Q: What's with the whole "MeekinOnMovies" thing if you're reviewing games?
A: I started out
as a movie critic for starpulse.com and Chicago's streetwise magazine
and built all my social media stuff around "MeekinOnMovies" and once I
made the switch to focusing on videogames, decided to stick with the
"OnMovies" moniker as an homage to Barenaked Ladies, who are in fact
fully clothed men.
Q: You review games that you don't finish?
A: Yep
Q: Why?
Most
gamers don't finish games, and more than anything I think it's
important to communicate to readers and would-be players at what point a
given game loses its magic.
Also
considering the time sensitive nature of most things criticism related,
if I beat every game I played, you'd be reading my Dark Souls II review
four years from now.
That's
not to say I won't go back to a game and finish it after review and
change my opinion if a game ends spectacularly - and depending on the
title I will beat it before reviewing it, especially if I'm on the fence
about whether it rocks, sucks, or is a meh title.
Q: And you also don't pay for some games?
A:
Right! I'm not popular enough to get everything I want for free (so if
you're reading this please share this blog with everyone and anyone!),
but I do think it's important to highlight whether or not I payed for a
title.
If
I review a game I paid for I can better say whether I personally feel I
got my money out of the game, whereas if it's a game I didn't have to
purchase, my approach of it will be different simply because it's a game
I wouldn't have otherwise.
As
a result games outside my wheelhouse like puzzlers or fighters I can
review if given to me and examine from the perspective of someone who
isn't really into those games, but understands whether or not they're
accomplishing what they're setting out to do for fans of the genre.
Q: Why No Rating Numbers?
The
problem with rating games on a number is 1) You'll scan the article for
the number without really reading the review, and 2) it boils down a
creative work to a number, which isn't cool, man.
By
using a "This Rocks" "This Sucks" or "Meh" scale, you DO get the quick
satisfaction of knowing whether or not something is 'good' but hopefully
read the review to pick out the salient details of what made it that
way, versus gandering at an "8" in graphics and going along your way.
Q: What's your story?
A: That's all here
Q: What's with this '10 commandments of video game writing" thing?
A:
Well I think it's important to have rules for yourself. Since I'm a
one-man show and not a part of a larger entity, informing readers about
how I approach games is important. Unlike many journalists I have a love
for mobile and free games because I'm cheap, am not super huge into
competitive first person shooters, and don't own a gaming PC.
I speak for the 'casual' gamer who wishes they had time to be hardcore, and those 10 commandments hopefully illustrate why.
Q: Where can I e-mail you?
A: PaulMeekin86(at)Gmail(dot)com
Follow @MeekinOnMovies
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