Ryan Mac Donald Executive Producer	Recent Favorites: Command & Conquer Renegade, Global Operations, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Most Wanted: Unreal Tournament 2, Doom, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

A Day in the Life Of

In my last two GameSpotting columns, I've written about breaking into the video game industry. The first article was about breaking into the industry as a journalist, and the second detailed the path from the point of view of a 3D artist. After each article posted, I received a great deal of e-mail asking even more questions on the subject. The bulk of the e-mail seemed to focus on asking me to give more detailed advice about getting started or asking me about exactly how I did it. So I'll tell you exactly how I did it, but that's it! Heh. I swear this will be the last article I write about breaking into the gaming industry. Next week I'll be writing about boxing games.

gamejobs.com is a good place to look for work in the industry.

The article I wrote two GameSpottings ago was more or less about how I got my start at age 14. No kidding. I was sitting in the library at school one day reading the newspaper and came across an article about games written by another kid my age. I basically thought if he could do it so could I. So I called that newspaper's competitor and said, "Look, they have this and you don't, and I'll do it for free." They asked for some writing samples, which I pored over for a solid day and a half and then sent in. They gave me the go-ahead, and I started writing for them. At first I rented games. Then I eventually got enough courage up to start calling companies to request products. From the newspaper I found myself on the radio, then as a freelancer for Game Informer magazine, and then here.

A long time ago, I wrote for...

I love my job. Sure, it's a lot of work, the hours are long, and I have a terrible commute. But I get to work with great people and see games, which I love more every day. It's just like a lot of things though--I have tasks at work I don't necessarily enjoy, and it's not all fun and games. Sometimes I get the feeling some people think we sit around all day and just play games like it's a five-day-a-week pizza party. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most days a good number of us don't even get up from our desks to go get any food at all, simply because we are that busy.

But enough about me. Next time I'll give you the lowdown on how GameSpot became the heavyweight champ of the video game industry--literally!