtime!, respectively. Not all demos are made equally, though. It can be difficult to get the feel of an entire game across in a demo featuring a small part of the experience; the brevity of Nintendo's recent demos has been especially frustrating. That's why Square Enix's approach to releasing a demo for SaGa: Emerald Beyond sticks out to me so much.

Gaming

You need to play this underrated zombie shooter before it leaves Xbox Game Pass

A massive Ridden in Back 4 Blood.

All of us have gaming opinions that go against the grain or zeitgeist around certain titles. Oftentimes, it’s because your personal opinion on a title is negative -- I was like that with Sonic Frontiers -- but it can go in a more positive direction. For me, a game I’m a very positive outlier on is Back 4 Blood, a Left 4 Dead successor developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by WB Games.

Although Back 4 Blood got decent reviews from critics, the public's general response toward the title is more mixed on platforms like Steam. Fewer people are playing it than Left 4 Dead 2 on PC at this point. I've always loved this game, as I enjoy the variance and replay value it introduces, as also think the different playable characters and level design make this one of the most enjoyable co-op shooters of the past several years.

Gaming

You can only play one of 2024’s best games on a tiny, 1-bit screen

An alien comes up to the door's window in Mars After Midnight.

It's only March and 2024 is already full of bold, big-budget games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Dragon's Dogma 2. But one of my favorite games of 2024 isn't available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or even Nintendo Switch. It's Mars After Midnight, a game from Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn developer Lucas Pope. The only place you can play it? On the Playdate, Panic's quirky little 1-bit handheld with a crank.

Mars After Midnight is a more lighthearted game than Pope's previous work. It follows an alien who dreams of coming to Earth and works to achieve that goal with his robot companion by moderating and serving as the bouncer for community events each night on Mars. Using the Playdate's limited buttons and a crank, players must vet every alien creature that comes up to the door before deciding whether or not to let them in while also cleaning up after the aliens who eat the offered refreshments.