- AlexN
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26Jan 08
...goodbye.
Boy, that would have been awfully obtuse, wouldn't it?
I'm going to do my best to avoid turning this into a massive weep session. I've already started and scrapped writing this message more times than I can count, so instead of putting endless thought into this, I'm just going to say what I feel and leave it at that.
The five years I've spent at GameSpot are arguably the most important years I've spent in my life. Prior to this gig, I'd never had much of a real job. When Jeff and Greg and the rest of the crew back in 03 gave me--some skinny, 21 year old punkass who'd never done anything but freelance for a few scattered sites--a legitimate chance, I'd never envisioned that this would turn to be the job that defined me, that gave me a place and a career. I had no idea that I'd actually make some semblance of a name for myself here. That anyone would actually give a crap about what I did or what I wrote. I still find the notion kind of unbelievable, actually. Reading all the messages people have been sending me since the word got out has been utterly mind-blowing. It's one thing to enjoy what you do, but it's quite another to know that others enjoy what you do. It's gratifying, and I'm thankful for it.
I could probably spend the next several hours giving individual thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way, but most of them know who they are and have been thanked in more personal fashion, so I'll skip the acceptance speech from hell. Instead, a general thank you to the staff (both former and present) for letting me be a part of the dream that is/was GameSpot. Also, thanks to you, the reader. I'd be nothing if you folks didn't come back time and time again to read the junk I put out, and I can't tell you how thankful I am that you did.
Leaving completely sucks, and believe me when I say I'm in no way joyful about my departure. Well, OK, that's not entirely true. There is a certain sense of...freedom that I'm feeling now as I envision an endless string of pantsless weekdays. Still, if I'd had my druthers, I'd have probably rather stayed precisely where I was, doing what I was doing. But circumstances don't always work out the way you'd prefer, and things change, often not for the better. My time here was finished. I was conflicted about that notion going into the holiday break, and that notion turned into fact with startling clarity as soon as I came back from break. It was a frightening and painful experience to let it go, but I had to. If you love something, set it free, and all that junk. I don't think this one's ever coming back, though.
Of course, I'm not going to disappear into obscurity--at least, not without a fight. You'll probably start seeing my name start appearing on bylines relatively soon. I'm not doing anything full time just yet, but we'll see where the wind takes me. In the meantime, if you need to get in contact with me for any reason, my new e-mail address is alexiconofscars@hotmail.com, and if you want to read my assorted ramblings about whatever, I am keeping a personal blog at The Head Of Alfredo Garcia. Stop by sometime if you want to read about what I think of practically everything except games. I'll give you a hint: I hate all of it.
And lastly, let me just make one thing as crystal clear as possible. I hold no ill will, issue no blame, take no umbrage with any of my former co-workers on the edit team. These guys are some of the hardest working, upstanding, straight up cool mother****ers I've ever met in my life, and as long as they're around doing their thing, GS will continue to live and breathe--there will still be a soul there, underneath whatever ridiculousness might be on the surface these days. There is no GS without those guys. The GS content crew is a family, and no one can change that.
Before I duck out, a few stats to chew on from my time here:
Number of reviews written: 733
Number of video reviews produced: Somewhere around 100
Number of video features appeared in: Dozens
Controllers broken: 7
Debug consoles broken: At least two that I can remember (sorry Ricardo!)
Number of console launches experienced: 5 (not including N-Gage and Gizmondo, which absolutely, positively don't count)
Number of weekend birthdays spent at the office: 2 (thanks PlayStation 3, Wii and Rock Band launches!)
Number of E3s covered: 5
Number of hours of sleep lost while covering said E3s: 280
Number of delicious sandwiches consumed during work hours: Too many to count
Pounds gained over the last five years: 45
Favorite review ever written: It's sort of like choosing your children, but I'd have to say that Super Mario Galaxy was probably the piece of writing I was most proud of just for clarity and overall quality. For pure comedy, while Big Rigs is obviously the fan favorite, I think my Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green review was my favorite, mostly for the opening paragraph, but there are some good chuckles elsewhere, too. My only regret with that one was that it was published before I'd learned the skill of brevity.
Favorite video piece: Regarding Robocop. Tim Tracy took my hours of ridiculous footage and turned that thing into something magical.
Worst review ever written: Read any of the first five to ten reviews I did for the site. They're as boring as they are barely informative. I was still learning the craft at that point. I think I've gotten a touch better.
Review that caught me the most flack: Probably Advent Rising. I will still never understand what anyone saw in that game. It was like retarded Star Wars with a broken frame rate. Now there's a box quote for ya!
Biggest editorial regret: Never giving Burning Questions proper closure. What can I say? I snapped.
Biggest non-editorial regret: Lack of travelling, specifically to Japan. Would have loved to have gotten one TGS trip in.
Thing I'll miss least about GS: Apart from the current unpleasantness, I'll say the commute. Nothing sucks more than driving an hour through traffic to work every day, especially when you're accustomed to carpooling and then suddenly end up having to do it all by your lonesome. *cough*
Thing I'll miss most about GS: The dozens and dozens of awesome people who have come and fled over the years that helped make GS a terrific place to work during their time. You know who you are.
And with that, I bid you all a fond adieu. It's been real.
