Win an XBox 360 250GB with Kinect, a PS3 320GB, Black Wii Bundle, Ltd Ed Red Mario DSi XL or a Ferrari Netbook

Here at GamingLives we’re all about giving people an opportunity to shine, whether you’re a professional writer or just someone with something to say… like the rest of us here. We’re one of very few gaming sites who have an open door policy on articles, allowing anyone to submit their work without the obligation of becoming a regular writer and so it made sense to do something else a little bit different.

So to celebrate our first birthday, and to welcome 2011 with open arms, I give you the First Annual GamingLives Writing Contest.

What do we have to do?
Write about what you know – gaming. The winning article will be the one which the panel feels has the most genuine enthusiasm for gaming without going over the top like an excited kid with a year’s supply of Space Dust. We’d rather not accept reviews and would much prefer if the article was based on thoughts and experience, or even observations about the gaming industry in general so that we get to read about the writer themselves and not a particular game. The contest will run for the entire month of January, with no more entries accepted after midnight on January 28th (not the 31st) so please make sure that you send your entry in plenty of time. Please send all submissions to writingcontest@gaminglives.com

What do we win?
That is down to the winner actually, but we have a choice of FIVE prizes on offer, which we’ve listed below. Along with the prize, the winner will have their article published on the site on Tuesday February 1st so that it has full front page coverage until the following Monday and will continue to have it publicised with a front page ad for the entire month of February. There is also one runner up prize of a £50 Amazon voucher.

XBox 360 Console (250Gb) with Kinect Sensor and Kinect Adventures

Playstation 3 Slim (320Gb) + £50 Amazon Voucher

Black Wii Console with Wii Sports, Mario Kart, Black Wii Wheel, Motion Plus + £150 Amazon Voucher

Red DSi XL 25th Anniversary “New Super Mario Bros” Special Edition + £100 Amazon Voucher	Acer Ferrari One 11.6″ HD LED Netbook ATI Radeon HD3200, AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD

Will winning make me a writer for GamingLives?
You’re under absolutely no obligation to continue writing for the site as this is the first of what will become an annual contest and not a job interview with a live TV final where “someone will get fired”. The winner will obviously have the opportunity to continue contributing to the site and, in doing so, become either a writer or contributor but that is entirely their own choice and they would also be free to take their prize and run for the hills if they so desired. If you are the winner and DO decide to continue writing, you will become part of a strong team of writers, with the option to review new titles, interview developers and cover press launches and events but, most importantly, you’d be in great company.

What are the rules?

1. All entries must be 100% your own work.
2. Articles should be at least 750 words in length, with no upper limit.
3. You may enter as many times as you like as long as each entry is unique.
4. The entry should be previously unpublished but can be republished elsewhere afterwards if you so wish.
5. Entrant agrees that the article can remain on the GamingLives site after publication.
6. All articles should be spell checked and, where relevant, fact checked.
7. We will accept entries in txt, doc, docx, pdf, rtf and wps format.
8. Entry is open to anyone, from any country, as long as they’re over 16 years of age.

Good luck to everyone, and if you have any questions please email writingcontest@gaminglives.com

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