One of the founders of IGN and long time Nintendo reviewer Matt Casamassina has stated on his blog that, after 13 years of service, he is leaving IGN to join up with Apple as their “Global Editorial Games Manager”. If you’re as confused by that title as I was, here’s a snippet of his description of his new role.

In a nutshell, I will be leading the charge for games on the App Store, so whether you browse through iTunes, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, the games content you see will be handpicked and organized by me and my team. I couldn’t be happier.

Now, it’s pretty clear how we here at 3AG feel about IGN, but any large company like IGN will have its mistakes. Matt Casamassina has, however, always been a fantastic journalist and I’ve been reading his reviews and commentary for probably 10 of his 13 years with IGN. Apple’s choice to hire him was a wise one. I’ll miss his articles but he’s off to greener pastures, I’m sure. I just find it intriguing that Apple has hired someone for this role at all. What I’d like to know is, is this a new position created for the hiring of Casamassina or was there another in the role before Matt? Is this a sign that Apple is putting even more emphasis on it’s gaming initiative? Only time will tell. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.