tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-187470502024-03-13T21:25:34.568-07:00Artificially FlavoredAndrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-73885878756914894852009-04-14T22:06:00.000-07:002009-04-14T22:07:29.294-07:00Moved to Tumblr!Decided to give this ol' blog a kick in the ass and start it anew over at Tumblr. Hoping to keep it more current and such, but no promises!<br /><br /><a href="http://artiflav.tumblr.com/"><span style="font-size:180%;">http://artiflav.tumblr.com/</span></a>Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-33648218363414429342009-02-25T08:26:00.000-08:002009-02-25T09:00:59.203-08:00Something old, something newIt's been a stupidly long time since I've updated this, but I rarely get the compulsion and I'm just not sitting on my hands enough these days to warrant knocking out regular blog posts. I suppose that means I have lots more to blog about here, but meh, if you want to keep up with my day-to-day workflow, you can <a href="http://twitter.com/dejaandyroo">follow me on Twitter</a>. I use it sort of obsessively.<br /><br />Anyway, lots has changed since I last talked about work on here. As you've likely heard (either being someone interested in games writing or a person who actually knows me), UGO purchased 1UP.com early last month, shuttering Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine and laying off something like three-quarters of the staff, many of which I'd worked with in some respect. I'd written for 1UP for more than a year and a half at that point, starting in news and doing a lot of preview work, but most recently doing a heavy amount of reviews for the site. I'm surprised I didn't mention it on here (sorry, holiday rush kept me busy), but the final issue of EGM ended up being my first -- I reviewed the latest Destroy All Humans game for that issue. I also wrote something for the next issue, but it was sadly never published. Word was that it'd be posted online at some point, but as far as I know, that just hasn't happened. It had always been my dream to write for EGM, and after a few missed chances, it finally happened -- though to have it be the last-ever printed issue was certainly bittersweet.<br /><br />I'm not going to get too deep into it, as it's been more than a month and a half at this point, but it hit me like a hammer when everything went down. Rumors of EGM closing had been swirling for some time, but to see so much of the staff let go and the prospect of a new owner -- it not only made me worry for my friends, but also for my security as a freelancer. It seemed initially that there would likely still be opportunities for me to write for 1UP, but more than a month passed before anything concrete came up. Luckily, Matt pinged me last week to review Noby Noby Boy for PlayStation Network, which is a pretty big release (for the PSN) -- I was surprised he didn't review it himself (since he did their week-long look at it in December), but I think my review turned out well and it's received a lot of thumbs, so I'm pleased.<br /><br />Review: Noby Noby Boy (PSN)<br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3172948&p=37">http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3172948&p=37</a><br /><br />Not sure when I'll have my next opportunity to work on something over there, but I'm sure it'll come at some point. Anyway, with EGM closing and 1UP becoming a question mark, I started to worry a bit last month. Things had been relatively rock-steady for just over a year, but the economy was starting to shake things up in an unfortunate manner. In November, one of my print outlets alerted me that it no longer had a freelance budget for the immediate future, and just a few weeks ago, the website I'd been doing most of my work for in the last couple months had its own freelance budget cut down a bit. Luckily, I've still been getting a lot of good work from them (which is very greatly appreciated), but assignments aren't always as readily available as they had been.<br /><br />So I started brainstorming to see how I could fill in the potential gaps. For starters, I decided to significantly increase my blogging gig at What They Play -- I'd previously been doing about 6-8 posts per week, but have recently been doing about 15-20. Blogging/news writing isn't necessarily my favorite thing to do, but it's easy to fit around other work and it's a much less time consuming affair than when I was doing news for 1UP. That has paid off significantly already, but I also started looking around for new places to write for. I decided to hit up The Escapist about doing occasional reviews and they were really receptive, so I did my first review for Magic Ball (PSN) earlier this month and have another in the works.<br /><br />Review: Magic Ball (PSN)<br /><a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5749-Review-Magic-Ball">http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/5749-Review-Magic-Ball</a><br /><br />I've also been talking to a gadget-oriented website about potentially doing some game coverage and possible iPhone app/gadget articles, but nothing's certain at this point and it may or may not work out. A couple of really positive things have happened work-wise in '09 for me, though -- I've been doing a lot of work for Nintendo Power recently, with four Community articles and 2 reviews since the beginning of the year, with two more Community pieces in the works at the moment. It's really my only recurring print gig at the moment, and I'm really happy that I've seemingly become the go-to guy for the Community section, and that they're starting to use me for reviews as well.<br /><br />And very unexpectedly, I got an e-mail from my old editor at GamesRadar last month -- they'd lost their freelance budget last June, and I hadn't really expected them to get it back anytime soon considering the economic woes. But lo and behold, it happened and he contacted me straightaway. I wrote a big feature for them (going up tomorrow, I'm told) as well as a review for X-Blades, and just agreed to do three more reviews over the next couple weeks. If this holds up, it'll essentially replace the gap that 1UP/EGM left as my primary review outlet, and I always really enjoyed writing for GR (and my buddy Eric), so it's just an exciting turn of events for me.<br /><br />Review: X-Blades (360)<br /><a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/x-blades/review/x-blades/a-2009021315549678044/g-200804251215309029">http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/x-blades/review/x-blades/a-2009021315549678044/g-200804251215309029</a><br /><br />I saw a bit of dip in the amount of available work last month, but by upping my efforts and finding new outlets (or having old ones spring back to life), February looks to potentially be my biggest month to date (at least one of the top ones). I feel a little overworked sometimes, but as a freelancer in these times, I really can't complain. And won't. Back to the grind!<br /><br />(P.S. Wow, that's a long post. Will probably be the biggest you'll get for a year or more. Savor it?)Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-84485073216070244912008-12-20T16:25:00.000-08:002008-12-20T16:48:06.277-08:002008 MusicJust put together my 2008 albums and singles/EPs lists. It wasn't a great year for music for me, reasons being: some of my most anticipated albums (Death Cab, Jack's Mannequin) fell short of my expectations, and it was my busiest year ever ever ever, so I didn't have nearly as much time to investigate new music or give a lot of time to albums that didn't seem to have a lot of upside for me. That said, there were several albums and singles I enjoyed, so I still put together lists.