Interview: Jakejames Lugo, Senior Editor At The Koalition

We had a chat with Jakejames Lugo a Journalist at The Koalition, who pretty much loves everything related to gaming. 

Jakejames started writing articles, hosting podcasts, creating video blogs, and attending events nearly 10 years ago. We had a great time chatting with Jakejames and learned so much from his experience. Check out what Jakejames had to say about being part of the games industry!

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

My name is Jakejames Lugo. I’m someone who makes content online about video games and the gaming industry. I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade (making content since 2010), but I’ve been playing video games for my entire life. I’m currently the Senior Editor at The Koalition and a YouTuber where I make reviews, vlogs, and podcasts on gaming. Over my entire career, I’ve been working towards becoming a big voice of the gaming industry, with goals to work with a major gaming outlet and eventually create my own platform that I hope will positively impact the games industry in some way. Here’s hoping that time comes soon!

NoobFeed: What are your duties at The Koalition?

I do A LOT of things on The Koalition website, as well as it’s related platforms. I write/edit and publish various reviews, features, interviews, and video content regularly. I also occasionally appear on the different podcast/videocast shows for the website (such as The Co-Op Podcast). I also reach out to and work with various PR companies in the gaming industry to help post content on the website, which includes reviews for new games and interviews with industry personnel. Frequently I also make unboxing and review content about different tech products and gaming accessories that the audience wants to know about, which I actively seek out so I can make new videos. And finally, I also attend events in the gaming and entertainment industry to cover and represent the website, including some of the biggest event in the games industry (E3, PAX, Comic Con, PlayStation Experience, etc.).

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?

There’s always going to be more potential in the social media realm for any part of the industry, especially for Esports now. This involves the players, the companies/sponsors, the event organizers, and even the community personalities that see all of it come together. I think the emphasis on utilizing social media has become more important now these days, but we’re going to see more places/individuals come up with new approaches on how to use it better. In the end, everybody wins in some way when that continues to happen.

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

That’s a complicated thing to answer, because there’s many different directions that the gaming industry is going. We have new kinds of ways to play with VR and reinventions of classic gameplay formulas, new types of stories and characters we’re seeing get more spotlight and being given a chance to grow, as well as new ways developers and companies interact with the customers and fans of their work. You can get stuck all day breaking down each new path the industry makes for everyone in it, but if there’s one good way to sum all of it up, it’s that the gaming industry is continuously becoming more mainstream than niche. I don’t just mean in terms of money generated (it’s the biggest entertainment field on the planet currently!), but I mean in the way people see others who play games and the impression on what being a gamer gives off. It’s no longer something you have to be shamed for doing or keep hidden, it’s something that’s become of almost everyone’s daily life in some way. And if that’s the case, of course I support that, who wouldn’t?

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

It’s one thing to have others read what you write, that’s something you HAVE to do. But I think they checking and rechecking can even start with yourself before any of that. Taking time to read/look over what you write and read it aloud to yourself is something that’s helped me many times over the years. When you read something aloud that’s written, you can immediately tell if something sounds off or doesn’t make sense. You become more analytical and critical of your own words and end up doing more to improve it. You don’t always get that first hand from others who might read over your work, but it does help out and add on to the quality of work if you do so to yourself beforehand. That goes for any kind of writing, not just game reviews or features, it can apply to all types of written work.

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

It’s not always hard to figure out what you want to say, but rather how to say it and covey the ideas or feelings you have about something. With me and game reviews, I usually know how I feel about a game after playing it for hours. But coming up with the best way to express it concisely and find the best/worst parts to focus on in relation to my feelings is where you need to be clever. It’s one thing to say a game is bad, but you need to answer and express WHY it is bad. Otherwise nobody will really take what you say to heart. The same type of thinking can be applied to op-eds or features that are more opinion based than review. You want to get a point or main idea out to the reader, but you can’t just say it and be done with it. You need to do more to really hammer the point home. That can be difficult for anybody in almost any situation of writing, but with a little time set aside, patience, and ultimately open-mindedness, it can be done. 

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

Of course, almost all the time. Mostly because I care about making sure that when someone sees the content I produce, they walk away from it with something. They don’t just see it and either get mad or feel validated in how they felt personally, but rather they can see something from a different perspective or think about something more than they did before. TO do that however, I’ve sometimes have had to play games for longer, look for things that colleagues of mine won’t really speak on, get images showing what my words describe, or even replay sections of games to make sure I feel strongly about something. It can greatly elongate the time spent on something, but it’s necessary if you care about your work meaning something to someone out there, not just to yourself.

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

Oh yeah, many times. The worst I’ve ever gotten was when I wrote the review for IGN about Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. I’d been brought on as a freelancer to write the review of the game, but I was also someone who wrote the entire guide on IGN for it, including making video content of the single player modes and much more. I knew the game inside & out, which I felt gave me more than enough to speak on it critically. I ended up writing about and scoring the game as a 55/100. Many others disagreed and felt offended on how I scored the game, but I knew I was right despite the vicious reaction my review garnered. Other websites that scored the game higher did not cover most of what I had discussed in my review, which I believed was because most of them didn’t play it as much as me. Even so, I was proud to have written that review for IGN, despite many really hating me over it. When you’re faced with that visceral of a reaction, if you know you’re coming from a genuine place in how you feel on something, then none of the bad vibes thrown at you can ever truly harm you. Your work stands on its own.

