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Happy 12th Birthday, Nintendo World Report!

Former Staff

by the NWR Staff - March 7, 2011, 6:01 am EST

Our wonderful former staff and what they are up to.

Max Lake
Year joined: 1999

Where is he now?
Max Lake has been married for nearly four years to the love of his life and will graduate with dual degrees in English Creative Writing and Psychology this spring. Max served as an editor for over two years at Wright State University's literary journal Nexus, helping spearhead its transition to an online journal. In the past couple years, Max has ventured into the realm of stand-up comedy with encouraging results, and expects to perform at a handful of gigs in coming months in Ohio and Kentucky. Max lives with his wife Maureen, three cats, a red-tailed hawk his wife uses for falconry and far too many comic books, video games and action figures.

Justin Nation
Year joined: 1999

Where is he now?
In order to relate where I am now I think it is important to know about how PGC (sorry, that's how I really know it) helped put me there. When I decided to "leave the scene" before having my first daughter Billy and I talked about taking the content our friends and I had worked so hard on and folding it into his site. Move forward a few months and even though I was busier with being a dad I was also taking some grad classes on programming and bored at my job... a dangerous combination. The end result a few months later was the original (and utterly pathetic, now) PGC back-end. A short time later, in order to try to convince my bosses that I was capable of more, I showed them PGC and some other side projects I'd worked on. That got me fired. Whoops.

Anyway, a few weeks later I started at a new job as a junior programmer, leveraging what I'd learned with PGC as a foundation. That was 10 years ago tomorrow and I'm now the Director of Strategic Projects and helped that then small business become a very large business. Thing is, it wasn't just the programming experience that I got mileage out of. Managing paid employees who report to you by comparison is nothing... in my various roles for years I was managing a wide variety of people I had never met who were paid nothing to devote an hour or more on a daily basis to contribute to a "fan site".

So part of what was important for me to contribute to this was to put the message out to folks. The window of time you can contribute to things like this can be limited. Almost everyone I've ever known who has contributed to sites like NWR started as just someone who was passionate about playing games. Even people who have writing skills that need work can potentially find a place if they're dedicated and willing to dig and contribute in a variety of ways, writing is a skill that can be refined with practice and direction. If you've thought about trying to join up and have the time and passion to commit what are you waiting for? Even if you've been rejected once or twice, be patient and keep trying to improve yourself. Even as someone who capitalized very little directly from my time in the scene (I've never been able to attend E3 or any major event) the people I've worked with and the experiences I've had were invaluable. As I hope my mini story relates life can have a very odd way of working itself out sometimes. Thing is, opportunities rarely present themselves to people who don't pursue them with passion. Happy Birthday NWR, I hope you continue to be a vehicle for people with dreams and passions to discover their voices.

Ty Shughart
Year joined: 1999

Where is he now?
I sell recreational drugs for pets via www.montanacatnip.com. I'm also well into the fighting game scene, entering tournaments whenever I can.

Daniel Bloodworth
Year joined: 2002

Where is he now?
I'm now a Lead Editor at GameTrailers.com, doing many of the things I used to do for NWR, but all with video. GT's been a great place to work over the last four years. I have awesome co-workers and get to travel to great places like Tokyo and Germany. Happy Birthday NWR! Glad you're still going strong!

Lasse Pallesen
Year joined: 2003

Where is he now?
Video games are still a very important part of my life. About a year ago, I started teaching game development at the GameIT College in Grenaa, Denmark. I'm also running a small business called Red Key Blue Key, developing my first iOS game coming out this summer. I would like to say congratulations to NWR for reaching 12 years. That's truly amazing. I would also like to thank all the amazing staff and readers of NWR. I have so many fond memories from my time at NWR, and obviously I still read the site on a daily basis and listen to all of the podcasts. Here's for another 12 years!

Ryan Winterhalter
Year joined: 2006

Where is he now?
Since I left NWR, I've done work for almost every major site and magazine, IGN, EGM, PtOM, 1UP, GamesRadar, gamesTM, Gamasutra, and many others. After a stint at 1UP as Japan correspondent, I moved to the UK with my wife. I'm currently working freelance and while I write occasionally for almost everybody, most of my work shows up at 1UP, GamesRadar, or in gamesTM these days. You can follow my work on Twitter or at my blog.

Casey Basire
Year joined: 2007

Where is he now?
After Casey's infatuation with his Journalism degree wore off, he left NWR and now focuses his studies on Creative Writing and the Performance Arts. He also makes pizza for a living.

