Rant Joe Says Goodbye to Bit-tech

[CardJoe]

Hey,

I don't know if any of you have heard the news from Harry's big mouth, but I'm now moving on to pastures new. I've been a journalist for going on seven years now and the majority of that has been spent on Bit-tech in some regard, but it's finally time to move on. As of yesterday I've accepted a job outside of games, journalism or any combination of the two.

There's a lot of reasons for the change, but I don't really want to go into the toxicity of games journalism culture right now. Instead I wanted to say thanks to the Bit-tech community and staff - especially Tim and Bindi, who basically mentored me. Ever since I started here ages ago you guys have been a great source of feedback and advice and I've tried my best to learn what I can. I hope I wasn't crap at my job all of the time.

So, yeah. I'll be active on Twitter, my blog and my podcast if anyone wants to keep in touch.

Thanks for all the cheesecake!
Joe

[CardJoe]

Oh, man. Responses. Thanks for the kind words all.

Originally Posted by bodkin

Guessing this is to do with the mental amount of paying off of reviews that goes on? Is it as bad as people like Eurogamer say?

The ethics debate stuff was bothersome - and I was one of the people who bought it up and raised the issue, actually. I'd be lying is I said he toxicity and terrible defences that came about afterwards didn't make me re-assess things.

I feel like I try to do proper journalism; checking sources, taking and giving feedback and trying to oppose bad things. The ethics debate made it clear that a lot of people were being consciously lazy and getting away with it. I spent six months combing through academic journals, chasing leads, paying fees and working with my editor for this article, for example. Yet, others were copy-pasting transparently false rumours for more money, less effort and greater access within the industry.

There's some good stuff out there still, but **** games journalism, generally.

Originally Posted by Burnout21

Got a job at Asus as well as the others? lol!

Nope! Though I did see Bindi the other day for the first time in ages and was tempted to try and leverage an offer...

Originally Posted by roblikesbeer

Bye Joe, love you!

Love you too!

Originally Posted by MrDomRocks

As long as #wordsjoeknows still happens on twitter then that's all that matters.

Don't worry. My incessant tweeting is a force of nature. I've actually been to press events before where people have known me for #JoesLunch rather than Bit-tech or Custom PC.

Originally Posted by TheBlackSwordsMan

It's 'Ciao bello', he is a male....or is he ?

The joystick is a bit of a giveaway, if you know what I mean.

Originally Posted by Hardware150

As someone who still thinks of Joe as the new guy, this is a shock. Good luck and all the best Joe, hope you do well in all your future efforts. You're going to be missed.

Thanks. Even after five or six years here I still think of myself as the new guy too. Harry meanwhile is like the work experience kid. Matt is his cooler, younger brother.

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by Blademrk

Good luck Joe, I'll miss your reviews (and (edit: Gaming) podcasts, assuming that your not going to do any more???).

I'm going to carry on with my own podcast, Unlimited Hyperbole. The next season will be a bit delayed still, but Harriet and I just got out of our latest interview actually - so it's definitely going ahead.

I won't be posting about them on Bit-tech though, probably. Subscribe or bookmark my blog to stay current. And thanks!

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by digitaldunc

Agreed. Seems like you're really on my wavelength with games. Picked up Dear Esther and FTL in part based on your reviews and I wasn't disappointed.

Good luck.

Glad you liked them - I adore those games.

And if you're in to little recommendations then one developer I never shouted about enough on here was Wolfire. That team is currently working on a big combat game, but they've also got some small game-jam ideas out too.

Receiver, which you get for pre-ordering their next game, is a fantastic little game that I've played more than most big titles this year - it's a shooter which simulates the gun down the smallest possible degree. So, for example, if you want to reload then you can't just press R - you have to take out the mag, holster the gun, insert new bullets, unholster...etc.

Their other, totally free game, is Desperate Gods. It's a brilliant recognisation of why board games don't work when turned into computer games - because they have rules instead of social contracts.

Another little game they made I like is Black Shades - a score-based bodyguard shooter. Great for short bursts.

Really. At the very least get a few friends together online one night and try Desperate Gods. Vid and links below.

http://www.wolfire.com/desperate-gods
http://www.wolfire.com/receiver
http://www.wolfire.com/black-shades





Man. You really can't stop me journalising.

[CardJoe]

I'll be sure to drop in occasionally, don't you worry.

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by MrDomRocks

Don't forget Joe tweets a lot, mostly boring stuff and rants etc

I do not apologise for this, though I do regret it.

[CardJoe]

I hate you, Baz.

[CardJoe]

Just a little FYI that Mat Jones will be stepping in to replace me as Games Editor under the new editor, Ed Chester. Mat has my hearty recommendation and is an amazing writer who I've followed for a long time. I'm sure he'll do well here.

You can follow Mat on Twitter as @pillowfort and you can listen to his Oh No Videogames podcast too, if you're interested in getting to know him better.

[CardJoe]

Originally Posted by Parge

Wait, there is a new editor as well now. What happened to Brumgrunt? I'm confused!

Simon's explained his departure in his own thread in the Feedback forum; he's leaving Bit-tech in very capable hands that have known the site for a long, long time.

Ed Chester, the new Editor, was a writer at Trusted Reviews back when they shared offices, management and lunchtimes with Bit-tech. He's a good guy, one of my closest friends and he helped teach me how to do technology journalism properly.

Well, "properly".

Originally Posted by true_gamer

Asus has taken them all...

Nope, I'm not at Asus. I'm actually completely out of the games and tech business now. I'm much more focused on improving my writing than anything else.

Originally Posted by j_jay4

Is this goodbye to CPC Mag as well? When's your last article?

It's goodbye there too, yes. I don't do any games journalism anymore, except for my podcast (which has been delayed because: New Job). My last issue of Custom is, IIRC, 116. You'll know it because my column is one big Oscar-Speech goodbye.

Rick Lane, who Custom readers will know from his regular Engine Room slot, is taking over my Games Editor position in the magazine. Rick is an excellent writer who I've read for a long time and, though I've never met him face to face or let him buy me a pint, I'm sure he's a nice guy.

Well, "nice guy"