Games Writing
I started my career as a video games journalist in May 2017 when, through fortuitous circumstances, I heard from a friend of a friend that they needed a writer. I started at EGM writing simple aggregated news bits and reviewing the games that no one else wanted to review. As I got more comfortable in my role, I started streaming games with my co-workers. Eventually, the site's owner decided that being mostly a news aggregate and reviews site wasn't the right direction for EGM and laid off most of the staff to try something different. In this new era, EGM became a site that published reported features, more challenging games criticism, and reviews, as well as still aggregating news. As one of the only editors left at the site, I worked with editorial director Josh Harmon to determine the direction of the site, commission stories for freelancers, and edited, laid out, and published their pieces. It was the highlight of my time there, hands down. While the site's owner promised us we'd have two years to develop EGM with this new direction, he only ended up giving us nine months. The excuse we got was that the COVID-19 pandemic was making it financially unviable to continue working with freelancers, despite the fact that EGM was steadily becoming one of the most widely read and well-respected gaming sites on the internet. After that, we went back to news and reviews, as well as continuing to publish Walmart Gamecenter, but with a much smaller team. Honestly, I had a difficult time dealing with and accepting this change, but I was too scared to quit my job and try to find a new one in games media during a pandemic that seemed to grind the industry to a halt overnight. I still have a passion for video games and play them regularly, and I would like to get back to writing about games in some capacity, but for now I'm just happy collecting my favorite pieces here for you to read.
I spoke with video game historians and preservationists to understand what is being done to make sure that video game history isn't lost to time.
This was one of my favorite features to write. I interviewed a subsection of the Mario Maker 2 community who dedicate their time to creating "troll levels," even going so far as to write an 80-page guide about the best trolling practices.
A reflection of what it means, as a Jewish person, to be able to kill Hitler in video games, and what we lessons we can take from similar revenge fantasies in other media. This one was featured on Critical Distance!
Launching in 2006, Gears of War has always been one of my favorite series, and not just because of the meaty gibs. While you can probably count on one-hand the amount of "AAA" shooter games that aren't military propaganda, the post-Iraq War Gears has at least attempted to comment on the military-industrial complex and our era of forever wars.
Highwire Games tried to promote its Iraq War game as an empathetic documentary about the U.S. military's invasion of Fallujah. In reality, it's just bald-faced propaganda that makes light of the sacrifices that the people of Fallujah were forced to make.
I feel like my review of Battlefield 2042 will haunt me forever, and not for no good reason. However, with this piece I tried to pull back the curtains on the process of reviewing games, review scores, and the toxic culture that surrounds certain "AAA" releases, especially in a post-COVID world.
Obsidian Entertainment's 16th century detective adventure game was one of the last I got to review at EGM. It was also one of my favorites.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint was the peak of Ubisoft's cynical approach to loot-driven game design, the aftershocks of which would later show up in Far Cry 6. Here's my review of not just the game but Ubisoft's approach to game design in general.
