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So I have decided that, in order to hopefully make some extra cash while I write a book or learn how to make Video Games, that I am going to start reviewing Arcade Games on Xbox Live.

I have been thinking of calling my site/review area/page Arcadia, and refering to myself as Arcadian. I was wondering a few things from all of you:

What do you think of those names? Any suggestions?

Any Arcade Games you would want me to review? Right now I am only looking at Costume Quest, even if it is out of season.

Anyone know where I could get some free web space or of anyone who would be willing to create a web page/symbol for me? Right now I am looking at just creating a Facebook page for it.

I figure that A) if I go into book writing, writing Reviews will give me some extra experiance with the English Language, B) If I go into game making it will help me get more ideas for features and gamemodes and stuff, and C) If I get really popular, I might make a buck off of it.

Thanks for your help/suggestions/well-wishes in advance.

P.S. I figure if I'm going to play games in my every spare moment, I might as well review them after I do for other people, yes, no? Another reason for doing this.

This depends... Will you be funny? That's the only reason people watch Zero Punctuation, for example; nobody really cares about his opinion on games, it's all about his delivery.

As mentioned above you really need to decide how you will go about it, comedy or serious?

Some examples:
Funny:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

And serious:
http://au.ign.com/videos/2009/01/30/killzone-2-video-review-killzone-2-video-review?objectid=748475

Take some pointers on what they talk about

I'd agree - you don't really have a great deal of chance to make any money even if you are well known. In order to be well known you need some kind of hook - there are a million and one sites out there reviewing games from some guy sitting in his room publishing a site no one reads to the big ones like IGN etc.

Your best bet might be writing to your local paper and asking if you can send them articles on computer games. Even if they don't publish most of them, they may use a couple (if they are well written etc).

Plus then they are actually published in a newspaper, rather than just writing some stuff online. You can always include your url in the article if you publish online as well though...

I'd say to test the waters first with a few reader reviews posted on Gamespot. Even though the community there is often less than desirable, it will still serve to show you whether or not your style of reviewing is appealing to your target audience. See how much positive feedback you get and how many subscriptions you get based on the quality of your reviews. If you can't stand out amongst the community of a single website, there's no way you'll be able to make any money in the grander scope of things.

Either way, you get legitimate practice with your writing and reviewing ability, and you're still offering useful information to people who seek it out. Give that a shot before you delve in too deep.

MasterDRD wrote:This depends... Will you be funny? That's the only reason people watch Zero Punctuation, for example; nobody really cares about his opinion on games, it's all about his delivery.

Serious, with a touch of funny. I plan on not using a numerical score, but instead tell people about the game, what I liked/didn't like, how much the game swears (for those non existant parents who actually pay attention to what their squeeker is playing.) and then end with "But is the game fun?" and then recommendations.

SilverMK2 wrote:I'd agree - you don't really have a great deal of chance to make any money even if you are well known. In order to be well known you need some kind of hook - there are a million and one sites out there reviewing games from some guy sitting in his room publishing a site no one reads to the big ones like IGN etc.

Your best bet might be writing to your local paper and asking if you can send them articles on computer games. Even if they don't publish most of them, they may use a couple (if they are well written etc).

Plus then they are actually published in a newspaper, rather than just writing some stuff online. You can always include your url in the article if you publish online as well though...

Good advice, especially about the newspaper bit, even if I can't take it. Everyone around here spells it PeeCee, and they think that "top news" is finding someones dog. And the ever problematic "I'm not from around here" is not looking good for me either.

Chrysaor686 wrote:I'd say to test the waters first with a few reader reviews posted on Gamespot. Even though the community there is often less than desirable, it will still serve to show you whether or not your style of reviewing is appealing to your target audience. See how much positive feedback you get and how many subscriptions you get based on the quality of your reviews. If you can't stand out amongst the community of a single website, there's no way you'll be able to make any money in the grander scope of things.

Either way, you get legitimate practice with your writing and reviewing ability, and you're still offering useful information to people who seek it out. Give that a shot before you delve in too deep.

Thanks, I'll do that then.

Thanks for all the info/opinions guys. I'm just doing this until I can afford Word and/or go to school for Designing (looking more at Books right now, I am finally seeing straight when it comes to them.) Wish me luck.