To the reviewers - how the heck do you do it?

[Kitsune Sniper]

... Commence whining, I think.

So, I've got an idea in my head. I want to review a game or two and put up the video on Youtube. But no matter how hard I try, all I write down ends up sounding clinical, without any humor in it.

So how do you guys do it? I do have a sense of humor, warped but it's there, but I can't really make myself write anything funny. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with me. More than the usual, anyway.

Got any pointers for an aspiring video reviewer? :\

[boatofcar]

Practice. The more you do the better you'll get.

[scooterb23]

I'm not a video reviewer, but the one thing that stuck out was this...

"but I can't really make myself write anything funny."

Don't try to, that's when it doesn't work. Maybe you won't do "funny" reviews, and that's ok...you have to talk about the games you want to review in a way that's true to your feelings about the game. You'll probably find that by just being truthful, and natural...that your sense of humor will show more than you think.

[boatofcar]

I'm not a video reviewer, but the one thing that stuck out was this...

"but I can't really make myself write anything funny."

Don't try to, that's when it doesn't work. Maybe you won't do "funny" reviews, and that's ok...you have to talk about the games you want to review in a way that's true to your feelings about the game. You'll probably find that by just being truthful, and natural...that your sense of humor will show more than you think.

QFT. I wanted to say that, but I didn't.

[skaar]

Focus on the review. Funny comes later. Get a few solid reviews under your belt THEN try on the humour a little ;)

[Steven]

Be yourself. You can't be something you're not. Maybe it'll come with time, but as the others said, it's hard-pressed to force the action. Just do a review or two now, giving you some practice, and you'll get better at it.

Also, some people were seemingly born to write/produce reviews more than others. If it's not your thing, don't worry too much about it. It's not hard, but it's not easy either, that is, when we're talking about quality reviews. It's gotta come from within.

Have fun. It should be!

[Kitsune Sniper]

QFT. I wanted to say that, but I didn't.

No offense, but why?

[Steven]

No offense, but why?


I think he was kiddin' around, using some humor there that might not necessarily translate well on the internet depending on how one interprets it.

[NayusDante]

There's enough humerous reviewers out there. There's also enough biased reviewers out there. What's needed are unbiased, critical reviews that cite a games strengths and flaws and taking the game for what it is. Too many reviewers score a game based on how well it fits into a genre while bringing a few new elements, completely missing the point with games that try to go in a different direction. Also, play through the game before reviewing it, don't just mess around with it for an hour. Then, give your honest criticism and explain what elements you did or didn't like, then justify them.

[7th lutz]

I am not a video reviewer, but i've watch a good amount of review youtube videos. My younger brother did video game reviews in the past by submitting them on a website.

Not everyone can be like the Angry Video game nerd for having funny video game reviews.

I recommand just be yourself for doing a youtube video game review.

You should just focus at going a good video game review. You can do that by being honest about your feelings on the game and inform the viewers about the game itself.

[boatofcar]

No offense, but why?

I didn't think of it until I read Scoot's post, that's all :)

[Roufuss]

There's enough humerous reviewers out there. There's also enough biased reviewers out there. What's needed are unbiased, critical reviews that cite a games strengths and flaws and taking the game for what it is. Too many reviewers score a game based on how well it fits into a genre while bringing a few new elements, completely missing the point with games that try to go in a different direction. Also, play through the game before reviewing it, don't just mess around with it for an hour. Then, give your honest criticism and explain what elements you did or didn't like, then justify them.

I would definitely watch reviews that were like this.

There is already plenty of people out there who do humorous reviews, but not a lot of reviewers that provide informative reviews that really let you learn about a game or a series.

That's what I love about AVGN, other than the humour, is that he really does know his stuff, and you can tell he has a ton of knowledge about what he's playing / reviewing. I remember his review for Halloween, I learned a lot about the origins of the game and the company who made it just from his review.

Then you've got people like the Irate Gamer, who don't seem to know shit about games, who just try to be funny, and that fails miserably.

I guess, if you're trying to be funny, make sure you're incredibly funny, either that, or be really knowledgable about your product. I guess, play up to your strengths, but don't try to force anything. Maybe try two styles of review for compare, one just very straight laced but full of information, the other more in the funny direction, and see which one you like better.

[NayusDante]

I absolutely love Yahtzee (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation)'s reviews, but he has a unique style and charm that only works for him. His reviews are more critical, while the videos are the main humor portion.

One thing that seems prevalent in the non-publication reviews is that they focus on the negative. This isn't to say that the publications are in the right place to say what should be regarded as positive, but I think that most people weigh the negatives pretty highly in a review. If you're looking up a review for a game, it's safe to assume that something POSITIVE about the game caught your eye, so you want to weigh it against the NEGATIVE. That seems to be what independent reviewers are doing, and I think it works rather well.

