Interview: Cristian Aguilar, Editor-in-Chief, GooGame and Content Creator for PlayStation Enthusiast & Nintendo Enthusiast

We had a chat with Cristian Aguilar, Editor in Chief GooGame, Content Creator PlayStation Enthusiast and Nintendo Enthusiast, and proud owner of a LVL99 Pikachu! It was fun speaking with Cristian and let’s hear what he has to say about the gaming industry.

NoobFeed: Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Cristian Aguilar: My name is Cristian Aguilar. I was born in a beautiful Central American country named Honduras. I have been a gamer since I have memory. I worked for the Call Center BPO industry for nearly eight years. I did Operations Management for a multinational BPO company here in Honduras, while I was there, I did PR for a small gaming site in my country. Ultimately, I decided to quit my Ops job in pursuit of a freelance career as a gaming journalist. It’s been a while now, and after almost six years, I have done a lot of stuff from PR to interviews for several gaming outlets and even one small development studio. 

On the personal side, I am a regular dude. I spend most of my free time playing videogames, watching Netflix with my fiancé and my family, petting my dogs (I have 6 of them), going to church, sometimes I like to cook. In summary, I’m an average friendly and chatty guy.

 

NoobFeed: What are your duties at Enthusiast Gaming, Ultimate Ficha, Googame? Do you find it challenging to create content for so many publishing medias?

Cristian Aguilar: I am a writer for Enthusiast Gaming, which means that I write news and feature content for them. Ultima Ficha is a project that’s lead by one of my best friends, Leonardo Coimbra. Última Ficha is originally a Portuguese site in Brazil, where Leonardo is from, and I manage their Spanish branch for Latin America. I am Editor in Chief for Googame, and I have to make sure every piece of content, from video to written articles and reviews, are informative and entertaining enough for our amazing readers.

Sometimes it is a bit challenging to fit everything in a regular schedule. The challenge in the majority of cases is time. Although, it is very satisfying to see an article peak in views or do great on social media. It is time-consuming to create and edit good content, but it is fun to do so. I am also lucky to have a very supportive fiancé that encourages me and even brings some great ideas to the table when I am brainstorming and looking for creative outlook.

 

NoobFeed: As a journalist, what trends have you noticed in the gaming industry recently? Do you support where it’s heading?

Cristian Aguilar: I believe there are positive and negative things in every aspect of life. This rule also applies to gaming. The gaming industry is a marvelous place to meet and connect with others that have similar passions and even business goals as you do. Every year we see tons of positive stories on how gaming is bringing people together, even helping some fight depression or cope better with a disability. Heck, I met one of my best friends at E3 years ago. Sadly, every coin has two sides, and there’s also toxicity in many forms and shapes that we are all aware of. I choose to support that positive side of the coin, the one that keeps the fire burning in the hearts of all of us gamers around the world. From the other side of the matter, I try to learn valuable lessons, to be not only a better professional and member of this community but a better person overall.

 

NoobFeed: Esports focuses on its social aspect a lot these days. Do you think there’s a lot more potential in terms of the social aspect of Esports than there currently is?

Cristian Aguilar: Yes, Esports do not differ from any sporting event. That’s something that is echoing louder by the day, and it excites me much to witness it. Colleges are now adding official varsity Esports teams, and that’s just the beginning. Esports will only get more popular and prominent by every passing year.

 

NoobFeed: What is an effective approach to prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability? Have supervise others in doing this?

Cristian Aguilar: Well, I try to make this a simple process for both the writer and myself. One of the greatest perks of this job is working alongside other fellow gamers. Most of the times, writers already have great ideas as to what content they feel is relevant for both our audience and our gaming curiosity.  Once we decide on where to go, or the daily random surprise announcement dictates where the compass should point, we get to write a piece about it. My advice is always to keep it friendly, simple, and informative. Every writer has its voice, so does every gamer, and I like that individuality and uniqueness to shine through as much as possible.

 

NoobFeed: What is the most challenging part of writing, especially when it comes to editorials and reviews?

Cristian Aguilar: Honestly, I believe it's cramming all your thoughts about the game in a condensed and informative piece. You have to make sure you cover all the ground possible, but at the same time, you don’t want to bore everyone with an essay larger than the whole script of the RPG you’re writing about; balancing that out is sometimes hard. As a writer, I have learned there’s no perfect article, and days later or even moments later, you sometimes think of better ways to describe or convey things to your readers. That exercise of constant self-awareness makes you go at it again and do better the next time around.

 

NoobFeed: Have you ever gone above and beyond the "call of duty" for publishing any piece?

Cristian Aguilar: Most journalists sleep very little, E3 season in particular for me (since it is the trade show I have covered on location several times). Due to how international the gaming industry is, sometimes you have to upload or edit content at very late hours. That and traveling are, in my opinion, are occasions in which you go over and above to make sure everything is perfect and timely delivered.

 

NoobFeed: Have you ever received negative feedback on a piece of writing? What was your response?

Cristian Aguilar: Yes, this was not even for a game. It was for a keyboard brand that reached out to me; they wanted a piece that described why ergonomics in a keyboard were so crucial for gamers. I went on and created a piece for them, shortly after they reached out once more stating it was just okay and paid me for it. I asked a couple of questions about what direction or angle they wanted me to explore or change to improve the article. Still, they stated it was simply not their style. I think every writer and designer has heard that feedback before, and, it is a valid one. One style can’t fit all palettes. 

