Dean Takahashi is the best videogame journalist ever. In terms of quality, quantity, and reach, nobody can touch him. He has been covering the games beat for decades, writing for prestigious outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury News, Red Herring, and VentureBeat.
Within the business, he’s considered the gold standard. At this point in his career, other journalists should serenade him with “Simply the Best” or “Nobody Does It Better” whenever he walks into a room.
Dean Takahashi is someone that I’ve admired since the day I met him. I half-jokingly call him “my childhood hero,” but I truly hold him in the highest esteem. Like I said in the intro, he’s the best.
It’s not often that you have access to someone that’s the best there is at what they do. That’s why it was so important for me to interview Dean Takahashi to kick off my Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month content. Graciously, Dean agreed to spend some with me to discuss:
- Why he chose to pursue a career in journalism
- Whether he felt any pressure to pursue a more traditional career that Asian parents often nudge their kids towards
- How the coverage of games has changed in his decades in the business
- His thoughts on using AI to help write articles
- The one question he always asks in interviews
- And more
This was a fun chat for me and I think it will be enjoyable for many people in the videogame industry. Dean has spent decades talking with hundreds of high-level executives and game developers, and while he’s had thousands of killer bylines, the spotlight was never his. With that in mind, it was a genuine honor to learn more about Dean, learn about his motivations for writing, and get a better understand of the man behind the brilliant articles. I hope that people in the games business get to know him a bit more from this conversation.
Most importantly, I hope that some young Asian Americans watch this video and get inspired to pursue a career in games journalism. Maybe Dean will inspire someone to be the best games journalist of their generation. That would be amazing.