It seems that the vast majority of the industry professionals in the video agree. Games journalism has definitely changed drastically over the past decade, though definitely not for the worse...unless of course you're a big fan of magazines. I was actually discussing this with a friend this past weekend, how the internet hasn't just given us more information, but a greater hunger for information that desperately needs to be sated, and sated relatively quickly. People just aren't satisfied reading a story two months after the news hits anymore. That's where websites like the one you are currently reading come in.

Having grown up plastering video game ads from magazines on my wall as a child and having to avoid slipping on a deep pile of said magazines every time I had to use the bathroom, I am a little bit nostalgic for the heyday of print. Printing out banner ads on my inkjet just isn't the same, and the bathroom is not the best place for a laptop.

Two new characters join the lineup for Playlogic's Fairytale Fights today, bringing the roster for the hack n' slash Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title up to four characters. Joining Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood on the quest to regain their former fame will be Jack of beanstalk fame, and the Emperor of no-clothes fame. I'm not sure why the Emperor, who has been tricked into believing he is wearing the finest clothes in all the land, is sporting a leaf, but it's not something I really want to dwell on anyway.

I'm also not going to point out who the Emperor looks like, as my fragile psyche has been damaged enough already.

This glossy article is the product of that time spent chillin'. The brevity of the story is made up for by the illustration of me in full Tyrannosaurus-Rex glory, finally shedding light on why I can't, in fact, twiddle my thumbs or scratch my nose.

What I'd really love to know is why the illustrator felt it was necessary to detail a fine-web of red lines in the corners of my eyes, making me subtly look like a pot head, a T-Rex pot head.

Game Boy [5280]

I figured that since I live in the middle of nowhere it would be fun to bring some schwag along.

Here's the deal, I've got a smallish stash of freebies that I'll be handing out of to anyone who spots me over the next couple of weeks. Just flag me down and say you're a Kotaku reader. It's not a ton of stuff and I have no idea if anyone will notice me during my travels, so I can't really say how long the freebies will last. In other words, if I don't have anything for you if you do spot me, don't be annoyed and sorry in advance.

I'll be traveling through Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and back to Colorado. We're mostly just passing through these states, with a few stops along the way in places like El Paso, Fort Worth, New Orleans and Moultrie, Georgia.

As is often the case, Trish will be driving and I'll be writing shotgun. (See what I did there?) But I hope to squeeze in a bit of road gaming along the way on the DSi, PSP or iPhone.

Do you have any summer trips planned?

It was an interesting interview. I dropped in on them using my laptop and video Skype, so we were able to be in the same room, kinda sorta. Check out the vid if you want to hear me blather on about blog ethics, the future of the gaming industry and other stuff. Or if you want to see what the wall next to my desk looks like.

ManiaTV Arcade's War Room [ManiaTV]

Consider what you see here a test run, a beta of sorts. We're thinking of adding more people and perhaps topics to a single run. Let me know what you think. As always, your suggestions are invaluable. But for the record, I'm not THAT flexible.

Watch Video Podcast - Team Fortress 2 on your iPod or Zune!
Right click save link as and download the video here.
Subscribe to our Kotaku Video podcast on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace

Also I want to thank Chris Person for filming and processing the video.

Take us out, Rockapella!

Eric Marcoullier and I were tonight embroiled in a riveting, yet wistful conversation about 70s/80s pop duo Hall and Oates. After reviewing classics such as this music video for the #1 hit title track of the 1981 album Private Eyes, it occurred to me:

Daryl Hall and John Oates look exactly like Kotaku editors Brian Ashcraft and Brian Crecente. See above, if you can imagine one pair smiling, or not smiling. Coincidence? Probably, but that's not enough of a reason for the two to form a cover band. Where's Rock & Soul Hero when you need it? I suppose it would have to include a peripheral moustache and hair extensions.

... I can see it. A little. I'm just amazed this came to Ian in a flash, since I'm not sure I would've made the nostalgic connection between our fearless leader, the second in command and 70s/80s pop icons. "You think Ashcraft has one of those grey leopard-y shirts?" he asked me. I'm not sure, but I'm sure we could rustle up one somewhere.

PRIVATE EYES / THEY'RE BLOGGING YOU ... blogging you blogging you blogging you [Ian Bogost]

Up Against the Wall: Game Makers Take on the Press will be hosted by Newsweek's N'Gai Croal and include myself, Spike TV's Geoff Keighley, 1Up Yours' Garnett Lee, Game Informer's Andy McNamara, and MTV News' Stephen Totilo in a session where developers will have a chance to "give game journalists a piece of their mind."

Overview: Developers! For 365 days out of every year, you and your work are under the relentless scrutiny of the media. Today, you get to turn the tables on your inquisitors and put them under the microscope. Moderator N'Gai Croal has solicited a battery of questions from a wide range of developers, which he will then pose to a panel of some of the best wriers and editors covering games today. So if you want more insight into the thinking of top games media—and even get a chance to make them squirm—this panel is for you.

Squirm? Battery? Microscope? Wriers? Sorry that last one's just a typo from the program, but man it sounds like if you have an axe to grind with the media you should come to the Game Developers Conference this year and bring it with you to this session. Or you could, you know, email me.

Up Against the Wall—Game Makers Take On the Press [GDC]

FIVE WAYS HALO HAS REDEFINED GAMING - [The Rocky Mountain News]

Today, a big ol' surprise announcement was expected at EA's San Francisco event. Turns out it was to show off some gameplay for the upcoming Simpsons' game. Our pirate man on the ground Brian Crecente will be posting about it later. He might even get some time with the game, so be sure to check back. Later, even! Brian Ashcraft

Simpsons Game Announced [Kotaku]

Apparently we've unhinged Jack.

