I had a post in mind that I wanted to write tonight, but I’m changing it because I just found out that Ben Paddon is ending his GameJournos (AKA GJAIF, or “Game Journalists are Incompetent Fuckwits”) blog after two years, and that saddens me.

I don’t remember when I first heard about GameJournos but I know I’ve been following it loyally since I first discovered it. Despite my desires to enter the field, I’ve felt for a while that the majority of the game journalism universe is fundamentally broken (luckily I’ve made several friends and written for places that buck this trend!), and Ben Paddon has been there pointing out when game journalists screw up.

Whether it’s a writer making an error that a simple Google search would have prevented or Kotaku posting their seven millionth article that has nothing to do with games but is CONTROVERSIAL and will get them hits as people come to complain about it, Ben has been there to hit them with a rolled-up newspaper and say “NO! Bad journalist. Don’t do that anymore!”

As a writer, Ben is what I try to be and what real game journalists SHOULD aspire to be: an honest writer who writes about video games because he CARES.

While I’m sad to see GameJournos shut down, I’m glad that Ben is still staying active, especially since there’s going to be more PortsCenter episodes soon. Seriously, if you guys haven’t watched the pilot yet, do yourself a favor. I went out and bought the PS1 version of Doom because of that episode (long box version, too!) and I couldn’t be happier with the purchase.

See? Ben is providing USEFUL SERVICES to gamers. Someone give this man a medal.

I don’t really know how to end this other than to say thank you, Ben. It’s been a fun ride and we all appreciate your efforts. NOW MAKE MORE PORTSCENTER.