It’s been over a month since my last update, and this one’s not exactly going to be filled with insight, commentary or anything resembling something that is not a job posting. (If you write like I just wrote, you’re officially out of the running). I’m overworked — I’m not getting nearly enough time to play games, [...]

“Public relations” isn’t “media relations,” folks. The definition of PR seems to have moved away from its literal meaning — relating to and interacting with the public. If I focus my attention on individuals — or any number of “second-tier” websites and blogs (or third-tier or fourth-tier or even the guy who only gets 3 hits a year) — I can reach a massive audience. Those individuals appreciate even a moment of your time — particularly if you’re working for a company they adore — and will become extensions of your PR efforts (not necessarily your media efforts, of course), telling their friends, Twitter followers, and everyone else about your company and its products. They want to help you succeed. Let them do that. It just takes a bit of your time.

“I was reviewing a big, anticipated game in a well-known, successful franchise from a top-tier publisher. It’d gotten plenty of slobbery preview coverage from ours and other outlets in the months previous, but the final game was inescapably mediocre. So I gave it the score it deserved.” Just like any other day for a gaming [...]

How about a little quickie on branding? Dragon Age: Origins (not sure why Dragon Age didn’t work out on its own) and Guild Wars 2 are two fairly highly anticipated entries in the fantasy-RPG space. So how could they possibly end up with such similar branding? Check it: I have to say I like the [...]

Throughout a game’s PR and marketing campaign, the publisher or developer needs to create promotional screenshots to show off a game’s visuals. It’s important to note that the final polishing of a game — those extra steps that take the game to final quality — often isn’t done until the last few months of the project. That will vary, of course, from one game to another, as some teams may aim to be “art complete” much earlier in development. Anyway, these shots will usually be created with whatever game content is available — so if a game is being announced two years before its release date, there’s a good chance that the aforementioned game content is not final, only partially available or completely non-existent.

Everybody who’s anybody in the games industry — me being the most obvious exception — is at E3 in LA this week, shoveling their wares or having wares shoveled into them. As hoped, a lot of companies saved some big announcements and content for the show, and I’m here to crap all over their hard [...]

So today the mighty M is launching its McCafé brand in the US (I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to savor the flavors up here in Canada), bringing “quality espresso-based coffee” to its restaurants nationwide. They’re trying to take a bite (or gulp, if you will) out of the lucrative coffee market dominated by the likes of Starbucks and whatever other local mega-chain you have around your parts. Will it work, though?