<br /><br />I should really be able to put together a year-end games list, but I spent so much time working on review games and such this year that I really didn't have a chance to play many of the AAA releases that I feel would be necessary to put together a competent list. I'm going to hit some of those games in the next couple weeks, but by the time I get through the games I want to play, we'll be into 2009 and it won't mean much anyway. However, I'm happy to provide a list of some of the games I really enjoyed this year: PixelJunk Monsters, Burnout Paradise, World of Goo, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, LittleBigPlanet, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, Mario Kart Wii, Peggle Nights, and Patapon. Games I still need to complete/play include Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Mirror's Edge, Prince of Persia, LocoRoco 2 (import) and numerous others, so you can understand why I'm hesitant to put a definitive list out there.<br /><br />Anywho, here's the musics:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Albums:</span><br />1. Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead<br />2. Fall Out Boy - Folie a Deux<br />3. Ryan Adams - Cardinology<br />4. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine<br />5. The Hush Sound - Goodbye Blues<br />6. Mates of State - Re-arrange Us<br />7. Jack's Mannequin - The Glass Passenger<br />8. The Killers - Day & Age<br />9. Lydia - Illuminate<br />10. The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Ridgemont High<br />11. Ace Enders and a Million Different People - The Secret Wars<br />12. We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery<br />13. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs<br />14. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward<br />15. Ben Folds - Way to Normal<br />16. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals<br />17. Chris Walla - Field Manual<br />18. Conor Oberst - Self-titled<br />19. N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds<br />20. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Singles:</span><br />1. Jack's Mannequin - The Resolution<br />2. Fall Out Boy - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet<br />3. Copeland - On the Safest Ledge<br />4. Phantom Planet - Do the Panic<br />5. Ryan Adams - Fix It<br />6. Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care<br />7. Adele - Chasing Pavements<br />8. Ne-Yo - Closer<br />9. We Are Scientists - After Hours<br />10. Panic at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon<br />11. The Killers - Spaceman<br />12. The Academy Is... - About a Girl<br />13. Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart<br />14. Kanye West - Heartless<br />15. Be Your Own Pet - Get Damaged EP<br />16. The Killers - Human<br />17. Fall Out Boy - Beat It (ft. John Mayer)<br />18. Straylight Run - Un Mas Dos EP<br />19. Kanye West - Love Lockdown<br />20. Paramore - That's What You Get<br />21. MGMT - Time to Pretend<br />22. Weezer - Pork and Beans<br />23. Usher - Love in This Club<br />24. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire<br />25. Estelle - American Boy (ft. Kanye West)<br /><br /><a href="http://artiflavored.blogspot.com/2007/12/2007-music_31.html">Last two years of music picks</a>, for reference.<br /><br />EDIT: Oh yeah, I post all the time on <a href="http://twitter.com/dejaandyroo">my Twitter</a> now.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-72809717097418084822008-11-07T16:33:00.000-08:002008-11-07T16:36:07.168-08:00Green PixelsNo status update other than I'm busy as hell and that's a-okay.<br /><br />But I have some exciting news: As of this week, I'm freelancing for Green Pixels, the new site from IGN/Fox that focuses on a more mainstream gaming audience with feature-heavy content. I'll be doing several reviews and other articles over the next couple weeks (and hopefully well beyond), and my first went up this afternoon. Check it out:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenpixels.com/articles/features/1804/Great-Game-Deal-Bargain-Barrage">http://www.greenpixels.com/articles/features/1804/Great-Game-Deal-Bargain-Barrage</a>Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-33523708416609385112008-10-07T12:57:00.000-07:002008-10-07T13:03:34.876-07:00Because I'm a BumWell, no -- it's because I'm busy and have more pressing matters, but indeed, I haven't been updating this or any other blog with any frequency. I'm knee-deep in a ton of work right now, so I'm not going to go on and on and on about life or writing except that I'm very happy and very busy at the moment. I do, however, want to draw some attention to an article I did last week over at 1UP:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Fable 2 Developer Feature</span><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3170263&p=4">http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3170263&p=4</a><br /><br />I did a phone interview with industry luminary Peter Molyneux about a month back and once we finally got the follow-up questions done with the supporting team members, I was able to put together this 2500-word monster. I think it turned out really well and my editors were very pleased. I expected a bit more of a reaction to it, due to Molyneux talking about Fable 2 DLC and how they want to expand that universe with potential web/XNA stuff, but it didn't really pop up in as many places as I'd hoped. Ah well -- it's still a solid read if you're into the man and his games.<br /><br />Anywho, back to work.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-55910516652952111712008-07-30T13:11:00.000-07:002008-07-30T13:19:25.909-07:00New OutletsI mentioned in my last post that I'd started working on articles for a pair of new print outlets, but didn't want to spill the beans until the first pieces were submitted and ready to rock. Now that such things have occurred, check this out:<br /><br /><a href="http://oxmonline.com/article/reviews/xbox-live-arcade/g-l/geometry-wars-retro-evolved-2">http://oxmonline.com/article/reviews/xbox-live-arcade/g-l/geometry-wars-retro-evolved-2</a><br /><br />That's my first review for the <b>Official Xbox Magazine</b>, which will appear in the October 2008 issue of the magazine. I'm completely thrilled to writing for another print outlet, especially one as established and well-known as this one, and I'm already at work on my next article for them.<br /><br />I don't have a link for the other one (they don't have an online presence), but I've also started writing for <b>Nintendo Power</b>, which means -- yes -- I'm writing for all three official U.S. console/handheld magazines. My first article is for the Community section of the October 2008 magazine, and I'm currently working on another Community article for the November issue. Check 'em out!