[otaku]

Well I've only ever written reviews (but 80+ reviews and this was paid and with 10,000 readers) anyway practice makes perfect as time goes by you'll get more comfortable doing it and will develop a style etc.

[Steven]

Some good points, Roufuss.



I guess, if you're trying to be funny, make sure you're incredibly funny, either that, or be really knowledgable about your product. I guess, play up to your strengths, but don't try to force anything. Maybe try two styles of review for compare, one just very straight laced but full of information, the other more in the funny direction, and see which one you like better.


Who says a review can't have both? ;)

The best reviews IMO are informative and have a dash of humor. Depending on how appropriate it is, of course, but for sure informative and voice. Too many reviews come off feeling "lifeless" or very bland. I love writers whose writing you immediately read and can make a connection with. After all, that is the power of words when used properly -- it carries a strong message that makes its way out to the people.

[James8BitStar]

There's enough humerous reviewers out there. There's also enough biased reviewers out there. What's needed are unbiased, critical reviews that cite a games strengths and flaws and taking the game for what it is.

I disagree: Game reviews are not needed AT ALL, because no matter how critical and unbiased a review is (or thinks he is) he's still basically just giving his opinion. On youtube he's giving it with bells and whistles, but its still just an opinion--useless and completely unhelpful except maybe to those who won't play anything without a recommendation.

What I think would be better (and what I would do myself, if I had the equipment and the time) would be video strategy guides, similar to Game Players Gametapes and the like but without the stupidity and campy narration (though I guess depending on the host you might not be able to avoid that). Reading a FAQ or a cluebook is fine and all but sometimes advice makes a lot more sense when you see it acted out.

[NayusDante]

The problem wit video strategy guides is that modern games are so similar, it wouldn't be worth it. Telling someone where to go usually suffices. For older platformers and such, seeing the trick jumps and tough maneuvers would have been a lot easier than reading how to do it. These days, it seems you can either shoot the enemies or you can't. I wouldn't mind seeing "How to Beat..." retro game videos on YouTube with a modern angle though.

[scooterb23]

Also: Strategy guides make you weak. Avoid the strategy guides!! Be a strong gamer!

[NayusDante]

Also: Strategy guides make you weak. Avoid the strategy guides!! Be a strong gamer!

There is a place for some guides. The Myst guides from Prima included extra jounals and information. I think the focus should shift to "companion book" instead of pure strategy. Including the original art, developer interviews, etc would fix the situation.

[MachineGex]

I agree that there are too many "funny" reviewers on the net. Laughing is so yesterday. You should be the "extremely serious" reviewer. You know, a lot of passion, analogies, drama, and an occasional tear. With that mix, you have only one place to go....to the top of youtube!

[Night Driver]

So, I've got an idea in my head. I want to review a game or two and put up the video on Youtube. But no matter how hard I try, all I write down ends up sounding clinical, without any humor in it.

So how do you guys do it? I do have a sense of humor, warped but it's there, but I can't really make myself write anything funny. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with me. More than the usual, anyway.

Got any pointers for an aspiring video reviewer? :\
I tried to do this same thing and ended up with similar results. My reviews sounded even more clinical when I spoke them. I wasn't going for humor. I wanted to do critical fair-minded reviews, but I couldn't even pull of a conversational tone. I just ended up sounding like a droning pedant, so I pulled my videos from Youtube and decided to start a blog instead. I believe a blog will be a better forum for the things I want to say.

[Ed Oscuro]

There is a place for some guides. The Myst guides from Prima included extra jounals and information. I think the focus should shift to "companion book" instead of pure strategy. Including the original art, developer interviews, etc would fix the situation.
Of course, some of that information gets duplicated in the Myst books (like From Myst to Riven, I bet). It all depends on how much you like a franchise and are willing to line the pockets of the franchise owner.

[Juskin]

Wait...there's humor in video game reviews?

This is news to me.

[roushimsx]

So, I've got an idea in my head. I want to review a game or two and put up the video on Youtube. But no matter how hard I try, all I write down ends up sounding clinical, without any humor in it.

99.99% of amateur video reviews flat out blow because the reviewers:
a) don't write anything beforehand, they just wing it. Lots of uncomfortable pauses punctuated with, "yea....and...uh..."
b) wrote an outline in advance but the outline sucked and the reviewer sucks at speaking. Um. Uh. Um. Yea...and...uh....
c) contain shakeycam footage instead of direct feed. No one wants to see video footage recorded from your cell phone.
d) have god awful shitty editing. Like, "My First Video With Windows Movie Maker" shitty.

