Thinking about reviewing games as a job. Any pointers?

[Mr. Beef]

I'm interested in trying to become a video game reviewer, and I wanted to know if there was anyone on CAG who did it professionally (or knows someone) who could possibly give me some pointers. Any help is appreciated, from where/how to apply, or what I should put on the resume (would sample review work be good, or any general written work of mine that has been published?).

Also, if someone who is "in the biz" reads this, how is the workload? Is it tedious? Enjoyable? What should I be expecting?

If this thread is in the wrong topic, please move. I wasn't sure whether to put this in the review thread or not, since there weren't any actual reviews in the post.

[rodeojones903]

Do you have a degree? That is going to be a pretty big prerequisite unless you are just wanting to start up your own blog.

[Mr. Beef]

I'm actually working on a degree in journalism, since that's what I was advised to do by my counselor. I've already had stories printed in the school paper (most not video game-related) and published in the online edition, so I figure that would help out along with said degree.

[TahoeMax]

I've had brief stints with various sites over the years. They tended to really like my work but I never had the time to devote myself seriously to it.

Enjoyable? If you like writing, absolutely. One of the things that I liked the most was the fact that I could write in a very colloquial manner about the topics that needed to be covered. Gamers like accessible writing, so by keeping it down-to-earth and informative you can put out some quality pieces.

Tedious? Yes...very much so. I didn't write for the major sites like IGN or Gamespot, and unfortunately it seems like many of the smaller sites are sort of disorganized and don't have any real industry affiliations. As a result I never had access to updated industry news and could therefore never write a breaking news piece. Instead, I generally had to wait until a major site posted something, at which point I could take info from their posts and essentially paraphrase it in my own article. This was lame, but unfortunately there's no other way to do it if you don't have some sort of secure news feed access or other contacts. If you're comfortable with this and don't think you'd get bored rephrasing articles several times a day, give it a shot. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing much, so I don't do it anymore.

[StinkyCheese]

first off: change that ugly avatar ;)

[mykevermin]

Rocksolidaudio has been doing reviews for EGM recently, so I'd check into asking him for pointers. Also, ViolentLee.

Those are the only two I can think of.