The Bitmob Featured Community Writer series focuses on you, the Bitmob community member. We dust off a writer's old articles and give them their just reward: more eyeballs. We're featuring some of your favorite contributors, some you may have overlooked, and maybe even you!
Michael Rousseau is perhaps one of the most active Bitmob members. His articles always engage the reader, and his technical writing skill make them a favorite to edit -- he does hold a professional writing degree after all. Better yet, he’s also very involved in the community. His writing challenges are always creative and fun, but more importantly, they push our writers to be better.
Learn a bit more about Michael in his Meet the Mob article.
Front-page posts
Day-One DLC: The Problem with Perishable Content -- Bitmob staff chose this article to be published in GamePro as part of the ongoing relationship between our site and the internationally distributed magazine. If you missed the article on newsstands, here it is!
Quote of note: “There’s something unsettling about the fact that segments of my purchase have eroded before my eyes. Even more unsettling is the idea that more and more publishers may follow EA’s path down the slippery slope, eventually cordoning off substantial portions of their games for new users only.”
What Gives Us the Right to Critique Games? -- Ever felt guilty about putting your opinion about a game out there? How much does a gamer need to know about the creation of video games in order to assess their quality? Michael takes a look.
Quote of note: “Creating a game will give you insight into the process, of course, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a wide enough knowledge base to write about games professionally. On the contrary: Working on one title for so long may result in a myopic view toward games that a critic can’t afford to have.”
Fighting Motion Sickness for Gamers -- I’ve never gotten motion sick while playing a game. But when I do, I’m going to give Dr. Rousseau a call.
Quote of note: “Motion sickness occurs for gamers because they focus too much on the screen and less on their immediate surroundings. Solid, non-moving pieces of your environment like walls and furniture can root your eyes in reality and keep them from checking for actual movement with your inner ear.”
From the Mobfeed
A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES): Truly Mediocre Terror -- In what is perhaps the most comprehensive look at A Nightmare on Elm Street, Michael breaks down the game from top to bottom, offering up quite a bit more insight than you would expect from someone playing an NES-era licensed game.
Quote of note: “The argument I will make, however, is that A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most tragic games I’ve ever played.”
Jean Fighter: A Short Screenplay -- I love seeing this type of writing on Bitmob! Michael does an excellent job of translating the phenomenom of multiple Street Fighter iterations to the stage.
Quote of note: "Well, I don't want to bore you with technical details, but it's just not practical to stitch these pockets onto your old jeans. We made all of these other alterations to the old pockets, and even the seams. It would be too much work. We decided, instead, to offer these jeans for less to make up for it.”
New Borderlands DLC Knoxx it Outta the Park -- With the release of the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, is a year-old game worth it? Michael’s look at some of the included content might convince that it is.
Quote of note: “As flawed as Borderlands was, there are few co-op experiences that can match the thrill of blasting through the wasteland with a party of friends in search of increasingly ridiculous ordnance. It may not win any awards for originality, but Secret Armory retains the highly addictive qualities that made Borderlands an unexpected hit without ruining what made the core game so enjoyable.”
Want to be a Featured Community Writer? Then register with Bitmob and start contributing! You need to use your real name, and it wouldn't hurt to write a Meet the Mob post about yourself and tag it with "Meet the Mob." If you have a favorite Bitmob community writer and want to nominate him or her, send me an e-mail at andrew.hiscock@bitmob.com.