Carmine Red
Year joined: 2007

Where is he now?
Carmine is currently a Game Engineer at Namco Bandai Games America Inc. He still helps out on NWR occasionally as a Contributing Writer.

Nick and Chessa DiMola
Year joined: 2008

Where are they now?
Since leaving Nintendo World Report in 2009, we started and continue to operate PixlBit.com, a multiplatform gaming site that carries many of the same ideals of NWR. Just this past December, we had our first child, Nicholas Carlo DiMola, who has become the new center of our life!

Picture - As you'll notice it features both Nick 1 and 2 (12!) to commemorate the 12th anniversary of NWR.

Chuck Jose
Year joined: 2008

Where is he now?
Chuck is currently a QA Tester for Telltale Games Inc. stomping on any bugs he sees. He no longer works in video game journalism but you can still hear him rant on Twitter.

Grant Buell
Year joined: 2009

Where is he now?
Grant is a structural engineer for a greenhouse manufacturing company in Kansas City, and he occasionally opines on games, the web, Apple and other boring nerdy things at his website.

Should you be in this list? Contact us!

Talkback

Nin10do-FanMarch 07, 2011

Happy 12th anniversary / birthday Nintendo World Report. Keep up the good work!

StrawHousePigMarch 07, 2011

Good to see a quality site stick around this long.


Also glad to see The_Dan_x straighten up and fly right. :p j/k, he's always been aces in my book.




Keep up the good work! :)

ToruresuMarch 07, 2011

Wow. 12 years already? Congratulations!

ThomasOMarch 07, 2011


Congrats!

TurdFurgyMarch 07, 2011

Here's to another... another 120 more years!   

This is really cool. It turned out wonderfully.


Thanks so much to Karlie for putting it together.
Thanks to all the former staff who took the time to remember where they came from.

CalibanMarch 07, 2011

Kairon works for Namco Bandai? Cooool.

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMarch 07, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NWR! I've actually been following the site since way back 1999 when the GameCube was still the dolphin if you can believe that.


Recently, I've been going through a lot of personal anxiety due to my current economical status as well as how people perceive me and my efforts. I realized, though, that a lot of people actually appreciate not just my work but everyone's efforts as well.


I want to thank everyone who have supported me throughout my years as a staff writer, and I am looking forward to many more.


BTW, guys, yes, my legs really ARE that hairy :p

PGC-Agent CooperBilly Berghammer, FounderMarch 07, 2011

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY to the best damn Nintendo site on the interwebs! Very proud of you all, and keep kicking ass. My apologies to Karlie on the complete picture fail. GDC ran me over like a truck, and somehow the message didn't get to me. I'll blame it on TEH CAT.

EnnerMarch 07, 2011

It's like a collage of cool.


Also, yay for kitty pictures.

TJ SpykeMarch 07, 2011

I was a little surprised not to see Billy mentioned. Other than that, really cool feature. I actually forgot or didn't know some of them (mainly the earlier staff members).

Happy birthday NWR, and I'm so sorry for boycotting the site in the early part of the aughts back when I gave a crap about GameFAQs character contests.

My only complaint is that I know what 3/4 of the RFN crew looks like, but no Greg.

CaterkillerMatthew Osborne, Contributing WriterMarch 07, 2011

Happy Birthday! 12 years!

Kytim89March 07, 2011

What would have been nice is if each picture featured a number with a list for everyone's name (where is TYP?). Overall, keep up the good work and I hope for another twelve years of awesomeness from this site.  ;)

Mop it upMarch 07, 2011

It's pretty crazy that it's been twelve years already. I've been around for about ten of them, and it really doesn't feel like it's been that long.

Quote from: PGC-Agent

GDC ran me over like a truck, and somehow the message didn't get to me. I'll blame it on TEH CAT.

I messaged you way before GDC ever began! I was tempted to write the whole bonus page in "TEH CAT" speech, but then I remembered that we taught him English at one point.

Quote from: Kytim89

What would have been nice is if each picture featured a number with a list for everyone's name (where is TYP?).

If you want names, check out the rest of the pages of the article. TYP's the first name on the "Current Staff" page (Michael Cole).

ThePermMarch 07, 2011

6 more years and NWR will turn 18

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMarch 07, 2011

I just realized something... I think NWR may have been the pioneer in internet cat shenanigans with Louie! Forget Fred the cat, Louie is where its at!

StogiMarch 07, 2011

So PGC has been dead for over a decade? Craziness.


Oh and congrats.

EasyCureMarch 07, 2011

So much valuable time.. wasted..

