On Her Majesty’s Sega Mega Drive

On Her Majesty’s Sega Mega Drive: Farewell

We’ve had a lot of fun here, folks. At least, I know I did. However, the sun is setting, and the ship is coming into dock. It pains me to say it, but this is the last ever edition of On Her Majesty’s Sega Mega Drive, and I have no plans to revive the series. It’s been an amazing three months, and I can honestly say this is the best time I’ve ever had writing for a site ever. Creative freedom, a wonderful community, and an audience that truly cares and knows their stuff. I loved every single second of it.

You know what they say, though. All good things must come to an end, which is probably why IGN and GameSpot are still in business. I’m sad that I didn’t get to write for 1 More Castle sooner: enviously, I looked on for a solid year and a half, desperate to get in and do some work for the site, but it felt like they weren’t accepting applications for written material for the longest time. Whenever I saw that this place was actually hiring, I jumped at the chance (literally, I did a little hop), applied after waiting so long, and the rest is history.

Of course, it wasn’t all rosy. Along the way, I had to play some truly terrible games for the entertainment of the fans. I had a, ahem, hell of a time with Brian Lara Cricket, a game I dismissed as broken dreck which upset a few people. I couldn’t get the damn game to work no matter what I did, and the experience, for me, was akin to watching paint dry. In reality, it’s probably a good depiction of cricket in that case, but still, I can’t say that the game necessarily agreed with me. I did promise to revisit it, but sadly, we won’t see it here.

And yet, there were a lot of games I ended up loving in this series, in a “Where have you been all my life?” kind of way. Mr Nutz was a game I’d never heard of in my life, but I took to it like a duck to water, or a squirrel to nuts. It was bright, chunky, and cute as hell. This is a game I wouldn’t have even looked near if I’d never started this series. Similarly, Psycho Pinball ended up being a sleeper hit for being so much fun and jam packed with character. Working for 1 More Castle wasn’t just a learning experience, it showed me new games, and rekindled my love for them.

As corny as this is, I am not of the belief that 1 More Castle is dying. Oh, far from it. We’re closing down, but as far as I’m concerned, the site lives on forever through all of us. We will never stop being 1 More Castle guys. Wherever we end up, that’s not going to stop, because we’ll never forget. I’m sad that my time here was so short, but to be here at all was worth it a thousand times over, and I’m thankful that I had my chance here. So, thank you. Thanks for bringing us the best in content, thanks for the best community bar none, and thanks for giving writers like me a platform. In short? Thanks for everything, 1 More Castle.