I am a 30 year old male from the planet Earth. I love to write fiction and I love playing video games. I wanted some writing practice and to build a platform to show off my writing once it's ready for that.
So does that mean you're going to try and sell us a book eventually?
I may, but I absolutely will not be obnoxious about it. First and foremost this blog is about video game reviews. If I were to one day get published, I would still continue this blog. It's a lot of fun for me and I get to do something I love, talk about video games.
I may, but I absolutely will not be obnoxious about it. First and foremost this blog is about video game reviews. If I were to one day get published, I would still continue this blog. It's a lot of fun for me and I get to do something I love, talk about video games.
Anything else I should know about you?
I'm currently engaged to a beautiful and amazing woman named Tami. We have a cat named Mogwai and a rabbit named Eli. I also love to cook and do art. My cooking is okay, but my art is generally just silly and nonsensical.
Why are your reviews so terrible?
I apologize for that, and I'm trying to make them better. I didn't go to school for journalism, I went for creative writing. I think I have a unique voice and that I can write well, but I have to teach myself the transition from writing novels and short stories to writing video game reviews. I will always strive to become a better writer, so over time my reviews will begin to suck less.
So why should I visit your site if you even admit to how bad your reviews are?
Once again, I'm trying to get better. But I'm also trying to help foster the Xbox Live Indie Game Community. Do you think you can do better? Then do it! And work with me and other people doing this. The only way the community is going to get better is if the community works together to do so!
Once again, I'm trying to get better. But I'm also trying to help foster the Xbox Live Indie Game Community. Do you think you can do better? Then do it! And work with me and other people doing this. The only way the community is going to get better is if the community works together to do so!
But I'm also going to be holding contests at least once a month, where you can win Xbox or PC indie games or Microsoft Points. I think these contests are a lot of fun and they're cheap for me to run them, so why not?
Is it just you doing the reviews?
For the time being, yes. But I'm open to having guest reviews or a co-reviewer. If you're interested in either of those, email me at john.roth2891 at gmail dot com. I won't be so strict about guest reviews, but if you're interested in being a regular contributor, you need to be serious about it. It would also not be a paid job, because I need to make money first before I can afford to pay someone else. Right now I am no where close to making money off of my blog, and the likely hood that I never will make money is pretty much guaranteed. But I'm not in this for the money, and neither should you.
Do you only play indie games?
I do like more than just indie games, but I think indie games bring a very personal experience to the player that's very hard to match in big budget block buster games. I think the foundation of gaming is squarely built on the indie game market, because if a person is successful there they're sure to go onto bigger and better things. But that's not to say I think there's anything wrong with big budget games. Look at this awesome age of video games we're living in right now? They're set to be just as prolific as movies, and I viewed the "casualization" of video games as the best thing that could ever happen. The more that people get into video games, the more people will want to make video games. That means more indie games, which means more unique ideas will flow into the market. And when those indie developers start to get noticed, they'll get picked up into bigger companies and bring us even better "big" games.
How long have you been gaming? Why should I trust your opinions?
I have been gaming since the NES came out. My first gaming memory was playing Super Mario Brothers and my dad having a friend over. I really wanted his friend to come play Super Mario Brothers, solely because I wanted to show someone outside of my family how awesome I was at it, which was not at all. I have not been without a gaming system ever since. I went from the NES to the SNES, followed by the PS1, then the PS2, and I am currently the proud owner of an Xbox 360. I would love to own a PS3, but I cannot afford to.
What are your favorite types of games?
Much like a parent, I can't really pick a favorite genre. Right now the biggest thing that influences my purchasing decisions is whether or not a game has multiplayer, because gaming is at it's most fun for me when I can play them with my friends. I generally do not play sports games, but if my friends got together and said "We should start playing Madden 2013" I... well... I think I'd make an exception there.
How do I get you to review my recently released game?
Just ask. Once again, send me an email at john.roth2891 at gmail dot com. I generally like to pay for the games myself, and if you'd like to offer a review code, I'll run a contest for people to win it. This helps provide me with traffic and makes sure your review will get more exposure, because studies have shown that people like to participate in contests and win prizes. I made up that last part, but you get the general idea.
My game has not yet been released, would you be willing to do a preview of it?
I would be definitely be interested. I haven't done one yet, but that's mostly because no one has yet asked me to yet. Could you be the first?
Why don't you have review scores?