Thanks

ThePermMarch 07, 2011

if i had never discovered PGC/NWR...who knows where I would be...probably rich and successful.

Kytim89March 07, 2011

Quote from: ThePerm

6 more years and NWR will turn 18


Keep it away from Roman Poloanski.  ;)

SupaKirbMarch 07, 2011

To the best Nintendo news site, and most entertaining podcast crew on the net, I wish you a happy 12 years of life! Please continue to do what you guys are doing!

Also heck yeh... 6 years till 18.... hehehe  ;)

jrlibrarianJeffrey Trewin, Associate EditorMarch 07, 2011

Happy Birthday NWR! Congrats on being the best Nintendo site out there for 12 years, and I look forward to many more years to come!

GoldenPhoenixMarch 07, 2011

Happy birthday to NWR and more importantly thank you to the staff past and present that sustained this site and made it one of the best on the internet. I've only been here since 2004, so just a little half of its life so far. While I don't post nearly as much this place keeps me coming back.

Kytim89March 07, 2011

Is that TYP with the Wiimote?

happyastoriaMarch 08, 2011

Where is Greg? I demand to know how that man looks like! It's killing me.

ShyGuyMarch 08, 2011

I don't know which picture is more disturbing, James or Jonny.

PlugabugzMarch 08, 2011

IF Greg looks like anything he sounds then he's probably a supermix of everything scattered around the UK.

YoshidiousGreg Leahy, Staff AlumnusMarch 08, 2011

Quote from: Plugabugz

IF Greg looks like anything he sounds then he's probably a supermix of everything scattered around the UK.

I don't use my true voice for RFN, so there's very little to be inferred from this I'm afraid. However, I did actually submit a picture of myself for this lovely commemoration of NWR history, but it wasn't included for some reason. I guess I can just post it here though:

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/6927/bt12d.jpg

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMarch 08, 2011

Quote from: Yoshidious

Quote from: Plugabugz

IF Greg looks like anything he sounds then he's probably a supermix of everything scattered around the UK.

I don't use my true voice for RFN, so there's very little to be inferred from this I'm afraid. However, I did actually submit a picture of myself for this lovely commemoration of NWR history, but it wasn't included for some reason. I guess I can just post it here though:

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/6927/bt12d.jpg

Yeah, I wonder what was wrong with it. Looks perfectly fine to me :p

happyastoriaMarch 08, 2011

Greg, you're so damn hard on yourself! Every episode you put yourself down. By the way, judging by that pic I think you can use some Proactive. :Q

mustbeburtMarch 09, 2011

i agree with several others, where's greg?!

Kytim89March 09, 2011

Greg, you want to keep your image concealed while at the same time satisfying the people on this forum who want to see your picture just get one of those scream masks and black cloak and then put the picture on this site. Problem solved.

YoshidiousGreg Leahy, Staff AlumnusMarch 09, 2011

Quote from: Kytim89

Greg, you want to keep your image concealed while at the same time satisfying the people on this forum who want to see your picture just get one of those scream masks and black cloak and then put the picture on this site. Problem solved.

Wear a Scream mask, really? If I just wanted to troll people who (inexplicably) want to know what I look like, I'd just take the poster art for one of Peter Jackson's early career gorefests and very crudely repurpose it to fit into this thread.

Kytim89March 10, 2011

Quote from: Yoshidious

Quote from: Kytim89

Greg, you want to keep your image concealed while at the same time satisfying the people on this forum who want to see your picture just get one of those scream masks and black cloak and then put the picture on this site. Problem solved.

Wear a Scream mask, really? If I just wanted to troll people who (inexplicably) want to know what I look like, I'd just take the poster art for one of Peter Jackson's early career gorefests and very crudely repurpose it to fit into this thread.


We would get to see you ant see you at the same time. It is a genius idea, Greg.

ShyGuyMarch 10, 2011

Someday I will hire a British private investigator to track down and take pictures of Greg. Then I will sell these pictures on eBay and retire with all the money.

GoldenPhoenixMarch 10, 2011

Greg is a handsome guy and I mean the real Greg not alien Greg

YoshidiousGreg Leahy, Staff AlumnusMarch 10, 2011

Quote from: GoldenPhoenix

Greg is a handsome guy and I mean the real Greg not alien Greg

Unfortunately I (Alien Greg) have assumed the place of "real Greg" after banishing him to a life of service to The REAL Jon Lindemann as his personal biographer/hair stylist. It's a tough (some would say impossible) job involving a lot of seemingly unnecessary travel through geopolitical hotspots, but someone has to do it.

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