Traffic: This is not Queens Blvd
Today I found someone apparently stumbled upon my blog with the following search query: “matrix reloaded shane bettenhausen.” I don’t really want to know what that’s about and I find it odd that such a query would link to my blog. On the plus side, I’m getting a lot more traffic these days from searches it seems, although sometimes I find it funny/wrong when people come looking for something they definitely won’t find. “Street Fighter Gill” – looking for a strategy on how to beat the guy? Well you’re completely out of luck here, I’ve never even played enough Street Fighter III to make it to Gill!
My overall traffic has come down some since December, I assume it’s due to my more haphazard posting structure these days but I think every blogger (who’s not being paid for it) eventually learns that traffic isn’t the most important metric for measuring the quality of the blog. While my traffic may have gone down, I feel more and more careful and self-aware of my writing ability as time passes. Recently I feel I’ve been varying up the content of my posts much more, mostly unconsciously, and that’s always the direction I wanted to take with this blog. Also I want to make sure I’m writing about things that matter to me, rather than write because I feel obligated to put something down on paper. I may have finished Crackdown, but you’re not likely to see a Crackdown review because the experience wasn’t significant enough. Should I write about games that are exceedingly terrible here? Sure, but Crackdown doesn’t fit in that category either.
Don’t expect this blog to live on the bleeding edge of anything, games, movies, etc. If you want news stories, this aint the spot, besides there’s other people who’d definitely do a better job than me. And I can’t think of the last time my gaming experience of the year was actually from a game that came out the same year. Ideally, I’d like to edge more towards contemporary works, but budgetary issues prevent such a thing. Another thing, a lot of people will say that game reviews today are reviewed as products, not works of merit, I’d love to try to go more into the latter half more myself, if I have the writing hutzpah to do it. Everything with time right?
In other news I beat the first Contra game yesterday for the first time ever. It was with a friend and 30-man code to boot. It wasn’t anywhere as difficult as I expected, it didn’t help that as a kid I didn’t actually know that the Konami code was for everything (back then it was just the TMNT code to me).
Tides of Darkness
[NOTE: To my blog readers, please tell me if the images on the side appear blurry or unfocused, the page no longer renders properly for me in Firefox but looks fine in IE7]
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A day after the terrible news from 1up, GAF looks like a post-crisis zone right now, trying to salvage what’s left after a terrible incident. It’s actually on GAF that a few of the 1up employees announced that they had been laid off and it’s there that there’s been tremendous support for these unfortunate people. There’s since been threads created that were dedicated to the preservation of the entire podcast archive from 1up (via plainly in the open torrent links) as well as links to the various twitters and blogs of now ex-1up staff.
What I’m getting at here is just how strongly some of these people have touched the gaming community and the invisible bonds that have been forged. Jeff Green wrote a fantastic article on what really has changed here, it’s not ownership but the entire substance of a website and its strong community following. In response to the previously mentioned Sam Kennedy post, the one trying to highlight the positives of the transaction, Jeff had a some words in response:
[This is from Sam Kennedy's post:]
“We’re still the same 1UP, and we’ll still be producing the same content…we always have”[Jeff Green in response:]
Well, no, you’re not, and no, you won’t. You’re not the same 1UP because you just lost a gigantic chunk of what made 1up 1up. It may go on, it may in fact produce great things, but it won’t be the same. All that a company ever is is a mix of specific personalities. That’s all it is. Period. When you remove people, it may go on, but it’s never “the same.” Saying it’s the same is a disservice to all the people who just got canned. And, no, you won’t be “producing the same content” because those responsible for some of the most popular and distinctive content–the 1up Show, the podcasts–no longer work there anymore.
Couldn’t have said it better. By the way, Jeff Green was former Editor-in-Chief of the late Ziff-Davis publication Computer Gaming World/Games for Windows magazine. He was also really popular in the community for hosting GfW Radio, but shortly after Ziff canned the magazine, he went to work with EA. Just a fantastic voice on the press side all around.
