A few weeks ago I made a point of addressing Kotaku’s transparent shilling for Project Natal.  At the epicenter of that heroic grab for the 2009 Keighley Prize for Self-serving Douchebaggery was one Stephen Totilo.

His latest attempt to curry corporate favor is, if nothing else, surprising, as Sony rarely fills any role at Kotaku beyond the raw asshole, paraded out and abused in their fair weather farm show.

But self-aggrandizing, David and Goliath shenanigans notwithstanding, the tenor of the article was shockingly sycophantic given the site’s history with the company.  And while I hate to say I told you so (He really doesn’t -Ed), it would lend credence to my theory of some weeks ago: that Kotaku now has more to gain as an equal opportunity brown-nosed bottom-feeder than by maintaing a facade of respectability through conveniently edgy, in-your-face editorializing (read: pandering to the Xbox crowd, a demographic which has grown almost day and date with the site itself).

But hats off to Stephen Totilo all the same.  He’s clearly paid enough attention to this industry to understand that game journalists are little more than unwitting copywriters.  And that sort of epiphany is the first step towards a fast car and a crazy stripper wife courtesy of Microsoft, Activision, Sony, Rockstar…not Nintendo though.  They don’t even need our business…even when they do.