Who is he and what is he to you?

There is an excellent interview on BitMOB about the HipHopGamer conducted by Dennis Scimeca. I have seen him in person at the PAX East Gamers Gone Wild party last year and wondered to myself who is this guy? I went to his website and learned a little and then saw an interview he did with financial analyst Michael Pacther over the summer for GameTrailers. You couldn't pick two more different people to put together for an interview, but it was interesting and fun. What they both have in common is a genuine passion for games.

What has me troubled are some of the comments that follow the BitMOB piece. I am not saying that people should universally have love for HipHopGamer and what he's trying to do. But the tone of some of the comments are disturbing. Just because he is passionate about gaming doesn't mean he is a paid shill. To the best of my knowledge, he has never lied to someone about a product. If people have a problem with deception in game scores, there are plenty of other targets these commenters can take aim at. In terms of being a distraction at industry events; I have never been to an E3 but I can safely assume that one man and his entourage can't be the biggest distractions at those events.

What also bothers me is the sense of elitism is the replies. Calling someone a blight or an ass-clown is strong stuff. You may not like how he networks with industry people, but that's between him and those people. You may not like his methods but he is as passionate as the next gamer. You may not think he is informing gamers, I disagree. He is informing gamers, just not gamers like you.

Required Reading - Gamer and Geek Blogs

Girl Gone Geek -  Ms Chic Geek blogs about all things geek, but what I think is really cool are the art related posts. Granted the subject matter is still geek-flavored, like custom painted game consoles, but the posts go beyond the normal geek stuff. Follow her on Twitter here

Radioactive Nerd  - I discovered these guys at the Gamers Gone Wild event at PAX East in the spring and I have been pimping their podcasts since. They have recently added a video podcast called video rewind where they post a video version of the week's audio podcast. You can follow the show on Twitter here

The Major's Conquests - Major Linux is more active on Twitter, but his blog has some great stuff on it as well. Check out The Major's Conquests: Killzone 3 3D Impressions

Hip Hop Gamer - Don't let the championship belt fool you. He is one of the most down to earth and passionate gamers out there today. Check out this interview with Michael Pachter for Game Trailers. Follow his Twitter here.

Gaming with SFX Kona - Kona streams first person gaming goodness and gives out prizes to viewers of his stream. If you're lucky you can send him an invite and get in on the game he's playing. Catch him on Twitter here.

Game Like a Girl - Stephanie and Renee provide an interesting take on all things gaming providing reviews on many of the latest and greatest games.I had been following them on Twitter for a while now but what really got me was this post from their blog: Game Like a Girl: How to Become a Gamer in Ten Easy Steps:

If you know of any cool blogs, send me the links or twitter and I'll check them out!