Wade's Last Days At Game Informer

When I was offered a video editor position at Game Informer I was half expecting it to be a mistake. "A full-time position making videos about video games at a magazine I'd been reading since childhood?" I never dreamed to be so lucky, and the surreal feeling of working along side Reiner, Helgeson, Andy, Tim, and the rest of the team lasted long after my first few weeks.

My first month at GI I was preparing for the 2014 Extra Life marathon, trying to hit the ground running as best I could with our beast of a studio setup. Since then I've spent most of my time in that control booth helping shows like Replay come together with our amazing staff. And while it seems like the blink of an eye, I am now in my final days as a Game Informer video editor. A bittersweet departure, as the friendships I've gained both in the office and across the GI community make it incredibly hard to leave. From the first day until my last this has been a very tightly knit team and made me feel like I belonged. As I look back now at my time here, I thought I would share some of my favorite moments with you.

Replay - Vib Ribbon

My first week at Game Informer I shadowed Reiner while he helped produce that week's Replay episode. Due to a technical mishap, all his voiceover audio was gone, and we had to go back and re-record everything he said during the episode. Listening to it now, it still makes me laugh.

Spoiled - Halo 5: Guardians

It didn't take long for the rest of the office to find out I was a Halo junkie, (Part of that might be the Halo fan film I've been working on forever) and after the release of Halo 5 there was a lot to unpack. I loved the opportunity to join Miller and Reiner for an in-depth discussion about Halo lore.

Super Replay Showdown 2016

I took my role as the GI Versus League Commissioner very seriously. Last year I finally had my chance to orchestrate the Super Replay Showdown, and it was a blast. I was a little torn with how to format the final showdown between Reiner and Javy, but in the end I couldn't turn down 8 player Smash.

Extra Life 2016

Last year's Extra Life marathon is probably the biggest highlight from my time here. We started two hours late due to tech problems, and at many times it felt like a ship that kept springing holes, but 27 hours after we started we had exceeded our goal of raising $50,000 for children's hospitals. This clip contains just a few of the best moments.

Sonic 06 highlights

I've produced maybe a dozen Super Replay's during my time here, but Sonic 06 was by far the best. Every one of the 26 episodes had me bursting with laughter, and the community reaction was equally brilliant. The combination of Reeves's many personalities, Joe's hatred of Sonic, Kyle's optimism, and Reiner's craziness turned this series up to 10 and broke off the knob.

Zelda Lore

I get really into Zelda lore. Like, really into it. If not for Kyle I probably wouldn't have anyone to bug every day about some new Zelda timeline theory. After we both sunk over a hundred hours into Breath of the Wild we decided it was worth sitting down and mulling over every deep detail we could, in what is presumably both of our game of the year.

Leaving behind this incredible family is more difficult than I realized, but I'm excited for what lies ahead. I will be working in the film industry and pursuing filmmaking dreams that extend back to before middle school, but I promise I'll never be far from the gaming industry, or this incredible community. Please drop me a line on Twitter if you'd like to keep in touch.

You've all meant so much to me, and thank you for making me feel so welcome:)