After Kotaku dissected Jack Thompson's latest appearance on national television trying to connect the tragedy at Virginia Tech with video games, the attorney started emailing us... again.

First Jack tried to tie us to allegations that a 14-year-old made a threat against the University of California Berkley campus by emailing one of the sergeants of the campus police. After speaking with the sergeant actually handling the investigation (not the one Jack emailed) I was told that there was nothing to worry about.

Next Jack asked us to remove our analysis of his misstatements on national television and when we politely declined he faxed the FBI in Colorado:

Dear FBI:

This web site at the below url is targeting me:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/virginia-tech/breaking-idiot-thompson-blames-va-shooting-on-games-252702.php

I ask that something be done by the FBI to stop this or prosecute it:

Kyle81 says: Actually the VT shootings are now the biggest mass shooting in US history with 31 dead, not just school shooting. Jack should be shot for taking the opportunity to leech off a tragedy to push his own agenda 04/16/07 03:25 PM

Regards, Jack Thompson

I quickly got on the phone with my friends at the agency (they were among the agencies I covered for five years as a police reporter in Denver) and found out that they hadn't yet processed the fax. I was also told that it was unlikely they would handle such an investigation, if one was even needed, but that the local police might look into it.

Finally, I asked about the fed's policy on pursuing charges for filing a false report... but I'll get to that later. Brian Crecente

Update To be clear, while we fully support freedom of speech we're not such big fans of pointless threats. So stop making them. If nothing else that make gamers look like a bunch of immature hot heads.

I know this is short notice but I should be on CNBC in the next 15 minutes or so (by 7:30 p.m. Easter) to talk about Guitar Hero.

They were interested in what makes the game so popular and whether it will continue to be so with the announcement of Rock Band. I totally forgot to use the phrase "battle of the bands" or "turn it up to 11". Dammit! Brian Crecente

Remember those fancy Nintendo shoes that Pandamanda made with fabric pens and a pair of plain white shoes? I loved the art so much I paid her to make a pair just for me featuring what else but Space Invaders.

I haven't received them yet, but she just sent me a slew of pictures and I nearly passed out from how amazing they are. I like how from a distance they almost look like those checkered Vans. I had a pair of checkered Vans when I was in high school, but the cool just didn't take. Maybe it will this time around.

These set me back $130, which includes the price of the shoes. A very fair price for such ass-kickery. Pandamanda says she is taking orders, so if you're interested hit her up at PandaSneaks [ at ] gmail.com

Now the only question is will I have the nerve to wear these in public. And I think you know the answer. Brian Crecente

The show airs at 7 p.m. Eastern and The Loop tends to be about 15 minutes in. Tune in if you want to catch my blank stares and vapid responses, I'm told I''ve got that down. :) Brian Crecente

Today I gave notice at the Rocky Mountain News. April will be the first month I haven't worked full-time at a daily newspaper in nearly one and a half decades, it feels kinda weird.

Earlier this week the publisher of the newspaper called me into his office to tell me that due to the current economic state of journalism in general and newspapers specifically, the Rocky Mountain News would be shifting a group of feature writers over to the news side to help fill in gaps left by people who had quit over the past year.

I was among the group. My option was to either work once more as a full-time police reporter, something the news editors very much wanted me to do, and freelance my gaming coverage to the newspaper in my own time or quit outright and concentrate on gaming coverage through freelance with the Rocky and my current job at Kotaku.

I thought long and hard about the discussion I had with the publisher. It was, as you can imagine, a very difficult decision for me.

The Rocky Mountain News has been very supportive of my gaming coverage and I think it speaks volumes that during a time when few papers had the insight to invest a full-time beat in the coverage of the culture and business of video gaming, they saw that it was an growing and important part of both pop culture and artistic expression.

As I've spent time working this beat I've come to realize that not only is it something I enjoy doing, it is something that I think needs to be done.

This is a new and exciting medium and in so many ways shapes not only pop culture, but the way people see the world around them.

While I understand the dire nature of current journalism economics and the state that the newspaper is in, I just can't see myself going back to covering news.

I will truly miss working with the great reporters, writers, editors and managers that work daily to make the Rocky what it is, but I came to the conclusion today that I need to concentrate on my work covering the video game industry and the culture surrounding it.

While I am saddened at the paper's necessary decision to cut the full-time beat at the paper, I was very happy to learn that the paper was eagerly, perhaps anxiously, waiting to hear if I would be willing to continue covering the gaming beat for them in a freelance basis. Something I whole-heartedly plan to do.

It was nice to hear from so many people at the paper, from top editors to reporters, that they now consider video game coverage an important part of the newspaper and that my coverage was a small part of why they feel that way.

I can leave full-time employment at the newspaper knowing that if nothing else, I at least convinced the people who work at the Rocky that gaming isn't always just about games. Brian Crecente

Ahoy! Some big time bloggers attended Microsoft's "Bloggers Breakfast." Guys like Slashdot's Michael Zenke, Joystiq's Chris Grant, GameSetWatch's Simon Carless, D-toid's Robert Summa and Wired's Chris Kohler. And Microsoft picked the one who looks like a pirate to throw up on Xbox.com. Shiver me timbers. Brian Ashcraft

Crecente On Xbox.com [Official Site, Thanks MrPants!]