Reddit mentions of Up Up Down Down Left WRITE: The Freelance Guide to Video Game Journalism

"Yes" to your first two questions.

I've personally never had an editor commission me to cover a topic or subject I didn't pitch, though that's just my experience. I've had an editor ask if I wanted to review any upcoming games, but their budget was too low, so I declined.

If you're not familiar with games writing or the pitching process, Nathan Meunier's books on the niche are a great resource.

For pitches specifically, this video is very helpful IMO.

Hope this helps.

Here's a few books I can recommend

The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World
https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-History-Video-Games-Pokemon/dp/0761536434

Up Up Down Down Left WRITE: The Freelance Guide to Video Game Journalism
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0989533506/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MSPBR3N4XXNTK22E7VBG

Critical Path: How to Review Videogames for a Living
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/098514372X/ref=pd_aw_fbt_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MSPBR3N4XXNTK22E7VBG

The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual
https://www.amazon.com/Videogame-Style-Guide-Reference-Manual/dp/1430313056

Hope that helps!

A site with rates that low isn't big enough to stay around most likely. That's a sign. You're better off buying your own cheap domain, tossing a few Google ads on there, and publish content yourself. Once you have some good work to show (and not just a bunch of reviews), send in pitches to the friendly-to-newcomer sites like Zam, Kill Screen, Paste Games, etc. I also like GameSkinny and they're always offering an in (solid editors willing to help). Things grow from there once you have those names on your samples, but you have to bust your ass and do really clean work to show you can before you start pitching. For tips, I recommend Nathan Meunier's book: https://www.amazon.com/Down-Left-WRITE-Freelance-Journalism/dp/0989533506/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Brutally honest reality? The chances of making it freelancing just games stuff is really, really low. Plan for other things. Expand your topics. The industry is tough and everyone thinks they can do it, then they see the pay and get into marketing. If you REALLY want to do this, then it will come if you do the work, but you have to be willing to take a lot of bumps.