Sex, Drugs, and Cartoon Violence: My Decade as a Video Game Journalist

Book excerpt: Covering a decade on the inside of the games industry, SEX, DRUGS, AND CARTOON VIOLENCE lifts the curtain on the whirlwind of hype and promotion surrounding the launch of a multimillion dollar game. From all-expenses paid junkets, to multi-million dollar parties, to exclusive "previews", these are the stories you've never heard about the way video games are sold and reported. Written by a veteran games reporter and former television producer, this is the story of an accidental journey into - and back out of - one of the weirdest niches of journalism in the world. ** Called "The Indiana Jones of games writing" by goodgameswriting.com, Russ Pitts has spent more than ten years traveling the world writing about video games. Pitts is the former editor-in-chief of the six-time Webby Award-winning website, The Escapist; the former features editor at Vox Media's premiere video game website, Polygon and the former head writer and producer of TechTV's "The Screen Savers."