Does anyone here have experience in submitting their games for review, either by websites or by magazines, and can you advise me at all? First of all, are they worth it? Can they boost sales significantly? Is it worth the risk, given that a bad review in just one mag will probably nail your game for good? Also, how do you go about getting reviewed, does it cost anything or will a magazine gladly accept the offer for free? Examples of your experiences, if any, would help. "Well, it''s easy to get a little paranoid around here...people get carried off, half the town dissapears, grues, weird dreams..."

I have yet to actually submit one of my games for review, but I''ve read and heard some stuff from other people regarding this. Basically I''ve been told that you construct a press-packet of information you would like for them to mention in the review, send them the special press kit (usually includes some kind of little promo goodies if possible) and a copy of the game or, in the case of a preview, as much of the game as you have available.

As for whether or not its worth it, I''d say yeah if you can find a good magazine. Make sure they don''t just pan all games in your genre. Nothing worse than submitting an RPG to a game mag that hates RPG''s. After that, you''ve got some free advertisement. Having your game in a mag at all is pretty good. If they point out a bunch of things they don''t like about your game, take it with a grain of salt and some dignity. Just say to yourself, ok, so are these valid points, not just bashing the game? What can I do to change this? If its a preview that works much better as it gives you time to anticipate the reception your game will receive and you can make changes accordingly.

Hope that helps!
Charles Galyon

I''ve never had much luck submitting to a print magazine for review, though we have been reviewed in print magazines once or twice. In general, print magazines are only interested in the big budget titles of the publishers who pay for corresponding advertising in that magazine.

Web-sites are much more open to smaller budget and shareware titles. Also, if you only sell your game/product over the Internet like we do, then the web pages like MPOGD represent *exactly* the people you''re trying to attract.

Overall, any web page that reviews your game, favorably or not, generates traffic for your web page and exposure for the game/product. Obviously, positive reviews beat negative reviews, but exposure is exposure, and that''s what you need.

In addition to sites that review games, you want to get listed on sites that merely *list* games, as well as any shareware sites you can find. Not everyone looks in the same place for software, so you need to be in as any places as possible. Don''t count on any one web page to make you successful.

Some web pages insist on getting a "Free Review Copy" of anything they review. In general, this is a good business expense. So just assume you''ll need to do that and don''t make a big deal about it. In the submission forms, I don''t actually give them the free copy. I tell them to email me to ask for it. That way, they get what they want, and I know who''s reviewing the software. No one''s ever complained.

Best of luck!


DavidRM
Samu Games