The New York Game Awards will be held on 1/23/24 at SVA Theatre in Manhattan. Get your tickets here. Note: we’re almost out of VIP tickets. So get them now.

One of our best events of the year (beyond our NY Game Awards) happened just over a week ago. It was our New York Videogame Critics Circle Holiday Hang in the East Village. We had food from Yankee Pizza, and Executive Director Ryan O’Callaghan kindly brought cupcakes and soda.

Ever since the Circle began, we’ve been so grateful for our young mentors, student interns and professional writer/members. And that day, so many took time from their busy holidays to talk about games, movies, music, the history of the East Village and their hopes and dreams for the future.

Some of the Circle members attending were Lisa Marie Segarra, Luis Aguasviva, Adam Siddiqui, Helen Pfeffer, Sherri L. Smith and Harold Goldberg. Some of the interns and mentors attending included William Baker III, Ronald Gordon, Kimari Rennis, Karila-Monique Warner and Khloe Wilkerson. Later in the afternoon, Khloe won a copy of a the latest Story of Seasons Collectors Edition for Nintendo Switch. William received an Xbox controller signed in silver by Phil Spencer.

Currently, our interns have access to meetings with amazing mentors like Xbox’s Phil Spencer and Reggie FIls-Aime, video game showcases, like a fall Nintendo event with Stephen Totilo as their guide. Most have won our college scholarships after having taken our Games Journalism and Narrative after school classes. Their review writing and features are edited by senior editor and college professor Helen Pfeffer and founder Harold Goldberg.

During 2024, we’ll pair a Circle member with an intern for bi-weekly mentoring so they have even more expertise at the ready as they grow into future game makers and journalists. So it was great to have this holiday gathering so everyone could meet, break bread and talk with each other without time constraints. And we’ll have more surprises to come for our awesome interns next year, too!