<br /><br />Needless to say, things are going incredibly well professionally right now. Since coming back from E3, I've been working constantly putting together pieces for these and other outlets, and there are no signs of slowing down. I'm also happy to say that I'll start blogging for <b>What They Play</b> any day now, and that I'll be wrapping up my news stint at 1UP at the end of next week. Luckily, I'm still doing a lot of review work for 1UP and anticipate doing more preview stuff for them in the near future, but slicing news from my schedule will allow me a lot more freedom in how I spend my days, and hopefully afford me a bit more free time while not affecting my income flow.<br /><br />Might be another outlet added to the fray in the near future, but I have no details. One of my editors recommended me to someone who is launching a new project at one of the top gaming sites (that I don't already write for), so we'll see if the opportunity presents itself and I'll update if anything happens.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-19133056494751671322008-07-19T10:44:00.000-07:002008-07-19T10:54:00.296-07:00Everything is AlrightI've fallen into a lazy cycle of updating this thing, but I've had many good reasons for it. Here's the latest:<br /><br />- I moved to Chicago (from the burbs) and got a place with my girlfriend. So far, so awesome.<br /><br />- I attended E3 this week in Los Angeles and did a <i>ton</i> of work for 1UP during my days there. I paid for the whole trip, but between the 1UP work and what looks to be a bit of follow-up work for What They Play, I think I'll have doubled my investment (which was significant to begin with), so it was a very worthwhile trip. In fact, it was the best business trip I've ever been on -- probably because I wasn't at anyone else's whims. Also, I'm more experienced, more confident, and just generally more comfortable traversing unfamiliar terrain. Also, I got to meet and interact with several more of the 1UP editors I work with via e-mail/IM, so that's always a big plus.<br /><br />- Within the last two weeks, I've found work at two more major print outlets. I hesitate to really talk about anything in public before I see the work in print, so I won't go on too much about it just yet. But these are very significant boosts to my career, and will allow me some additional leverage in changing up my typical schedule a bit in the coming months, perhaps dropping some of the simpler, daily work to focus more on bigger assignments. Also, I got an Xbox 360 debug a couple weeks back, which helped me score one of those print gigs and will allow me to do additional, more compelling work for my current outlets.<br /><br />So basically, things are fantastic in all regards.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-86517524321490998352008-05-21T00:00:00.000-07:002008-05-21T00:24:53.028-07:00Reappear, DisappearIt's been forever since my last update, so here's the quick version:<br /><br />- Last month was slow; this month's been a lot better, though it's been a bit of a grind at times. Been doing a lot of reviews for 1UP -- five so far this month, with another in the works. I'd only done three total for them prior to this month, so that's a big shift. I'm still seeking to do more preview stuff, so hopefully the recurring format idea I pitched will go through and get rolling soon. I submitted a spread for the August issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine today (nothing for the July ish, sadly), am getting more review work at GamesRadar after a quiet period, and am doing write-ups for What They Play when I can. Essentially, it's been a review-heavy month, which is fine, but certainly time-consuming. Hoping to work in more travel/event coverage and preview stuff soon, as variety is key.<br /><br />- I fell in love with a girl. It's kind of great. And when I say "kind of great," I mean it's fantastic/unreal/world-beating/amazing. That's about all I'm sharing on my writing blog, but yeah, downright spectacular so far.<br /><br />- I don't know what's up with E3 yet. I didn't receive an invite, so I e-mailed the ESA and found out that I'd been invited via a contributory position I held at a website last year, but apparently said invitation cannot be transferred over. Currently, that puts me in limbo, but there's still two months to go and I'm starting to fish for a fresh invitation. Pretty ridiculous, but that's the sitch as it stands.<br /><br />- I'm way backed up on actually playing games, since the combination of writing full-time and seeing my lady as much as possible means legitimate free time is at a premium. I'm not complaining, since those are the most important things to me by far, but I'm still looking to find a bit more me time. PixelJunk Monsters Encore and Grand Theft Auto IV top my underappreciated list, and I'd like to play LostWinds, Echochrome, and Boom Blox. I'm also craving Skate and a bit of Rock Band.<br /><br />So yeah, things are awesome.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-84814547293514040692008-04-07T19:37:00.000-07:002008-04-07T19:50:32.796-07:00Fell Off the Map. Kinda.It's been an embarrassingly long time since I updated this thing, and for that, I apologize. It wasn't really intentional -- just a combination of being constantly busy, traveling a bit, being sick off and on (mostly on) for several weeks, and trying to figure some things out.<br /><br />I'm happy to say that things are incredibly well right now, both personally and professionally. I'm not going to do a point-by-point analysis of the last two months, but I've essentially been working as steadily as I've been able to all year, I'm emerging from my random sicknesses, and generally feeling pretty good about most everything. March was an odd month -- I felt kind of hazy for most of the month, and couldn't determine if it was a physical ailment (I had a sinus infection), some sort of physiological thing, or some kind of deep-seeded issue I needed to figure out. Ultimately? No clue. But I'm mostly feeling better and have resolved to overlook the small annoyances and get back to quality living. Someone awesome entered my life very recently, as well, which certainly has improved my mood and vigilance to stay positive.<br /><br />So I've been keepin' on, doing what I can for my various outlets. The week before last, I produced nearly nine pages of content for the June issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, so look out for that if you can -- it'll be my fourth issue in a row of freelancing for the mag, and they were really pleased with what I just did, so barring unforeseen whatever I'll hopefully continue to contribute on a regular basis. Since then, I haven't had as much to do overall, simply because the first half of April is <i>so dead</i> for new releases. Luckily, that'll turn around soon enough, and there's always <i>something</i> I can do to keep me working, but I'm missing a bit of the usual variety. Ah well -- such is the life of a freelancer.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-50905589877430309742008-02-04T14:35:00.000-08:002008-02-04T14:46:05.346-08:00PTOM March: 2008 PS3 Game PlannerJust received the March issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, and a quick look at the Contributing Editors listing reveals I had some hand in this issue. What is it?<br /><br />The 2008 PS3 Game Planner -- the result of that <a href="http://artiflavored.blogspot.com/2008/01/better-than-ever.html">crazy weekend project</a> I worked on a few weeks back. When submitted, it was a monstrous Excel document; a listing of games, release dates, publishers, developers, and a short summary of each (along with a larger write-up for six prominent titles).