As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved video games. Since interaction is a requirement, they’re one of the most engaging types of media, and it’s easy to get swept up in the characters and stories that they present, to say nothing of how unique and, of course, fun, they can be. Genre is not a set of rules that need to be followed, it is just a framework for experimentation.
As more games are released for more people, and more voices are heard, we’re seeing an explosion of what is possible, especially within the independent sphere. Despite this, the industry as a whole remains very troubled, especially in its upper levels. Just in the past year, we’ve seen exploitation of workers via crunch, racism, and sexual harassment at developers, publishers, and game-adjacent entities.
These sorts of topics - exploration of titles and genres, or the ills plaguing the industry - are not particularly suited for social media. To brush off a quote from a favourite YouTuber of mine, Nithin “Darkk Mane” Bala, surrounding the release of the at-the-time maligned Fallout 76:
"But for some reason, whenever you do talk shit about it, the replies always seem to have at least a couple fanboy keyboard warriors trying to defend the poor multi-billion dollar company from the shadow government of internet bullies who are obviously trying to assassinate Bethesda's sales figures."
There is little room for context or nuance, especially with 280 characters. In fact, if I were to tweet out just what I’ve written thus far, it would take multiple tweets. I think we can all agree that in recent years, “social media bad” isn’t a particularly sensationalist viewpoint, but it also raises an interesting question: where can we connect and interact?
And so, why would a video game streamer - that trendiest of hobbies - want to start a newsletter, a communication method that was arguably archaic more than a decade ago?
When I finish a game on stream that I’ve spent 25 to 50 hours playing, I generally try to do a wrap-up about what I liked or didn’t enjoy about it. It can sometimes be difficult for me to be concise about a game’s strengths and flaws, and I can’t go back and add to those thoughts after a stream is over. Secondarily, I typically do this over the ending credits music, and so if the audio of that VOD is muted because of the game’s soundtrack, that analysis can’t be preserved. Because of this, there have only been a few highlights that have survived.
I’d like to use this outlet to talk more at length about the games that I’ve played and am playing, on stream as well as off. If you didn’t know, I’m a copywriter in my office job, and to write about games is something I am not only interested in, but gives me the opportunity to write about something different. In some ways, this newsletter will serve as a supplement to what happens on stream, though I don’t intend to use it to replace my subscriber-only updates.
Lastly, and most importantly of all, I’m not interesting in talking to everyone.
I want to talk to you.
You are the reason that I started doing this, and continue to do this, with 52 games played on Twitch across 500 hours in 2020. It is through this platform that I met some of the coolest and kindest people in my life at the moment, and discovered incredible titles thanks to recommendations that have squarely become some of my all-time favourites.
You can always find me on Twitch.