Press Reset - Episode 13: 'Still Alive'

By Polygon Staff on Nov 21, 2012 11.21.12

If there is a single most-important lesson that I've learned in over 10 years in the digital media business running and launching journalistic websites, it is the paramount importance of the editorial leadership team. Very simply put, if you do not have a great team — strong individuals who thrive on working and collaborating with other A-players to achieve a shared vision — you cannot have a great site or build a powerful brand. So when we decided about 18 months ago that we wanted to build the next great video games site, my partners Jim Bankoff (Vox Media CEO), Josh Topolsky (The Verge's Editor-in-Chief) and I were very clear that we would only pursue the project if we could put the right editorial team together. And all three of us were clear that that started with Chris Grant,...

Video game trade shows are equal parts awesome and horrible. Even after ten years of covering this business, I still get excited in the weeks leading up to a big show. There's still an element of mystery. Of unknown games being revealed. Of potential stories being covered. Every big name in the games industry is in the same building for a few days and, from that, unexpected things can happen. It's tremendously exciting. The downside is that trade shows routinely make me physically ill. It's a draining week, filled with 18-hour work days. You're constantly surrounded by wet, smelly bodies and privacy is a pipe dream. The more you hammer away at stories, the more they keep coming in, a seemingly unending tide of interview transcriptions, new trailers and hands-on impressions....

A message from Pablo Mercado, Director of Technology at Vox Media: Just after we turned Polygon live I asked a developer friend of mine over IM, "So, what do you think of the site?" Her response was: "loads fast; looks great in IE." Reading those words was like hearing the best kind of dance music. Suddenly the stress and exhaustion that had been building death stars in my brain was dispelled, replaced with a big smile and desire to do things like jump up and down, drink whiskey and verbalize exclamation points. Those were great words to hear because they meant that our many, many hours of hard work had paid off, in the way that makes the most difference to our writers and readers: We launched a site that works well and is beautiful. Launching a project is a fantastic feeling. The...

When Justin McElroy and I first started thinking about Polygon over a year ago, we didn't have the site we launched today in mind. In fact, I think it would be fair to say that what we initially envisioned was far less ambitious. But something funny happens when you're surrounded by really talented people who see more in your idea than you see yourself. The team at Vox Media, everyone from CEO Jim Bankoff to Chief Content Officer Marty Moe to The Verge's Joshua Topolsky, all saw a huge opportunity in gaming. And as we began hiring what would become the Polygon team, our original vision was augmented with their goals and ambitions. What we were left with was a massive project. One that, thankfully, our unflappable product team never backed down from. In fact, we took all of their goals...

A note from the Features Editor of Polygon, Russ Pitts: The first time I wrote about video games for profit was pure luck. It was 2003. I was unemployed. I'd quit a job working in television and was supposedly writing a book, but really I was downloading torrents of video games off the internet and playing when I should have been writing. Eventually my conscience got the better of me and I decided to buckle down and actually do some writing. Not on the book I was working on, of course. I can't actually even remember what it was supposed to have been about. Something about highways and growing older. Boring. No, I wrote about video games. A website I followed held a story contest. I entered. The prize was a copy of Tropico 2. The assignment: Write about a good gaming memory. I...

A note from Arthur Gies, Reviews Editor: I'm writing this at 11:45 p.m. the night before this episode of the documentary goes live. Both Phil and I have been pulling 80-hour weeks since the beginning of September, performing the video game site equivalent of herding cats. This is the first chance I've had to write this, and there's still more left to do. We're both exhausted, and reviews season? Well, this year it goes long, thanks to a new console courtesy of Nintendo. I think it's easy to lose sight of, watching this episode of Press Reset, so I feel it bears clarification: Writing reviews is the best part of the job for many members of the video game press. I know it is for me, and I think I can speak for Phil as well. I love reviewing games, figuring out how they tick, talking...

A note from Brian Crecente, News Editor: There was a time so very long ago, but somehow still less than a year ago, that I wondered what I'd do with all of those months facing me before the launch of Polygon. I drew up elaborate plans for elaborate stories and plotted out research projects to fill what I assumed would be magnificent gulfs of, perhaps not leisure, but certainly journalism at a relaxed pace. That illusion lasted maybe a week. Before I knew it Griffin McElroy and I were hammering out responsibilities, researching news-gathering methodology and newsroom management technology. We were discussing style and ethics. There were hundreds of applications to sort through, journalists to interview. We were hiring. We were training. We were writing. In months, we went from a...

A note from Justin McElroy, Managing Editor: Oh no, here comes Vicky from accounting. You don't know why she keeps coming to your desk to have you ogle her Hunky Firemen with Adorable Cats calendar. You don't even know why they make the thing. She flips it to October, eager to show off the HSD with the DSH (hot, studly dish with the domestic short hair). You tense, preparing whatever gland that secretes your ability to feign interest for the challenge of its life. Now, imagine a world … without Vickys. Hello, I'm Justin McElroy, and I'm the managing editor of Polygon and I've been managing teams remotely for nearly five years. As you'll see in today's entry of Press Reset, it presents a unique set of challenges, most noticeably to communication. It's a daily struggle to avoid...

A note from Jane Levin, Senior Director - Sales Operations: In Media, us Ad Sales folks are used to being behind the scenes — and usually that's fine by us. Our jobs, when done correctly, are supposed to be a part of the whole operation without appearing to be a part of the whole operation. But the truth is you can't do what we do every day and not care deeply about the brands, about the editors, and about the content. We have to believe in it because we preach it, every day, to anyone and everyone who will listen. As a sales group we're not just responsible for our own goals, but for making it possible to keep delivering the highest quality content and technology to our loyal and passionate readership. It is a responsibility we take seriously. Being a part of the Polygon launch...

A note from Brenton Laverty, lead designer for Polygon: In the days leading up to my transition to Vox Media from life at a digital agency, I hadn't a clue what I'd be working on. I assumed I'd be helping out with visu