--A
239 comments
One of the best farewell texts I have ever read . Honest words and Very good read . And you managed to not turn it into a weep session , but still touching . It was great . Thank you for all that you have done for gaming and gamers and for your last contribution on GameSpot . I wish you a happy , healthy and of course wealthy future . and ... , " It was a good dream while it lasted " .
Its bad for me to see ya go dude, just because you were the hardest rockin' editor lol :). Anyway I wish you luck in the future, take care and rock hard :)
Dude Alex you were the best reviewer on GameSpot good luck man...gamespot will never be the same without you and I swear I am not making this up. I was hoping you would review God of War Chains of Olympus. Well good luck! ='(
Your leave will be a terrible lost to gamespot. You're probably were the last reason for me to continue going on Gamespot. First it was Greg, then Jeff, now you! The Gamespot community will definately miss you and all your hijinks. Farewell and best wishes
;-((( Another big hit to GameSpot. Now on the Spot will be very boring. Take care and please let we know where we can read your review again
This sucks man,you had some good reviews lately and they definetly helped me in choosing my games.I dont know what to say,c ya and take care.
DAMN!!! I had never thought about a goodbye being so tragic,but, what can we do about it? We'll miss you dawg. Take care. PD: I still remember ur Def Jam video review, where u got censored : ), i couldn't stop laughin'.
After reading this I fell like I was visitig a funeral..... anyway you will be greatly missed. Your reviews, ( i.e. Big Rigs), blogs, jokes, and everthing will be missed. Good luck to you in the future and hope to see you soon.
Aside from the awful review of Land of the Dead and Advent Rising (both of which I gave higher scores) you will be greatly missed. I would have liked to have seen a proper end to burning questions too.
Must be weird having a bunch of people you don't even know give you comments of good luck and good bye, huh? Well here's another one. Not gonna be the same watching/listening to On The Spot/The Hotspot without you, man. Gonna miss the wacky sense of occasionally cynical and more often than not, blatantly sarcastic humour you always brought to the table. Good luck with whatever you're gonna do next, and keep drumming like a mofugga.
Yo I know you probably won't see this cause theres like a billion messages here, but I really wish you the best of luck. I've known you now for a few years and I think you're a pretty cool guy. I never really got to know you or any of the other employees very personally, but I dunno, you know how to get ahold of me and if you need anything I guess I'm there for you the best I can be. Take care, I hope to hear from you someday and find out what you're up to with what's next in your life.
Another comment from someone you have never talked to or knew existed before today... ME! Good luck, there aren't a lot of game reviewers out there whose work frequently makes me laugh out loud. There are even less who can accomplish the feat in video reviews. I always make sure to watch yours even if I have no interest in the game what so ever. I look forward to your work in the future, where ever you end up... Best of luck to you alex.
Thanks for all the great reviews, the laughs and the rest Alex, you had a great run and I've had times where I disagree and I agreed with you. But nonetheless, you've always been a top reviewer at GS in my mind. Good luck with everything in the future and I hope to see you popping around again. Thanks
So long and good luck, Alex. You'll be missed. I look forward to reading your future columns elsewhere.
Good Luck Alex, been great for the past years that ive checkout out Gamespot, hope you find a good place too work good luck. *Cough* Im bad at this kind of stuff *Cough* Even though your not at Gamespot anymore you'll always be Kick@$$ in my book. Take Care AlexN
We wikll miss you, you are my favorite with Jeff and Greg... hope you the best in this new part of your life!
Goodbye, Alex. You were one of my favorite reviewers in Gamespot, along with Jeff and Greg K. (both gone) :( Your Big Rigs video review still makes me laugh. One of the best videos I've seen on the internet. Seeya. Hope to see you somewhere else soon.
Seeya Alex, 'hope you find work in what you like to do. I may not have always agreed with your reviews, but they've always been very entertaining to read (and/or watch)
Good-bye, man. My sister says you were the best member of Gamespot, hands down. Mostly of your humor and she thinks you have the best personality of Gamespot. She misses you on the site and her second favorite, Rich Gallup. I will miss you too. Like I said in your previous blog post, I will miss all the humor and videos that you were in. You were my favorite members of the site along with Rich, Jeff and Greg Kasavin. Now, I'm going to relay on Ryan Davis as my next favorite member. I like Jody, though. But, it is really a sad loss that you are leaving. Bye, man.
I'll miss your reviews man. They were always the best, both informative and ridiculously amazing. I hope you get yourself a good job, preferably back somewhere where I can read your opinions and stuff again! Keep it real bud.
Shame to see you go but like you have said, I guess it is time that you need to move on. I've read through many of your reviews and they certainly tie in to your character. It was a great pleasure reading the Burnout Paradise (and watching too) review. I salute you.
The King of Spades falls... The King of Clubs falls... Gamespot? *Echo* *Echo* *Echo*...
Damn, man. I just watched your last video review and like... it's kinda sinking in now. GameSpot just sort of eroded, didn't it? This feels something like high school all over again, saying goodbye to people you thought would be around forever :(
I bet the lack of carpooling was the reason for your departure. *cough* Anyway, you will be missed greatly. :)
It really sucks to see that yet another one of my favorite editors is heading out the door. Best of luck in the future! Hopefully we'll see you pop up somewhere else at some point. I'll be sure to keep an eye on your blog.
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