Chris Grant

This is a hello post

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:29:00 -0500

I pitched it as a supergroup. The slide on my presentation was a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album cover not because I have any particular affinity for “Teach Your Children” but because the super-constituents themselves are right in the band’s name. My supposition was that making a dent in video game coverage in 2012 would require more than great content – which I know this team can deliver – and more than great technology – which I know Vox Media can deliver. It would require visibility, insight, and dedication, which are far more difficult to ensure.

While I wouldn’t call assembling this murderer’s row of gaming writers an “easy task,” I was frequently surprised at how eager people were to be a part of something new. Like I wrote in my goodbye post, video game media is changing and has been changing for as long as I can remember. Some organizations can’t accommodate that change and we’ve seen the results.

Vox Games, which we’re humbly calling this new endeavor until we’re ready to share the final name, is different and I think our founding team shows that. I’m beyond thrilled to be working alongside Brian Crecente, arguably the hardest working and most talented reporter in the business, a trait that I understand perhaps better than most after competing against him for the past six years. Then there’s Russ Pitts, whose thumbprints are all over The Escapist … and its six Webby awards, one of which was snatched from my clutches last year.

Or perhaps you’re a fan of the other Russ, Mr. Russ Frushtick? Formerly of MTV News, Russ is the guy that gaming writers go to to find out what they should be playing. And let’s not forget Chris Plante, who was hired mostly because his name rhymes with mine. Also, because he’s an excellent writer and I’ve long coveted his byline and now it’s all mine. Or Arthur Gies, who joins us from a short stint at Joystiq though he’s probably best known for his work at IGN, the Rebel FM podcast, and his stellar writing.

Last, but most certainly not least, we’ve got the brothers McElroy, who I’m proud to call friends in addition to colleagues. Simply put, it would be difficult to find anyone smarter, harder working, and funnier in our entire industry. And we’ve got two of them!

In short, we’re looking to build the world’s best video game site, whatever that means. That’s going to take us a while so you’ll find our bylines on The Verge while we’re busy erecting that edifice. What we’ve got now is our foundation and, while it may be as strong a foundation as one could imagine, it’s just that. There’s so much more we need to build and we’ve got so much further to go.

(PS - Yes, we’re still hiring. Stay tuned to @voxgames for more info on that construction project).

Here are the personal posts from the entire founding editor team. Go ahead and catch ‘em all!

Fishtown Zoning Meeting = 10 ayes, 0 nays

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:20:00 -0400

We finally had our neighborhood zoning meeting. We arrived early (thanks to Erin!), with our presentation in hand (think high school science project). The board members arrived one by one but – what’s this? – there’s no community members.

A handful finally showed up (maybe 2-3?) but, for the most part, the decision was made by the Fishtown Neighborhood Association and the lone representative of the New Kensington CDC (they have jurisdiction over Frankford Ave.). Their verdict: 10 in favor of, 0 opposed (with the proviso that we do not get a curb cut as planned).Victory is ours! Now, we’re scheduled to do battle with the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustments (ZBA) next Wednesday.

On AOTS, talking E3 "winners"

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 11:14:00 -0400

On the last day of E3, I found myself racing down Olympic Blvd., following the combined advice of the show’s producer and my trusty rental GPS, looking for the E! Studios which also house the G4 crew (who were previously in Santa Monica I’m told). I was asked to offer my thoughts on who “won” E3 for their The Loop segment. My call: Sony, for all sorts of reasons (one of which is believing they aren’t going to nix the $499 price point). Watch for Chris Gore stepping all over my Chris Grant prompt, and the ensuing funny face I throw his way.

On the last day of E3, I found myself racing down Olympic Blvd.,...

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 11:14:00 -0400

On GameOne, talking Gamers Days

Wed, 30 May 2007 12:35:47 -0400

I’m back-dating this one, since GameTrailers only recently added permalinks to their GameOne program. Now, I can link you straight to my appearance on their Beyond the Headline segment where I spoke with the always pleasant Daniel Kayser about the run of pre-E3 Gamers Day events from folks like Sony, Ubisoft, and Nintendo.

A note, I myself did not attend any of the above events personally, only managed the coverage and the writers that did attend. This is because, unlike most of my colleagues, Joystiq does not (and has never) accepted press junkets. This means that if we don’t have somebody local, we either pay out of our own pocket or don’t go at all.

On AOTS, talking Halo 3 beta delay

Sat, 19 May 2007 22:30:45 -0400

Bungie: We are SO mad at you. Well, not really, but if you found yourself hanging out on the internet last Wednesday, the mulling crowds of virtual townsfolk replete with virtual pitchforks and virtual torches probably gave you the distinct impression that castles were being stormed and the evil scientists that reside therein would, any minute now, be pulled asunder by the bloodthirsty mob. However, that crowd of 19th-century villagers turned out to be more like crying two-year-olds. They threw a tantrum until Bungie shoved a bottle in the form of one fully operable Halo 3 beta in their collectively crying maw. Tantrum over.

But, before that happened, I was invited onto G4’s Attack of the Show to talk about the meltdown as it was melting down. I’m not getting better at television appearances. Try playing this game: count the number of times I blink. I lost count at 8,542.

New American Paintings (now with more Erin Murray)

Sat, 19 May 2007 20:45:00 -0400

The fine folks at New American Paintings finally got around to adding the contents of issue #69 to their beleaguered website. Why should you care? Well, in addition to trying to edify yourself (you uncultured heathen), Erin’s latest works can be found in their hallowed pages. But don’t settle for the website’s clumsy formatting and one measly reproduction — Blue House (Pride of the Sea) if you’re interested — check out the magazine at book store’s nationwide. It’s the April/May edition and, if the mid-April launch date was any indication, it should remain on stands until mid-June. Congratulations, Erin!

On BBC Radio, talking electroencephalography

Tue, 08 May 2007 21:02:58 -0400

Unless you happen to live in the UK and are employed as either a night watchman or long-haul trucker, you probably missed my late-night appearance on BBC Radio’s Pods and Blogs — “an hour of radio dedicated to covering the news as it’s seen by bloggers, podcasters and the citizen media” — discussing new technology that aims to translate the power of your mind into input for, get this … video games!

NeuroSky is the company that everyone was talking about, but there’s a handful of other groups looking to produce similar products. Is there a market for this stuff? Is this what designers really want? Will the success of the Wii and its unique input mechanism encourage a multiplicity of products like this? Check out the show notes. ~~I’m trying to track down the audio, since the Beeb’s website doesn’t seem to archive past shows.~~ Got it! (Thanks, Chris). Embedded below for your edification.

[audio:chris_joystiqbbc.mp3]

My dog is (internet) famous

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:34:00 -0400

Yuki got groomed for the first time ever last Wednesday (thanks, Susan!). The impressively fluffy results can be seen above. In fact, Erin and I were so impressed with how fluffy she was (thanks, hair dryer technology) that we felt compelled to preserve it in digital amber. After admiring her for another couple hours, Erin made another attempt to expose Yuki to the cute-addicts at Cute Overload and, this time, it took! Behold! Yuk’s debut performance on the intertubes: Tocksicity!

Coupled with her debut, we finally got around to uploading some classic Yuki pics to Flickr; check out our “yuki” tag to get your fuzz fix.