Press Pass: Totilo Talks Transition From MTV to Kotaku

Stephen Totilo

Music is obviously the core focus of MTV News -- it's right there in the Music Television name. But over the last four years, the outfit has increasingly included videogame coverage in its ever-expanding pop culture sphere. That increased attention has largely been the responsibility of Stephen Totilo, who was hired as MTV's first full-time videogame beat reporter back in May 2005. Since then he's built MTV News, and its game-focused MTV Multiplayer blog, into a major destination for original game reporting and commentary.

The Totilo era at MTV News ends this Friday, though, when the longtime game reporter leaves to take a Deputy Managing Editor position at Gawker's popular gaming blog Kotaku. I took the transition as an opportunity to talk to Totilo about the future of MTV News' gaming coverage, his plans for Kotaku and his thoughts on the wider game journalism industry. Below are some of the most interesting excerpts from our conversation.

On the post-Totilo future of MTV Multiplayer

"MTV has been committed to videogames for quite some time. You can see that in the Rock Band projects, and you can see that in their May 2005 hiring of MTV News' first videogame beat reporter. MTV News and the rest of MTV have backed games with a commitment I haven't seen in any other media company. So, based on that precedent, and based on the fact that I am working with my superiors at MTV to set up a promising future for Multiplayer, I am excited about what may be coming here. ? I love Multiplayer and want to see it thrive. I am doing everything I can to ensure it does. But setting up the phase after me does take time.

"Hopefully the blog doesn't have to go dark, but if it does, I'll expect it to come back and I will be eager to let the world know about it. ? There's a chance [it could happen], but if that happens it won't be some weird frozen-in-time thing. We'll let readers know it's happening, and what they can expect beyond that. I'm flattered to see that people hold the Multiplayer blog in high esteem. We're sensitive to that and want to make sure people's expectations can be met in the future, regardless of who is working on the blog."

On the recession's effect on Multiplayer and other game sites

"Every media company has taken some lumps due to the economy, but Multiplayer and my role here were bound to continue for a long time to come. My departure has nothing to do with the economy. That said, regular Multiplayer readers will remember that we had to say goodbye to Patrick Klepek in February because of the economic downturn. He's been sorely missed by all since that day. That didn't make Multiplayer any different than any other media enterprise, big or small: We're all perpetually faced with the challenge to do more, often, these days, with less."

On his reasons for moving to Kotaku

"Brian Crecente, Kotaku's editor-in-chief, deserves most of the credit for bringing me over. He's been a friend for a while, and has made no secret of the fact that it would be fun to work together. I agreed, just as I'd have loved to someday work in journalism again with my old Newsweek coworker N'Gai Croal. I can't recall when Brian's casual what-ifs turned into something more serious, but the offer that made it all happen was post-GDC [in mid-March]. It's been a quick turnaround, all things considered.

"I've been impressed with Kotaku for a long time. It has a strong core of journalism that someone like me, who has reporting in his blood, is strongly attracted to. I know I'm not as entertaining or as funny as some of Kotaku's bloggers, but I know that the thing I do best is reporting. I like nothing more than asking questions, finding things out, and connecting readers and gamers to the information they want to know or deserve to know.

"I was able to execute those goals at MTV in front of a few audiences: a large pop-culture audience who have games as a part of their lives, and a smaller audience attracted to the special things we were doing at Multiplayer. What Kotaku allows me to do is reach another audience, a massive and passionate crowd of hardcore gamers and developers who, I think, already do respect the kind of reporting I and some of the Kotaku guys do, and will be happy to get even more of it. It's exciting for me to get more consistently in front of that audience, although, you know, they've already gotten a lot of me because my Kotaku pals loved to link to Multiplayer a lot."

On the types of changes he hopes to bring to Kotaku

"I give them a lot more original reporting. Brian [Crecente], [Brian] Ashcraft and [Michael] McWhertor already break a ton of stories, but I think some people don't recognize how much Kotaku is becoming a generator of original news. What they've hired me to do, as deputy managing editor, is to work almost exclusively on more original reporting. The plan is not for me to regularly repost news gathered from elsewhere. Just as you'll see a greater percentage of posts from all of Kotaku's writers advancing stories, you'll also see, through me and others, more original stories. Imagine what I do in my current gig transplanted into Kotaku.

On the artificial distinction between gaming blogs and other gaming sites

"I am less certain every day what defines a blog. What makes Kotaku a blog and GameSpot's stack of headlines not a blog? Both carry many of the same stories. Is the difference that GameSpot puts the most important story first? Is it that it is surrounded by reviews and previews and screenshots? But, so is Kotaku. My point is that it makes less sense daily for people to classify one outlet differently than they do another.

"I had a PR person tell me once that they didn't want the interview I did with their developer on my blog, only on MTVNews.com. I asked how come, since the interview would be handled by the same person (me) and edited with the same standards (MTV News') either way. They couldn't give me a sensible answer. There is no sensible distinction. People are getting their news from the outlets that can get them the most interesting, informative material as swiftly as possible. They gravitate toward volume and quality if not, and this is my old complaint, to the original source."

On his continued commitment to game journalism

"Just a week or so ago, I was reading some rude comments from a developer telling me that he was sure I was just biding my time until I could get a cushy development job. He guessed wrong. If a meteor hits Kotaku and I manage to survive, then I will get another gaming journalism job after that. I love reporting. There's no work I'd rather do. When you take it seriously and do it to the best of your ability, it's an amazing job. What other job allows you to reinvent what you do every day? What other job empowers you to pick up the phone and call anyone in the world and ask them anything, just because you want to know? I'd never trade that in."

On the relationship between journalists and the industry

"Reporters need to pick up the phone more and find out about stories for themselves. And readers would be best served to identify those reporters and outlets who do the best work, and keep supporting them. If you're a gaming reporter and you're worried that a community site or developer blog is about to make you obsolete, then it's time to think hard about what kind of reporting you're doing."

More on the awesomeness of MTV

"Here's how gung-ho about gaming MTV has been. A couple of years ago, they sent me and Sway to Austin, and we hung out with Harvey Smith and Richard Garriott and went to have chicken with about a dozen guys at Retro. Why? Because that was the right thing to do."


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On memories and trivia

"People stopped asking me about if Tabitha Soren still works here a couple of years ago."

"Soulja Boy is the most gaming-knowledgeable celebrity I've interviewed here. He was changing the settings of the 360 I set him up with during our famous duel while his TV screen was blocked -- like he was doing it by sound."

"I don't know a single secret about The Beatles: Rock Band."

"If you're ever walking from 45th Street to 42nd Street in Times Square, from MTV HQ to the subway, you'd best walk in the street. It's faster. Otherwise, tourists get in the way."

"The weirdest thing that ever happened here: A guy called me up once from England because he thought that I was part of the ARG [alternate reality game] Perplex City."