Welcome!
Thanks for making it over. You can find a substantial sampling of my writing within these pages.
News:
January 22, 2025 - With co-streaming, our New York Game Awards amassed over 515,000 viewers this year and 1.95 billion impressions. Sam Lake was our legend winner. It all supports our amazing Playing With Purpose nonprofit.
December 16, 2024 - Please find all of my New York Times columns right here - from Astro Bot to Zau!
November 30, 2024 - Tickets for our nonprofit's 14th New York Game Awards are now on sale. Tickets help us mentor underserved middle and high schools students. Find out more on Playing With Purpose at NYGameCritics.com.
February 22, 2024 - I now have a column at the New York Times about video games. This is the first review of games in the Times in many years.
March 9, 2023 - I was asked to join the NYC Mayor's Digital Game Industry Council. Here's what happened at our meeting.
February 22, 2023 - Here's my review of PlayStation VR2 and the accopanying Horizon game. (I liked it.)
January 17, 2023 - I wrote, executive produced and co-host the 12th New York Game Awards with Reggie and Makeda Byfield. Phil Spencer was our Legend Nominee. Watch!
October 11, 2022 - I signed a contract for my mystery novel, The Skinny! Here's what the book publisher is saying about The Skinny. (They're excited.)
May 3, 2022 - I'm working on a games documentary project with Reggie Fils-Aimé! This fact was revealed in Reggie's book, which was released today. While we can't say much more, I can reveal that this was my idea, which Reggie really liked. We've partnered with Oscar-winning producer Ryan Silbert to bring this unique work to light.
February 1, 2022 - Watch the 11th New York Game Awards, which was another huge success. I executive produced, wrote and hosted the popular show which benefits our journalism and games non-profit with former Nintendo president, Reggie Fils-Aimé.
June 13. 2021 - I snagged the Worldwide Exclusive to Bethesda's Starfield for The Washington Post. It included two exclusive videos and an interview with Todd Howard. Unfortunately, the paper pushed the video early, before the embargo ended. Nonetheless ,
this story was one of the most viewed game stories in the paper's history.
January 26, 2021 - Watch our 10th New York Game Awards tonight beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Twitch, and beginning at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube. Former Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aimé & I co-host this fundraiser for our journalism nonprofit.
January 23, 2021 - For a Perspective piece in The Washington Post Sports Section, I wrote about being from Buffalo and the Buffalo Bills.
September 2, 2020 - For a documentary, Swedish Public Radio interviewed me about my book "All Your Base Are Belong to Us," in particular about "Tennis For Two," arguably the first video game.
July 27, 2020 - For The Washington Post, I took a new look at the great games on the Apple Arcade.
June 1, 2020 - In the time of COVID-19, we took our New York Videogame Critics Circle arts education in games and journalism mentoring to a Bronx homeless shelter. Here's what happened.
May 19, 2020 - I was invited to moderate a fireside chat for the Gamesbeat Summit for which I interviewed the CEO of Mythical Games. It worked out well!
April 29, 2020 - In March, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé and I decided to brighten the lives of those shuttered by the pandemic - not only game fans, but underserved students in homeless shelters. We put together a wildly popular podcast series called Talking Games With Reggie And Harold. In tandem, we started a GoFundMe to help raise money for kids in homeless shelters. Please donate.
February 18, 2020 - Long in the making, Media Molecule's Dreams was stunning and ambitious. Here's my Washington Post review.
January 21, 2020 - Our 9th Annual New York Game Awards garnered hundreds of thousands of viewers online. Reggie Fils-Aimé received our Legend Award. Watch the whole show, but do check out Reggie's acceptance first.
December 18, 2019 - For The Washington Post, I chose the Best Virtual Reality Games of the Year.
November 1, 2019 - I was so honored to bring the New York Videogame Critics Circle Games And Journalism course to a new location on the Lower East Side. Read Isaiah's courageous piece, too.
October 24, 2019 - In addition to writing, I'd been a consultant for The Washington Post content for years. My story on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert's Jon Batiste helped to launch the Post's new videogame site. He performed a concert, too!
October 18, 2019 - The Apple Arcade is a great deal for many games. I spent what seemed to be 100 hours looking at about 30 games.
September 13, 2019 - I asked Borderlands 3 folks about the rich characters, non-binary, queer and others.
September 6, 2019 - For The Washington Post, I wished that NBA2K20 had a deeper story mode.
August 1, 2019 - Our New York Videogame Critics Circle daily summer journalism program for underserved Bronx high school students is in full gear. A big deal for the Bronx!
June 20, 2019 - I wrote four stories on heavy deadline for the Washington Post last week, including a profile of the new Nintendo president, Doug Bowser. Go here to see them.
April 30, 2019 - It's not an oral history, but my Washington Post story about what makes a fighting game great quotes a number of esports pros and game makers. It was difficult to put together, but enjoyable, too.
April 10, 2019 - I've been working on some fiction, a novel called "Hopes and Dreams and Hell." Read the beginning here.
