I kill things.

Why is it that every time I find a good gaming website, the best people there leave a few months later. First there was Rich Gallup leaving Gamespot, then Jeff Gerstmann getting fired, then Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker, and Vinny Caravella. All cool guys working for the site I liked best at the time.

Fortunately it seemed to be all sort of planned since they all started their own website. But by that time I had grown tired of watching and listening to what seems like a bunch of sidekick personalities trying to hold everything together, and discovered 1up.com.

Come a few months later, and Jeff Green, the guy who has been at the 1up network the longest helping to create Games for Windows Magazine along with GFW Radio (RIP favorite podcast...) leaves to go produce the Sims 3. I thought the worst was over, but less than a week later Shawn Elliot, funniest and best writer in the gaming enthusiast press (in my opinion), announces he is leaving to go work for 2K Boston! The most down to earth and outspoken guys of the entire site are moving to the other side of the fence...where we won't hear from them as much because they will have most likely have signed confidentiality agreements.

For the uneducated, 2K Boston (led by amazing creative director Ken Levine) used to be known as Irrational Games. They could also be known as the guys who made System Shock, System Shock 2, and its spiritual successor BIOSHOCK! So Shawn working there and putting his experience from the press side to use will definitely make their next TBA project even more awesome.

Oh well, I'll get over it sooner or later. Hey look at the bright side, more people leaving means more open positions. I wish all the best for Jeff and Shawn, you guys provided some great times for me as a fan of video games (yaddle milk, griefing, and toxic waste come to mind), and gave me even more inspiration for becoming a part of gaming press. Jeff, you gave me more knowledge about PC games I never got to play than I could ever get from finding and playing games myself. Shawn, you know so much about everything from 18th century literature to the consistency of female Yoda milk its hard to not listen to anything you say. Hopefully you guys will come back every once in a while for 1up FM or 1up Yours and give us some horror stories about the processes of game production. Best of luck to you both!