Dan Hsu
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Dan Hsu is the current editor-in-chief of the video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, a position he has held since 2001. Hsu joined the magazine staff in 1996, and aside from a year-long absence in 2000 to work at sister website gamers.com, has remained since. His nickname is "Shoe", referring to the pronunciation of his last name. Hsu is a graduate of the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
[edit] Controversy
Hsu created a stir in the gaming industry in late 2005, when he wrote an editorial alleging the practice of gaming magazines and websites selling article and editorial opportunities to gaming publishers in exchange for advertising agreements. Citing an unnamed contact at a major game publishing company, Hsu refused to name the parties involved, but condemned those responsible for not maintaining journalistic integrity. The matter was publicized further when Slashdot linked to a Games.net response editorial written by Chris Cook, a writer for game magazine GamePro. Cook admonished Hsu for not specifying which companies were involved in the practices alluded to. Overall reaction to the events were mixed, with some speculating Hsu's editorial, in attracting attention to Electronic Gaming Monthly without naming competing publications or websites, may have been a publicity stunt.
Following the launch of the Microsoft Xbox 360 in November 2005, Hsu interviewed Peter Moore, head of Microsoft Home and Entertainment marketing division. At the time, perception of the 360's launch was negative, as the system was plagued with reports emerged of systems overheating, and issues such as limited backwards compatibility with original Xbox games on the 360, few well-received games exclusive to the system, and a perceived lack of improvement in graphics and game play over previous systems. Hsu addressed these issues in his questioning with what some perceived as an overly rude or inappropriately aggressive manner. Overall response was again mixed, with some readers of Electronic Gaming Monthly promising to cancel subscriptions in comments for the blog in which Hsu defended the interview. Other fans demanded Hsu apologize to Moore, leading Hsu to respond further by posting another blog of Moore's approval of the interview. Others noted that the interview was a necessary departure from the easy-going tendency of most gaming journalists, such as gaming webcomic Penny Arcade's response.