January 23, 2019 - The New York Game Awards had 400,000 viewers on Twitch. With comedy from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and music from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it was our best one yet.
January 14, 2018 - Happy New Year! Please attend the New York Game Awards, which I produce. Forgetting Geoff's big show, New York magazine calls it the Oscars of video games. In any case, Tickets are right here. Hope to see you soon!
October 15, 2018 - I spent five months on this New York magazine/Vulture story about Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2. New York got Rockstar to agree to having my story become the first big piece of journalism about the game. I'm quite proud of this one.
October 4, 2018 - I moderated two panels at the New York Games Conference, including one on the Future of eSports.
September 5, 2018 - I reviewed Marvel's Spider-Man for the Washington Post. Great rendering of New York City and my Lower East Side, but the story wasn't perfect.
July 29, 2018 - The Circle and I brought games and VR to the Abrons Arts Center Community Day on the Lower East Side. Such fun.
July 28, 2018 - I spoke at and moderated a New York Videogame Critics Circle panel at the NY Public Library's Main Branch. We had over 1600 during the day!
June 24, 2018 - In this Games for Change video, I spoke about writing, reviewing and team-building in New York schools and how we give back to the community though games journalism. I blather a bit, but it's informative.
June 11, 2018 - In this Future of Narrative panel at the E3 Coliseum, I talked with Amy Hennig, Ian Dallas and Sam Barlow about Star Wars, their future work and how to break down the barriers of race in the world of storytelling in games.
June 7, 2018 - I'll be moderating a panel at the E3 Coliseum in Los Angeles. The topic - the future of games narrative on June 12. I'll have more on the guests leading up to the date.
June 4, 2018 - I'm working on a long form, 5,000-word story for an awesome print magazine. More on this soon.
May 31, 2018 - I was interviewed by a person from Lightbox who's working on a Harvey Weinstein documentary produced by Academy Award winner Simon Chinn.
May 18, 2018 - The New York Videogame Critics Circle, which I founded almost 8 years ago, is now an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We do good work in the NYC community Find out more here.
April 12, 2018 - BBC Radio interviewed me about games and museum culture. We also talked about my WaPo review of "Where The Water Tastes Like Wine."
March 28, 2018 - I'll be speaking at the 15th annual Games for Change Festival in June in NYC. The topic is "When Journalists Educate With Games: How and Why the New York Videogame Critics Circle Mentors Students and Older Adults." More soon!
March 15, 2018 - For the Washington Post, I reviewed the narratively-compelling "Where The Water Tastes Like Wine." It features stories about the Great Depression and will also appear in the Sunday paper on March 25th.
February 15, 2018 - I'm working on a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway story, which is fun. I'm also working on a memoir, which is both fun - and sad.
January 19, 2018 - I'm sorry I haven't been updating here as much has been going on. Please come to the our New York Game Awards on January 24th. Here's a link to tickets. Do say 'Hi' to me after the ceremony! It all benefits our scholarships and mentoring work! Here's a lot more info.
June 15, 2017 - It's time to get to work on two or three book proposals. I'll take much of the summer to get these into the proper shape, then choose the best one to send along to agents.
May 6, 2017 - For the New York Videogame Critics Circle, I've moved the group toward becoming a non-profit organization to offer more scholarships and mentoring. We are currently putting together a board and finding pro bono legal representation. It's a lot of work!
April 15, 2017 - I'm working on a long story for the 150th Anniversary issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine.
March 6, 2017 - I reviewed the amazing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for The Washington Post.
February 1, 2017 - After traveling to Osaka, Japan, I wrote about Resident Evil 7 for Playboy magazine and a separate piece for online.
January 20, 2017 - The New York Game Awards were a great success! The Daily Show offered up some amazing humor. We honored Richard Garriott, who made a great speech. The Abrons Playhouse was sold out. And we had 50,000 viewers online.
December 29, 2016 - Tickets for the New York Game Awards on 1/19 are now available. I founded the Awards six years ago. This year, they're in Manhattan at the Abrons Art Center Playhouse.
December 20, 2016 - My best video games of the year for Boys' Life magazine include Overwatch and The Last Guardian.
November 28, 2016 - I've been talking with a few top folks about writing a new book. Stay tuned for more news in the new year.
October 13, 2016 - I will travel to Montreal for the Festival of New Cinema to keynote and to participate in panels about Virtual Reality.
September 28, 2016 - I moderated two panels at the New York Games Conference, a keynote conversation on eSports and a fireside chat on VR, Pokemon Go and game trends with our New York Videogame Critics Circle.
September 27, 2016: For Playboy magazine, I wrote about Mafia III. The game takes place in New Orleans during the turbulent 1960s.
September 5, 2016: I worked on a new TV series for Reelz about serial killers and movies with a production company from Calgary. I'll be on two or three episodes - starting in February.
August 2, 2016: I went a little gonzo for a piece in Playboy which took me to Buenos Aires.
July 15, 2016: I worked with Viceland's World of Sports team on a show about eSports. It will appear next February.
