The time when I wrote about video games
I started writing this as a tweet, but it got far too long, so I thought I might as well use my blog for a change.
If you follow me on the socials, you’ll have likely seen that NGB (Next Gen Base) has wound down its website. If you didn't see that, then... surprise!
I started writing for NGB 7 years ago. My first piece - The Great Disparity of Handheld Gaming - was published in 2017, back in a time when I was still in my 20s, I never felt tired, and my back wouldn't shit itself whenever I sneezed. I was excited to see my work on a proper website, and it kickstarted my love for writing about video games.
Aside from the odd feature, I mostly wrote news stories for NGB. I ended up publishing nearly 200 news stories before we collectively decided that posting news a few hours, or days, after its announcement, probably wasn’t worth the time spent on it. We stopped posting news, and I switched to writing features and reviews.
This led to me writing quite a few reviews. My first, for Trailblazers - a WipeOut-style racing game, probably doesn't read very well now, but I remember it being a fun little game. My worst-scored game - Another Sight - was very much the opposite. Also, for what it's worth, writing a negative review isn't a fun time. And my last (written review), weirdly, another WipeOut-style racing game - Redout 2. My favourite feature is a more recent one where I did some proper journalism about the cost of gaming and slagged off the Tories for 50% of the post.
As I said in the opener, I've found a genuine love for writing about something I've spent most of my life doing, and the chance to play games before their release has been a huge privilege, and one that I've been extremely grateful for. It'll be sad to leave this behind, but I'm not technically going anywhere. I just like a bit of drama.
YouTube has always been a part of NGB, and it's an area I shied away from initially. I wasn't au fait with video editing and felt uncomfortable talking or being on camera. But I persisted, and while I still don't feel that comfortable, it's given me a chance to learn new skills. In recent years, we've focussed more on pushing content to YouTube, and it's allowed me to create things that I'm genuinely quite proud of. Something for the Weekend is a series I'm particularly pleased with.
What's the point in all this waffle, then? Well, you won't see any more written content from me, at least not on NGB, because it's... well... gone. At least in website form. The YouTube channel is still present, however, and we're still very much focused on releasing content there. That means you'll be able to see more of Something for the Weekend (I'm writing three new episodes at the moment). I'm also penning a couple of new features, features that may let me dip my toe into the world of motion graphics. Watch this space. What you won't see me doing is whooping and hollering over video games, I can't stand that shit. I'm keeping it dry.
TL;DR I won't be writing as much (maybe I will on here), but I'll be making more videos. Subscribe to the channel!
Photo by Cláudio Luiz Castro on Unsplash