<br /><br />On paper, it looks amazing. Eight full pages of content, largely unchanged from what I submitted. It's a fantastic feeling to see yourself in print, and I'm definitely savoring this today. Probably grab a couple more issues whenever I see 'em next. Major props to the editors that transformed all that text into something far more compelling on paper. I'll buy you a drink whenever I get a chance to meet you guys.<br /><br />Of course, as noted in my last entry, I have a pair of reviews going in the April issue, and we'll see what happens after that!<br /><br />Elsewhere: I covered an MLB 08: The Show event last week for 1UP. I snapped <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8604238&publicUserId=5379953">a couple pictures</a> and recorded a couple of interviews for the next episode of <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3158196">The Sports Anomaly podcast</a>. Still working on a written preview, but that'll be up sometime in the near future. Good times and such.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-84486905375357036942008-01-25T00:26:00.000-08:002008-01-25T00:37:43.363-08:00Triple ShotDid a trio of big articles for 1UP in the last week -- just wanted to call some attention to them.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3165565">Preview: Patapon (PSP)</a>: An interview-based, behind-the-scenes preview of Sony's curious little rhythm/action/strategy hybrid.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3165564">Review: Nitrobike (Wii)</a>: My first review for 1UP (hoorah!) -- call it Excite Truck with half the wheels and half the reasons to even bother with it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3165527">Preview: Twisted Metal: Head-On: ETE (PS2)</a>: I interviewed David Jaffe last week! This is the transcript -- some pretty interesting responses in here.<br /><br />Also: I'm doing some editing/posting for the 1UP news dept. now, which I believe makes me an Associate Editor... but that's largely inconsequential since I'm still freelance. <br /><br />Plus, I'm doing a pair of reviews for the April issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, with the possibility of more work during the current issue cycle. Very excited about this; still waiting for the review builds though!<br /><br />Still a few days left, but I've had an insane month. There was a pie-in-the-sky amount I thought I might approach if <i>everything</i> clicked into place, and now it looks like I'm going to top it by at least 10%. There's just been no slowdown this month, and with four outlets feeding me various opportunities, I can keep up this rate for the forseeable future. That's brilliant.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-90740263160160003832008-01-11T22:17:00.001-08:002008-01-11T22:35:26.622-08:00Better Than EverIt's been months since I posted any kind of legitimate status update as to what I'm up to these days (professionally), so you might be surprised to hear what/how I'm doing.<br /><br />- Last weekend, I picked up an unexpected feature project for <i>PlayStation: The Official Magazine</i>. I was offered the assignment at 3am on Saturday, pumped in a solid 16 hours of work over the next day and a half, and turned it in late Sunday night. Pretty awesome. Not only is it my first print work, but they were really happy with it and I'm now in the loop for additional assignments. Anyway, don't want to talk too much about it yet because of the lead times of print -- my work is slated to be in the March issue, which hits stores this time next month.<br /><br />- Before Christmas, I started writing for <a href="http://www.whattheyplay.com">What They Play</a>, a website started by a couple of former 1UP Network vets (including John Davison) to help parents with gaming decisions. It's a great step sideways for me, and another way to fill the gaps in my schedule with small assignments that often intersect with other things I'm doing. I've already done about a dozen game profiles for them, and have pitched a few feature ideas and hope to start on one soon. Oh, and I'm covering the four SingStar PS2 games for them in the coming days -- how can you pass that up?<br /><br />So I'm working <i>really</i> steady these days. In fact, the amount I've earned in the last seven days is equal to about 2/3rds of what I made in the entire month of December -- which had been my biggest month to date. Needless to say, I'll be crushing that total for the month. And I can honestly say I'm a full-time freelancer, not just in amount of daily work but also compensation. It feels fantastic to finally be at this point.<br /><br />And I'm planning to move to San Francisco by the end of March. I haven't made any significant strides towards finding roommates or whatnot, but I'm dead set on getting out there in the next two months or so. I know I'll be open to better opportunities in the Bay Area, and it's important to me to be a part of this industry -- in person. Plus, I missed out on a significant opportunity this week solely because of my location, though missing it left me open to do the PlayStation: TOM gig (so it's more or less a win-win).<br /><br />But yeah, that's where I'm at. Pretty incredible.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-18602641861049605332007-12-31T18:00:00.001-08:002007-12-31T18:00:18.770-08:002007: MusicI'm great, thanks for asking! I should probably post about what I'm doing these days, which is exciting, fulfilling, and (collectively) nicely compensated, but this post is about my top music picks of 2007. I prepared album and singles lists for a poll earlier this month, and thought I'd repost 'em here, along with my lists from last year (which never made their way to this blog).<br /><br />2007 Albums:<br /><br />1. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga<br />2. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre<br />3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High<br />4. Feist - The Reminder<br />5. Straylight Run - The Needles, The Space<br />6. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga<br />7. Motion City Sondtrack - Even if it Kills Me<br />8. The Starting Line - Direction<br />9. Kanye West - Graduation<br />10. Bishop Allen - The Broken String<br />11. Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower<br />12. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver<br />13. Ash - Twilight of the Innocents<br />14. Matthew Good - Hospital Music<br />15. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away<br />16. David Ford - Songs for the Road<br />17. The Rocket Summer - Do You Feel?<br />18. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light<br />19. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank<br />20. Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers<br /><br />2007 Singles:<br /><br />1. Spoon - The Underdog<br />2. Kanye West - Stronger<br />3. Fall Out Boy - This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race<br />4. Kanye West - Flashing Lights (ft. Dwele)<br />5. Justice - D.A.N.C.E.<br />6. The Shins - Phantom Limb<br />7. Ash - You Can't Have it All<br />8. Bright Eyes - Four Winds<br />9. The Rocket Summer - So Much Love<br />10. Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino<br />11. Brand New - Jesus Christ<br />12. Say Anything - Baby Girl, I'm a Blur<br />13. