“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich
Your Weekly Homework:
In addition to reading the Review Sheet (which contains more information than the classroom lectures and you are responsible for knowing everything presented here) and the Required Reading section of the web site, you must take the feedback your instructor gave you in class concerning your game review and incorporate that feedback into a final draft.
The instructor’s comments will generally concern the things you've forgotten in the formatting, such as the Basic Information Box, the Stars Rating, the By Line, Article Title (as opposed to the game title), and so forth – so pay special attention to those!
Make the suggested corrections and turn in the final draft version of your game review for your grade next week (for up to 10 points).
Remember, this is an exercise in following direction! The question is, did you?
Just to remind you, therefore, here is the checklist of what you should have done but probably didn't. This is what your grade will be based upon: Did you follow the instructions?
· A written review between 300 and 500 words in length ― total (do not go under; do not go over - editors are real strict about word count!)
· A printed document composed on a word-processor with the spelling and grammar checked (make sure you proof-read your article at least once after it has been printed; you'd be amazed how many errors you can find on a printed copy that you'd never find staring at a monitor; fix those and then print a final copy to submit)
· The article should be double spaced (for easy editing) and have one inch margins all around
· Do indent paragraphs.
· Do not put in two "Enter Key stokes" between paragraphs (your article is already double-spaced and that is all that is needed)
· Do not right-justify the text (so that it looks square on the page; it should be "ragged right")
· Include the Title of the article (important: not the title of the game, but the title of your article ― there's a big difference!) and Subtitle for the article (either of which should include the name of the game being reviewed); devise a creative article title and / or subtitle
· Followed by your "By Line"
· Followed by a listing of the following Basic Game Information:
o Title
o Genre (action, strategy, sports, shooter, real-time, first-person, and so forth)
o Number of Players
o ESRB Rating (for a digital game)
o Hardware Requirement (i.e., platforms it's available on and special hardware requirements, if any)
o Publisher
o Developer
o Designer
o Retail Price
· Followed by a brief game background (a paragraph or two at most with the game's history and/or setting)
· Followed by the main body of the review: be succinct, accurate, constructive, objective (important: see the Writing Rules below)
· The last paragraph is a summary statement of the entire review mentioning the important pros and cons; answer the question "did you get your money's worth?"
· End the review with a rating on a 0 to 5 'star' scale (with 0 being useable only by a refrigerator magnet and 5 worthy of its own made-for-TV mini-series); 1/2 stars are acceptable
· Include at least 3 screenshots (or pictures taken with a digital camera for an analog game) with the article; make sure that each has an appropriate and very short caption
· All Game Titles must be written in italic type
· All Company Names must be written in bold type
· Do not use ™ or ® in your article; publications always have a generic disclaimer in their masthead that covers these matters so that its published material will not get them into any legal trouble over missing individual trade and registered marks
· Basic style rules include:
o Don't write in first-person ("I," "me," and "my") unless describing a personal experience or stating an important personal belief
o Try instead to use second-person ("you" and "your") to put the reader in the article; talk in terms of the experience the reader will have with this game
o Use comparisons to other games (if applicable)
o Mention your expectations and why / how the game did / didn't deliver on those expectations
· Do not use conversational slang such as "cool," "hot," "rocks," and so forth in your review. That's fine when you're talking to someone because the spoken word disappears after it is said. Writing, on the other hand, is a time-capsule into the future, and we wish to have those living in the generations before and after our own to understand our written communications
· Mention the game's title (in italic type, remember) the first time it is discussed, and then again the first time it is mentioned every few paragraphs. Never start your article: "This game is about..." Use the game's title. Pronouns like "it" (when referring to the game being reviewed) are for after the title has been established in the body of the review
· Do not just use abbreviations or acronyms without explaining them. The first time they are used, spell them out. For example, "Game X is an adventure role-playing game (RPG) about..." From that point on, you can use "RPG" freely as that abbreviation has been spelled out in its initial use
· In American English, punctuation marks go inside of quotation marks. For example: When he said, "Hello," I wanted to throw up. (Notice the punctuation mark, a comma in this case, inside the quotation mark around the word "Hello.")
· Use quotation marks only for direct quotations
· Do not use underlining in an article (unless it's an internet address or an active hyperlink); use italic type for words with emphasis and bold type for words of particular note
· Do not double-space at the end of a sentence (that's an old habit required from the previous technology of typewriters); in this day of electronic publishing, we single-space at the end of a sentence (and let whoever publishes it worry about the kerning and so forth)
· Numbers less than twenty (20) must be spelled out as words
· Fractions and numerical listings should not used reduced-size or superscript fonts. That is, "3rd" or "˝" are not permissible. These should read "3rd" and "1/2," respectively. (See the difference?)
These supplemental links will help your 'inner game reviewer' come out and improve the quality of your homework assignment by adding perspective and putting the subject into sharp relief.
Sample Game Reviews:
Here are some a game reviews written for this class that have it all. They are properly formatted, intelligently written, and generally well presented. This is what you are striving to create.
- Sci-Fi Shooters Have a New Star by Becky Coker
- Dead Man's Hand by Aaron Goodson
- You Got Jacked: GTA Vice City by Nicholas Chartier
- Hawk Soars Again by Brian Newland
- HALO is the Game of the Millennium by Matthew Tran.
Sample Style Guide: The Game Keep Style Guidelines
This is pretty typical of a review style sheet (not unlike the one above). You might want to examine it just to be convinced that I'm not picking nit (or picking on you).
More Information about Game Reviews: EB Games Customer Review FAQ
Here's some succinct information for you that will help you focus your game review and probably improve your homework grade.
Exam #1 is next week:
Next week there will be the first course exam (25 points) on the terms, concepts, and principles from the material presented in The Evolution of Game unit from Weeks 1 through 3 plus Chapter 1 of the course textbook (Game Development Essentials: An Introduction). Be sure to study the Lesson Review Sheets handed out in class and make sure you've read all the Required Reading material found in each week's assignment links.
