Be Consistent

Whatever your posting schedule – hourly, daily, weekly – be consistent. Don’t leave your site barren for long periods of time and never, ever post to apologise for not posting more.

Be Realistic

Know what you’re capable of: don’t think you can create a Eurogamer-beater with two guys and a Blogspot account. Start small but know what you want out of it – there’s no shame in doing it just for fun.

Be Ambitious

Two guys and a Blogspot account can be all you need to get noticed. Aim high, hit high.

Be an Authority

Whatever your site is about, aim to be the best resource you can be. Nintendo Life reviews everything you can download for Nintendo consoles – WiiWare, DSiWare, Virtual Console and eShop games. We’ve launched other successful sites that review 100% of PlayStation Move or Kinect games. Know your chosen genre or console inside-out.

Be a Hard Worker

Growing your site takes a lot of time and patience, and there’ll be unthinkable setbacks. Get through them by working hard and maintaining your commitment.

Be Polite

PRs love it when you say please and thank you. Remember that.

Be Outgoing

Talk to other writers and editors online. Meet them at events – E3, Eurogamer Expo, GAMEfest. Learn as much as you can from them. At the very least you might make a few friends.

Be Respectful of Your Readers

A site is nothing without the readers who will come to trust you and your views. Listen to them, talk to them, serve them as best you can.

Be Excellent

Whatever your site’s about, make it entertaining or informative – hey, even both.

How Japanese Folklore Inspired Mario’s Tanooki Suit – This year saw Mario’s betailed suit hit the headlines again, so it’s good to learn more about where it came from, courtesy of Chris Ingram.

The Development Process of Go! Go! Kokopolo – An in-depth take on one of DSiWare’s best games; full of character and quality, Zach’s article was a great look at how it all came together.

Nintendo Life Book Club: Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – Nobody slates awful games and books like Philip J. Reed. One of the most entertaining reads we’ve ever published.

A Peek Behind the BIT.TRIP Curtain – BIT.TRIP is the best series on WiiWare, and Jon’s feature on its development was superb.

The History of BIT.TRIP Part 1, The History of BIT.TRIP Part 2 and Wii Controllers – What Could Have Been – There are some fascinating Wii Remote patents out there, so Tom Whitehead took a look at what the now-iconic controller could have become. Really interesting read.

10 Life Lessons Learned from Mega Man – Phil loves his Mega Man series and this list of important life lessons was even picked up by Capcom. Includes gems like “However Much You May Fight, Your Family Loves You”.

Re-Examining Zelda: Twilight Princess – Jacob Crites took a long, hard look at one of Link’s most divisive adventures and came up with one of my favourite lines of the year: “The dorky clowns in Lake Hylia didn’t have to transform into muscle-bound hunks for Midna to see their true personalities. Why did she have to transform into a big blue hottie for us to see hers?”

My Best Stuff

I’ve written quite a lot of news, features and reviews in 2011 – probably close to 1,500 I think – but here are some of my favourites.

The Sonic Games That Never Were – Beta and cancelled Sonic games that never saw the light of day.

Celebrating 10 Years of Animal Crossing – A look back at a decade of Bells and talking animals. I love this series and it’s good to say so.

Preview: Super Mario 3DS and a later Preview: Super Mario 3D Land – The latter preview is probably the hardest I’ve had to write, and now I look back at it it isn’t as good as I remember. Still, it’s a good sign of just how far we’ve come as a site.

A huge and heartfelt thanks to everyone who takes the time to contribute to Nintendo Life. I genuinely appreciate all your hard work and believe we have one of the best teams out there.

Here’s to an even more exciting and successful 2012.

As of today I’m officially the Editor of the Nlife network of sites: Nintendo Life, Movemodo, KINECTaku and VitaGamr. Previously I was News Editor, but in my new role I now have full editorial control over all aspects of the sites. It’s a huge opportunity and I’m immensely grateful to the higher-ups for continually putting their trust in me.

I’m very proud of how far we’ve come in the past few years thanks to the hard work of a really talented and dedicated team: Ant, Corbie, Damien, Darren, Des, Jon, Thomas, Zach and all our reviewers and contributors who have given their free time and expertise to the network.

I have unbelievably high aspirations for the sites: there’s still so much left to do that this really feels like the start of something awesome. I’m proud of where we are and really excited about where we’re going.

As you know I write for three gaming websites, and recently the official Microsoft France blog asked me to write something to be posted on their blog. Yesterday it went up, and here it is!

http://xbox.frogz.fr/post/2010/11/29/Le-lancement-britannique-de-Kinect-vu-par-KINECTakucom.aspx

If your French is as good as mine, there’s an English version at the bottom, or reprinted below. The website itself also has a photo from my wife so double bonus!

Gamers up and down the UK braved the cold to get their hands on Kinect first, but customers in London were treated to a touch of glamour at Kinect’s official launch party.

Above a glowing ice rink at the Natural History Museum, popstar Leona Lewis took to the stage to perform several of her biggest hits whilst staff from Kinect developers Frontier, Rare and Lionhead were on hand to discuss the new technology.

Following the party, the countdown to Kinect was on at Game’s flagship Oxford Street store, where boyband The Wanted were on hand to try out the games and serve the first customers at the tills, even taking part in a Video Kinect call with gamers attending the midnight launch at Game’s Leeds store.

They weren’t the only special guests, however: Kinect’s creative director Kudo Tsunoda was on hand to check out proceedings, snapping photos and chatting to customers about the sensor, its games and the future of Kinect.

Of the launch titles, by far the most asked-for was Rare’s Kinect Sports, without a doubt one of the most impressive applications of the technology out there, and MTV’s Dance Central flew off the shelves too. Both titles seem to have captured the imagination of gamers and non-gamers alike, although many customers spoke of their excitement at playing pack-in game Kinect Adventures.

The readers and staff at KINECTaku joined in with the excitement on their forums and via Twitter gamers counting down to the launch of the sensor and sharing their hopes for the future.

Whilst the UK launch didn’t quite match the sensor’s global debut at Times Square for spectacle and impact, it still carried the same kind of atmosphere normally reserved for new console launches. The excitement surrounding the product was unbelievable, with all ages and levels of gaming experience eager to become the controller.

Kinect got off to a flying start in the UK, and once word of mouth begins to kick in Kinect looks like being a huge success for Microsoft.

James Newton, KINECTaku

Let accusations of bias commence now!

I read a lot of press releases. Actually, that’s not true: I delete a lot of press releases without reading them, usually because they’re not relevant to my (very niche) websites. But this press release… this is what I’m talking about.

Taking sideswipes at everything from game chains to rival franchises, it’s funny enough to be worth a read regardless of whether or not you care about Superstars V8 Racing, the game in question.

Reverb Games News: I like your style. More of this please.

GameGasm Issues Apology Regarding Superstars V8 Racing Availability

Midwestern Retailer Mistakenly Throws Launch Event for Digital PlayStation®Network Release

Ivanhoe, MN—November 2, 2010—Midwestern video game retail giant GameGasm confirmed today that Superstars V8 Racing was never actually stocked in their stores after throngs of customers showed up for their midnight launch last Tuesday morning at 12:01 a.m.

“We had people waiting in line outside in the cold from the minute we closed at 8 p.m., right up until the clock struck midnight and we reopened for the Superstars V8 Racing launch event,” said Hugh Harding, District Manager for the Ivanhoe-area GameGasm chain. “Little did we realize, despite the fact that we had filled our quota for pointless, high-pressure pre-order sales, the fans were in for a huge shock. Apparently this game wasn’t actually shipped to our stores, and instead went live exclusively on PlayStation Network across North America.”

GameGasm Assistant Sales Associate Ryan Bullet added, “Consumers were just as confused as we were. The game is apparently packed with features and is only $19.99. I mean, sure, it’s no Gran Turismo 5, but is that game actually ever going to come out? We’ve had pre-orders for GT5 since before the PlayStation 3 even launched! Superstars V8 Racing is at least good enough to fill the gap until Polyphony Digital’s game hits– however much longer that may be.”

After the midnight launch incident, GameGasm corporate officials issued an official apology to all of the customers that pre-ordered Superstars V8 Racing at its stores, and instead directed them to PlayStation Network. Even still, all customers asking for a refund on their $5.00 pre-order deposit were met with grief, as per corporate policy. Other customers instead opted to move their pre-orders to Call You Names: Banned Ops or Just Pants 4.

Developed by veteran racing studio Milestone s.r.l., makers of premiere European racing franchise titles like the SBK: Superbike World Championship series and WRC: FIA World Rally Championship, Superstars V8 Racing puts you behind the wheel of world-class cars in five single-player modes and supports up to 12-player online racing across 10 official tracks.  The game also offers pick up and play mechanics and adjustable realism settings that drive home the experience for hardcore racing fans and casual enthusiasts alike.

For more information about GameGasm and the availability of Superstars V8 Racing please visit: www.gamegasm.biz

###

About GameGasm Stores, Inc

Aside from being completely fake, Midwestern retail giant GameGasm operates nearly 400 video game store locations across the middle of the country in the CST time zone, which may or may not also be a complete and total myth. The company has consistently won the annual “Consumers Approval of Performance” award for the last nine years, and continually remains profitable each fiscal quarter thanks to its “Sixty-Dollar Game Is Worth Forty Cents” trade-in program.  For more information please visit: www.gamegasm.biz.

In April this year my hours at work were reduced, which was a blow for obvious reasons. I set about looking for another job, particularly ones in the field I most want to work in – games journalism, of course – but it’s a massively competitive field and I didn’t have enough experience to get anywhere, despite having written about 100,000 words for Nintendo Life in a few years.

Doing fewer hours at work meant more time to focus on things I wanted to do, so I saw it as an opportunity to establish myself and gain extra experience. I made a start on May 1st, with a target of 5 articles a day and 2 at weekends, and since then I’ve had great fun doing it.

Anyway, you’re not here for my wild anecdotes, you want those statistics I promised. Here, let me get to the point.

Since May 1st, our readership has almost doubled. We’re going through the biggest period of growth I’ve known on the site, from ~500,000 visits to nearly a million visits a month. We’re now probably the biggest independent Nintendo news and reviews website. I’m certainly not claiming I’m solely responsible for this – the Nintendo Life team is a success story in itself – but it’s nice to know I contributed.

Now I write for Movemodo and KINECTaku I feel I’m making progress and am on my way to establishing myself as a decent writer. Next year we launch Sega Fusion, and I’ll be heavily involved in that as well, of course.

It’s very, very exciting. Even more exciting than statistics. Maybe.

I was busy preparing content before the site went live, so I’ve got around 7,500 words on there already. In total for October I’ve so far written 62,829 words, or thereabouts.

Last month I wrote the equivalent of The Great Gatsby; this month I’ve even surpassed that. Next year, when I’m writing for four websites, I’ll probably be churning out Great Expectations every month or so.

On the whole I’m rather pleased with how my writing’s going. Movemodo perhaps hasn’t had the huge impact I was expecting but it’s very early days yet, and looking to the future it’s a very real possibility I could be writing for three big sites, or even just one massive one.

Sometime next month I’ll hit a milestone: 500,000 words written across Twitter, my blog and all three gaming sites since I opened this place about five years ago. At this rate I’ll likely hit 1,000,000 in about a year’s time, which is simultaneously cheering and frightening. I’m writing at a pretty fast pace these days, and I’m obviously proud that I’m actually writing, just like I always wanted to.

I hope you enjoy reading KINECTaku (or you can call it Kinectaku, I’m easy!) and the rest of my work too.

At the start of this month, we launched Movemodo, a website run by the same team to the same editorial standards for PlayStation Move. It’s had a slow start but is picking up considerably now, and you’ll see I’ve been a huge contributor to the site’s bank of news and reviews, something I’m proud of.

Now, Move obviously shares some similarities to Wii, so there’s a very fine line to tread between celebrating Move’s accuracy – it is far more than a Wii – and acknowledging the entire system’s debt to Nintendo’s motion-controlled risk. Move’s been in development for years, but it’s certainly possible that Sony held off on it until Nintendo proved it was a potentially huge success. Now Wii software sales are down and the console itself seems to be suffering, could Sony steal some of its audience?

The key to writing for fansites is being able to speak to fans of as one of them: you build up credibility not by being a fantastic writer (a bonus in my case) but by understanding the company, its ethos and its fanbase. I’ve got about three years under my belt as a Nintendo writer, and another two years writing about whatever I want; my Sony credibility is close to zero.

It’s really all about being careful what you write: you don’t want to say “Move is a Wii Killer” on one site and then say “Wii’s Line-Up Points to Years of Great Gaming”. Sensationalism is something my esteemed colleague Jon Wahlgren continually rails against, and it serves me well – some may object to me being “more neutral than Switzerland”, but it’s important to be reliable and sensible when reporting, lest you create even more fanboys. I think the Internet’s approaching maximum occupancy there anyway, actually.

Next month the neutrality tightrope gets a little thinner, as we prepare to launch Kinectaku, a site based on – you guessed it – Microsoft Kinect. Then all hopes of neutrality go out the window next year when I finally begin work on my life’s dream: Sega Fusion.

It’s a great time to be a multi-format writer, however closely you have to watch your words. I’d recommend it to anybody.

However, my super-smart brother Phil, of PhilNewton.net, has been busy developing a new look for this site that will finally fulfil the title’s promise. Everything I’ve ever written online – be it for Nintendo Life, Twitter or here – will be contained within these hallowed virtual walls.

There will be a few visual tweaks, but you’ll mostly notice a huge increase in content. For this blog over the past few years I’ve written nearly 100,000 words: for Nintendo Life in August alone I’ve written over 10,000, and I’ve been writing there since January 2008. This could provide some very interesting statistics, to me at least.

Soon this will be a digital vault of everything I’ve published online; well, the good stuff anyway. I’m very excited.

PS You might have seen this photograph of me in GamesTM issue 99, page 88

Lots of people travelled a combined distance of hundreds of miles to be there; guests took time off work, left children with carers and everybody did what was necessary to join us there on that one day.

I look at the photos now and I find it astonishing, really: a true one-off occasion, with friends and family all present to show how much they cared for us. It’s humbling and heartwarming at the same time: it’s a wedding cliché to say that everybody’s presence mattered, but it genuinely did. Old friends, loved family members, energetic children: every person there made a huge contribution to the day.

Hannah is in Berlin this week, a place that is arguably more “our city” than anywhere we’ve ever lived. The zoo, the parks and the streets belong to us, and not having her around is naturally getting me down. To know she’s there, revisiting some of our favourite places from our honeymoon, is enough to bring a smile to my face, though.

I remind myself every day how lucky I am to have found Hannah: we’ve been together for nearly ten years now, and I look back and laugh at the 17-year old boy I was when we first met. But I still see a lot of him in myself and Hannah is still recognisably the girl she was all those years ago: passionate, forthright, beautiful and unique.

Of all the billions of people in the world, all it took was a short message to introduce the two of us. I don’t really believe in fortune or luck, but I truly feel we’ve beaten the odds. I miss her now, but when she’s back I couldn’t be happier.