Writing Editorials

Just in case you’re unsure how to go about it, this handy FAQ will explain everything you need to know about the writing and submission of editorials.

What can I write about?

Any game you like! It can be from any console, any year, whatever. As long as you have played enough of the game to give a good opinion on it, you can write about it.

What do I write?

A good idea is to write about the four basic areas of a game (Plot, Gameplay, Graphics and Sound), explaining what’s good or bad about each of them. If you wish, include a score with it – most people score out of 5, 10, or 100. We do not standardise these scores, however we do request that you give the game a final score out of 100 for our community rating. Note that when discussing plot, it is advised to only give a general overview of the story, without revealing any surprises – remember, you want someone to play the game and find out for themselves.

What’s the plot?

The plot is the story. As I mentioned, only a basic overview is necessary. A basic overview is the information found in the instruction manual, or on the back of the box. If you want to talk about how good (or not good) the plot is, you can do this without talking about specific points of the story – for example, it’s full of surprises, or it’s very predictable.

What’s the gameplay?

The gameplay is exactly how it sounds – the way the game plays. This is where you talk about loading times, whether the controls work well or not, how interactive the game is, and so on. If you’re writing about a shooter, fighting, or racing game, how responsive the controls are is important – try not to leave that out.

What do I write about graphics?

It seems obvious, but this is where you write about how pretty the game is. Is it a masterpiece of beautiful scenery and well-defined characters, or does it look really poor? Talk about the in-game movies, and the gameplay footage, as these often have very different levels of quality.

What do I write about the sound?

This is where you talk about the sound effects and music. How impressive are the sound effects? When you drive the car, does it sound real? When you hit a person, how does it sound? Music, also, is important – it should reflect the place you’re in, or the mood at the time. How well written is it? How does it sound, and make you feel?

And that’s it?

Not yet. Slap on a conclusion, an overall look at the game. Tell us whether it’s well made or not, whether you’d play it again, how long it lasts. Would you recommend it? If so, why? If not, why not? Remember this format is only a basic guide to reviewing a game. Feel free to express yourself, expand out of the box and create a writing style that suits you.

OK, so how do I submit the editorial?

First thing you need to do is find the game you wish to write about. You can do this by either browsing through the platform navigation bar, or by using the search facilities on this page. If you can't find the game, you can add it yourself here.

Once you've found your game, simply click the 'New Editorial' button at the bottom of the game's page and write your review or article. Because you are automatically logged out after 15 minutes of inactivity it is advised that you take your time to write your editorial in a word processor and paste it on the site when you are done so there is less chance of you losing your work.

When will my editorial appear?

Unlike the submission of a game, your review or article has to be read and approved by the editorial staff first, which may take time depending on how many editorials are backlogged. Editorial staff will also correct any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors they find, though they will not change the content. With this in mind, your editorial will appear anywhere between a few hours later and a few days later. We aim to approve your work in less than twenty-four hours. If you think it’s taking too long, feel free to e-mail us and ask how it’s going.

You will receive a private message when your editorial is put online, or if we decide not to.

This game already has a review. Can I write another?

Yes! If we have more opinions on a game, readers get a better idea of what it’s like. There is no limit to the number of reviews a game can have, so don’t let it put you off if a game already has one.

Why have you rejected my submission?

There could be any number of reasons. While we don’t have a size limit, if the editorial is too short and doesn’t really tell us anything about the game, it will be rejected. You should also be aware that we do get younger readers – if your editorial is full of bad language, it won’t be put online. Likewise, anything that could be found offensive (i.e. racism, sexism) will not be put online. If you have any questions, do e-mail and ask.

My submission is online. What now?

Once editorials are posted online the Fantasy World XD community has the ability to comment and discuss about what you talked about, whether they agree or disagree and how they felt about the game in regards to your article. There is also a feature that allows members to rate your editorial out of five stars, allowing you to see whether people enjoyed reading it.

I want to write a review of an album/movie...

You will see on the Editorial sidebar that we have a section dedicated to soundtracks and films. As long as its video game related, we would love to read it. Please note we do not accept general movie or music editorials that are completely unrelated to video games.