What is newsworthy and what is not. There is no easy answer here but there is one thing that is essential and that is that the story you submit has to be new. Submitting “news” that is several weeks old will only annoy other members, and most likely someone else has already submitted the story back when it was real news. So “new” is the keyword, it has to be new to be news.

So you have found a story which is just a few hours old, but is the story newsworthy and is N4G the right site to submit it to? First of all the story must fall under one of the following categories.

• PlayStation 3
• Xbox 360
• Wii
• PC
• Nintendo DS
• Sony PSP
• Playstaion 2
• Xbox
• GameCube
• Mobile
• Industry News
• Gaming
• Tech
• Arcade

Though most of the news on N4G is directly game related it doesn’t necessarily have to be. A news story about a new technology for use in HDTVs is not directly related to video games but would still be of interest to many gamers. The Tech category would be fitting for this story.

Another thing you need to determine is if the story is interesting enough to be worth posting on the site. Since N4G is for a targeted audience a story doesn’t have to be CNN material to get approved but on the other hand the story should at least be somewhat interesting. That EA has released a new picture pack on the market place is not interesting and should not be posted as news. However, word that EA will release a demo of one of their anticipated games is of interest to many readers and would therefore qualify as game news. So basically just use common sense and you should do all right.

Even though negative news about a console can make the fans angry, it is still news and should be posted as any other story. Again as with all news stories the important thing is that what you report is newsworthy. That some no-name-blogger writes a story about how much he dislikes console X, that is not news. On the other hand, if a high profiled developer shares his negative opinion about a console on his personal blog it would be considered news and should therefore be posted.

Like it or not, but rumors have always been a big part of the gaming press. So posting rumors is fine as long as you make it absolutely clear in your post that it is a rumor. The rumor should also come from a somewhat credible source. A lot of people make up rumors in internet forums so be careful to check the source before posting.

You can also post articles to N4G. Articles posted to N4G should be of interest to the gaming community and be professional and well written. Opinion pieces are also OK as long as they are written by well established websites or people who work in the game industry.

It’s ok to post links to new screenshots and videos of upcoming games. Again use common sense to determine if the screens or videos are newsworthy. The media should be new and the game should also be somewhat anticipated.

It’s ok to post links to game reviews. But as always use common sense to determine if the review is newsworthy. The review should be of a game that is yet to come out or is just out, and the game should also be somewhat anticipated. The review should also be from a well known game site or publication.

The site will automatically detect if you try to post a story with the same url as one that has already been posted. However many sites cover the same stories so before posting a story always check the pending news area to see if it is already posted through a different source. However if the story posted on N4G is not the original source of the story it is ok to make a new post but only if it links to the original source of the story. If your story is not the original source you must post it as an alternative source. To do this click on the N4G news post which covers the same story as the one you wanted to post. Now click on the “Add Alternative Source” link at the bottom of the article. This way your news post will get attached to the original news post as an alternative source.

When posting a news story always link to the original source of the story. Most websites just recycle news from other websites. Try to track down the site that posted the story first and use that site’s story as the basis for your N4G news post. You can still give credit to the website you first found the story on by putting their address in the “Credit” form.

There are however some situations where linking to another site than the original source is ok. If a website has an updated version of the story with new info or if their article is a lot better written than the original it is ok to link to that article instead. But the general rule is to always link to the original source of a story.

If your story links to a website that is not in English you must translate the story to English on N4G. You should also make it clear that the source is in another language by starting your post with for example: “German website Gamer.de reports that…”

Also internet forums and message boards do not normally qualify as a reliable source. However linking to screenshots and videos posted on forums is ok. You can also link to forum posts if the post is made by a developer or other industry professionals.

Always use a clean and professional language in your news posts. Do not use exclamation marks (!) in your sentences. Do not add your personal comment or opinion to the news post, simply report the news in an easy to read and objective way. Always use the original headline of the source article for your N4G headline when possible. Do not create your own headlines unless the original headline doesn’t make any sense when posted on N4G. Remember to spell check your posts using either a text editor like Word or the online spell check on N4G.

When copying text from the source article make sure you read over the text and edit it if necessary. A good example is when a site writes “We” or “I” , this should then be replaced with the sites name.

Example:
An article on Gamespot reads “ We take a closer look at MotorStorm for the PS3”
When posting this article on N4G it should be edited to “Gamespot takes a closer look at MotorStorm for the PS3”

This will only take a few seconds and the news post will make much more sense to the N4G readers.

Submitting your stories to N4G can be a great way to promote your site and to gain new readers. When creating a news post linking to your site always refer to yourself or your site in third person. Do not write “we” or “I”, instead use your website’s name when referring to your article. Also don’t be too personal in your writing style, just write a clear and sober intro or description of your article. The text on N4G must give a clear picture of the news story and should contain some useful info. Do not only post teasers like “Want to know a secret about Halo 3? Read on and you will find out.”

Also keep in mind that our editors remain the right to change the link of your news post if your article is not the original source of the story. If the main url is changed your site will still get credit through a “Via Link”.

We recommend that you take advantage of the webmaster tools, this way your own readers can submit your stories to N4G in an easy way.

Make sure that both the text posted on N4G and the source story are within the N4G posting rules before you give your vote for a news story to be approved. If you discover a problem or error with a news post please use the report system so the author can make the necessary changes.

N4G is one of the largest game news sites on the internet. It is not only used by gamers but by many game journalists and industry professionals. Stories features on N4G often get picked up by other game sites as well as forums and message boards. Be professional and responsible when posting news stories. Members who misuse their posting powers or fail to post news according to the sites guidelines will risk having their accounts degraded and will no longer be able to post news.