Help
Wanted
BENEFITS
There
are a number of benefits writing for VGF.com will
provide. Among them are:
-
We receive
many reviewable games to cover on our site.
Naturally, these are shared with our writers. Once
a game has been reviewed, your free to do with it as you
wish. Keep it, sell it on eBay, whack someone over
the head with it...doesn't matter to us.
-
VGF.com
has a large readership. Exposure leads to
increased opportunities, as well as a good addition to
your résumé.
-
Writing
for VGF.com provides good experience in the field of
journalism.
-
You
get to share your opinions about what you love - video games.
No forum can offer the ability to tell so many people
how it is.
-
Bragging
rights.
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS
The
requirements vary depending on the position you will be
seeking, but the most obvious requirement is that you need
to have good writing skills no matter which position you're
interested in.
Other requirements include:
-
It
will be a
necessity that you play video games on a regular basis and have
opinions on them.
-
Having
a knowledge of what's going on in the video game
industry is definitely a plus, but if you're just
interested in playing games and writing reviews that's
fine as well.
-
There
really is no age requirement, but most likely we'll be
interested in people who are at least 15, probably
older, but we'll take that on a case by case basis.
Unfortunately, anyone younger than that normally doesn't
have the writing skills to make it on the site because
they are still sharpening up their writing techniques.
-
If
you're currently writing for/working on other video game sites, it
will be necessary that you work solely for VGF.
RULES
VGF
doesn't have too many rules, but there are a couple that are
strictly enforced.
-
Plagiarism is definitely not permitted. Anyone
caught submitting work that someone else wrote will face
severe consequences. Because of the legal aspects
involved in plagiarized work, people who submit trial
reviews to us that we know are plagiarized will not be
accepted. If you decide to plagiarize something while
you're on the staff and someone brings it to our
attention, the most likely course of action will be
elimination from the staff. This may seem harsh, but
it's something we must do because we take plagiarism
very seriously. If you submit something, make sure it's
something you wrote yourself from scratch, and not
something that you copied or paraphrased from another
writer.
-
Be
careful of the vulgarity. Swearing is not
a problem when it's controlled, but when something is
riddled with vulgarity, it tends to lose its meaning and
effectiveness, no matter how eloquently written it is.
OPEN
POSITIONS
Webmaster:
NGF currently has
one open
webmaster position. Requirements for this position include a
strong background in web development, primarily including HTML and SSI.
Knowledge of CGI and Javascript is also a plus. Coding can be done
by hand in Notepad, or using an editor like Dreamweaver or
FrontPage. This person will be expected to perform the following
duties:
-
Post
submitted news, previews, reviews, and editorials in a timely manner
in the established format.
-
Fix
broken links and perform other maintenance functions when necessary.
-
Coordinate
with the editor/PR person on staff submissions, distribution of
review product, timing of new content, etc.
-
Send
links of newly posted content to the VGF.com webmaster for posting
on the main site.
The
criteria for judging webmaster job performance is subjective, based
primarily on how often the site is updated and the quality of the
work. The webmaster will also be allowed to receive and review
product sent to us by publishers, although to a lesser extent since
those are allocated to writers first.
News:
NGF currently has
one open
news position. The person filling this position will be expected
to gather, edit, and submit news to the editor in a timely manner.
This person will be given access to several different news sources, as
well as forwarded press releases to cover. Realistically this
person can expect to edit and submit news to the webmaster at least 4-5
times a week. News copied or paraphrased from other sites will not
be allowed. This
person will also be allowed to receive and review product sent to us by
publishers, albeit on a limited basis similar to the Webmaster
position. This person may also review and preview other games if
they wish, as long as news submission continues at a frequent pace.
Writers:
NGF (Nintendo Gamers First) currently has
NO
open
writer positions. These positions involve writing
reviews, previews, features, etc. You will be able to
write for any VGF site (NGF, PSGF, or XGF), but your
primary responsibility will be to NGF. You will be
expected to submit a minimum of three (3) writings per month.
This really isn't a lot, and we easily have the loosest
writing minimum of all major online video game sites. Failing to meet this in one month is ok, but it will result
in termination on a repeated basis.
Also,
it's imperative that you own a GameCube and/or Game Boy
Advance. Obviously you'll need these systems to review
it's games.
----------
If
you apply for the open Webmaster position, it will be
necessary for us to see prior examples of your work.
You can just include a link in the application, or attach
the HTML files. Anyone applying for the open news
position will be required to write a sample news article
(real or fictitious) and submit it.
If
you apply for an open writer position, it will be necessary for you
to submit a sample review of a GBA or GCN game in our
format or an editorial
related to Nintendo. Any application sent without a sample
review WILL BE IGNORED. This MAY
NOT be one that has been posted on other websites, because
if you are accepted as a reviewer it will be used as your
first submission to VGF.
Please also include a little
bit of background information on yourself (name,
age, systems owned, other information you feel is
important). Once ample time has been given for review
of applications, the best will be notified and can begin work for VGF
immediately.
Your
application can be sent here. Yeah, just click on me.
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