 

NoobFeed: What have you found to be the best way to monitor the performance of your work and/or the work of your team?

Cristian Aguilar: There are metrics, which always let you know if an article is doing great or is not as popular as it was once thought. As you progress, you learn that some stories are great, but the angle you choose makes a difference in how your audience perceives it.  A mix of both metrics and trial and error are positive ways, in my opinion, to get to know your community. Never be afraid of trying new things, evolve your vision as you grow alongside with your audience.

 

NoobFeed: Can you tell us about a time when you developed your own way of doing things other than following others?

Cristian Aguilar: I like to experiment a lot with my projects. Storytelling is an art form in its own. I continuously encourage writers and talk with my superiors to mix things up a bit and try new ways of telling their stories and connecting with our audience. I believe this is a constant for our teams and not a particular case. Every day we try new things, change bits and pieces of our style to shake things up.

 

NoobFeed: We all have experienced this at least once. Will you share an experience when your ethics and patience were tested? How did you keep your emotions in check?

Cristian Aguilar: I am positive this is true for everyone in this industry and every other industry in the world. I won’t get into details, but once I did face a situation that proved to be rather uncomfortable for the team that was with me and myself. We were covering a game at a convention, and there was a misunderstanding that led to some patience breaking arguments. At the end, we cleared things out with upper management, and it ended up being some miscommunication down the line. All I can say is, in those situations the best is to keep as chill as possible and remember that everyone is there trying to do their best. You have to focus on your goal, delivering the best possible content to your audience.

 

NoobFeed: What in gaming excites you the most? Outside of work, how much time do you spend playing video games in an average week?

Cristian Aguilar: It’s hard to say; I will wildly guess that I regularly play two to three hours daily, depending on if I am or not reviewing a game. What excites me the most, I’ll say the art and passion of developers, artists, programmers, performers, gamers, and everyone involved in the industry. It truly blows my mind to see how so much collective effort and passion expanse up for years, and even more than a decade in some occasions, end in such marvelous experiences that we can all share. Gaming is art, gaming is passion, gaming is love.

 

NoobFeed: What experiences would you personally like video games to deliver in the future?

Cristian Aguilar: I would love to see games telling stories about places like my home country. I love games like Valiant Hearts, Celeste, and Journey, to name a few. All of those titles tell stories that are engrained deep in our history or explore feelings and emotions in ways we rarely have the opportunity to witness. I will love to see more of these stories and experiences, personal experiences from as many corners of the world as possible.

 

NoobFeed: As a Journalist, you get a lot of developers trying to get your attention and to play their games, but they may not know the best ways. Do you have any tips that you can impart to make their pitches towards you and other journalists more effective?

Cristian Aguilar: Honesty and approachability. Be honest about what your game is, don’t promise a never-ending online RPG if you know that’s not the magnitude of what you’re working on. Don’t be shy to express how passionate you and your team are about your game; be proud of what you achieve. Celebrate your milestones with us, fellow journalists! We love to see you thrive, and we feel incredibly humbled when you share those fantastic moments with us and our audience.

 

NoobFeed: With so many gaming websites and independent journalists trying to reach the same target audience segment, do you think the correct messages are being spread across?

Cristian Aguilar: This is a massive community. Yes, we might have the same market, but we all have our unique flavor. I like to think we are all bowls of ramen, we are all ramen in the end, but no ramen is equal. Each bowl has a uniqueness to it, and we all have favorite ramen or sometimes crave for different ramen than the one we are used to. That’s my vision of it, we can all learn from each other at the same time we create our own recipe and build our communities. The more, the merrier. Yes, if you wonder, I love ramen.  

 

NoobFeed: Why is it important for gamers to maintain a healthy lifestyle? What advice would you have for a gamer looking to take the first steps towards a healthier lifestyle?

Cristian Aguilar: It is hard, won’t deny it. Still, a healthy body helps to enjoy life to its fullest. My advice is, little changes matter and tiny routine changes add up at the end. Walk 15 minutes, then do 20 the next day. When you least notice you are walking or running long distances. One good way to start is mixing exercise with gaming, I love playing Just Dance, and it is definitely good cardio!

 

NoobFeed: What are the future plans for Cristian Aguilar?

Cristian Aguilar: On the personal side, I will get married next year. That plan alone takes up all my heart at this moment in time. Future always has some uncertainty to it, although, I will keep trying to be a better man every day and forgive myself for the mistakes I make. A grammar teacher I had in high school always said: “I have sunshine in my heart, regardless of conditions around me.” I guess that’s my long-run plan for my life.

Regarding my professional side, I plan to continue giving my best for the several gaming sites I work with; our audience deserves so. As well, I have some personal projects focused on gaming. I am trying to collect gaming stories from all the corners of the world and share them. Gamers have amazing stories; those stories bring us closer and tear down barriers. So, if any of you have a gaming story that would like to share, hit me up on social media, I will be humbled to write your story!

 

Many thanks to Cristian for doing the interview with us. We wish him all the very best with all of his ventures. Keep up with Cristian Aguilar by following him on LinkedIn and twitter.

Admin, NoobFeed