N’Gai Croal to leave Newsweek, game journalism
Gamasutra reports that Newsweek gaming journalist N’Gai Croal plans to leave the magazine and the journalism industry to pursue a career as a creative consultant. He’ll be sticking with video games; he just won’t be writing about them.
Croal has been one of game journalism’s most visible figures, frequently making television appearances on Geoff Keighley’s Bonus Round on GameTrailers.com — and recognizable by fellow GameStop shoppers in his home city of New York thanks to his signature dreadlocks.
I have to say this news saddens me. Gaming journalism remains one of the least legitimate forms of reporting, simply because the industry is filled with “me-too” 20-somethings with no sense of quality or innovation in their writing. It’s been in a vicious cycle since that same type of people started the industry a couple decades ago, and are now coaching the new breed in the same broken skill set. There’s very little quality at the top to trickle down to the rest, and Croal was one of the few who was actually able to offer that kind of mentorship that the industry so badly needs.
