Ten years have now passed since the glorious revolution that delivered this writer to a life of liberty. If you'd asked me how long Copy Republic would last when I attended my first kick-off meeting as a freelancer at Eidos' Wimbledon HQ, I'm not sure I'd have predicted that kind of longevity. One thing I … Continue reading Copy Republic: A decade of freedom
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The unexpected rewards of freelance writing
When I was a kid, I worshipped at the altars of three entities: Liverpool Football Club, Star Wars and adidas. There was no logical reason for this. I was a boy living in South West London, 240 miles from Liverpool, 620 miles from adidas' Bavarian headquarters and 5,500 miles from Tinsel Town (I didn't know … Continue reading The unexpected rewards of freelance writing
My ProCopywriters blog contribution
Earlier this year, I was asked to contribute to the ProCopywriters blog. It was a privilege to be asked, given the respect I have for them. The ProCopywriters website offers amazing insight for aspiring and experienced writers alike, and a quick flick through their comprehensive blog has often helped me with freelance and writing dilemmas. … Continue reading My ProCopywriters blog contribution
Game Writing Projects: Digital Instruction
With the slow death of the physical instruction booklet over the last few years, in-game guidance has risen to satisfy game makers' explanatory requirements. Experimenting with combinations of in-game tutorials and digital manuals, studios and publishers have been searching for an instructional strategy that arms readers with sufficient gameplay knowledge while keeping development costs at … Continue reading Game Writing Projects: Digital Instruction
Game Writing Projects: Digital Copy
While the term "digital copy" covers a lot of ground, there are simply too many applications for us to include them in separate entries. What is abundantly clear is that, unlike game manuals and pack copy, digital copy creation is very much on the rise within the games industry. All games, whether web-based, downloadable or “packaged goods”, must … Continue reading Game Writing Projects: Digital Copy
Game Writing Projects: Design Documentation
Most writers in the video games industry will only ever encounter “design docs” when they are searching for resources to help them create game instruction. Highly technical and generally organic in nature, these extensive tomes chronicle the genesis and subsequent development of an entire game. Consequently, they’re often thoroughly engrossing, dynamic (if sometimes a little … Continue reading Game Writing Projects: Design Documentation
Game Writing Projects: Pack Copy
Like instruction booklets, the fate of BOP (back of pack) or BOB (back of box) copy -- the terms are used interchangeably by individuals and publishers throughout the industry -- is intrinsically linked to the shelf life of packaged goods. However, like manual content, the copy included in back of pack text will always exist in one … Continue reading Game Writing Projects: Pack Copy
Game Writing Projects: Instruction Manuals
The creation of the humble instruction booklet was once a core discipline for writers entering the video game industry. Prior to 2000, manuals of over 64 pages were commonplace, depending on the genre. However with the ceaseless advances of the Internet, increasing flexibility of game software and prevailing desire of studios and publishers to reduce … Continue reading Game Writing Projects: Instruction Manuals
Writing for video games
It’s often struck us how frequently the terms 'video game writers' and 'writers for video games' are misinterpreted. “So you write the actual games?” is the stock response from those outside the industry (cue the look of disappointment on their faces when they discover otherwise!). However, as we've already observed on these pages, there also … Continue reading Writing for video games
FIFA 10: Let’s write terrible taglines!
With FIFA 10’s eagerly anticipated arrival only a matter of weeks away, I thought it was a good time to ask a question that’s been troubling us at Copy Republic for a few years now: what in the name of Ronaldo’s permatan is happening to FIFA taglines?I was still at EA when the FIFA 08 … Continue reading FIFA 10: Let’s write terrible taglines!