Greetings From One Of The New Guys

If you’re a longtime reader of the magazine, you’re probably wondering who the hell I am. So, here goes: I’m Jeff Marchiafava, one of the five new associate editors here at Game Informer. I hope that you’re enjoying the new site, and that you’re as excited as we are about all the cool stuff you can do to contribute to the community and share your opinions. We’ve been working like crazy to get everything ready for the launch, and we’re going to be adding even more cool stuff in the future!

For my first blog post though, I wanted to share some of my experiences here at GI, in hopes you can get to know me a little, and maybe learn a little more about the team as well.

While my time as an associate editor at Game Informer started just a few weeks ago, it was preceded by a five month unpaid internship. That’s a long time to go without a paycheck, but a couple cool perks came with it – I had the opportunity to get to know everyone before all hell broke loose, and I got to see firsthand all of the planning and hard work that went into the magazine and web redesigns, as well as the excitement it evoked from the staff.

The internship also gave me some hands-on time with our old website, which everyone here will tell you was a royal pain in the ass. The new site is so much cooler than the old one, but one of the things we’re most excited about is how much easier it is for us to post news, upload content, and interact with you guys. The less time we have to spend on complicated backend stuff, the more content we can deliver to you!

Suffice it to say, the internship led to my current position, which fulfills my longtime dream of being a professional writer. The fact that I’m writing about a beloved hobby – and that I have the ability to interact with my audience in such a meaningful way – is icing on the cake! After I got the job I had a conversation with my parents that all video game journalists must relish; the proclamation that their child had turned his time-wasting, couch potato hobby into a full-fledged career. It’s a delicate balance between “I told you so!” and “Thanks for believing in me and supporting me for all these years..."

Other things I’ve learned while working at GI:

• The office could double as a Nerf museum. I think we have every Nerf gun ever made... Also, Nerf darts to the face hurt.

• Beer is an acceptable beverage to drink at the office during overtime.

• The GI dress code is decidedly lax. I got teased for wearing a suit to my interview – Reiner, who interviewed me, was wearing a shirt with a hole in it. I’m not sure what the official dress code here is, but the general rule seems to be ‘wear pants’. Unless you’re Mario...

You can't tell, but Jeff Cork (background) isn't wearing any pants either...

One other thing I learned? Everyone here is incredibly generous with their time, considerate of your feelings when offering criticism, and strives to do the best job they can for our readers. No one has an ego, and everyone – including our boss Andy – is open to other peoples’ opinions and incorporating feedback into the work they're doing. As cool as it is to play video games for a living, I’ve worked enough crappy part-time jobs in my life to know the value of working with good people.

There’s a ton of other stuff I could say about our office, but I really don’t have to – you’ll be able to see it for yourself as we do more video features in the future! Until then, be sure to check out our first podcast and read the blog posts from the other editors. While you’re at it, why not start a blog of your own? You’ve got a big role to play at the new Game Informer...