June 15, 2016: I wrote about the Oculus Rift and Virtual Reality for The Washington Post. I had to take Dramamine.
May 19, 2016: One of the joys of my writing is working for Boys' Life as their so-called Games Guru. Here's a concise interview with Fumito Ueda on the The Last Guardian, almost 10 years in the making.
May 1, 2016: Here my story in Playboy magazine's May issue (and online) about this summer's most compelling scifi games.
April 18, 2016: Via the New York Videogame Critics Circle, I help teach kids about games and games jobs at the South Bronx's DreamYard School.
April 5, 2016: I reviewed Sony's MLB The Show 16 for The Washington Post.
March 15, 2016: I'm a "supporting actor" in League of Millions, Sam Rega's Business Insider long form documentary on eSports. Actually, I'm just interviewed a lot.
February 9, 2016 - The New York Game Awards were a success! We even had author Joshua Cohen and Grammy winner Wyclef Jean at the event.
January 30, 2016 - I have a story in newly redesigned Playboy magazine (and online) about language and linguistics in the game Far Cry Primal.
December 15, 2015 - I am deep into producing the New York Game Awards. Thousands of emails = a fine show (I hope).
October 20, 2015 - I spent two hours being interviewed about games for a National Geographic special. It will air next Spring.
September, 29, 2015 - I began reviewing games for The Washington Post. This time, I took on Spike Lee's narrative contribution to NBA 2K16.
August 15, 2015, I'm in this Business Insider documentary about League of Legends eSports. This holiday, I'm in a European public TV documentary about videogame history.
July 15, 2015, Started writing for Maxim magazine.
May 31, 2015, I've been named games critic at Playboy magazine!
March 9, 2015, Two entertaining stories about the Powers TV series for Esquire, including a stirring interview with Brian Michael Bendis.
February 16, 2015, The NY Videogame Critics Circle I founded had its most successful Game Awards event ever with 135,000 viewers on Twitch.
January 1, 2015, I wrote about VR, 4KTV and electric cars in a long Future of Technology story for Playboy magazine.
December 7, 2014, When the great Ralph Baer passed, The New York Times quoted me in his obit. And I spoke about him for NPR.
December 5, 2014, I scripted the opening film for the The Game Awards along with Geoff Keighley. It was viewed by millions worldwide.
December 4, 2014, The League of Legends Experience book was funded, meeting its goal in 8 hours.
October 30, 2014, A theatrical version of My Life Among The Serial Killers begins its run in New York City.
October 25, 2014, The Playboy cover story on League of Legends eSports hits stands.
May 26, 2014, The New York Times cover feature on Watch Dogs, the startling hacking game that was kept so long in development.
March 8, 2014, The Business Insider piece on Titanfall and the state of the game industry circa 2014.
February 11, 2014, Here's video of the 3rd Annual NY Videogame Critics Circle Awards with The Daily Show's Daniel Radosh as host, Rick Moody, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Future Folk and, of course, our esteemed critics and game makers.
December 25, 2013, The New York Times Arts & Leisure Year End story, The Year of the Indie
November 26, 2013, The New York Times Arts & Leisure cover story, When Film Marries Video Game.
November 20, 2013, My Playboy magazine cover story on the illusive Sam Houser of Rockstar Games.
October 1, 2013, The New York Times Arts & Leisure story on IndieCade.
June 12, 2013, The New York Times Arts & Leisure cover story about videogame art.
April 27, 2013, For two years, I've advised the Tribeca Film Festival on games. Here, I moderate a sold-out panel on Beyond: Two Souls and interview Ellen Page, among others. 3.5 million views so far!
Mar. 24, 2013, The Sunday NY Times Arts & Leisure cover story about BioShock Infinite.
Sept., 2012, Jim Romenesko says my book is now required reading at the University of Iowa J-school's first course in videogame journalism.
On Feb. 2, 2012, The New York Videogame Critics Circle gave me their Algonquin Roundtable Award for Best Videogame Book.
IGN has named me one of the Top 30 Game People of 2011.
Here's some new commentary about games from my latest appearance on NPR's Morning Edition.
Here is a bit more info about All Your Base Are Belong to Us, How 50 Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture:
Apple iBookstore Book of the Week (for 4/11/2011)
The excerpt in Vanity Fair
The profile in USA Today
The excerpt in Wired
The interview on NPR's Morning Edition
The interview about L.A. Noire on NPR's Morning Edition
The interview on BBC Radio 5
The interview in Salon
The story for Reuters
The excerpt in Fast Company
"A triumph" -- Epoca Magazine, Brazil
"Filled with game anecdotes worth sharing" -- Henry Gilbert, GamesRadar
The Independent Film Channel interview
The excerpt about World of Warcraft in Boing Boing
The story about Rockstar's Sam Houser in Kotaku
Excellent video from the Strand Bookstore Reading
"The definitive tome of videogame history" -- Jason Schreier, Wired
"Essential reading, highly recommended." -- ThinkProgress
"The ultimate gaming guide." -- Nylon Guys
"Highly recommended." -- IGN
