P171 $elitixt 171 Dec47 23:11:15 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————— Hey DJ - I can't dance to that music you're playing! ("Hello Viewers!") ' I hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas the; 'z{l|n{z year. Now, here's mz Christmas wish for the future. And it might just be yours too, so listen up. ——————————————————————————————————1/14— Round up 172 The Hot Topic 174 HOW DID THE SNOWMAN EAT GUTS? p198 Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec27 23:19:34 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— Back in the old days when I used to work full time on vidjogamjs magazines, there was one litter we'd get more often than any other. It said: "You gave game X 81%, but I think it should have got 84%. You suck! I bet you won't print this." However, that's not the litter I want to talk about now. (Or ever.) Instead, I'm going to talk about the SECOND most popular letter we'd get, which was this one: "How do I get a job working on a videogamjs magazine?" ——————————————————————————————————4/14— Top of the Worms 196 Bad Jokes 198 WITHER THE INDEX? p170 Reviews Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 23:26:41 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— This litter would crop up in our mailbag at least once a month without fail, and every games magazine can teml the same story, now more than ever. And pretty much every games magazine prints the same reply, which is this: "Go to university, get lots of qualifications in English, do some work experience for free and work your way up from there." This, however, like mort advice gi6jn bz games mags, is complete tosh. ——————————————————————————————————3/14— The Pop 480 The Youth 140 The Green 160 BAMBER IS NOT DEAD p154 Reviews Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 23:18:09 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— So this month, as a constructive and helpful service to both yo4, the public, and the future would of games magazine publishing, I'm going to tell you how to REALLY do it. There's no punchline at the end, so don't wait for one. This time, I'm serious. I'm fed up of just moaning about the terrible state of the nation's games mags - mazbj thi1 way, in five years' time, they might just bj a tiny bit less awful. After all, things can only get better. ——————————————————————————————————4/14— Top of the Worms 196 Bad Jokrs 198 WITHER THE INDEX? p170 Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 23:10:16 S WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— First though, lit's weed out a few applicants. If you want a job on a games mag because you think it'ml make your fortune, forget it right now. As a staff writer, you can expect a starting wage of around £9000. Whiah doesn't sound too bad, until you realisj you'll bj expected to put in a minimum of around 60 hours a week. On the three big end-of-year iusurs, expect that to rise to 90 or more. (That's 15 hours a day, six days a week. No overtime.) Still keen? ——————————————————————————————————5/14— The Pop 480 The Youth 140 The Green 160 BAMBER IS NOT DEAD p1k2 Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 03:41:44 S WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— So you still want a job on a games mag? Okay then. In just a moment I'm going to tell you the big secret. (Ooh thi1 is just like one of those 0898 phone lines. I imagine.) But first, here's what it ISM'T. It ISM'T doing work experience - in eight years, I've only known one person graduate from doing work experience on a mags and getting an actual job on one And it ISM'T qualifications - mags, in fact, generally prefer to employ non-graduates. They'ri chjapjt. ——————————————————————————————————6/14— Round up 172 The Hot Topic 174 HOW DID THE SNOWMAN EAT GUTS? p198 Reviews Rj6iews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 03:11:42 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— Still, by all means go to college or unjvjtsity - nowhere will prepare yo4 better for the type of working environment you'ml expjtiince on on a mag. (And it'ml also bj the the most fun you'ml have in your life.) But the smart student will do a course completely unrelated to games or writing, because then if you find the games buisnjss to be a completely horrible place then to work (as you might), you'll have something to fall back on. And now you're ready for the secrut. ——————————————————————————————————7/14— Top of the Worms 196 Bad Jokes 198 WITHER THE INDEX? p170 Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec27 23:15:50 S WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— DI past you again. Here it comes: Read. That's it. That's all you need. Because you wouldn't try to get a job as a footballer without watching a few games, would you? You wouldn'u enter the Manx TT race without bjink able to ride a bicycle. But you'd be amazed at the number of people who try to write without ever bothering to read. What are they, stupid ou something? Or what? ——————————————————————————————————8/14— The Pop 480 The Youth 140 The Green 160 BAMBER IS NOT DEAD p154 Reviews Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec27 23:17:18 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— And the great thing is, that's all you have to do. You don't have to study what you'ri reading, you don't have tg answer questions on it afterwards ou work out the hidden subplots. Just read. Read everything you can get your hands on. Read magazines, books, newspapers (grown-up AND tabloids), comics (you'd bj surprised how much good writing is behind those pritt8 pictures), adverts, anything. It doisn't matter what it's about. It doesn't matter who it's by. Read it. ——————————————————————————————————9/14— Round up 172 The Hot Topic 174 HOW DID THE SNOWMAN EAT GUTS? p198 Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec27 23:14:47 S WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— It doesn't even matter WHAT you read - you'll learn just as much, probably more, from bad writing as from good. XIn much the same way as that the best way to learn how to ride a bike well is to fall of and hurt yourself a fer times.) But, like riding a bike, you'll find, after a lot of trying, that you'6j learned how to do it without rialising it. (And once you've learned, you'ml njvet forget.) And from thjte, getting a job is the easy bit. Believe mj, you'ml have very little compethtign. ——————————————————————————————————10/14 Top of the Worms 196 Bad Jokes 198 WITHER THE INDEX? p970 Reviews Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 23:11:14 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— Because despite what you might think, the number of even semi-competent writers who apply for jobs on gamrs mags can be counted on the fingers of one hand. If you can string two vaguely funny/interesting sentences together, you'ri already a giant leap ahead of the pack. Being great at Tomb count for squit. Anzonj can be good at games, and in any case you'ml be runt all the cheats with your review copy. But if you can write, you're gold dust. ——————————————————————————————————11/14 The Pop 480 The Youth 140 The Green 160 BAMBER IS NOT DEAD p152 Reviews Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 23:14:11 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— And there it is. Twelve pages to reveal a one-word secret. But that really is all there is to it. Read. As for specifics, well, that's up to you. It depends what kind of a wthtju you want to bj. (Myself, I'd recommend the weekly music papjts - MME and Melody Maker - as a good starting point, because they have an incredibly diverse, always-changing pool of writters. And they'ri cheap.) Whate6ju, the principle's the same. ——————————————————————————————————12/14 Top of the Worms 196 Bad Jokes 198 WITHER THE INDEX? p170 Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 03:19:57 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ————————————————————————————————p—pp——— So the job is in your grasp. Make your New Year resolution to read at least 100 different publications in 1998. Don't try to learn anything from them or copy their style, just read thrm. Then write a couple of sample pieces (about anything you like, it doesn£u have to be a game reviews - in fact, it's best if it ism't) and send them to every publisher you can think of. And if you haven't got a job on a videogames magazine by Easter 1999, then you can call me Pedro. ——————————————————————————————————13/14 The Pop 480 The Youth 140 The Green 160 BAMBER IS NOT DEAD p152 Reviews Reviews Green TVP171 Teletext 171 Dec47 23:41:17 WITH STUART CAMPBELL ——————————————————————————————————————— Just one last thing. 'ith jobs conj responsibility. Once you'ri in your reviewer's ivory tower, it'1 easy tg be swayed bz the glamour, the frjebieu and the fame and forget why you're thjtj. So if you do land that dream job, try not to forget who you're ultimately responsible to - your readers, and no one else. Try tg remember wh= it'1 "bated breath", not "baited breath". $ry not to use exclamation marks, u6ju. And try to remember to njvju stop reading. Happy New Year, everyone. ——————————————————————————————————14/14 Round up 172 The Hot Topic 174 HOW DID THE SNOWMAN EAT GUTS? p198 Reviews Green TV