I'm not really a fan of having a system of numbers set up to judge a game. I think it promotes people to not really think about what they're reading, because you can just skip ahead and look at a number and possibly a list of pros and cons. I know, because I do this myself on reviews that have a score, so I know other people do it too. I think that, especially with indie games, you are dealing with games that have some really awesome parts and some really rough edges. If we try to boil the experience down to a number, we're really not taking the time to understand what was presented to us. I think if you look at big budget games you can see where this style of review has gone wrong, as people become obsessed with their favorite games getting scores of "9s" or "10s" and then become very upset when those games do not receive those scores.
What platforms do you review for?
I am bound to what I have access to, which is currently my Xbox 360 and a cheap laptop. I will update my information accordingly once I have access to different gaming platforms.
Do you do anything else besides video game reviews?
If I feel a need to post something, such as a news article or an update for a game, I will do so outside of my normal review schedule. An example of this would be my monthly reviews for the Item of the Month for Kingdom of Loathing. I love KoL and I've always wanted to do reviews for their IOTMs. I also do a review of the indie games that come out for each week that I post every Saturday, where you can find out what came out, how much it costs, and get a little extra information as to what the game actually is.
If I feel a need to post something, such as a news article or an update for a game, I will do so outside of my normal review schedule. An example of this would be my monthly reviews for the Item of the Month for Kingdom of Loathing. I love KoL and I've always wanted to do reviews for their IOTMs. I also do a review of the indie games that come out for each week that I post every Saturday, where you can find out what came out, how much it costs, and get a little extra information as to what the game actually is.
What IS your review schedule?
I post reviews every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then I post a review of the Xbox Indie Games that were released every Saturday.
Why is you blog so barren and simple? It's ugly.
I like to keep thing simple. I'm working on trying to get a nice, clean looking banner, but unless I get the funds to have a professional make me a template, or at least help me create something nicer looking, I think I'm going to stick with what I've got. Sorry.
Will you ever do video reviews?
It's something I'm looking into, but I do not currently have the technology to do so.
Anything else we should know?
I'm an aspiring writer, and would love to work with developers to help flesh out and create plots, story lines, and dialogue for video games. If you're looking to give your game more weight, feel free to contact me. I'm entirely willing to work for free, as I know many of you indie developers are doing that yourselves anyway. If you feel you would like to compensate me for any work I do for you, great. Otherwise, I would not really expect it, unless something was agreed upon in the first place. For the time being the experience is payment enough. I am able to provide samples of my work upon request.
So what malady have you been inflicted with that you keep belly aching over?
I like your kindness and compassion interviewer. Oh wait, I'm writing out these questions. Why can't I be nicer to myself? ;_;
In short, I have been diagnosed with a colesteatoma in my right ear. This is a type of benign tumor that I have to have surgically removed. I am scheduled to have this done sometime in January. I had a bit of a scare of it, as it is potentially fatal, but my doctor reviewed a CT scan I had last week and informed me that I would be fine as long as I had it removed. Currently I have severally reduced hearing in my right ear, a constant head ache, and an ever present ringing. I have trouble sleeping at night, and it's really hard for me to concentrate right now. If you notice my updates are a bit infrequent over the new few weeks, it's because I'm probably laying on my couch trying to ignore the gigantic headache. But it won't matter soon, since we'll all be transcending/dying/eating pudding on December 21st.
Will you ever do video reviews?
It's something I'm looking into, but I do not currently have the technology to do so.
Anything else we should know?
I'm an aspiring writer, and would love to work with developers to help flesh out and create plots, story lines, and dialogue for video games. If you're looking to give your game more weight, feel free to contact me. I'm entirely willing to work for free, as I know many of you indie developers are doing that yourselves anyway. If you feel you would like to compensate me for any work I do for you, great. Otherwise, I would not really expect it, unless something was agreed upon in the first place. For the time being the experience is payment enough. I am able to provide samples of my work upon request.
So what malady have you been inflicted with that you keep belly aching over?
I like your kindness and compassion interviewer. Oh wait, I'm writing out these questions. Why can't I be nicer to myself? ;_;
In short, I have been diagnosed with a colesteatoma in my right ear. This is a type of benign tumor that I have to have surgically removed. I am scheduled to have this done sometime in January. I had a bit of a scare of it, as it is potentially fatal, but my doctor reviewed a CT scan I had last week and informed me that I would be fine as long as I had it removed. Currently I have severally reduced hearing in my right ear, a constant head ache, and an ever present ringing. I have trouble sleeping at night, and it's really hard for me to concentrate right now. If you notice my updates are a bit infrequent over the new few weeks, it's because I'm probably laying on my couch trying to ignore the gigantic headache. But it won't matter soon, since we'll all be transcending/dying/eating pudding on December 21st.
