Column: 'Media Consumption: Gamasutra's Frank Cifaldi'

This week's media consumption, a look at the media and art diets of our favorite industry personalities, speaks to Gamasutra assistant editor, Independent Games Festival secretary, and Lost Levels Online creator Frank Cifaldi. In other words, me. [This column is a milestone to announce the end of commissioned 'Media Consumption' columns, and the start of user-submitted columns - more on this below!] One could argue that my games industry career began back in late 2000, when I started a web site focused on reviewing awful and, often, pornographic video games from the 8-bit era, which is something one tends to do while unemployed, fresh out of high school, and broken up with a girlfriend of two years. That site is dead now. In August of 2003 I started Lost Levels Online, the first and, so far, only web site focused on games that were cancelled before hitting retail shelves. Under the guise of the site's professionalism, I hoped to trick people into thinking I was both a competent writer and an industry expert. Over the next two years or so the ruse worked, and I managed to fool all sorts of people into paying me money to write about video games, including Wired, Edge, Nintendo Official Magazine UK, Tips 'N Tricks, and eventually, Gamasutra, where I was hired on a full-time basis in November of 2005. You can read the full Gamasutra column to see my responses (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites). [In addition, we are now currently seeking submissions for upcoming Media Consumption columns. If you are a video game industry professional interested in participating, please mail us at [email protected] with a picture of yourself, your name and industry position, and your favorite picks in 'Sounds', 'Moving Pictures', 'Words', and 'Games'.]