A lot of you visit the site regularly but, one thing you don’t know is the people behind everything we got going on here. Because of that, we’ve got a series coming out called “Meet the Geek”. We’re interviewing our Affiliates so you can meet them and find out a bit about what they do.

First on the hot seat is PJ from Gamertell!

TGM. Let’s start with an easy one. Tell us who you are and what you do.
PJ I am PJ Hruschak, the Editor for Gamertell. It’s a freelance and essentially part-time position, although it probably takes up more time than your average daily shift at Burger King. I am also a freelance writer for various publications including Geek Monthly Magazine and GamesRadar. I sometimes design web sites and produce Flash videos and graphics for clients as well.

TGM.So you are an Editor for Gamertell. How many articles do you edit a day? How often do you write for Gamertell?
PJ I edit every article that comes through our queue with the exception of some of the articles by the two Assistant Editors, Jenni Lada and Danielle Riendeau, who have the freedom to post their own material. Most of my time on the site is spent finding topics and suggesting article ideas for writers. In some instances, I’ll work with a writer to fine-tune a post. I like to draw on a writer’s strengths and help them improve their craft. It’s good for them and for the site. The site typically has seven to 10 new posts per day, with big news days or events bringing hat average way up.

The amount I write for Gamertell really depends on what needs to be covered and how much time I spend editing writers’ articles. On a good day I can get three to five posts written although most days I have only one, if any. If I’m working on a review it can be even less frequent. I also have a dozen half-written drafts of feature articles waiting to get fine-tuned that I peck away at between editing and higher priority posts. That doesn’t even count other projects.

TGM. How tough is it to come up for content for all those articles?
PJ It’s often difficult to come up with truly engaging content. Standard game news, which is the majority of the content, is important and interesting but it doesn’t get the enthusiastic reader response like a good feature story or truly well-written column can. Plenty of inspiration can be found in various game blogs but the best stuff usually comes from random thoughts or a quick comment made by a friend, writer or reader.

TGM. Do you have sources you rely on or, do you rely on your own powers of scouring the net?
PJ There are a few gaming news sites I regularly check but I like to make sure I get to the fringe blogs as well. I rarely check a forum because it’s just too time consuming to weed through pages of tangents of useless personal insults.

Otherwise, with more than a dozen years of entertainment writing experience I have decent direct communication with some game companies.

TGM. Now..how much do you enjoy gaming?
PJ I really like playing videogames and even old school board and card games. I haven’t really been into too much tabletop stuff since I was younger.

I still set up my original Atari 2600 once in a while and rock Asteroids, Space Invaders and sometimes even Superman when I have time. I still have my original NES as well. I’ve replaced my Microvision handheld game system with one I bought online. My original was broken when I was pretty young.

Since I am editing a site and writing, as well as raising a son, it’s hard to spend as much time playing games as I’d sometimes like. Of course my baby gamer helps when he can, mostly tapping a DS touchscreen to see what happens.

TGM. What is your favorite next-gen system?
PJDepends on the game, genre and day of the week. Each system, including computers, has its own strengths and weaknesses.

In general, the Xbox 360 is probably my favorite for online gaming and online modes and the PS3 for games with amazing graphics. The Wii is easiest to pick up and play a quick game. I always take a PSP and at least one DS Lite when I travel. The PSP is good for movies and some higher-end graphics games and the DS has a nice large and diverse library. PC games, and that includes Mac since those are also personal computers, are often more time intensive to set up, learn and play but often offer finer controls and more options.

TGM. What are your favorite games?
PJ Again, depends on genre, day of the week and my mood. Picking a favorite game (or even a favorite movie) always tricky since I have played so many and usually cannot spend more than a few days on any one game. Such is the way of a game critic. When I had a weekly column in a local newspaper, I was playing at least two new games a week, often more if I had other freelance assignments.

There aren’t many games that I get back to but when I do it seems to be the dungeon crawlers and crazy weapons buttons mashers that  I’ll get back into. I might toss in a party game if the situation calls for it or boot up a RPG if I have a lot of time.

That’s just a long-winded way of saying that my list of favorite games would be cut into too many small categories and too long to answer here.

TGM. What’s your favorite retro game and, why?
PJ Retro is relative since I played many of those games when they came out. There are certainly titles I have a nostalgic soft spot for, though. I played countless hours of Asteroids on my Atari 2600, often playing the same game for a few days without a single Reset. Space Invaders was a favorite as well as Superman, though I eventually got that down to an insanely small amount of time. Tetris is still a good time. For NES that’d have to be Super Mario Bros. 3 since my college roommate and I spent so much time on it. I also played some Net Trek, yeah, as in Star Trek, when working on the newspaper in college. I’ll toss Zork, Spy Hunter, Contra and RiverRaid in there, too.

As you can see, there’s never only one.

TGM. What do you think about blogging news sites versus regular news sites? Do you think the two work together or, hurt each other?
PJ I got heavily into the videogame blog scene when the local newspaper canceled my column so I have some insight into both. There is definitely a different mentality between the two that revolves around expectations, professionalism and respectability. A so-called regular news site or publication, for example, would never dream of writing anything about one-tenth of the stuff that blogs cover. Screen shots, box art releases and the reveal of one character for a game coming out in eight months to a year would get a drop of ink.

Of course, that’s changing since so much of the web is base don page views and small, trickled out bits of information still get tons of traffic. A good regular news site even five years also would never dream of regurgitating a press release but so many have started to offer a press release section just to keep pace.

The quick, bite-size portions, poor writing and constant attempts at humor and sarcasm often seen on blogs is forcing other media to water down its content and write short, single-source poorly researched new chunks instead of truly in-depth journalism with multiple sources. A lot of it is useless crap with maybe one line of actually useful information. A few sites are trying to improve on that but the hill on which the battle is being fought is becoming more steep by the hour.

Of course, reader expectations are changing and quick bites are getting the greater attention. Or maybe just more page views.

TGM What is one of the best articles you have ever written?
PJ I’ll leave the judgement as to my “best” to someone more objective.

I had a few columns in the local paper that I really liked. My final column was probably one of my favorites, where I ended the column with a list of my favorite endings. It was also a backdoor Thank You letter to my family and friends who gamed with me.

For Gamertell, I really like my post about the decreasing size of text in videogames. I used Halo’s menu screen as an example and measured the text in each game with a ruler. The few readers who commented seemed to think I was being silly, as did the game companies, but they forget that not everyone is playing a game on a HD TV a foot or two from their face.

I also wrote a post begging Rachael Ray not to make a videogame that was pretty popular on many blogs but I liked my graphic better than the post itself.

TGM. What kind of perks come with doing what you do?
PJ I know your expecting to read “all the free stuff” or “I get to play tons of games” here but free stuff is not why any respectable journalist does what they do. Certainly, being exposed to so many different games that I would not normally grab on a store shelf has certainly improved my appreciation of every genre. Like most jobs, there is an element of tedium that cuts into the overall the enjoyment. Remember that for the few great games I play there are countless horrible games I have to play, too. For every cool thing there’s still work to perform and something to turn in, often with a strict deadline.

As a writer, talking to celebrities and important industry figures is exciting and exclusive access at E3, PAX and other cons has been memorable. The biggest perk is that I publish material that I know, or really hope, people are enjoying. I also get to be in contact with so many different people in various entertainment industries that are connected to things I enjoy or are simply fascinating.

In terms of editing, I hope that I’m helping writers become better not only at their craft but develop the best, most natural way for their voice to come through in their work. It’s simultaneously frustrating and rewarding but, I hope, it’s good for the site, for the community and for industry.