Independent Component 2: LIA

Foreword: The text I am about to type out here is exactly what is on the hard-copy of my log. Also, as for visual proof, since it is a log, I will scan it and post it here on the blog post as well as the verification formed signed.

So last semester, almost all of my Independent Component consisted of watching the show X-Play*, where the two hosts Adam and Morgan do game reviews, talk about upcoming releases, and sometimes even give tips, tricks, and strategies for games. But since I did A LOT of that last semester, I felt like I should do more writing for Hardtoast (hardtoast.com). That’s exactly what I did this time around. On top of watching X-Play, I did a lot more writing for Hardtoast, but my most recent work has not been published. For the sake of my senior topic, I’ll still include that here because I did write it and submit it for review, it’s just my “boss” (the person in charge of Hardtoast) hasn’t had the time to properly read through it and publish it. So here is the log of what I did this semester:

*X-Play is on every weekday at 6:30 P.M. Eastern Time, which would be 3:30 P.M here in California. If you want the full listing of every show on G4TV, go to: http://www.g4tv.com/schedule/index.html. I only watched X-Play on the weekdays from 3:30 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.

Let’s start off with the articles I’ve written this semester. Before I list the articles I wrote, the total time for each one includes the researching, playing the game if needed (as is the case for my Minecraft article and my Black Ops: First Strike Map Pack Rundown), draft writing, and polishing.

Here are the articles:

·         Jumping Jehoshaphats, Batman! (An article on the upcoming release of Batman: Arkham City) – Total time spent: 3 Hours

·         Black Ops: First Strike Map Pack Rundown (An article on the released map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops) – Total time spent: 3.5 Hours

·         Nintendo 3DS Details (An article that gives a list of features that the Nintendo 3DS has and what comes with the initial purchase) – Total time spent: 2 Hours

·         Minecraft Players Prepare for Beta Update 1.5! (An unpublished article I wrote that covers the new update for Minecraft from Beta 1.4 to 1.5.) – Total time spent: 4 Hours

Total time spent writing news articles for Hardtoast: 12.5 Hours

Before listing the logs for the days I watched X-Play, I just wanted to say that the log starts directly where I left off first semester, which is in the month of February.

Now for the X-Play viewing schedule:

 And now, here are my articles that are published online:

http://hardtoast.com/news/jumping-jehoshaphats-batman/1380

http://hardtoast.com/news/black-ops-first-strike-map-pack-rundown/1344

http://hardtoast.com/news/nintendo-3ds-details/1309

Now as stated on the log posted above, the fourth article I submitted (but is not yet published) which is called "Minecraft Players Prepare for Beta Update 1.5!," is here on my computer. If you would like, I can email it to you, just send me an email for it or request it in person. I will also print and attach it to the log. But, just in case, here are pictures of it:

In the end, the grand total of hours for Independent Component 2 is: 42.5 Hours

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Literal:

a) I, Ryan Manalac, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b) For this semesters 30 hours for the independent component, I watched a show named X-Play, very much like I did last semester, but this time, I put way more time and effort into writing articles and trying to get them published. X-Play is pretty much a TV show where the two hosts Adam and Morgan do game reviews, talk about upcoming releases, and sometimes give tips, tricks, and strategies for games. They also sometimes address questions that the viewers send in via Twitter or email.

Interpretive:

Last semester, to justify my watching of X-Play, I had stated that it was a whole new way to experience a game review, because usually, I read them. I still believe that the content of the reviews they do on the show are at the same level when compared to those published in magazines and blogs. The only downside to X-Play is the fact they are under a time crunch, so some of the reviews may be limited. But this time around, since it is semester two, I have found a new way to analyze the show. It gave me a better understanding in how to give tips, tricks, and strategies when telling my friends or when I decide to write an article for a game. It is not only beneficial to my senior project, but since I now know how to format these tips and tricks properly, it can give me the upper hand when I game as well, haha.

Now, last semester, I only wrote one article for Hardtoast. This semester I stepped up my game and tried to pump out as many as I could with the time I had and the publication periods I had to wait through for my content to be published on the website. Not only did it give me experience in writing and practicing my writing techniques, but it helped me establish what audiences I had to write for. Also, it actually gave me a feeling that I was working for a legitimate game website! The experience is amazing!

Applied:

How did it help in answering my EQ? Easy. Since this is second semester, this was the time that I had to begin developing my answers that I was going to use in the 2-Hour presentation. So instead of watching it for the basic information and the general ways to do a review, I actually paid more attention to the information Adam and Morgan gave during the reviews, the way they structure each game review (as in graphics first or last, game play first or last), and the final rating. Before they give their final rating, I always try and come up with my own before with the information they supply. So, all that deeper analysis assisted me in answering by providing some more examples to my "Knowing various writing techniques" and "Knowing your target audience" answers.

Another answer to my EQ, "Maintaining a flexible writing style," was also somehow answered/researched by watching X-Play. Sure all the content on that show is pretty much games, but they do not only do game reviews. As stated,  they also exhibit tips, tricks and strategies. In watching the show, it gave me a basic idea of how to address and give out these tips and tricks to my friends or for whoever I decide to submit them to. It provided some more information to use if I decided to use that as an answer because like Mitchell Saltzman said in my interview with him: If you first break into games journalist, you're not going to be able to do game reviews right off the bat.

Finally, writing these four articles for Hardtoast assisted in answering my EQ because it applies my three best answers into one package, which is any article that I actually submitted. First of all, before I sat down and wrote the article with my research by my side, I had to assume what the readers either knew or didn't know. So I went through the research I got and pulled key points out like key elements to the game, what makes it so fun, why there's so much hype to the game, etc. Second, when writing, I knew I was going to be catering to young adults and teenagers, so I used the normal everyday language that I use because I felt that it would relate the most to them. Now for flexibility, since I'm more of a person to talk about a game and do a game review, on Hardtoast, I write news articles. So it was a whole different experience in itself. So in doing that, it gave me the first hand experience to use what I've researched to make writing a whole new style enjoyable. Lastly, throughout the article, I always applied the new techniques that I've learned through research, or techniques I've known from life. So in general, writing for Hardtoast made me apply what I learned from research and interviews to make sure I understood them and am able to talk about them.