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great<br />14. Mark Ronson - Oh My God (ft. Lily Allen)<br />15. Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder<br />16. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Catch You<br />17. The Killers - Read My Mind<br />18. Modest Mouse - Dashboard<br />19. The Starting Line - Island<br />20. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing<br />21. Coconut Records - West Coast<br />22. Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Break's Over<br />23. My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words<br />24. Feist - My Moon, My Man<br />25. Kanye West - Good Life (ft. T-Pain)<br />26. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends<br />27. Fall Out Boy - I'm Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)<br />28. Ash - Polaris<br />29. Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs<br />30. Lupe Fiasco - Superstar<br />31. Charlotte Hatherley - Behave<br />32. Manic Street Preachers - Your Love Alone is Not Enough (ft. Nina Persson)<br />33. The Color Fred - If I Surrender<br />34. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum<br />35. Mark Ronson - Stop Me (ft. Daniel Merriweather)<br /><br />A quick look at the lists probably reveals me to be a Spoon fanboy, which really isn't true -- I started listening to the band about 10 weeks ago, spurred by the brilliant "Underdog" video/single, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga proved to be one of the most complete and polished records I've heard in ages. Say Anything pretty much had the year locked up, but when it came time to do the list, I had to give it to Spoon. My revised list may change in a few months, but that's what I've got for now.<br /><br />As far as singles go, I dropped the ball on a couple things (but opted not to revise the initial list). First, Jay-Z's "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)" would've ranked high on the list if I'd heard it more than once prior to voting, but I never got around to giving American Gangster a solid listen. It's an excellent single -- my bad, Hova. Also, the Paramore singles -- especially "crushcrushcrush" -- deserve a mention, even if the album doesn't deliver start to finish. Finally, "Thnks fr the Mmrs" should've been the second-highest-ranked Fall Out Boy single. Kinda forgot how bouncy the choruses are when I was putting it together. Ah well.<br /><br />In summation, 2006 >>>>> 2007 for music, but I'm very hopeful for 2008. For reference, here's last year's lists:<br /><br />2006 Albums:<br /><br />1. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me<br />2. The Format - Dog Problems<br />3. Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now<br />4. Copeland - Eat, Sleep, Repeat<br />5. The Killers - Sam's Town<br />6. The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes<br />7. The Early November - The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path<br />8. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations<br />9. Mates of State - Bring it Back<br />10. Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm<br />11. John Mayer - Continuum<br />12. Gatsby's American Dream - Self-titled<br />13. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade<br />14. We Are Scientists - In Love and Squalor<br />15. Bic Runga - Birds<br />16. The Hush Sound - Like Vines<br />17. Be Your Own Pet - Self-titled<br />18. Forgive Durden - Wonderland<br />19. David Ford - I Sincerely Apologize for All the Trouble I've Caused<br />20. Moneen - The Red Tree<br />21. Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor<br />22. Matchbook Romance - Voices<br />23. Gil Mantera's Party Dream - Bloodsongs<br />24. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not<br />25. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury<br />26. Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child<br />27. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife<br />28. Ben Kweller - Self-titled<br />29. Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors<br />30. Girl Talk - Night Ripper<br /><br />2006 Singles:<br /><br />1. The Killers - When You Were Young<br />2. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes<br />3. Taking Back Sunday – MakeDamnSure<br />4. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade<br />5. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole<br />6. Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha<br />7. Justin Timberlake - My Love (ft. T.I.)<br />8. T.I. - What You Know<br />9. The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me<br />10. Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)<br />11. Regina Spektor - Fidelity<br />12. Be Your Own Pet - Adventure<br />13. Incubus - Anna-Molly<br />14. Brand New - Sowing Season (Yeah)<br />15. The All-American Rejects - Move Along<br />16. Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms)<br />17. Lupe Fiasco – Kick Push<br />18. Clipse – Wamp Wamp (What it Do)<br />19. Beyonce - Check on It<br />20. Cobra Starship - Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)<br />21. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy<br />22. Matchbook Romance – Monsters<br />23. Lady Sovereign – Love Me or Hate Me<br />24. Omarion – Ice Box<br />25. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack<br />26. The Pipettes – Judy<br />27. Teddy Geiger - For You I Will (Confidence)<br />28. Lily Allen – LDN<br />29. Muse – Knights of Cydonia<br />30. Yellowcard – Rough Landing, Holly<br /><br />2007: Games list to follow... at some point. Maybe tomorrow? Meh, no clue.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-23075131157091423292007-11-17T16:07:00.000-08:002007-11-19T20:02:12.587-08:00...said Andrew Hayward, freelance video game reviewer.I've seen and done some strange and unexpected things in my time as a writer, but this was still a bit odd to me:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ajc.com/search/content/living/stories/2007/11/15/rockband_1115.html">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Rock Band video game hits Atlanta"</a><br /><br />"'I think Rock Band is what the hard-core gamers are more excited about,' said Andrew Hayward, a freelance video game reviewer. 'It does bring so much more into the fold.'"<br /><br />I don't know that the second line is verbatim (I'm more of a "It brings" kind of guy), but indeed, I was interviewed by another journalist for a story. He contacted me last week about it after seeing my <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162016">drum-based preview</a> for 1UP from a few months back, and we spoke on the phone briefly about Rock Band and Guitar Hero III. And I'm from the Chicago area, so it's not even a local thing. Kind of odd, but anyway, something else to toss in the ol' memory bank.<br /><br />Speaking of Rock Band -- the store I reserved it at isn't doing a midnight launch (WTF), but the one 20 minutes from there is; luckily, my friend reserved it at the second store, so I believe we'll be jamming shortly. And then I'll pick up mine in the a.m. and drum until my arms bleed. Yes, bleed. It seems plausible.