True dat. We’re looking for one of our Best and Brightest to write 800-word automotive videogame reviews for TTAC. We’ll pay $100 per published piece plus free videogames (disclaimed at the bottom of the review, of course). Send your magnum opus (within the body of an email) to robert.farago@thetruthaboutcars.com with SAMPLE REVIEW in the subject bar. Rate the game from one to five stars and include a one sentence summation. Again, the review must be exactly 800 words (not including title, star ratings and summation sentence). Remember: ‘tude counts. Oh, and Midnight Club: Los Angeles is out today. Here’s a review style you shouldn’t copy, from Streetfire: “I have to say that from what I’ve seen so far in the last 11 hours it is pretty impressive. It came as no surprise that the party was held in the heart of Hollywood at the Virgin Megastore and featured a performance by the Eagles of Death Metal. I’m personally a big fan of the fact that the game has a 97 song track list with music of all types, and a large number from the SoCal area. Being from Los Angeles, it’s pretty cool to be playing a badass car game that let’s me drive through the streets of Hollywood doing all of the things I WISH I could get away.” With. Although that’s one way to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition…
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Awesome. Thanks for opening it up. I have Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli for the PS3. It’s pretty good, but I don’t think I can make an 800 word review out of it.
Question: do you want to build up your content with reviews of already released games or do you want to focus only on new games from this point forward?
Samir:
We can build up.
Ok. I was born to do this.
Samir :
You and whose army?
Hey, sign me up too… I’ve even got the wireless racing wheel for the 360. Granted, my husband has more time to game than I do (he’s a big burnout freak), but you squeeze in what you can.
Damnit of all the videogames I’m not good at… I can’t play driving games things to save my life.
But if you look at some of the major publications & big-game websites (IGN, Fileplanet, etc), and do some googling on the whole game-review scene, you’ll soon discover that they fall into the same BS play on words reviews that the car-mags do due to the advertisers.
If only this opportunity had come up before I had children. I don’t think I’ve been hands-on since my son started walking. And reaching things that he shouldn’t perhaps be able to.
Hey, would there be any ethical issues with using a pre-school co-reviewer?
The last one I played was Frogger. Are you interested?
I should have my ps3, hopefully, by end of October. First purchase is most likely going to be the F1 game released quite a while ago.
I’m not sure I like the idea =/
Not to rain on the parade or anything but there are already dozens of sites that professionally review videogames and have been doing it for quite a while.
Some even have a database of thousands upon thousands of user submitted reviews. There are just so many other (arguably better) sites to go to if you want a videogame review.
So my point is, TTAC should stick to what it’s good at, which is real car reviews.
Just my two cents.
HighlyEvolved,
1. Those guys usually don’t know crap about cars, so it would be nice to get that aspect in the review.
2. Video game sites have video game advertising. Conflict (alignment? accrual?) of interest for sure.
Considering giving this a shot…
Robstar, I played a demo of that game, and it was very disappointing. 21st century graphics, mid-90’s gameplay.
Maybe I have found my calling? Now to get an Xbox AND a racing game…
You know what, give me a couple of days, and I’ll write a 800-word missive on why Daytona USA 2 is the greatest racing game ever made and why Sega is terminally retarded for not making a threequel. You down?
ferrarimanf355 :
You know what, give me a couple of days, and I’ll write a 800-word missive on why Daytona USA 2 is the greatest racing game ever made and why Sega is terminally retarded for not making a threequel. You down?
From my very shallow understanding of the video game industry, your proposal might be akin to writing an article about why GM was stupid for canceling some random project in the early 90s.
In other words, didn’t Sega botch a whole pile of stuff?
In other words, didn’t Sega botch a whole pile of stuff?
Yes, for example, Sega allegedly recently sunk $27 million into a revival of their beloved Golden Axe series. The results… well… speak for themselves. Sega’s been making stupid decisions lately, and not bringing back their most successful arcade game, if not the most successful of all time, is one of them.
That being said, some of their recent racers are pretty good, like Out Run 2006: Coast 2 Coast and Sega Rally Revo…
Great this is awesome I was hoping for the TTAC perspective on car games for a while and thought it would have been here by now. If nothing it will give us addicts more fun to read content from TTAC. The fluff book and website reviews get annoying after a while kind of like the car related ones.
