Cartridges were $60 a pop (and up depending on the game), and I was already working four jobs at a time in in order to pay my rent.

But once the Saturn and PlayStation came out, I really began to explore the import scene, shopping regularly at a small store on 7th Avenue and 40th Street in called 'Games & James,'

The problem was that I had just opened my own bar in 's East Village, and couldn't bail on my partners, who relied on my connections in the nightlife to keep the place pumping every night, with DJs seven nights a week, and my commissioned "London Calling" mural of the Clash's album cover gracing the outside of the club.

The initial concept was that, having a background outside of games, and leadership abilities forged from working with large staffs, and having a no-nonsense attitude that comes with being a er, that I was being groomed to eventually take over Joe Fielder's position at Gamespot

Simon and I attended, by coincidence, an Xbox event in , my hometown, during an media tour that Microsoft coordinated there to show off some upcoming games, like Project Gotham Racing.

Aside from one instance, where I took around 14 people to John's Pizza on Bleecker Street for some unreal brick oven pizza, Simon and I had the rare opportunity to get to know each other, when we went out drinking in some of 's hot spots.

Now, keep in mind that I knew barely anyone in the industry, outside of interviewing Shigero Miyamoto at a Zelda event in New York City

Joe Fielder: Without you, I would never have entered the world of gaming journalism, and would have stayed in , drawing, DJing, and doing other creative things, but not this.