Queries

Queries: Episode 4 – 1MoreCastle New Year’s Resolutions

Ya miss me? Yeah, holiday break was a lot of fun (I slept more than usual). So, originally I was gonna do “The 25 Days of 1MC”, and interview one person on the 1MoreCastle site every day leading up to Christmas, then someone alerted me to the fact that we probably don’t have 25 people on staff, so that idea went out the window. I did, though, still want other people from the site involved, so instead, I asked people to send me their New Year’s resolutions and I would compile them for a mega-post (the evolution of a super-post, but not quite an ultra-post).

So without further ado, let’s get started.

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Joshua Caleb (RetroHate)

I have several New Year’s Resolutions that I may or may not even be able to attempt, but hey might as well set some goals, right?

First off, I’d like to continue/revive my YouTube content efforts with a few new projects I’ve been cooking. Let’s Play type stuff like Horror on Mute, Point n Lick Adventures, I R Gamr and InRetroSpection. It’s highly doubtful I’ll be able to do all of them what with work and school and all, but I can try.

Secondly, finish off some of the big games in my infinitely long backlog. Stuff like Kingdom Hearts HD, Mass Effect 2 & 3, Watch Dogs, Shadow of the Colossus, Shadow of Mordor, the Infamous series, Bayonetta 1 & 2 etc.

Thirdly, I’d like to try getting back to fiction writing (I still have a sci-fi/fantasy series I started that’s been sitting on the back-burner for years) as well as try a few new video game columns. Aside from RetroHate which I do right here on 1MC I also had an idea of doing a journal/log of my exploits through some old-school cRPGs, a genre I never really played growing up.

Fourthly, I have a bunch of gaming books I need to read. Stuff like The Witcher series, the Myst books etc.

Finally, my all encompassing goal for this year: start a Patreon and become at least partially self-employed.

I may or may not accomplish any or all of these, in fact its highly unlikely I’ll get to half of them, but a guy can dream, right?

Chris Swartz (Raising a Gamer)

1. Drink more water.

This should be common sense but I really need to make an effort to drink more water. At the office, I pretty much subsist on coffee exclusively. When I get home I might have a soda or beer with dinner. Rarely do I have more than one or two glasses of H2O daily. I have been noticing dark circles under my eyes and I find myself tired for no real reason. Time to start listening to that whole 8 glasses a day thing.

2. Spend more quality time with the family.

I am fortunate enough in my career that I get to come home at a reasonable hour most nights. Most of the time our evenings consist of dinner and maybe a little TV before getting ready for bed. I no longer want to simply just go through the motions. I want to start organizing family game nights or some other activity for us to do together as a family. I have to get out of the mindset that fun should only be reserved for the weekend.

3. Make 2015 the year I start my retro collection.

I have always had a fondness for the games of my youth, but never really had a reliable way to enjoy them. Rather than continue to rely on others or more.. nefarious means available online, I have decided to start really padding out my collection. Hoping to introduce my daughter (and eventually, my son) to more great retro games I want to start with consoles and peripherals that would be best suited for kids, most likely Nintendo stuff. That said, if you come across a GameCube and a copy of Donkey Konga, let me know ;)

Jonathan Hallée (My Two Gils)

My New Years Resolutions are pretty simple, really.

Number one: I want to continue to focus on my backlog. I don’t have the guts to tell myself that I won’t buy any new games, but I did a good job last year to focus on completing a couple of big name classics I hadn’t finished yet and I will do the same this year. Gotta reel in that RetroGaming cred!

Number Two: My experience with indie gaming is limited… to say the least. It’s still related to a backlog, but, for indie games in particular, I want to find the one. I want to find a game that I will love without the “for an indie game” label. I’m still waiting to find one and I hope I manage to this year.

Simon Reed (Retro News Round-Up, The Gaming Book Club, Handheld History)

My New Years Resolution is quite simple actually – I want to look a lot more into import gaming, largely retro stuff (as region locking is becoming the norm nowadays, sadly). I’ve been told by friends and colleagues that the library of games for systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Saturn is so much larger and more varied in Japan – so I’ll be hoping to explore the games for these systems in particular. This may have to involve a trip to Japan though…we will see!

 

 

Genesis Moss (The Gamer Chronicles)

To beat Shenmue and to be more faithful in making more videos.

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Bailey (Masterpiece Microscope, 1MC Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief)

My resolution for 2015 is pretty simple, I guess: To be more positive.

I think I am already pretty positive — I crack a lot of bad jokes, I can be goofy/silly/zany, I use my fair share of smilies in tweets and texts, etc. By intention, I try to be approachable, whether on social media or in face-to-face interactions.

But when I look back on 2014, some of my biggest regrets were the moments that I chose to take a negative slant in my engagements. Again, this takes into account both my online interactions and my “real life” ones. I am not pacifist, but there were instances in the past year where I used a voice of hate when a calm reply or outright avoidance would have served better.

Life is good. I am a happy guy, overall. I can still do better, though. And especially in arenas like gaming… you would have to be foolish to recognize that a positive contribution to the community would be more appreciated than another helping of negativity.

So, hey, rather than make fun of Microsoft for some easy retweets or lash out with insults toward someone with little consequence, I will try to encourage, affirm, and assist instead.

Pierre Goguen (Game Overkill, GMZ)

Anyway, New Year’s Resolutions, eh? Honestly, I’ve never made any, but I did kind of “resolve” to do one thing recently. I decided to start doing it a few months before New Year’s Day, but I also plan to keep doing it for the next year, so I’m gonna use it. I decided to only buy video games if they are needed for Game Overkill. I might be going on strike this year at work, so that’ll put a large dent in my income, so I shouldn’t be spending much money on things like video games. This will also mean I should be putting a good dent into my backlog. Since I only have about 15 or 20 games on Steam/GOG, my backlog isn’t ridiculous, but it’s still just under 200 games.

So that’s it. If you see me tweeting about buying a new game, you can go ahead and assume it will be for Game Overkill in some fashion.

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So there you have it. You might be wondering what my resolution is. To that, I say: relax more. I stress myself out a lot, and I’ve found recently that I need to take more sabbaticals. Even only thirty minutes or so, where I can just tune out and stretch, maybe listen to some good music.

Anyway, there will be another post this month (which, at the time of writing this, is almost done being put together). I hope you guys enjoy it.

Till next time, seeya around folks.