Keep writing and keep editing together videos. Go back after a day or two and look over everything again. Do another revision. Let it sit for another day and then go back over it again. Rinse. Repeat. Practice, Practice, Practice, yadda yadda yadda. Look at other video reviews and see what you like so much about them so much, determine how much text you actually need to write to fill a set time limit while covering whatever you feel needs to be covered to convey your feelings for the game etc. Maybe you need to upload to GoogleVideos to bypass the 10min limit on YouTube and maybe you can say all you need to say and show all you need to show within a 2 minute period.

Oh, and do it all without profanity ("Princess Peach is such a cheap cunt whore cock gobbler"), without belittling the reader/viewer ("My name is Tim Rogers and you're reading this because you're inferior to me"), and without an arbitrary numerical score ("Oh I'll give this a 7.3 or so").

Or just forget everything I said and do it however the hell you want to do it. I don't write reviews because (for me) they take way too much effort and time to do properly and more often than not I'd rather just throw out my impressions and feelings on my blog without being constricted by little things like "standards". That and I like to type no-no words a lot more than I should. I oughta wash my hands out with soap :(

[Coldguy]

See this, problem solved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx9-RMMJ0Vo

[Kitsune Sniper]

Sorry for not replying until now... I couldn't access the site before leaving for work, and I've been reading the replies for a bit.


There's enough humerous reviewers out there. There's also enough biased reviewers out there. What's needed are unbiased, critical reviews that cite a games strengths and flaws and taking the game for what it is. Too many reviewers score a game based on how well it fits into a genre while bringing a few new elements, completely missing the point with games that try to go in a different direction. Also, play through the game before reviewing it, don't just mess around with it for an hour. Then, give your honest criticism and explain what elements you did or didn't like, then justify them.


I absolutely love Yahtzee (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation)'s reviews, but he has a unique style and charm that only works for him. His reviews are more critical, while the videos are the main humor portion.

One thing that seems prevalent in the non-publication reviews is that they focus on the negative. This isn't to say that the publications are in the right place to say what should be regarded as positive, but I think that most people weigh the negatives pretty highly in a review. If you're looking up a review for a game, it's safe to assume that something POSITIVE about the game caught your eye, so you want to weigh it against the NEGATIVE. That seems to be what independent reviewers are doing, and I think it works rather well.

I was planning on reviewing Art of Fighting Anthology for the PS2 split into parts: a general review of the package itself, reviews for each game, and a general conclusion. I'm a huge huge AOF fan, but I think you'll find the review unbiased. I quote, from my initial AOF1 notes:

"I mentioned I'm a huge fan of AOF when I started this review. Well, just because I'm a fan doesn't mean I'm going to see everything through rose-tinted glasses.

Movement, jumping in particular, feels stiff. A is punch and B is kick, but holding down C before pressing an attack button changes the attack. Further, pressing C on its own unleashes a strong punch or kick, depending on the last button you pressed before pushing C. This system is confusing and cumbersome; you'll end up using A and B on their own most of the time."

As much as I love the games, I know they have flaws, and I want to point them out so people know what they're getting into. But I'm NOT concentrating on the negative aspects. Out of three pages in my notes, only half a page is dedicated to the bad things, the rest is commentary on the game, what it contributed to the genre, and the backstory.


Not everyone can be like the Angry Video game nerd for having funny video game reviews.

I recommand just be yourself for doing a youtube video game review.

You should just focus at going a good video game review. You can do that by being honest about your feelings on the game and inform the viewers about the game itself.

Aha, here's the thing - I don't want to be the AVGN. But I don't want to be the Irate moron, either. I've said I disagree with the AVGN's style at times (scatological humor is not my style), but I do enjoy his point of view, because it's different from mine in many ways.

I know I can be funny when improvising, but reviews shouldn't be improvised. They should be thought and planned out, and once THAT is done, you can add bits of humor if you want.


The problem wit video strategy guides is that modern games are so similar, it wouldn't be worth it. Telling someone where to go usually suffices. For older platformers and such, seeing the trick jumps and tough maneuvers would have been a lot easier than reading how to do it. These days, it seems you can either shoot the enemies or you can't. I wouldn't mind seeing "How to Beat..." retro game videos on YouTube with a modern angle though.

... which is kinda ironic, considering that's one of the things I plan to upload. My first video uploads were of that Simpsons playthrough I recorded for a DP tournament a couple of years ago. To this day, I still get lots of requests for more. There's a lot of playthrough youtubers out there, but a lot of 'em use cheat codes, which makes the videos dull and not really that fun to watch. I refuse to use them (unless I have to prove a point or something).


