In a previous life, Stephen Totilo helped create Hogan Knows Best.

　　Seriously.

　　It may seem odd to think about it now, but before he became MTV News' first full-time video game reporter, Totilo was one of the people behind the idea for the pro-wrestler-based reality show. After his departure from the project nearly three years ago, the VH1 series was a modest hit, running from 2005 to 2007.

　　Despite the allure of pro-wrestler-based reality TV, Totilo wasn't destined to let his Columbia journalism degree go to waste. He parlayed brief positions at Newsweek and Brill's Content into freelance game reporting gigs for GameSpy, IGN, and The New York Times. Now, Totilo heads up a team that covers games on the MTV's cable networks, MTVNews.com, and MTV's Multiplayer blog. PressSpotting talked with Totilo about his experience writing about games and what it means to be a game journalist today. Here's some excerpts from our lengthy conversation:

　　On video game coverage in the mainstream press

　　"I really hope that other outlets see what MTV News has done and take inspiration from that and also recognize that [video games] are something that should be taken seriously. I think we're seeing other mainstream outlets moving beyond just the scare stories, and it's certainly about time that happened...

　　"But it's just so hard for people to parachute in to talk about video games. You really have to be playing them regularly, you have to know what really matters. What I'd like to see is other news divisions out there that cover games to step up and have somebody covering games full time, not just somebody they bring in from the outside... If you're looking at any outlet that covers entertainment news already, I think they need to get with the times and accept and understand that video games are a huge part of people's entertainment diet."

　　On the proper role for a game journalist

　　"A lot of people do look at games journalism and say 'Oh what's the point, it's just for frustrated, failed creators who can't create a movie or book or a game so they're just writing about or blogging about it.' Gaming journalism could be just that, but if it is just gonna be that, then why bother?

　　"If Luke Smith was right and gaming journalists, by and large, are just middlemen that can be replaced by company bloggers, then yeah, any game journalist that can be replaced should just quit right now, because there is no point. But I think there is a point if you take the reporting you're doing seriously and say, 'Hey, we as outsiders to this whole gaming industry have the ability and the license to probe and ask questions to figure out what's really going on and to get to the bottom of things and change the conversation from the marketing-driven factors of gaming.'"

　　On the rise of "serious" reporting on games

　　"What I'm hopeful for is that more gamers demonstrate that they're into reporting. I get a little dismayed when I see a great story...that then doesn't get the pickup that I think it deserves. Because it's entertainment journalism, what's come first in gaming journalism has been the entertainment aspect of it, more than the journalism aspect of it. Things like Top 10 lists...are extremely entertaining--you can't help but gawk at it to see what's going on, those things really draw people in. So if you write a thing that's 1,000 words with no numbers next to any of the paragraphs, that's instead a full-reported piece, it's a harder sell. You hope to be able to build up your readership by doing things that people are going to find compelling and interesting."

　　On the games press' obsession with the console wars

　　"A lot of people tend to focus on the horse race between the consoles. People love following that. The way that a lot of the gaming media is consumed is sort of how sports media is consumed. People kind of have their favorite teams and love to kind of argue about their favorite teams. A lot of people only have one console, so they want to know if their consoles fortunes are up or down today, compared to the others. It's easy to kind of fall into that sports cheering or tribal mode of following video games. ... If you follow sports, you know ultimately it doesn't really matter in your life who wins and who loses, so you accept a certain level of frivolity with it. You can't help but get caught up in the which team is better and who's winning and taking some pride in that.

　　"There's so much of that in the nature of being a gamer that turns you into a sports fan, that it makes it sort of tempting to cover games as if they are sports and to not look at it much more deeply than that. It's something you have to resist. You have to have the bravery as a news institution to not be freaked out if some of the hard news or feature news that you're doing is not immediately setting the world afire. I've learned first hand that if you keep doing that kind of thing you definitely build up a reputation for yourself and for your outlet, and that there are people who are looking for that kind of stuff.

　　On game reporters leaving for development

　　"I'm dismayed by the number of gaming reporters who go into game development. There are challenges there in terms of pay--game journalism doesn't pay all that well, so there are certain temptations to find a better-paying job--and journalism is not that easy, because every day you find a blank computer screen or an empty notebook. ...

　　"As a journalist, you're always a little bit on the outside. You always know, deep down in your gut that I don't need to be here, that this thing will all be fine without me. So how do I make myself useful? What do I do so that I can look in the mirror and say, 'OK, I'm not just lucky to be able to play at this stuff all day?' What can I do that could be enriching to people and maybe keep some things in check or bring some things up that people didn't already know?

　　"When I see people leave game journalism and go into game development, it might be like those people feeling that being an outsider isn't for them, that they might be happier being an insider. If that's truly what's best for that person, that's fine, I'd just love to see a sign that more game journalists are happy and capable and comfortable being outsiders, and that they could afford to do that both financially and motivationally."

　　For more about PressSpotting, check out the introductory column.

　　Kyle Orland is a freelance journalist specializing in video games and based out of Laurel, Maryland. He's written for a variety of outlets, as detailed on his personal site. He's also the coauthor of The Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual.

　　Questions? Comments? Story ideas? Bitter invective? Send it to Kyle.