Now all I need to do is find time to play and send some reviews in to Robert. Haven’t had much time lately to turn on the 360 while playing dad with my 5 month old.
I remember writing video game reviews for my college’s newspaper, but I had to fit everything into a 150 word limit. 800 words will take time…
RF-When’s this due by, and are there any problems with getting a little bit of help from a co-reviewer? Also, do the qualifications require equipment like PS3s or XB360s?
HighlyEvolved : I’m sort of with you on that one. When I see the video game and new music review section Super Street, STreetfire, etc., I pass. However, there are probably a number of TTAC readers who’d be interested and if it brings more traffic, it’s all good.
I’m so down for this (until I find my next “real” job, anyway)!
psarhjinian, I so feel your pain! Had this been offered a couple of years ago, I would have sent 3 reviews right away for Mr. Farago to choose from. Now all I can offer is some diaper and sip cups reviews.
And the best car game ever would be Stunts, for the PC.
TTAC jumps the shark.*
Sorry guys, but can’t see how this does anything but dilute the point of this (excellent) site. Sure it’s arguably car-related, but only in the same sense as antifreeze, Hot Wheels toys and the new series of Knight Rider.
*yes, I am well aware that the phrase ‘jumping the shark’ has somewhat.. er.. jumped the shark.
Pat Holliday :
It will be a car-related product review, with TTAC style and honesty. Please withhold your judgment until after the article appears.
How extensive is the definition of “car game”?
I.e. do games that include lots of driving but are not exactly car games fit in, such as GTA or Saint’s Row?
I do have Forza 2, but it’s so straight it won’t be easy to write a fun review for it.
AKM :
If it’s a game that has cars, close enough. GTA counts, for example. But we need to cover the automotive aspect, obviously.
I would like to see someone like Jay Shoemaker, who obviously has experience behind the exotics we all drool over, play a game like Sony’s Gran Turismo which is supposed to have realistic physics & car-handling, and see what he thinks.
Autobraz:
Second the “Stunts” nomination. Large portions of my early teen years were spent on that game at the keyboard of a 25Mhz 386.
A modern rendition with some semblance of physics and graphics would rock.
If it’s a game that has cars, close enough. GTA counts, for example. But we need to cover the automotive aspect, obviously.
I just sent in a GTA IV one covering the driving aspects of the game only. That’s what you’re looking for here, right?
Agreeing here with the dilution of the site argument. I’m of the opinion that video games and actual cars/driving are two completely different worlds. Being an avid video game enthusiast myself I hate to rag on my brethren, but I don’t think this is necessarily going to help to attract the most bright and mature crowd out on the internet to this site. Hope I’m wrong.
With that said, tucked away in the same way the product reviews are, it likely wouldn’t bother me in the least as far as this great web site is concerned.
DiRT is awesome
Forza 2 online is awesome.
Close enough? ;-)
BTW I think we should have a TTAC Forza 2 tournament. I play Wed or Thurs nights.
One more thing. LittleBigPlanet is out next week. It should be out now, but Sony had to screw it up, as usual. Anyways, maybe one of TTAC’s B&B can put together a TTAC-themed level that serves as a metaphor for the downfall of the Big 2.8. It would be killer if done well, and I’d play it once I’m done sorting through the Super Mario Bros. recreations.
Dear RF:
I’ve always fancied myself a wordsmith, and my ticker’s all atwitter at the thought of writing under the TTAC masthead instead of sniping from the curmudgeon gallery, a la Statler and Waldorf from “The Muppet Show.”
Here’s my review:
Game Title: Toyota Yaris
Platform: Xbox 360
Released: October 2007
Rating: 0 out of 5
Summary: What a piece of $#!+.
Review text:
This game sucks. Bad.
(Note to editor: ‘copy’ the previous line and ‘paste’ it 199 times in a row. This will save me some time, and will perfectly fill the 800 word limit. Thanks!)
Wow, that was easy.
Wait, you mean I don’t get my hundred dollars?
Any other Macintosh users on TTAC that play Redline? I’d love to meetup online for some races on the weekends.
–chuck
Howdy Robert, I sent you a sample review – I am wondering if you’d gotten it as I haven’t heard back from you. Thanks!
Today’s the day!