So, Who's the New Guy_

Well met, Kotaku readers. You’ve probably seen my name popping up on the site this week and might be wondering who the hell I am, where I came from and why I’m here. I’ve been writing about video games for about 10 years, getting my start at the late, lamented Teen People magazine. (Oh, sure, snicker away. But, when I interviewed Warren Spector last year, he remembered that Deus Ex was in Teen People. So, that’s something.) Since then, I’ve freelanced a bunch of places most recently Time Magazine’s Techland website and IFC’s News Blog.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); But why am I here? Honestly, I came to Kotaku to learn. It’s a weird thing to say for someone who’s been writing about video games for a long time and in some pretty nifty places. But, those places have mostly been mainstream media rummy meet outlets where the institutional will towards establishing, growing or maintaining video game coverage has waxed or waned, according to things beyond my control. Or the control of readers. And the weird paradoxical thing about writing on the internet is how commentary becomes this wild, unleashed series of impulses. I’ve known Crecente and Totilo for years and would run into many of the other members of the K Team at events and such. We’d have conversations about the legendary and sometimes infamous Kotaku reader community and, time and again, I’d hear about the varying ranges of responses to different pieces that they’d written. Could I learn something from that dynamic? I kept on thinking that I had to try. So, it’s been a week at Kotaku and what have I gleaned thus far? • I’ve learned that Kotaku runs on military time. • People apparently have different definitions of what’s a spoiler. • I’ve learned that the small stuff can become the big stuff, when Jon Miller emailed to say that the mere mention of his Super Mario side table created a surge of interest at his Etsy shop. • I’ve learned that a publisher’s, uh, missteps—that DS version of Resident Evil Revelations that apparently doesn’t exist anymore, for example—can become my own. • I’ve learned that commenters will keep you honest and sometimes piss you off in the same joy rummy moment. So, I won’t say to be gentle, because it’s too late to ask such a thing and, really, who expects that? But, teach me something, Kotaku, and hopefully, I’ll put that rummy new app knowledge back out into the world with some wit, analysis or passion that helps move conversations about video games forward.