Officially a Video Game Journalist

Well, it's been a while.


Since April this year, I've been working as a designer and journalist for a local tech magazine. I wasn't appointed as a writer yet when I first joined, but thanks to the excellent team I was in, and the fact that we were all gamers; I was given a chance to contribute. This opportunity is a stepping stone for me to finally delve into something I was very passionate about: gaming.




It's not the most glamourous of jobs to be in, but it was something the team enjoyed doing. At this time, commoners will immediate assume that having a job that pay you for playing video games every month is the most laid back and easiest job ever. Well.. not really.

Being a local magazine, we rarely get the chance to get first dibs on certain titles. So unlike more established brands like IGN or Kotaku, we usually get our games during or even days after launch date. By that time, our impressions and reviews would be later than most, hence could be considered stale or redundant. Also adding to the fact that we're a monthly magazine, so whatever news or reviews will only be published by month's end.

Reviewing games is also not the "perfect job" as most would hope. Yes, getting games to play every month is considered a benefit, but remember - you play it, you write it. As mentioned, we get games later than most, thus theres always a rushed feel whenever we have to write our reviews before the deadline starts biting us in the ass. The more games in hand, the more rushed it feels. To top it off, my fellow writers have other tech related materials to finish up, and as the designer for the magazine - I've got the entire mag's layouts and creatives to worry about. Let's not forget the possibility of having to review a game you're not even interested in. Oh yes. There's that.

Why the huge amount of responsibility and stress, you ask? Yes.. the free games is one reason, but the most important reason for me is the passion involved.

It's something I enjoy doing: talking about the games I play. Whether its pointing out the best features of a game to nitpicking its faults, errors or even dissing Nomura's ho-hum character designs. It's the editorial equivalent to talking to a friend, and recommending them to get a game or to tell them to avoid it like it was a month old unrefrigerated opened box of milk.

Well, my writing exposure didn't just stop at games. For the same mag, I've written others such as tech reviews and pop culture related event coverage. I've pretty much warmed up to these, and I definitely look forward to doing more for experience's sake. That.. and getting new gadgets to play with, and even media passes for events. Mmmm.. media passes.

Well, it first started out as a dream, and now it's a reality for me. So, to those out there:

I'll just let this photo deliver the damn punchline

Till the next post, folks.