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-39363114165924088562007-10-26T00:50:00.000-07:002007-10-26T00:58:33.134-07:00Event Coverage and Etc.As a follow-up to the last post:<br /><br /><b>1UP:</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163798">Preview - Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163628">Preview - Assassin's Creed</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163807">Preview - Bionic Commando</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163799">Preview - Commando 3</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163797">Preview - Devil May Cry 4</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163866">Preview - Naruto: Rise of a Ninja</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163766">Preview - The Office</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163794">Preview - Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3163801">Preview - We Love Golf</a><br /><br /><b>GamesRadar:</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/us/wii/game/reviews/article.jsp?sectionId=1000&articleId=20071008123018748080&releaseId=20070202172738224030">Review - Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party</a><br /><br />Needless to say, it was a busy couple of weeks. The last few days have been mightily dull by comparison, but I'm expecting/hoping for a major turnaround next week.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-76677246596985307112007-10-04T13:25:00.000-07:002007-10-04T13:32:54.993-07:00Intensity in Two CitiesThe last week has been kind of ridiculous. It feels like I'm on a whole other plane of existence compared to where I was seven days ago.<br /><br />On Friday, I finally landed my first review assignment at <a href="http://www.gamesradar.com">Games Radar</a>. Regular readers (anyone?) will remember me talking about being added to a freelance rotation at a prominent site in May -- yeah, that was Games Radar. But their budget had been nonexistent all summer, and with the new fiscal year beginning this week, there's all sorts of work now.<br /><br />Anyway, I grabbed <a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/us/wii/game/reviews/article.jsp?articleId=20071004105014413039§ionId=1000">Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire</a>, played it all weekend, and submitted my review Monday. It just went up today (click the above link) and is essentially intact, minus light changes here and there and the removal of a couple specific references. Glad to have the work, but it may be a while before I can take another assignment.<br /><br />Why? Because <a href="http://www.1up.com">1UP</a> is sending me out on event coverage -- international event coverage, to boot. I'm not sure how much I can disclose, but next week, I'm heading up to Montreal for a night to spend significant hands-on time with one of the biggest fall releases. The article will be up next Friday, so look for that. And then the week after, I'm going to London (!) for a big event, which will probably drown me in articles to write in a very short amount of time. As much as 10-hour plane rides melt my brain at the mere thought, it's a massive opportunity and something I'm really looking forward to.<br /><br />The next two weeks will be a blur. Feel free to call me afterwards to see if I'm still alive and well.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-28986499220966117162007-09-18T00:00:00.000-07:002007-09-18T00:07:07.140-07:00Keep it QuickThings are well. I'm working out, eating better, sleeping better. All in all, living better, it seems. Keeping myself busy, as usual, doing daily updates, working on a potentially awesome news feature, and putting together as many previews as they'll allow me to. The latest is for <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162824">Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360)</a>, which went up on Friday. It's really more of a Q&A than a standard preview, but it has a lot of quality info and is worth a read if you're looking forward to the game.<br /><br />Additionally, we just launched a weekly column of mine today -- <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3162856">On the DLC Tip</a>. It's a roundup of all the console downloadable content from the last week that's supposed to go up on the weekend (it went up early Monday, but still). It takes a few hours to assemble, but luckily, the reaction has been all positive from readers thus far. We'll be adding some PC coverage in the next iteration, and hopefully people will continue to find it useful (and hopefully even more people in total).<br /><br />Yeah, that's about it. Skate is thankfully excellent, though definitely quite challenging. I'll pick up Halo 3 next week, but I'm not a series junkie. Luckily, Phil located <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3162848">some video summaries</a> of the first two titles, so I'll assuredly watch those before I dive into the threequel.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-27404744658438081512007-09-04T23:31:00.000-07:002007-09-04T23:48:33.001-07:00C'mon Hoodie WeatherI realize I've been pretty infrequent with my updates, and... that's probably not going to change anytime soon. I actually update <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5738964">my 1UP blog</a> quite a bit more often, though it's not always very focused. Or interesting. Or popular.<br /><br />Since the last update, my drum-focused <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162018">Rock Band preview</a> went up (and was kicked up to the top of the page again), and I'm working on at least a couple more previews, as well as starting my first news features. As mentioned in the last update, I went out to Santa Monica/Ontario to preview a couple games, and along the way I finally took advantage of the open bar, suffered through a miniature earthquake, and damn near missed my flight back home. Anyway, here are the previews:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=45295">Preview: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=45363">Preview: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike</a><br /><br />I was offered a trip to San Francisco this week (I'd actually be out there right now if I'd accepted), but I decided against it. It was an EA event, and I've already seen most of their holiday lineup, plus... I'm going to the Cubs game today. Shazam.<br /><br />And... I'm boring myself with work talk. I've actually had quite a bit more free time in the last couple weeks, yet I'm finally making hot dollars. Hoorah!Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-57294852242521154222007-08-06T14:55:00.000-07:002007-09-06T20:01:35.939-07:00Two Years of French in High SchoolMy first preview for 1UP just popped up on the site and I am totally pumped about it. I've done a heap of previews for WorthPlaying and upwards of 150 news stories for 1UP, but this one means a lot to me. And not just because it's on a big site -- I proposed this idea, conceptualizing it from scratch and drawing up a set of questions for Level-5 and SCEA to answer. Once it came back (last week), I wrote this preview and am really pleased with how it turned out. Check it out:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3161765">1UP Preview - Jeanne D'Arc (PSP)</a><br /><br />Also, I'm headed to California on Wednesday to cover a pair of events in Santa Monica and Ontario (not Canada). Wasn't planning on doing much travel after E3, but it's two nights and two articles, so it seemed worth my time. I've seen (and written about) both titles already, but they should be showing off quite a bit more this time around. It's all embargoed for a couple weeks, so... we'll talk later. Looking forward to it, though.