It's always a pleasure welcoming a new voice to Kotaku, but considering how much I've been enjoying Kirk Hamilton's work over the last year as he blossoms into one of gaming most exciting writers, today's a special treat: Oh, I already spoiled it. Anyway, let's welcome Kirk Hamilton to Kotaku as our new San Francisco Features Editor.
You guys know Kirk, right? Let's do the standard bona fides: Kirk comes to us from Paste Magazine, where he served as Games Editor. You may remember his illuminating letter series, including a lively debate about the nature of games criticism between author Tom Bissell and academic Simon Ferrari and a ten-part retrospective playthrough of Final Fantasy VII along with our own Kotaku columnist Leigh Alexander.
In addition to running the show at Paste, Kirk's work has turned up at several other publications including Joystiq, Kill Screen, and EDGE Magazine. I've especially enjoyed some his of eyebrow-raising game reviews, including a savage takedown of Dragon Age 2, a mechanical analysis of Portal 2 complete with visual aids, a Miles Davis-inspired analysis of Pac Man CEDX, and a weird, experiential critique of L.A. Noire that raised a few of questions about what, exactly, a video game review should even look like.
Kirk's work has regularly appeared at Kotaku as well, including a satirical recounting of a hipster version of Mass Effect titled "Mass Affect," a critique of "Inception's Usability Problem," and a recent feature discussing why Portal 2 is a great introductory game for non-gamers. His monthly Kotaku column has focused on the intersection of games and music, opening with his theory of "The Rhythm of Play" - the idea that many video games are, essentially, musical experiences. (I cobbled together some art for that one. #humblebrag)
We're going to get Kirk up and running next Monday as a full-time editor, but I thought it might be nice to give him a couple of days to say hello to everyone and get up to speed. Look forward to even more deep dives into game design, music, and culture as he works alongside our other feature heavy hitters like Stephen Totilo and Brian Crecente.
While you're waiting, you can creep on Kirk in the usual places: Twitter, Facebook, and his personal blog.
Welcome aboard, Kirk!
Photo: Brian Taylor