Thank You Colin Moriarty

Thank You Colin Moriarty
Date Published: March 15, 2017

In the wake of the recent news that Colin Moriarty is leaving his co-founded company Kinda Funny, I decided to share the impact Colin had on my growth as a video game writer.

I’ve been following and listening to Colin Moriarty, Greg Miller, Ryan Clements, and later Andrew Goldfarb, when they were all a part of IGN‘s Podcast Beyond. The podcast was mainly PlayStation focused, but some of my best memories were of when the show went off the rails, providing some of the most humorous moments I’ve listened to in a podcast.

As a regular listener of podcast Beyond, like many others, I got a better sense of what the crew was about, what they liked about games, what they didn’t like about the industry, and many other day-to-day general life stories. It felt as I was almost in the room with them every Tuesday.

While enjoying the podcast’s shenanigans and banter, Colin, although a participant at times, tended to be the more serious of the crew when it came to real outspoken, almost polarizing opinions on gaming, and other topics. A trait of his that did rub me the wrong way early on, however, as I kept listening to why he thinks a certain thing is one way, I’ve grown to really respect his thought process and knowledge in regards to the gaming industry, despite not always agreeing with his point of view.

During his time at IGN, it’s fair to say that I read most of what Colin published, and even when it was a topic I wasn’t wholeheartedly interested in, Colin’s unique opinion and way of writing made me really see how there was more than one side to every story, as well as it made a huge impact on my personal overall thought process as a video game writer.

With Greg and Colin leaving IGN and podcast Beyond to form Kinda Funny, in an attempt to branch off the traditional games media coverage and engage their audience in a bit of a more personal matter, it was the same time when I took a step back from following the gaming industry to focus on other things, therefore I was never really a member of the Kinda Funny community, unlike the IGN/Beyond days.

On occasion I would tune in to what Greg, Colin, and the crew were talking about, and although it wasn’t exactly the same type of chemistry as in the old IGN days, Colin’s clever take on things that really provoke thought hasn’t changed and I’ve always appreciated the fact that he knew his opinion may not be popular, but was unapologetic about it nevertheless.

In closing, I just want to wish Colin the best of luck in his future endeavors, as it seems he may be taking some time away from the gaming industry to explore other areas of interest. Love him or hate him, it would be tough to argue that Colin was anything less than an excellent writer and contributor to gaming journalism, and despite his sometimes unpopular opinion, posed thought provoking concepts, and well thought out points in regards to topics he cared about.

Thank you Colin, for your work and dedication to games media, as well as inspiring many writers like myself, and others who walk all different walks of life.

The old-school podcast crew during episode 250 of Beyond.