<br /><br />EDIT: So yeah... it's the top story over at 1UP right now. Not gloating; just excited. It's such a minor step in the grand scheme of things, but right now, it's pretty great. It really means a lot that they have such faith in the article. I'm already starting to prep on a third article for them; second should hit next Tuesday.<br /><br /><center><img src="http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k22/dejaandyroo/1up_jeanne.jpg"></center>Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-6673282478172857992007-07-17T10:02:00.000-07:002007-07-17T10:15:45.609-07:00The Words to Keep the Birds HummingThings keep happening so rapidly.<br /><br />I stop updating for five weeks, and in the meantime, I've spent nine nights in California covering the E3 Media & Business Summit, as well as several pre-E3 events. It's exciting stuff, and I definitely enjoy the travel, but it has absolutely dominated my life for the last few months, so I'm cutting back significantly now that the majority of events are finished. I have far too many better opportunities to explore.<br /><br />My work at 1UP is progressing quite nicely. I'm still doing daily news updates (E3 got in the way last week, though), and soon I'll be moving into news features and preview articles. Absolutely pumped for that. Plus, I'm damn near broke, so... actually having time to devote to paid work sounds really fantastic to me.<br /><br />And it will allow me to pursue other freelance opportunities, as well. I've been on the freelance rotation at one of the other large sites for several weeks, but have yet to take an assignment (some were quickly nabbed, some I didn't have time for). Also, while I did not get the job I interviewed for, I was told that they would likely be looking for freelancers next month. So while I'd rather be fully employed, I may be able to work for several large sites in a freelance capacity.<br /><br />That's about it for now. I'm busy all the time, but progressing forward, especially now that I'm making time to explore these opportunities that have popped up in recent months. It's a grind, but it's been exciting.<br /><br />And with that, I'm going to the Cubs game. Rain be damned.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-24435036582402433182007-06-09T15:17:00.001-07:002007-06-09T15:26:42.516-07:00Quick BitsHere's a quick update on the crazy happenings of my life:<br /><br />- I interviewed for a full-time position yesterday (over the phone). This is the same position I interviewed for back in February; I saw that they had another opening, so I contacted the EIC that I interviewed with previously. He got back to me right away, and we did the interview yesterday. I think it went extremely well, and I'm very, very excited about the possibility of having a full-time gig before E3. I should find out around Friday, and I may be seeing the EIC at one or more of the events I'm covering next week.<br /><br />- The Santa Monica event on Thursday went well enough. I can't talk about what I played until Tuesday afternoon, but I'm putting together a trio of previews based on what I saw. I wrote one last night and just finished compiling my notes for the second -- will write that shortly. The third is the largest, so I may work on my notes tonight and then write it tomorrow evening. I woke up early on Thursday and walked down to the ocean; there were a lot of hobos on the beach. Not the worst place in the world to be homeless.<br /><br />- On Monday, I'm heading to Oakland to start a wacky, five-night adventure of event coverage in California. On Tuesday, I'll be covering Microsoft and Namco Bandai events in San Francisco, then I'm flying to LAX on Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon is the Activision pre-E3 event in Santa Monica. On Thursday, I head to Los Angeles for an Electronic Arts event, then Friday contains between two and four events in Santa Monica. I don't even know. It looks like I'm coming home on Saturday afternoon. I don't know about the other events yet, but everything at the Activision event is embargoed for nearly a month. It makes you wonder why there's even a pre-E3 to begin with, but nobody really seems to know what the hell's going on with E3 this year, so I'll just roll with it.<br /><br />More updates when they're available, folks.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-67072996538263325742007-06-02T14:27:00.000-07:002007-06-02T15:15:07.491-07:00May RecapMay was, by far, my busiest, most prolific, and most successful month to date. I started the month by wrapping up my coverage of Capcom Gamers Day and the Sierra Spring Event (as well as a couple of reviews), then flew out to San Diego to cover Sony's Gamers Day event (which I'm wrapping up this weekend), and then finished the month by joining the news team at 1UP, where I am currently a News Contributor.<br /><br />I wrote two dozen articles for WorthPlaying and over a dozen news stories for 1UP (most within the last week) during the month. Because I may doing 3-5 news stories per weekday for 1UP, I won't be linking to all of them here (just check out the 1UP News link atop the blog), but here are the links to all of my WorthPlaying articles:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">WorthPlaying:</span><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43181">Preview: The BIGS (PS3/360)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42911">Preview: Carcassonne (360)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42628">Preview: Devil May Cry 4 (Multi)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42690">Preview: Empire Earth III (PC)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42997">Preview: God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43060">Preview: Heavenly Sword (PS3)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43023">Preview: High Velocity Bowling (PS3)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43031">Preview: Jeanne d'Arc (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43186">Preview: John Woo Presents Stranglehold (Multi)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42655">Preview: Mega Man Star Force (DS)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42867">Preview: Mega Man ZX Advent (DS)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42725">Preview: Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43022">Preview: PAIN (PS3)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42982">Preview: PaRappa the Rapper (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43124">Preview: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42691">Preview: SWAT: Target Liberty (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43097">Preview: Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (PSP)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=43208">Preview: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42758">Preview: World in Conflict (PC)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42696">Preview: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42862">Review: Burnout Dominator (PS2)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42627">Review: Guitar Hero II (360)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42949">Review: Spider-Man 3 (360)</a><br /><a href="http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=42575">Feature: Editorial Spotlight - May 2007</a><br /><br />That's my final Editorial Spotlight, by the way. With the addition of the 1UP gig, I'm refocusing my WorthPlaying work on preview/event coverage, and I didn't think that the feature represented the best use of my time. That, and I didn't get the impression that anyone was reading it (as it was barely promoted). Pick a reason.