MattCasamassina
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IGN's Casamassina responds to conflict of interest claims
Video Game Media Watch has a rather incendiary post up tonight "revealing" that IGN Nintendo editor-in-chief Matt Casamassina and Golin Harris Vice President Edie Kissko are married. This might not seem like a big deal, until you consider that Golin Harris handles public relations for Nintendo (and Kissko works on the Nintendo account). This isn't precisely a "breaking" story ... the marriage has been well known in some corners of the industry for a while. Still, isn't this the kind of thing that Casamassina and/or IGN should disclose to readers who might be worried about such a seemingly obvious conflict of interest?Casamassina doesn't think so. In an e-mail to Joystiq, he confirmed that he and Kissko have been married for several years, though he says he does "prefer to keep my wife and kids out of the public spotlight." Despite the marriage, Casamassina said that both he and Kissko know how to keep their home lives and work lives separate. "Nintendo and IGN / FOX have been aware of our relationship since we first started dating," he said. "We're professionals. Both of us have signed strict confidentiality agreements with our respective employers and, incidentally, we leave what happens on the job at our home's front door."Furthermore, Casamassina argues that readers can judge for themselves whether his personal relationship affects his writing. "The original article makes the suggestion that my marriage to Edie violates the trust of IGN's dedicated readership, but I think my body of work speaks for itself," he said. "Over the years, I have remained one of Nintendo's biggest fans and harshest critics and have also developed hundreds of reliable of sources within the industry, none of them Edie." (Kissko and a Golin Harris representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We'll update you if and when they do.)While readers can indeed decide for themselves whether or not Casamassina is overly nice or harsh to Nintendo in his work (or gets more insider scoops than the average reporter), most had no reason to doubt his independence before now. Though his marriage to Kissko wasn't exactly a secret, it was far from well known to IGN's readers -- even some of us insiders at Joystiq were surprised by the revelation. As a general rule, if a situation could cause even the perception of impropriety, a journalist should disclose it.Regardless, now that the information is "out there," so to speak, will it affect the way you read one of the industry's most visible Nintendo journalists? Let us know in the comments.
Bungie silences official Halo DS rumors
Spencer Yip of Siliconera snagged some facetime with Brian Jarrard and Frank O'Connor of Bungie to ask the question that a lot of us have yearned to ask ourselves: what's with the whole Halo DS thing that IGN's Matt Casamassina keeps insisting is real?The official word is: if he played it, it wasn't from Bungie. So Casamassina's probably not insane or lying, but it's not anything resembling a "real" Halo DS with the official stamp of Bungie approval. Apparently, the idea of Halo on the DS has been pitched numerous times, so Jarrard and O'Connor said that if Casamassina played a handheld Halo, it was probably a prototype mockup for one of those pitches. Sorry to dash any hopes, but the Bungie duo didn't sound too enthused on the idea of Halo on Nintendo's dual screens. They wouldn't rule it out, but it seems we're not the only ones who have a few reservations about FPS games on the DS. That doesn't mean there couldn't be a Halo spinoff of some sort, however!We can only hope this puts a stop to the discussions of whether or not Halo DS ever existed, even if it doesn't really answer the question. We can, at least, say for sure that Bungie didn't make an official version, but maybe your neighbor Bob is working on one right now. Why don't you go give him a hand?
Portable Gamecube rumor returns briefly
For several minutes, in fact. Earlier today, IGN's Matt Casamassina posted an article that served to round up several wily Wii rumors, including the usual price ($229) and launch date (2 Nov. or 12 Nov.) suspects. More interesting, however, was the indication given by mysterious sources that IBM was in the process of shrinking and slowing down the Wii's Broadway chip for a "future Nintendo handheld -- presumably one that plays Gamecube discs."Before the rumor managed to fully set in and plunge the masses into unyielding seizures of delight, the article was promptly pulled from the site and replaced by a decidedly unhelpful update. "At the request of our sources, who do not wish to go to jail this week, we have temporarily removed the Wii rumors piece that was posted earlier." Apparently, the oppressive and joyless Nintendo police were none too pleased with people blabbering about portable Gamecubes to IGN. When the article reappeared, all mention of it had been removed, spirited away to some great rumor recycle bin (send our love to the holographic projector).Perhaps that's all there is to this story -- there is no portable Gamecube and the article's editing serves no purpose other than to make it more accurate. Of course, when an article is admittedly based entirely on whispered secrets and industry murmurings, why yank it just to edit out one rumor in particular? Or could it be another high-larious prank devised by Matt's IGN pals? Time will tell, though we'd rather it be an impatient and stocky time attending the Leipzig Games Convention.[Thanks Master X 24 & Ryoma!]
