Stephen Totilo has long been a gaming journalist I've admired, from his thoughtful exchanges with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal to his timely analysis of gaming stories that others, including Kotaku, let fall by the wayside.
That's why I'm so pleased to announce that Totilo's departure from MTV doesn't mean he's landed himself a gig as a developer. Instead, beginning in May, Totilo will be joining Kotaku as the site's deputy managing editor.
Totilo has been covering video games full time since May of 2005, when MTV made him the first beat reporter for games at MTV News for their website and to work on on-air stories.
He's run the influential gaming blog MTV Multiplayer, which Kotaku and most other gaming sites have linked to a ton of times, for the past two years. He's also written about games for Slate, The New York Times, and even done a one-week stint as guest-editor here (Who could forget the Kotaku Aptitude Test?).
He tells me that his first games reporting anywhere dates back to the late 90s when he freelanced for IGN and snuck some gaming stories into Newsweek and other outlets. He has a master's in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. And we can't let him ever forget that, yes, he co-created "Hogan Knows Best."
Not only does this latest addition give us heaps of Hogan cachet, it also gives us a writer in New York to help keep an eye on all things video game related in the Big Apple.