Commencing Countdown

The symposium is now underway.

Participants (in alphabetical order) include:

Leigh Alexander http://sexyvideogameland.blogspot.com/
Robert Ashley http://www.myspace.com/icometoshanghai
Tom Chick http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/
N'Gai Croal http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/
John Davison http://www.whattheyplay.com/
Jeff Gerstmann http://www.giantbomb.com/
Kieron Gillen http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/
Dan Hsu http://sorethumbsblog.com/
Francesca Reyes http://www.oxmonline.com/
Stephen Totilo http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/

I trust you will recognize these names. In addition, journalist, photographer, hip hop activist, and radio host Harry Allen ( http://harryallen.info/ ) has agreed to contribute to the conversation when appropriate (i.e. whenever the fuck he wants). We're fortunate to have him.

This is a big, ambitious project that will span several months as the following paste should suggest. In the meantime, Mitch Krpata ( http://insultswordfighting.blogspot.com/ ), Troy Goodfellow ( http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2008/12/01/reviewing-criticizing-and-games-media/#more-1112 ), and Michael Walbridge ( http://etelmik.blogspot.com/2008/12/shawn-elliotts-questions.html ) offer their insight in response to questions taken from the Review Scores and Reviews Vs. Criticism sections.

**The invite**

Subject: You're invited...
to participate in an email-based symposium on the practice and politics of writing game reviews.

Categories:
Review Scores
Reader Backlash
Reviews in the Age of Social Media
Reviews in the Mainstream Media
Casual, Indie, and User-Generated Games
Review Ethics
Reviews vs. Criticism
Evolving the Review
Optional: Response to Symposium Readers

Schedule:
Ideally, you'll complete one section every two or three weeks, starting as soon as next week. Each section will include five to 10 questions. Rather than regarding this as a questionnaire, we're encouraging critics to consider and react to one another's commentary when so inspired (which will, of course, require volunteers who on occasion agree to respond first). We're welcome to publish categories serially as we complete them.

Structure:
One question/topic every two days
Initial response: one paragraph minimum, six maximum
Subsequent responses: no minimum: six paragraph maximum

Suggestions:
Don't be afraid to throw elbows, name names, etc. Respectful confrontation is a good thing.
Every participant will be free to publish the resulting transcript ontheir respective site or blog.
Try to engage one other in your responses, including asking additional questions where appropriate.