<br /><br />While June is unlikely to hold as many preview/review articles, it will be absolutely packed with busy days. I'll write more about it in a later post, but it looks like I'm spending six nights on the road over the next two weeks, and I've been added to the freelance rotation at another major gaming site. I'll update again this weekend if I have time.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-51250523153282231382007-05-25T15:47:00.001-07:002007-05-28T13:03:48.453-07:001UP'd My CareerAs of this morning, I am now a News Contributor for <a href="http://www.1up.com/">1UP</a>, the online gaming community that also serves as the portal for Electronic Gaming Monthly and Games for Windows. I've been a member of the site for over a year, but now I write for it. <span style="font-style: italic;">This is a big deal.</span><br /><br />I've been working my way up in the industry now for some time, but this is my first paying gig, not to mention the largest publication (by far) that I've had the opportunity to write for. It's kind of like a part-time job; I work the morning "shift" on weekdays and I work with a crew of other writers to get up all the news. I'm not typically a morning person, but I've actually been looking for something to force me to wake up at a particular time each day, so this is helpful.<br /><br />Here are the first two stories that I wrote today:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159863">Halo 2 for PC Delayed by 'Partial Nudity'</a><br /><a href="http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3159849">The Sims to Become Feature Film</a><br /><br />I probably won't post links to all of my news stories, as I may be doing 15+ a week once I get familiar with the system and up my speed a bit. Also potentially on the horizon is some freelance work (likely reviews) at a couple of websites. One of the guys I met at Gamers Day got back to me today and said he thought my samples were "pretty good" and had passed them on to his boss. He suggested that I would probably hear back about it next week, so I'm eagerly anticipating that. Between the 1UP gig and a bit of freelance work, I could be doing pretty alright for myself. Not enough to live on, but certainly enough to start saving some cash for when I am eventually on my own.<br /><br />However, the addition of the 1UP gig means the near-elimination of my work at Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites, just a month after I started there. They've been really great to me, and all three of the guys (Dan, Kevin, and Jim) were extremely supportive when they heard the news, so I'm quite glad to not be parting on a bad note. I'm not leaving entirely; I'll still be listed as a contributor, but I won't be doing a whole lot. It'll be nice to have an additional, less-mainstream outlet for when/if I have something to say that just doesn't fit elsewhere.<br /><br />Sony's Gamers Day was pretty cool, though it was super busy since I was the only person from WorthPlaying at the event. I've written nine previews so far (been slowed a bit by some family stuff) and probably have four or five left until I've covered what I can cover. I met some very solid dudes while I was out there and also attended the Padres game on Tuesday evening. I was hanging with a couple of other guys and we left after the 11th inning. Naturally, Griffey Jr. lead off the 12th with the game-winning homer. Ah well. I wasn't too invested in Padres/Reds, but I love baseball, so it was a worthwhile experience.<br /><br />On the horizon -- many events! In a week and a half, I'll be flying out to Santa Monica to check out the Transformers movie game. I was actually supposed to see The Pipettes at Empty Bottle in Chicago on the day I come back, but nobody else could cover the event, so I'm going. It's not a bad trade-off by any means, but I was looking forward to the show. One week later, I'll be flying back to Santa Monica to attend Activision's pre-E3 event, where they'll probably have the usual suspects (Call of Duty 4, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, etc). I dig both series, so "the usual" is fine with me.<br /><br />And finally, I was invited to the E3 Media and Business Summit in July! It's in Santa Monica (jeez, I'm going to be sick of the place), and though my invitation is not tied to any particular publication, I will more than likely be attending for WorthPlaying (unless there's a big career change in the next two months).<br /><br />Also, you'll notice a style/layout/attitude change here. I wanted something a bit more professional sounding/looking, so I stretched out the full name again and swapped templates to something cleaner and easier to read. That doesn't mean I'll update more often, though!Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-39432993207694438422007-05-08T02:55:00.000-07:002007-05-08T03:06:43.503-07:00San DiegoWhich, <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm told</span>, is German for "a whale's vagina."<br /><br />I'm headed there on Monday to cover some kind of Sony event, though it hasn't been made clear what will be shown or when I'll be working. I fly out Monday around noon and land in San Diego at about 2pm (PST). I chose an earlier flight, so I should have a couple hours to get situated and somewhat comfortable before some gathering on Monday evening. Will probably be busy for much of the day on Tuesday, and then I've got things until 3pm on Wednesday. Catching a flight around 7pm, and I won't be back until nearly 1am (CST). I would have seen about just getting a flight on Thursday, but a member of my immediate family is having surgery on Thursday and I wanted to be back for that.<br /><br />Anyway, I have just one preview left to finish from the last trip, and I'm winding down on a review copy of Burnout Dominator (PS2). I'll probably start playing Spider-Man 3 (360) tomorrow, with the hopes of finishing it before I leave for San Diego, but I suppose that all depends on how much time I have later in the week. Shouldn't be an issue.<br /><br />I'm thinking about jumping on the <a href="http://www.thebbps.com/bitcast/">BBPS Podcast</a> in the near future, if they'll have me. I've never been a big fan of podcasts, but I like what I heard of last week's show (where they showed me a lot of love), and I think it comes with the territory as a new staff blogger. So I'm down.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18747050.post-12205248878035049962007-05-04T15:44:00.000-07:002007-05-07T20:59:32.735-07:00What's Your Definition of "Review"?What I wrote here is essentially the same as what I later wrote for Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites, so just go ahead and <a href="http://www.thebbps.com/blog/2007/05/04/when-is-a-review-not-a-review/">read the definitive version</a> there.Andrew Haywardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197419763040679845noreply@blogger.com0