1 More Castle Will Now Cover Sixth-Generation Game Systems as Retro

Hello there. Eric Bailey, friendly neighborhood Editor-In-Chief here, with a nifty bit of news that will affect 1MC’s direction moving forward.

I remember attending Midwest Gaming Classic way back in March of 2013 and having a particular conversation with some fellow gamers there. With me was Eric Hunter, our audio engineer for the podcast. Those whom we spoke to were actually surprised at our age. There we were, in our 20s, discussing old video games. “You’re so young!” they said.

They did not mean it disparagingly, but in part of their mind, their idea of authentic retro gaming still rested in the hazy arcade halls of the early 1980’s. There is nothing wrong with that, really. To some people, the NES still seems alarmingly new-school. Endless discussion will continue in the community as to the definition of “retro” which, honestly, is a silly debate considering how personal our respective nostalgias feel and how different everyone’s gaming experience is.

As 1 More Castle boosts its profile in classic gaming, and as we legitimately strive to become the best retro gaming website in the universe, we are faced with two challenges (among many others): Being proactive, rather than reactive, to oncoming trends; and being inclusive, rather than exclusive, in how we treat our audience. That latter idea is very important to our vision, as we want to be different from the typical human tendency to categorize, separate, and antagonize others. We want to share joy with as many people as possible, rather than spend our energy on petty matters that separate.

Which is all to simply say: From now on, we are adding the sixth generation of gaming systems to our coverage, which means that we officially consider them to be retro as a matter of policy.

 

 

This includes the Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, and Sony PS2 consoles. These machines are two generations old, began production in a prior century, and are no longer supported by current releases. They form a core piece of gaming sentimentality for a whole new population of gamers. They are certainly no longer within the breaking news cycle of modern, mainstream games journalism.

We also made an announcement at IndyPopCon this past weekend during our live podcast recording, an episode that will go live on site soon.

I expect that some will react to this news with an enthusiastic cry of “it’s about time!” while others passively shake their heads in dismay. However, I am even more confident that most will not give it much thought, collectively shrugging and moving on instead. I am reminded of the original 1 More Castle Manifesto I wrote, one of the very first features on this website, that was published in our first week of existence. Not only did we make our intentions clear then, in terms of wanting to cultivate a culture rather than a construct, but even years ago we had in mind the idea that this specific debate would be a Thing we would have to deal with. We have been intentional in doing so.

So, what does this actually mean? How does it really impact 1MoreCastle.com? Well, primarily, all it means is that you will notice the sixth generation becoming an acceptable subject for coverage here — in features, reviews, videos, and even in our Retro Showdown choices on the podcast. It also means that we may be open to taking on a sixth-generation specialist for our contributor team… if that sounds like something you would be curious about, email me an original series pitch and examples of your prior work, whether in written, video, or other forms.

Remember: Gaming is supposed to be a fun hobby. While it can be serious, too, this announcement is already probably too long and heavy.

Just don’t be surprised when you start seeing our little retro gaming website start celebrating the glory of Wind Waker and making fun of that awful Aquaman game.

 

 

Tell us what you think of this decision in the comments section below!