Posted by Bob Mackey
When long-time EGM staffers Dan "Shoe" Hsu and Crispin Boyer both left the magazine just a handful of months ago, it was a pretty big shock. The two were basically the last of EGM's "old guard," meaning that Dan and Crispin's tenure began in the mid-90s, back when Electronic Gaming Monthly was based out of Illinois. Since EGM is the only magazine I've continually read for 18 years--I still remember an entire school bus in awe of their Super Mario World import coverage--it was more than a little disappointing to see such veterans of games journalism decide to call it a day.
Of course, if I cared about Dan and Crispin as much as I thought I did, I would've known about their new blog less than three months after its launch. Pardon the massive oversight on my part.
What's important about all of this is that Sore Thumbs (not to be confused with the political/gaming webmanga by the same name [Jesus Christ]) makes for some good reading. Anyone paying attention to games journalism for the past few years should know that Dan and Crispin have an extremely low tolerance for the hoops of flaming bullshit the press has to jump through to appease publishers, and they've been quite outspoken about this topic--especially Dan, who would often use his EGM editorial space to tell the reader the struggles of maintaining integrity.
And now that they're more free than ever to talk about the problems of games journalism, Dan and Crispin have started a multi-part series on Sore Thumbs, aptly named "Behind the Scenes: Gaming Journalism." So far, the articles have been very candid and actually quite frustrating when you think about the future of sites and magazines that resist the demands of publishers. As someone who's been a semi-semi-professional in the biz for less than a year, I'm now less inclined than ever to take bribes. That'll show all of those people who never offered.
+ DIGG
+ DEL.ICIO.US
+ REDDIT
About Bob Mackey
For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's
Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.
If unsatisfied, please return unused portion for partial refund.