I don't think it's a war. Each has their own benefits & perks. I prefer BF3 single player & MW3 multiplayer. Different strokes for different folks.

Going all the way back to schoolin': I joined the newspaper staff in high school and college as quickly as I could, and majored in American Literature. I hated literary analysis - that's some major pretentious bullshit right there - but at least it kept me writing often.

Post-college I got an internship at a local weekly newspaper, which I worked for five months. I did the police blotter, the "man on the street" interviews, and covered such exciting events as city hall meetings, school board meetings, and a couple of suicides. Most of it was pretty dull, but I did get to go to the Mountain View, CA NASA campus to cover some of the Mars lander stuff.

Of course, the whole time I was browsing Craigslist for jobs. I applied for an associate editor job at IGN, and though I didn't get it, they offered me the opportunity to write (unpaid) freelance reviews. Having nothing better to do and liking free games, I did a couple of those and thus had something to submit as a writing sample when the PC Gamer associate editor job came along (I also wrote a couple of extra reviews for that).

So if you're looking for specific tips as to how to get started, I'd suggest writing reviews on your own for a bit first. For research, read over some reviews by writers that you enjoy reading, and ask yourself *why* you enjoy them, and look at how they're giving you useful information about the game in question in an entertaining way. Once you've got some writing samples, submit them to a few publications and ask for freelance work. If what you've written is any good, chances are someone will be willing to give you a shot, as quality freelance writers are tough to come by. Bonus points if you can become something of an expert in certain genres, such as RPGs or strategy games.

I decline to answer such questions in public.