99.99% of amateur video reviews flat out blow because the reviewers:
a) don't write anything beforehand, they just wing it. Lots of uncomfortable pauses punctuated with, "yea....and...uh..."
b) wrote an outline in advance but the outline sucked and the reviewer sucks at speaking. Um. Uh. Um. Yea...and...uh....
c) contain shakeycam footage instead of direct feed. No one wants to see video footage recorded from your cell phone.
d) have god awful shitty editing. Like, "My First Video With Windows Movie Maker" shitty.
A) I'm writing a review on my notepad, and will edit it, record the audio, and splice video on top of it.
B) I'm guilty of going "Uh, um, ah" but that's the reason why I want to record the audio beforehand.
C) Capture card. I has it.
D) I've never edited videos before, but I don't plan on using WMM. :P


Keep writing and keep editing together videos. Go back after a day or two and look over everything again. Do another revision. Let it sit for another day and then go back over it again. Rinse. Repeat. Practice, Practice, Practice, yadda yadda yadda. Look at other video reviews and see what you like so much about them so much, determine how much text you actually need to write to fill a set time limit while covering whatever you feel needs to be covered to convey your feelings for the game etc. Maybe you need to upload to GoogleVideos to bypass the 10min limit on YouTube and maybe you can say all you need to say and show all you need to show within a 2 minute period.

The AOF Anthology project will probably have to be around fifteen minutes long, considering I'm reviewing three games, plus the package it comes in (the quality of emulation, the special features, etc.). And I -may- make an "AOF: After the Series Ended" video, to showcase the games where the characters have showed up afterwards, and what happened to them.



Oh, and do it all without profanity ("Princess Peach is such a cheap cunt whore cock gobbler"), without belittling the reader/viewer ("My name is Tim Rogers and you're reading this because you're inferior to me"), and without an arbitrary numerical score ("Oh I'll give this a 7.3 or so").

Or just forget everything I said and do it however the hell you want to do it. I don't write reviews because (for me) they take way too much effort and time to do properly and more often than not I'd rather just throw out my impressions and feelings on my blog without being constricted by little things like "standards". That and I like to type no-no words a lot more than I should. I oughta wash my hands out with soap :(

Oh, I curse like a mothalovin' sailor, but I don't really do so if it's not appropriate. My mother made sure I was raised right. :P Cursing's fine, as long as it's done properly and with moderation. (See: Happy Video Game Nerd.)

Oh and don't worry about shakycam footage. I don't even own a video camera, you'll be spared of seeing my ugly mug on Youtube.

Coldguy:
That video is loading right now. I'll post a new reply after I see it.

Thanks for your opinions and comments, everyone. :) Oh yeah, should I list the things I would like to review and / or write commentary on?

[Kitsune Sniper]

That video doesn't say anything I didn't already mention on my previous reply. Jeebus. :p

Sorry for the double post, but this got thrown off page one. Any other comments or suggestions?

[Berserker]

Any other comments or suggestions?

Avoid prattling. Get to whatever point you're trying to make, and then move on to the next one. Like this:


I mentioned I'm a huge fan of AOF when I started this review. Well, just because I'm a fan doesn't mean I'm going to see everything through rose-tinted glasses.

That's prattling, and it doesn't belong anywhere near your review. This goes double for a video review, where time is a precious. If there's something you want to touch on for a certain point, do it while you're covering that point; don't revisit it five minutes down the line.


One other suggestion would be to write out your review completely, as many words as you like so long as it contains everything you want to cover, and then go back over all of it and reduce, reduce, reduce. Read back over it a few times, and take notes on what basic core points you want to cover, as chances are you don't have a clear idea of what all those are until you do this.

Then, with that info in hand, you go back over it and start condensing. Distill the points you want to touch on, and cut off the extraneous stuff like a gangrenous appendage. This is the hard part, but it's also what will ultimately make or break the quality of your review. Anyone can prattle on for 5 pages of why they think Contra is awesome, but it takes skill to convey the same points in a fraction of words (or time) without dumbing anything down.

So this is no easy task, but I suggest you give it a try. I think you'll find that your review probably doesn't need to be fifteen minutes (!!) long.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Well, that little quote was from the first draft of the review. It'll be condensed, I'm still working out what to say in this thing.

And the reason why I'm planning this to be 15 minutes long is simple - there's three games to cover... and NOBODY has ever reviewed them properly. I've only read one review for the games from back in the day, and it was in Gamepro, so it kinda sucked. :p Everyone ignores the Art of Fighting games because they're not that good. Very few people have ever bothered to actually play them as much as I have for the past fifteen years. I think they're an important part of SNK's history, and they should be treated with respect... I mean, even if the series is dead, the characters live on in SNK's newer games. That should count for something.

But I dunno. Maybe I'm being too ambitious for my own good.