Critical Path: How to Review Videogames for a Living [Paperback]

Dan Amrich (Author), Cliff Bleszinski (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2012

It’s your dream job: Playing video games. Writing about them. Getting paid. It will never happen, right? Actually, it can. It’s definitely not easy to get this dream job—it requires a lot of perseverance, plenty of patience, a certain amount of skill, and a fair amount of luck. But with the right combination of elements, this job can be yours. Critical Path: How to Review Videogames for a Living will tell you what you need to know and what you need to do to make a run at this career, for real. This includes how to write compelling reviews, how to pitch yourself as a writer, how to tackle some tricky ethical quandaries, and yes, even how to get free games. Based on Dan Amrich’s own experience as a game journalist for more than 15 years, it’s advice that can serve you for your entire career, from press start to game over.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dan Amrich started reviewing videogames professionally in 1993. His work has appeared in Wired, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer, GamePro, GamesRadar, Guitar World, and Time Out New York, among several other national publications. He is also the author of the 2001 book PlayStation 2 for Dummies. Dan currently lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: TripleTorch (February 15, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 098514372X
• ISBN-13: 978-0985143725
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Amrich started reviewing videogames professionally in 1993, when Super NES and Sega Genesis ruled the earth. Over the 15 years that followed, he served as Senior Editor for Official Xbox Magazine, GamesRadar, and GamePro; Executive Editor of GameSport and Digital Diner; and Editor-in-Chief of World of Warcraft: Official Magazine. He has written freelance articles for national publications including Wired, PC Gamer, Blender, Slam, Guitar World, and Time Out New York.

Dan is currently trapped in Los Angeles with his lovely wife Katrin, three cats, a couple of arcade machines, and more guitars than anyone should own.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "On Writing" for videogame critics with less near-death van accidents February 24, 2012

By Robin Taylor

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Leveraging nearly a lifetime of game reviewing harkening back before the internet, author Dan Amrich lays down the knowledge stick for would-be game reviewers.

Brevity and droll humour drive the pace, making for bite-sized chunks of real world advice covering the entire gamet of a gaming career. Leading the reader through myths about the industry into early entry points and up to an escape plan, personal anecdotes are peppered with interviews with industry veterans, lending real weight and guidance.

Entertaining AND informative, Critical Path is a relevatory work about a much-sought but little understood industry. Must reading for those who would or do review games professionally.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I learned over 6 years at GamePro, in one convenient package! March 21, 2012

By Jay Turner

Format:Kindle Edition

Disclaimer: I owe Dan Amrich my career. He took a chance on an eager, foolish EB Games clerk and gave me a shot at a freelance gig at GamePro. With his help, that turned into a staff position and six years as a game journalist, followed by a role as a writer for a game developer for the last 7+ years.

I note that because as I read this book, the things in here are, no lie, exactly the advice he gave me, and every word of it is gold. Reading this book won't guarantee you a job in the business, but it will give you the knowledge and advice you need to take your own talent and drive and put it to work reviewing videogames (all-one-word!).

Dan is a charismatic and highly intelligent man, and it shows through in the text. Whether he's laying out the processes and attitudes you need to be a great freelancer, or explaining to you why you should remain sober at press junkets, it's all good, and it's all gold. He tells you how to interact with PR professionals, how to dress for big conventions (look nice, but wear comfortable shoes!), and even nuggets like how NOT to overschedule yourself such that you die of exhaustion at E3.

My disclaimer above is there for full disclosure, but it shouldn't be discounted: The information in this book is dead-on, accurate, and essential to success as a game reviewer. If you get into the business, you will learn these things eventually, the hard way, so why not learn it before you start?

Nothing short of talent, hard work, love for games, and a little bit of luck will get your foot in the industry's door. But this book will help you find the right door in the first place, and give you a wedge to shove in there to keep that door open.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn the craft of videogame reviewing from one of its masters March 7, 2012

By Melissa Aru

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Many people dream of playing videogames for a living, Dan Amrich's book Critical Path pulls back the curtain to this dream job and offers you a peak at the machinery behind it. Consider Critical Path as the boot camp for videogame reviewers hoping to create a career by writing about the games they love. The book not only dispels many of the fantastic myths behind the industry but also provides pointers on how to get started on the right path. Mr Amrich sprinkles small anecdotes throughout the book from his 15 year of experience in the videogame industry to give examples of things done right and mistakes you can avoid. Critical Path will teach, entertain, and most important give you the hard truth about what it means to be a videogame reviewer. If you've ever imagined yourself as a writer for any gaming magazine, Dan Amrich's Critical Path needs to be in your library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dan tells it like it is in a brutally honest detail. September 20, 2012

By Batman5273

Format:Kindle Edition

Many people grow up thinking that writing video game reviews is easy. You play all the free games you want, you make lots of money, and you travel the world. But that is not the case.

What Dan Amrich's "Critcal Path" accomplishes is a brutally honest insight at not only the gaming industry, but journalism industry as well. In his almost 2 decades of experience, Dan tells tales of success and failures in both intelligent and witty stories.

"Critical Path" is a step by step guide to what it is to write a video game review and become a critic with credibility. Some of Dan's insight may scare you away from the job, but better to learn it the easy way.

As someone who has written for a video game website, I can honestly say that I learned a thing or two.

Even if you do not want to write about video games, but want to be a critic of other topics (movies, food, music, etc...) I highly recommend "Critical Path."

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great advice from one of the all-time greats February 22, 2012

By Steven L. Kent

Format:Paperback

It's about time Dan Amrich shared his secrets! He's not only one of the best established video game journalists, he's also one of the best.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical Path is absolutely the place to start August 29, 2012

By Stephen Kelly

Format:Paperback

When I turned the final page of Critical Path and finally put the book down, I had an immediate urge to read it all over again in case I missed a sentence or two. Both smart and relevant, the words enclosed in this medium-sized tome have done ten times more for my career in game journalism than hours and hours of research. I found myself feverishly devouring chapters as long-pondered questions were answered with entirely applicable advice that I instantly launched intro practice.

Dan Amrich begins with the rudimentary basics and takes the reader through editing, pitching, buying gear, attending conventions, accepting (or denying) playola, and a bunch of other key topics. Bits of humor and a clean layout make it easy to glide right through these chapters while soaking up information along the way. Pick this book up and you've got a map, no matter where you are along the road.

Coming from someone new to the industry, Critical Path is absolutely the place to start.