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

I often have discussions with different staff about game releases that we need to cover, as well as how content is shared around. Doing this is important because we’d be very disorganized if nobody did. That goes for anything from reviews and other written content, videos, reaching out to public relations, and even attending certain events. Sometimes it does lead to clashes and disagreements, but like anything it’s part of the process.

 

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

When I had to come up with a faster and more efficient way of making unboxing content for The Koalition. That was a time where I was the only one doing it, or even cared to do it, so I had to make sure it was content that could stand out. I made time to create bumpers for the beginning and end of videos, made lower thirds and other branding to have in the videos to make things look more official, as well as templates to use so I could publish videos faster on both YouTube and the website. If I had just followed with what others were doing, none of that would’ve gotten done, let alone anything else.

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?

Stuff like that has happened to me MANY times. But the biggest one I can remember was when I first interacted with Ewin Racing. I’d been reaching out to different companies to work with about reviewing their products in our series, and Ewin Racing came up in my research. After connecting with them and having conversations about doing so, the PR at the time tried to ask us to have adds on our website and social media in exchange for them sending products our way. This was bad for two reasons. First we had options for companies to advertise on the website that were paid opportunities (which also never gets connected with content making), and second its goes against anyone’s ethics to get a product from a company in exchange for being able to “review” it. It also didn’t look good when this came up after seeing other outlets who never disclosed this type of thing when they reviewed their products before us. So in response I pushed back and talked with them about it (which they tried again to justify it), and eventually I went public with my feelings on the matter. This caused them to come back and change their tune about the matter and eventually agree to let us review their products for our content without having to place ads anything. It’s a very underhanded practice that many influencers and smaller websites fall victim to because they need the content/exposure, so they sometimes do so without even disclosing it. But that wasn’t ever going to fly with me.

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

I love the conversations with people about games, its why I resonate so much with podcasts and videos about gaming. I play video games A LOT more than the average person does. Sometimes I’m playing more than 5-7 hours per day (7 days a week), sometimes longer depending on the situation. Though I’m not just sitting around playing games, I try to move around a lot and play games at a solid pace. Not only so I could make my deadlines, but also not dwell on aspects of a game that can become a drag or boring.

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

I would like to see more games keep coming up with new ways to play or control our experience. This could be with a new layout on the controller, a new way to approach classic systems and formulas, or even the way we think about solving a task. Every time I see this done in a game, I usually enjoy it so much more, because it becomes addicting if it’s done in a way that still remains fun. This same thing can make games challenging, like only having one ability or doing things outside the ordinary, but if you can make it fun or present it well enough to engross me, then I’m totally down for that.

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?

There’s nothing wrong sending an email, reaching out over Twitter, or even sending stuff in the mail to someone; but do so in a way that doesn’t come off as desperate or intrusive. I’ve had some PR come to me asking to check out their games and never show me something of it, or even never full tell me what the game is; forcing me to go look for it myself. In moments like, myself and many others are not going to bother because we have so many things to deal with already. The other part of this is make sure you’re respectful to everyone. There’s been times when some PR have demanded me to play their games or even become rude/belligerent when I’ve given a review for their game they simply didn’t like or agree with. That can make things SUPER awkward and make myself and others less inclined to check out the projects you make. There’s a lot of little things that can be done to maintain or increase that professionalism, but a lot of it usually starts with common sense.

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?

Not always. I think some outlets, big and small, usually trip over themselves trying to make a point and end up being either too preachy or condescending to the audience. You can’t be like that at all, that’s not our job to do so when it comes to informing people about gaming or entertainment. I use a Star Trek reference to encompass this. To me, the prime directive of all gaming journalist (and any journalist around) is to inform the reader/audience and let them draw their own conclusions. We’re not trying to forcibly change the way the public thinks or make them join our ranks, we’re here to help them see things they may have not seen before and let them decide how to proceed. I don’t want to TALK DOWN TO the person who follows my content, I want to TALK WITH the person who follows my content. And a lot of places unfortunately don’t like to do that.

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?

Time management and self-critique are usually the best things to pay attention to. It’s one thing to enjoy entertainment, especially video games, but like anything else if you spend too much energy or time doing so, it can be detrimental. You have to learn and know when to stop and do something else, or when to change things up. Of course you can still play those long sessions of online games or a marathon of your favorite single player game, but eventually you need to sleep or eat or use the bathroom. It’s common sense for things like that. Everybody gets caught up with the horror stories of people going way too far with their love for games, right down to being an obsession, but a lot of that can be remedied by encouraging people to self-regulate themselves better. 

NoobFeed: What are the future plans for Jakejames Lugo?

For me, I want to become a larger presence and voice in the greater gaming community. It’s ridiculously hard work to do so, but I want all of this to lead into bigger things I’ve wanted to accomplish for years. I want to do things like host a TED TALK on gaming, attend the Game Awards as a presenter and be part of the show, help out a local gaming spot become open to more people, and eventually go beyond and visit other countries I could being my perspective about gaming to. It’s not about the clout or the financial gain one gets in things like this, it never was for me. What I’ve always felt it was about was becoming an ambassador for the gaming community in ways that I hope many people years from now will always remember and appreciate. It might be taking me longer than some to get closer to any of this, the road to these goals is never easy, but I know that when I finally do its going to be the kind of good that nobody ever forgets...

 

Big thanks to Jakejames for doing the interview with us. We wish him all the very best with all of his ventures. Keep up with Jakejames Lugo on his YouTube channel and go follow him on twitter.

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