“Joining The Pixels – Revolution in Three Easy Steps”

La révolution des jeux!

This is what makes The Pixels more than just another website about game reviews.

WHO WE ARE

The Pixels is a community critique hub featuring diverse thinkers and opinions, writers from all walks of life with a variety of interests. We don’t just cover retro gaming. We don’t just handle the latest hotness. We distinguish ourselves from games writing that boils down to pointing out what is racist, sexist, or problematic and leave the cultural critiques for others. I’m not saying cultural issues are unimportant. I am saying that other sites can make that their brand.

At The Pixels, we create content around the games themselves. It’s in the subtitle: Elemental Video Game Critiques.

Don’t like the sound of modern mainstream games journalism? Change can happen but it will require abandoning anything resembling shills, fanboyism, review bombing, rage baiting, click baiting, leaks baiting, or false headlining. It’ll require uniting around a commonality: the fact that we all like video games.

WHAT WE NEED

You. We are always looking for friendly, articulate, productive contributors who are passionate about gaming and writing. Writers are our lifeblood.

Whether you run a blog, you’re thinking of starting one but don’t want to deal with the hassle, you’re looking for a haven of writers to be a part of, or you just love gaming and you want to express your thoughts about any game on any platform from any era, you’re welcome to join our party.

The fact is there’s just too much gaming to cover it all. We need more writers who want to dig in, help us craft the kind of content you’d like to see in the world, and create with us!

WHAT WE DO

We host a range of video game-themed content from writers around the world: long-form critiques, short-form reviews, editorials and opinion pieces, analyses, recurring series, group collaborations, more personal blog posts, first impressions and highlights, musical interludes, podcasts, and livestreams!

You can read more about our main types of content, as well as how our 10-point grading scale breaks down, on our Instruction Manual page.

The Pixels is primarily a criticism site. Our formatting is easy to follow and a requirement for all reviews and critiques. Reviews/critiques should ideally be for games we’ve never reviewed before, so you can see our Archive for a list of games we’ve tackled.

HOW TO JOIN

If you’re interested, email me (thewellredmage@gmail.com). Simple as that. We can start a dialogue.

I will ask for a sample or samples of your work and you should have an idea of what kind of content you’d like to create for the site when requesting to join. I can lend some assistance with editing but I prefer our collaborators have a firm grasp of the English language, and also wield some demonstrable writing skills and interest in writing (or content of another kind if that’s your shtick).

There is a Rule of Three in effect: a new writer is a guest writer until they have successfully had three (3) posts published on The Pixels. After that, they will be able to join the core writing staff. Staff writers are given access to the press keys that we handle (with care), advance copies of games provided with the expectation of providing coverage. This rule is in effect to sort through writers who will submit productive content and those who won’t. I’ve spent a lot of time in the past onboarding new writers who would only produce a single post before moving on. We wish them the best but we also are looking for writers who want to feel at home here.

Your first submission must be a pitched article that represents a trial post to see if you can adhere to our guidelines.

Stick to our formatting, honor our ideals, keep things generally family-friendly, allow The Pixels a one-week exclusivity period on new content (so please do not repost an article in full to your own site day one), and share your own personal thoughts without recycling what they’re saying over at Metacritic… it sounds pretty easy, right? It is. Games writing doesn’t have to be hard.

This remains a private site, not a professional one, and I believe in enjoying the writing process. You retain authorial rights to your posts here, which you can take down or alter however you see fit (within the previously described rules). That said, productivity and reliability will make you a comfortable fit with The Pixels. If you pitch an article, claim a game to review, or handle a press key, we will need your assurance that you will follow through.

Things that will get you removed from the site: 1) not sticking to the format, 2) being combative with editors, 3) not following through on the posts you said you would submit, 4) claiming too many games for review and again not following through, 5) general misbehavior: lack of maturity/unprofessionalism, attacking persons rather than critiquing games, using harsh language or NSFW content in your posts, lack of respect, being discouraging, mocking political, religious, racial, ethnic groups or orientations, etc. Again, if you want to join the mobs shouting THIS IS PROBLEMATIC, you’ll find many other possible sites to write for.

What is the value of a good written piece about a video game? It’s priceless. A well-written, well-thought-out post can provoke new thoughts, reinvigorate discussion, shift general consensus, and challenge ideas both new and old. A post like that can alter somebody’s opinion on a game so they give it a second chance or affect what title they choose to play next. Such a post reaches across vast distances and speaks to the mind and the heart.

If that sounds like adventure to you, then please… join the party.

Become a Writer!

*Name:
*Your blog/publication/website/channel/social media:
*Please provide two links or attachments to your writing samples (preferably gaming related):
*Your systems/consoles:
*Your proposed focus as a writer (new games, retro games, console, PC, handheld, etc.):

*Why are you interested in joining The Pixels?:

*Display name on The Pixels:

*Are you willing to submit your work to an editor before it’s published?:
*Are you willing to follow The Pixel’s formatting (here) for posts?:
*Are you willing to keep your posts generally family-friendly in tone and language?:
*Do you have any questions?:
*Pitch for your first contribution (which may or may not be accepted, keeping in mind we are mainly a critiques/reviews site):

Please email your answers to thewellredmage@gmail.com