Thumbstick Syndrome IMPORTANT UPDATE

(taken from my blog):

I've decided to start up what can best be described as an online gaming magazine, published right here in my blog. However, this magazine (currently titled "Thumbstick Syndrome", but that may change) won't focus quite so much on the gaming industry and news. There will be a small section devoted to that, but parroting the same stories over and over again really is old.

This magazine will focus much more on gaming as a hobby, instead of the usual game news magazine approach. Another big focus will be the writers' opinions on topics currently going on, since there seems to be a lack of it. As I said, most magazines and online websites don't have any or very many editorials; they just say what everyone else says. There will be reviews all right, but since Thumbstick Syndrome won't focus so much on the present the reviews can be for any game. No scores, either. This forces the reader to look at the review's content.

What I'm telling this to you for is because I need writers. If you'd be interested in writing a review, editorial, or some other form of story then notify me. And please only volunteer if you're willing to be dedicated. Don't tell me you will and end up doing next to nothing. I'll also need someone who can use Photoshop or a similar program that manipulates and creates images. My role will serve as a writer and editor. I'll PM further information to volunteers; if you would like to see this further information, please inform me of this.

So basicially it's a blog of editorials on the current events in the gaming industry? That's almost a niche. Interesting.

You wrote:

What I'm telling this to you for is because I need writers. If you'd be interested in writing a review, editorial, or some other form of story then notify me. And please only volunteer if you're willing to be dedicated. Don't tell me you will and end up doing next to nothing. I'll also need someone who can use Photoshop or a similar program that manipulates and creates images. My role will serve as a writer and editor. I'll PM further information to volunteers; if you would like to see this further information, please inform me of this.

I am willing to write for you, and/or I can also use Photoshop. I am a decent writer, and I know that there are more talented writers in GUFU, but I would be more that willing to help out and do whatever I can!

So basicially it's a blog of editorials on the current events in the gaming industry? That's almost a niche. Interesting.

Truewiseblade

That, and other things that are for gaming as a hobby. Most game magazines/sites (well-known ones, that is) are more focused on news topics than just gaming for the sake of gaming. That's what I want to focus on, as well as opinions from gamers themselves.

Basically, the magazine is focused on opinions and gaming as a hobby. The opinions come from peoples' take on current news stories of their choosing. If there's a particular topic someone feels strongly about, then that will be accepted, too. And for the "gaming as a hobby" aspect, anything that has anything to do with gaming that isn't news fits. Just cool stuff that fits under the gaming category.

All the game magazines and websites have a main focus on simply reporting news. When it all comes down to it, few have expressed opinions. Droning on about the same thing from magazine to magazine really gets old. And most magazines don't focus on gaming for gaming's sake, since most focus on current events and news. Thumbstick Syndrome is going to reach out into a mostly untouched topic and subject matter regarding gaming as a whole.

You guys are going to be let loose, really. It's really the voice of gamers. You don't have to be a regular contributor every month, but if you want to you can. You want to submit an awesome editorial every three months? That's fine. As long as the article in question is reasonably well-written and has an interesting topic (or is written to make a topic interesting), that's fine.

As the editor, I'm also hoping to eliminate some of the flaws in game journalism. Several were above, and here's more: boring reviews. Most reviews end up being broken down into the standard graphics, gameplay, sound categories. It gets old. Really old. And there's also the questionable scores. Reviews won't be overly long, and there will be no scores so readers are forced to look at the content of the review. Hopefully without taking five pages to get to the effing point, readers will be able to take the time to read.

Not reader friendly. Some people write in such a way that it alienates a large group of people. If you use a gigantic vocabulary, most of your audience isn't going to take the time to look that word up in a dictionary. While I want the quality of words and writing to be pretty good, huge words that alienate people aren't needed for that. Look at some movie and game reviewers who do this to try to sound more sophisticated. While that may work, it's not very good for readers. Since most game reviewers aren't the best writers in the world, they often don't use big words. Instead, they use technological terms that might even be worse. Only the uber-hardcore are going to know what the hell some of those technological things said about graphics are. And most readers are going to look at those words like they're Chinese.

From what I've seen, not many mediums are doing the sort of thing I'm planning to do. And that's okay. This may seem like a lofty goal, but with the right group of people, it's possible. What I need to know is if you're that right group of people.

What I need to know is if you're that right group of people.norfair_dweller

I'm definately in. Now that I know its monthly, I am very much interested. I cannot guarantee I can help every month, as I am sure school crunch times will be hectic, but I will do my best to make sure i contribute something every month.

That said, is there a launch time frame you are looking at doing this, and is it online based, and if so, where are you planning on hosting it?

Sign me up. I would like to keep my writing skills intact :)

Sorry man, but I'll be writing for GUFUnation.com, and soon after brainycode.com

I'll have no time for Thumbstick Syndrome

Would it be possible to host this on GUFUnation.com? It would make more sense than spread across a number of blogs.Hoffgod

GUFUNation already will have a dedicated writing team

Would it be possible to host this on GUFUnation.com? It would make more sense than spread across a number of blogs.Hoffgod

No offense to GUFUnation or its writers, but Thumbstick Syndrome would probably get more exposure being posted in various blogs and in the forums.

For those of you asking where it will be hosted:

At this time, the only place right now is GameSpot, in blogs. My blogs, your blogs, and possibly several forums. If you guys have ideas as to where else it could go or have somewhere to host it, I'd like to hear it. The idea is to spread it around as much as possible. GameSpot has quite a few people, so it will most likely get noticed here should it be placed in your guys' blogs, assuming of course that you have people who reply to your blog posts.

For those of you asking where it will be hosted:

At this time, the only place right now is GameSpot, in blogs. My blogs, your blogs, and possibly several forums. If you guys have ideas as to where else it could go or have somewhere to host it, I'd like to hear it. The idea is to spread it around as much as possible. GameSpot has quite a few people, so it will most likely get noticed here should it be placed in your guys' blogs, assuming of course that you have people who reply to your blog posts.

norfair_dweller

Well, if you after a while find out it was a good idea that works I would recommend setting up a website with a wordpress blog. You could still put the blogs on GS, but also have a archive where all the blogs are posted.

So, if we're doing this in the forums or in our own blogs where we would otherwise write as we usually do, how would we indicate that it's for an online gaming magazine? Might be a bit confusing for some users who aren't familiar with it. Just saying.IAmRodyle

Probably just by saying it is a magazine. :lol: