So, what has the pap been up to?

[pap64]

Oh wow. Its amazing how I went from posting nearly every day to just a couple of days or when I have to announce something big! But there's a good reason for this, and I know you will be happy.

As I mentioned a few months back I decided to go back to school and work on my master's degree because I was tired of being unemployed and sitting around doing nothing. I started near the end of March and its been going smooth so far.

What's amazing, though, is that my class schedule right now is so light that at times I forget that I go to school! Don't worry, though, I don't plan on skipping school or anything. I'm paying for it!

But what's even greater is that on the same week that I enrolled in my classes I received a phone call from a woman I talked to last year for a tutoring gig. It turned out that one of her teachers got sick and had to get an operation, forcing her to leave her class. So knowing that I had applied for the job she asked me if I was available, and started working the next Monday!

I was a Spanish tutor for a group of 8 kids. It was an after school program in which we helped kids get better at certain skills. Like many teaching experiences it was enlightening, frustrating, anger inducing and overall a wonderful experience. I won't lie, they were a handful and really tested my patience. But it was an experience I am thankful for because I was able to meet many wonderful people, the kids really seemed grateful despite their rambunctious and had great support from my bosses, who understood that being a teacher isn't easy but not impossible to do.

Besides, the paperwork that happened after the classes were over was MUCH worse than teaching bad kids .

Right after this job was over, I was offered a position as staff writer for Nintendo World Report!. I casually suggested some ideas to the site's director and he was impressed enough that he asked me if I wanted to be a staff writer since they needed help because some of their older members were leaving.

As the title suggests I write Nintendo related news stories, previews, editorials and reviews. So far this has been a fun experience, simply because as a hopeful writer I finally have some professional people to look over my work and offer me comments and ideas to make it better. Best of all, if I got assigned one game for review I receive a free review copy! Many companies offer free review copies, Nintendo included! But of course, I must be responsible and hand in a review once I am done with the game.

My first review will be for Monsters vs. Aliens the videogame for Wii. Its going through a in depth editorial process but it should be posted soon.

Here's a sample of my recent work:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/prev ... rtid=18239
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news ... rtid=18218
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news ... rtid=18215

Finally, I am working on remodeling my room! With the money from my tutoring gig and the left overs from my student loan I will buy some new furniture, re-decorate my walls and even buy a new HD TV! My room is big, but feels cluttered though to clumsy furniture. That's why I will buy a new set so I can put it more stuff and still have room! I will even set up a more spacious gaming room so I can play Wii Fit comfortably!

So there you have it! For 2 solid months I've been busy and working hard. I thank the lord for giving me so many new opportunities, especially when I most needed them.

I hope to pop around more often since I still have so many wonderful friends here.

[blackcauldron85]

Yay- I'm so glad that everything's working out for you and that you're having fun!!! See, just be patient and good things will happen!

[pap64]

My first review went up this morning:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/revi ... rtid=18241

4 rewrites, but I learned a lot.

[CampbellzSoup]

the layout of that site is ugly as hell

[Disney Duster]

Oh, wow, you basically work for Nintendo! This is incredibly awesome! Good going, pap!

I read through the stuff, and didn't actually read the details of the games so much as pay attention to how you wrote it.

Sound good to me. But if..I may...I wanted to say...I feel like you're telling it almost...too...plainly factual. I feel like you could put more of you in. Now, maybe the people that hired you don't want that, but almost every review I've read, specially for games, seems to infuse fun and the author's own personality a lot more, though you did do a little in some spots, I felt.

The titles themselves I thought were too much like just news heads, almost too long even, except the first one. When you said "let's tap into the charm of of the quirky title", that sounded like you're own personality and having fun. But I didn't feel you kept it through the rest of the review.

Now, I know there's trying to be objective and only informative, too, but...

Well, I've liked reviewers that often use adjectives that describe the characters or other things in the game that give them more feeling, like the "adorable blob's oozing garner's a smile", or "the game smirkily let's players find things out for themselves", or "The interest in Ginormica's level is deflated when you can't explore it but simply must reach the end to defeat the boss." Well, those were kinda bad, but maybe you get what I mean?

One example of a contrast of where I thought you did this and didn't do it. I felt you didn't do it here: "Ginormica’s stages are skating levels similar to the mechanics found in Sega’s Sonic and the Secret Rings."

And I felt you did do it here: "Imagine the Co-Star mode in Super Mario Galaxy, except the concept has been expanded upon to include upgrades, like a stronger grappling beam and the ability to toss enemies more effectively."

The way you said "imagine that it's like blah blah blah, only better" just sounds more fun and like you wrote it.

Well...that's what I wanted to say. I would ask other people what they think about it, 'cause I could be giving bad advice. But if you don't want put your personal self into a review meant for every and any gamer, that's not a bad idea. Congratulations on this great job! And you're doing a great job!

[pap64]

Oh, wow, you basically work for Nintendo! This is incredibly awesome! Good going, pap!

I read through the stuff, and didn't actually read the details of the games so much as pay attention to how you wrote it.

Sound good to me. But if..I may...I wanted to say...I feel like you're telling it almost...too...plainly factual. I feel like you could put more of you in. Now, maybe the people that hired you don't want that, but almost every review I've read, specially for games, seems to infuse fun and the author's own personality a lot more, though you did do a little in some spots, I felt.

The titles themselves I thought were too much like just news heads, almost too long even, except the first one. When you said "let's tap into the charm of of the quirky title", that sounded like you're own personality and having fun. But I didn't feel you kept it through the rest of the review.

Now, I know there's trying to be objective and only informative, too, but...

Well, I've liked reviewers that often use adjectives that describe the characters or other things in the game that give them more feeling, like the "adorable blob's oozing garner's a smile", or "the game smirkily let's players find things out for themselves", or "The interest in Ginormica's level is deflated when you can't explore it but simply must reach the end to defeat the boss." Well, those were kinda bad, but maybe you get what I mean?

One example of a contrast of where I thought you did this and didn't do it. I felt you didn't do it here: "Ginormica’s stages are skating levels similar to the mechanics found in Sega’s Sonic and the Secret Rings."

And I felt you did do it here: "Imagine the Co-Star mode in Super Mario Galaxy, except the concept has been expanded upon to include upgrades, like a stronger grappling beam and the ability to toss enemies more effectively."

The way you said "imagine that it's like blah blah blah, only better" just sounds more fun and like you wrote it.

Well...that's what I wanted to say. I would ask other people what they think about it, 'cause I could be giving bad advice. But if you don't want put your personal self into a review meant for every and any gamer, that's not a bad idea. Congratulations on this great job! And you're doing a great job!

Well, if you feel the review needs more personality that's because for my first review I tried to focus more on the facts than to try to go far more indepth and I tried to follow the guidelines as best as possible. But thank you for offering your opinion and I will try to take your thoughts into consideration next time.

Oh and Campbelzsoup, the site is being re-designed as we speak. Stay tuned .

Oh and Campbellz

[Disney Duster]

Oh, yea I wondered if that might be it, pap. Hey, you may wanna fix up your last post above this one. : )

[PrincePhillipFan]

Congrats, pap! I'm so happy to hear that you love your position and managed to land a job there.

[ajmrowland]

Oh, wow, you basically work for Nintendo! This is incredibly awesome! Good going, pap!

I read through the stuff, and didn't actually read the details of the games so much as pay attention to how you wrote it.

Sound good to me. But if..I may...I wanted to say...I feel like you're telling it almost...too...plainly factual. I feel like you could put more of you in. Now, maybe the people that hired you don't want that, but almost every review I've read, specially for games, seems to infuse fun and the author's own personality a lot more, though you did do a little in some spots, I felt.

The titles themselves I thought were too much like just news heads, almost too long even, except the first one. When you said "let's tap into the charm of of the quirky title", that sounded like you're own personality and having fun. But I didn't feel you kept it through the rest of the review.

Now, I know there's trying to be objective and only informative, too, but...

Well, I've liked reviewers that often use adjectives that describe the characters or other things in the game that give them more feeling, like the "adorable blob's oozing garner's a smile", or "the game smirkily let's players find things out for themselves", or "The interest in Ginormica's level is deflated when you can't explore it but simply must reach the end to defeat the boss." Well, those were kinda bad, but maybe you get what I mean?

One example of a contrast of where I thought you did this and didn't do it. I felt you didn't do it here: "Ginormica’s stages are skating levels similar to the mechanics found in Sega’s Sonic and the Secret Rings."

And I felt you did do it here: "Imagine the Co-Star mode in Super Mario Galaxy, except the concept has been expanded upon to include upgrades, like a stronger grappling beam and the ability to toss enemies more effectively."

The way you said "imagine that it's like blah blah blah, only better" just sounds more fun and like you wrote it.

Well...that's what I wanted to say. I would ask other people what they think about it, 'cause I could be giving bad advice. But if you don't want put your personal self into a review meant for every and any gamer, that's not a bad idea. Congratulations on this great job! And you're doing a great job!

Well, if you feel the review needs more personality that's because for my first review I tried to focus more on the facts than to try to go far more indepth and I tried to follow the guidelines as best as possible. But thank you for offering your opinion and I will try to take your thoughts into consideration next time.

Oh and Campbelzsoup, the site is being re-designed as we speak. Stay tuned .

Oh and Campbellz

You could've gone into more depth in the technical aspects of the game. What are the controls like? Do they make good use of the system? Are the graphics decent, or another "Force Unleashed"? The sound design. Are the original VA's used? All that jazz.

Other than that, Good Job! I think I might actually buy the game now.

[pap64]

Well, if you feel the review needs more personality that's because for my first review I tried to focus more on the facts than to try to go far more indepth and I tried to follow the guidelines as best as possible. But thank you for offering your opinion and I will try to take your thoughts into consideration next time.

Oh and Campbelzsoup, the site is being re-designed as we speak. Stay tuned .

Oh and Campbellz

You could've gone into more depth in the technical aspects of the game. What are the controls like? Do they make good use of the system? Are the graphics decent, or another "Force Unleashed"? The sound design. Are the original VA's used? All that jazz.

Other than that, Good Job! I think I might actually buy the game now.

In my original draft, I mentioned that the controls were good but didn't innovate. My editor told me that if this game wasn't meant to show off innovative Wii controls then that I shouldn't go in-depth or even penalize the game for it.

Now, if something like, say, Punch-Out coming out next month features heavy Wii controls and maybe even balance board support I have to go in-depth and see how that affects the gameplay.

To everyone: The reason we might sound dry or too factual is because we want reviews that are as informative as possible. One of the many problems with the gaming industry is that many reviews are too opinionated, too biased and lacking information. In other words, we hear more about the reviewer having a beef with the company and trying to justify his apparent anger.

As a recent example, one reviewer did Excite Bots and made a HUGE mistake; he said the game doesn't have online. Now online becomes available once you beat the tutorial, which I believe is 4 races, meaning that the reviewer might not have played enough and everyone called out on his misjudgment.

Fans can and WILL call you out on a review. This is why we try to stick with the fact and if we claim something we make sure to include examples and better ideas.

We might lose some personality but better to sound too factual that to look biased and immature .

[Disney Duster]

So it was what I thought, you were intending to be more informative and trying not to be emotional.

Well, with all your reasons I guess that was good. But remember, you can give the facts and have fun, even having fun describing a fact like, "the lasers scarily fire at rapid speeds". And giving some opinion at some part might let readers know even more if they will actually like the game, just saying something like, "the last task was too confusing."

But I am glad to see you, a reviewer that tries to be more informative and not think one opinion will work for everyone.

[pap64]

Here's my second review assignment: Broken Sword Shadow of the Templars on the DS:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/revi ... rtid=18335

I tried to add a bit more pep so I think its my best review so far. Right now I am working on my third review assignment. I think I will be more "excited" with this review since its surprisingly awesome! My first two games were OK, meaning that I had a middle of the road train of thought.

[Disney Duster]

That was really informative, good job! The game's story sounded very interesting, and funny.

I still wish it could be a little more...exciting with more of how you felt than just what happens, maybe you already tried to put in your personality and feelings, but toned them down, and I didn't like the toning down.

Hm, maybe it's because I read your stuff here on UD, and I miss the feeling of that.

But good job anyway! I really liked the honesty of what the game actually does.

[pap64]

Sorry for bumping this, but in response to Disney Duster; thanks for the nice words! As I already explained we write under a strict set of rules. We hope to be fair as show as little bias as possible, focusing on the game's worth rather than the hype around it.

But there's a way we can write more personal and meaningful content. We have staff blogs in which we can be informal and be more personal in our comments since we aren't reviewing something or telling a story. We get to flex our creative writing skills in a wide variety of subjects, from informal game reviews to news about weddings and such.

I have already written two blog entries which I hope is more akin to my personality. Instead of blogging about the industry I decided to celebrate my passion for Nintendo and blog about my favorite characters.

The first entry is about Wario: https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blo ... rtid=18935

The second is about Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy:
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blo ... rtid=19002

These blogs generate a lot of discussion due to the popularity and impact of the characters, which is always great to explore.

So I hope these have a bit more personality than my reviews and news stories since I write them from my heart.

[Disney Duster]

I really enjoyed reading those. I'm glad I got to know about the characters, and a little more about you in the process.

But isn't Wario a villain in Super Mario Land 2, the first time he appeared? There's nothing wrong with someone who's a villain sometimes and not other times. A villain is kind of anyone who opposes the hero anyway.

Mario is about as fat and not so good-looking as Wario I would say, by the way. Which means Wario just looks less clean and more naughty.

Rosalina seems pretty interesting. I think it's obvious she's related to Peach because she looks like her, unless all girls in the games have that style. But the crown and hair...

[pap64]

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I've recently done a special feature for Nintendo World Report!

The feature is called "Medaverse Studios Developer Diary: A Simple Challenge:
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/spec ... rtid=20157

This is my first feature at the site. I took the initiative for the following reasons:
- I wanted to get the word out about my friend's game development house as well as his first game. They can't afford massive marketing campaign, so we are doing everything we can to let everyone know about them.

- With this initiative we hope other developers, big or small, come to us and offer their exclusive stories and content.

- Finally, we wanted to inform people what it takes to become a licensed Nintendo developer, how to start a development house, what not to do during development, all based on their experience.

I wrote the intro, while my friend the lead designer did the introductory paragraph.

There are many reasons as to why I named this "A Simple Challenge". The most obvious one is that its an ironic statement. Creating a development house and a game is a challenge alright. Simple, however, it isn't. It's an ironic statement that fits well with the context of the feature. The other reason I chose that is because that was actually the subtitle of the first review ever for their first game, so I wanted to honor that in a subtle manner.

As for Nintendo World Report work in general, we've been doing fine, writing as many content as possible. Recently, however, we lost our best editor and one of our best reviewer. They went to form their own site. Because of that I've been working twice as hard to make sure there's original content on the site, and I've even taken editing classes to our reviews can be edited as soon as possible.

All of this has been a challenge, but its one I am happy to have taken on.