It might seem silly to be grieving for the uncertain future of a once great website, but as someone who plans on getting into this side of the industry, it affects me a little more personally. Like plenty of other gaffers, the guys at 1up have given me plenty of laughs over the years and their strong example has helped push me forward and given me something to strive to. Listening to those podcasts was like meeting up with some good buddies for a few hours a week, and they’ll surely be missed.
As for UGO, I briefly glanced at the main page and all I could think of was “Gamepro much?” Its motto is: “Lifestyle for gamers” and mixed in with gaming content are such highlights of a gamer’s lifestyle as “Best Bond Girls” and an article on extreme sledding. If it weren’t for the harsh economic times, I’d think the remainder of the 1up team would be worse off. If 1up.com is completely absorbed into UGO (as opposed to retaining its own editorial direction and content-focus), than the lights have gone out completely.
Of two minds
Now that I’m starting to hit a writing stride where I’m posting a few times week (and it feels pretty good actually), I’m wondering if visually, I’m not on the right track. When writing a blog, the contents of the writing should naturally be the focus and where the viewer’s attention is centered. Knowing from first-hand experience how intimidating a “wall of text” can be, I’m trying to implement more visual aspects into my posts as well (pictures, videos, links, etc.) without going overboard. The problem right now is the sidebar though. When most of the page is uniformly presented with well thought-out colors, etc. I wonder how off-putting all the links and such are in my sidebar there. With the top of that sidebar being completely text-based, the images just start coming out of nowhere the second the user starts scrolling, in a potentially distracting manner.
It’s difficult to focus when multiple colors are jumping out at you (1up, IGN) so most people will eventually start to tune out whatever information is presented on the sides. But then I know if I keep those links as simple text-links, 9 out of 10 will likely never even notice them. I think the gamercard/zunecard stuff can be tidied up a bit and it’s a nice addition as it gives readers direct access to materials I might actually be writing about. As to the userbars? I guess if anything I can keep them as graphics but instead turn them into a single color scheme more inline with the blog’s theme so it doesn’t quite stand out as much.
Now to the next issue. I recently checked out a recent SoreThumbs post by Crispin Boyer (long-time staffer at EGM, now doing freelance writing in and out of the industry) and one of his biggest tips to give to wannabe journalists was to read outside their usual circles. I’d agree with him when he says that most people look at the average writing on sites like ign, kotaku, etc. and think they can do better, pretty sure I’ve said the same. But then there’s plenty of “big boys” like N’Gai Croal’s Level Up, MTV Multiplayer Blog, gamasutra, etc. who I always want to start following but it’s so much more additional reading per day (and I follow a few different sites/channels as it is). He’s absolutely right that without anyone to strive to, you’re never going to really step up your writing skills. I hear so many good things about Edge magazine and think “Damn I’d like to write for them one day” but I’ve never even bought an issue of Edge!
Here’s an excellent quote from Crispin:
It’s your brain transmitting words to someone else’s brain. Don’t clutter the conversation with a bunch of useless crap. Write economically. Kill the clichés. Be more creative with your leads. With a little work and some practice, you can help make lousy writing a thing of the checkered past.
As he alludes to in the quote, I have to remember that whoever is reading is taking my word as it is and with only my word to fall back on. And any bullshit laden throughout the article only degrades the message. A few people have told me that they were already impressed with my writing ability but I can find plenty of consistent problems, mostly of style. Almost every post ends in an abrupt manner that lacks closure, occasionally I’ll name drop a game without explaining the greater significance to the story, or sometimes I’ll end up going to far into the tangent and losing my focus for the story. Not to mention journalistic writing is quite different from the essay style that I’ve grown up. Gaming press uses both really so I can’t really place one above the other.
I’m wondering right now if perhaps I’m blogging too much. My initial focus was quantity so I could get into the habit, but writing for quantity would naturally encourage looser, less-focused writing. Not a style I want to take on by any means. Seeing as I’m mostly able to follow J. Parish’s near-daily blogging however, I think I need to stick to writing as much as possible and worry less about whether my audience can keep up. It’ll help shore up any constant issues with my writing and help me notice them.
PS. Here’s one of the reasons why Crispin Boyer and Shawn Elliot will be greatly missed from their posts:
