So, being friendly, huh? I've never really managed to do that. I kept asking questions like: "Well, how do you expect me to find an office block on the third floor of a deserted steel factory that can only be reached by boat?", which might have set the tone for negotiations about getting our hands on some free review copies. As soon as a fragile truce had been established, I'd tell people the game was as lousy as 'Army Men' - boy, I wondered how people at 3DO could sleep at night - and the editor in chief would kindly request me to mention some positive qualities about my next assignment, because "[insert publisher] doesn't like us that much anymore."

Although I've always tried to avoid any bias because of this, I know a lot of gaming websites can't afford to repeatedly upset publishers by handing out bad reviews, because they depend on those publishers for advertising and review copies. Completely ignoring the subject at hand, I'm curious about other writers' views on this.

At this point we don't get any reviewgames, so we buy all the games ourself to review them and having a good connection with them or not, if a game is bad, we will write it down. If a game is very good, we will write it down. I don't get it that some websites or magazines are affraid to be honest with their readers.

I know a lot of gaming websites can't afford to repeatedly upset publishers by handing out bad reviews, because they depend on those publishers for advertising and review copies. Completely ignoring the subject at hand, I'm curious about other writers' views on this.

It's all about being responsible.

Readers will call you all the time for being "unprofessional" on reviews that you absolutely, positively stand behind.  So you can be damn sure they'll smell a rat if you really have behaved like that.  You have a responsibility to be honest, thorough and critical in your work, and if you do that, whether your conclusion is a positive or negative one should be immaterial.

Honestly, I've rarely had a problem from publishers regarding negative press.  And we're not afraid to answer back if people try to pressure us.  But really, it's not often that there's an issue, and it's usually resolvable with a quick phonecall or email.  If you know you played the game properly, thought carefully about your comments, didn't say anything unnecessary just for the laughs, or whatever, you can stand behind your opinions entirely and no one will be able to argue against you.

A developer recently kicked off over a middling-to-good score we gave their game, resulting on an angry thread on their official forums and a few fanboys kicking off on our comments thread. There was nothing at all wrong with our review, and accusations of unprofessionalism were completely unfounded.  I got in touch asking them to verify what they meant, and point out any factual inaccuracies or evidence of wrongdoing in the text, and they backed down pretty quickly, posting an apology on their message board.  You're the critic.  As long as you're critical, you can say what you like. That's how you'll build a good reputation; not by sucking up to people.

A lot of readers would have you think there's loads of dodgy deals going on in games journalism.  Hell, a lot of publications would have you believe that. The amount of sites I'm seeing cropping up saying "As opposed to all the other crap, we're HONEST in our judgement of games" is getting quite annoying and is frankly offensive. We're all in this together, all trying to push our work in new, better directions.

Oh - I just realised I said I would respond to Jason's comment about a month ago, then never did.

Basically: traffic through respect from respected people.

Deliver good, interesting content that the big guys are likely to pick up on. Get links back. Get new readers. It really has been as simple as that for us so far.

Oh hey, look at this thread.

1. On the being friendly thing - it's more about being respectable. You can be friendly, sure. That's nice. And unnecessary work. PR does their job, you do your job. As long as you're respectable and have a readerbase, you'll get what you ask for. Shit, even if you're an asshole and have a readerbase you'll get what you ask for. And if that doesn't work, skip the PR person entirely. This industry is too tainted by etiquette.

2. In 9 out of 10 cases, when you're trying to get something outside of "possible marketing," PR IS in fact the enemy. You try interviewing a CEO with no strings attached, let's see how going through PR works for you. GTFO with that advice. It's baaaaad.

3. Persistancy is annoying, but it works. I've also found that just making friends outside of PR >>>> making friends with PR. Also, this isn't an industry for patience. New people fuck up in new ways every week and every Wednesday is a release day (though, now, with digital delivery, every day is).

4. Only ask for shit you have an interest in. PR can smell someone that is just asking for something to rag on it. If you want to shit on a game, buy it yourself and really, really shit on it. This one is more for independent journalists I suppose.

5. If you're in this for free shit, you're doing it wrong. Also, you're a blight on the industry.

6. In response to #4 in the OP (stuff other than games) - that's great if you have a forum, but getting momentum in a forum is hard. I tried talking about stuff other than games, even on the frontpage. Shit just doesn't work out. People come for the games, they stay for the people. Which I suppose is #7.

7. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

8. Get strings, pull them. Your job as an editor / admin is puppetmaster first, journalist second. In some cases, it may be very close, but don't underestimate that knowledge (in this case secrets) are power. Seriously. Though, I suppose that just builds up over time.

9. This may be the most important one - go to conventions and get people super fucking drunk. So drunk they'll black out. This industry likes to drink. A lot. If you don't think so, you're doing it wrong. You can make lots and lots and lots of friends when you're drunk. Sure, you'll alienate some people - but those people weren't fun anyway, nor will they be.

10. There's nothing wrong with being a prick when the situation calls for it.

1) Read the Dale Carnegie Book "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Still the best shortcut to getting better results out of your relationships with other people.
2) Ignore the old adage: "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story". A certain trade publication has recently gone very tabloid and in doing so has become factually unreliable and thus lost credibility. It is very easy these days to switch to an alternate source of news.
3) N4G is the news aggregator for gaming. Read the comments. It gives a real pulse on what real people are thinking out there and their reaction to current news stories.
4) Our industry is still too much about things and not enough about people. Just look at film and pop music to see the difference. People want to know about other people. So write about the people in the industry. Pitch your stories from a human perspective, it is what the public want to read.
5) Think. Especially ask what ifs. Come from left field and come up with trains of thought that make unique articles. Will Android become the most popular gaming platform on earth? Will server based gaming on smart TVs make game consoles obsolete? How long before Apple bring out a game console? By what route will mobile phones and netbooks converge to be the same device? Is every gaming niche evolving to be dominated by a single title?
6) Don't ever be unfair in what you write, it will come back and get you in the end. One once well known game journalist (in Amiga times) thought he was a cult and that he was more important than the subject with stunts like 0/10 reviews. Where is he now?
7) Have fun. Gaming is entertainment. So enjoy and make sure your readers enjoy.
8) There are some excellent sources out there that are often missed. This bog for instance: http://blog.seattlepi.com/digitaljoystick/ often contains gems from Microsoft insiders.

Enough for now!