In the near future, about a month, I'm going to sunset this blog. Two-and-a-half years and 700+ posts later, it's time to call it quits. It's become too arduous and trivial to do so here for a multitude of reasons which I will state...:
* I'm a working man now. I have a legitimate job that's not an internship or other joke of a career. I'm working 9 hours a day, possibly more in the near future, and after my week, I'm practically burned out after doing that and whatever other things I need to do to take care of my young adult self. And on top of that, rambling about video games and saying controversial things as someone in the game industry can come back to haunt me, big time. A few things I've said on this blog could get me fired from my current job. A while back I caused a mutiny by criticizing a game behind my grad school classmates' back (Plushy Knight) and it caused problems. I don't want anything like that to happen again.
* There's simply little to nothing going on with Sega anymore. Well, there is, if you're into cheesy Sonic sequels, more Yakuza, Football Manager, Total War, and the occasional Sega nostalgia piece they toss the fans for a quick buck. We've worn thin on Daytona 1, 2, Scud Race, OutRun 2, Crazy Taxi, even Sega All-Stars Racing, etc. Those games aren't going anywhere anymore. We got the emulators, we got XBL/PSN ports, we got the Hornet in Sega All-Stars Racing, we got a cool new fangame coming up (The 90's Arcade Racer), but other than that, aside from talk about some oldies like Power Drift, Rad Mobile, and Emergency Call Ambulance...we're kinda toast here.
* And as for other things, I can't criticize Need for Speed and Burnout forever. There's nothing left to say about those franchises that hasn't been said. It's crap racing all about wrecking expensive cars and terrible cutscenes--it's a done deal and as long as people still piss themselves over it, nothing's going to change about it. As for things like real-life racing like NASCAR and such, no one really cares, do they? The sport is awash with phony controversy and regulations, plus when I post about these things, people usually don't read it at all. So what's the point?
* All great adventures I've embarked on, whether it's Counter-Strike Maps, Super Sprint, posting on various message boards, etc. always have a lifespan. At first, it's all I ever dream about--wake up, do activity X, think about it in your free time, go to sleep. But eventually, I just lose interest in it altogether. And no amount of motivational talk can really get me to work on these things again. This blog is just a victim of it. It's getting more painful to write these posts that I reluctantly put them off for too long. And when I do, the blog just gets more and more disorganized. Look at sites like UK Resistance and Shenmue Stare--they called it quits eventually so it's not so shocking I do so as well. Well, better to just call it quits now than force myself to tend to this blog for the two or three serious readers this gets each each day.
* Most of all, I'm starting to realize that this whole infatuation with wanting to work for Sega, meet Yu Suzuki and the AM2 team, and make Daytona USA 3 is a total wash. It's like a childhood dream you have--you want to assume an extraordinary career like a professional athlete, a musician, or an astronaut. But when you get older, you realize those things are stupid for numerous reasons--it's incredibly difficult and unlikely you'll ever get that job and once you do, you realize it's not what it's not what you imaged. After being exposed to the REAL game industry over the last year or so, I now realize how much it actually sucks and how vulnerable I really am. You have to be some "god among men" like Miyamoto, Suzuki, Kojima, etc. to be heard and even still, who's to say that Daytona USA 3 isn't somehow horribly botched? It's time to stop pretending I'm on a "mission from God," that's all.
That's...really all there is to say about it. I still hope great things for Sega, Sumo Digital, racing games, etc. but really, it's time to give it a rest. I'll get in touch with you guys later but all I have to say is this... To be this good takes Ages and it's been ages and now I'm good. Thanks for every subscriber, reader, and good comment that's make this all worthwhile over the years... ;)
I have long been one of your biggest supporters. I don't check in often, but I do often like what I read. Just want to let you know- you're a heck of a dude. I always tell people not to let blogging take over your life. Lots of things are more important than blogging, even though this is a great deal here. If you decide to come back and contribute here-and-there, that's your call.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you moving forward. Of course... don't forget to check out my material from time to time.
johnbmarine.blogspot.com
It sounds like you are at peace with the decision. Not dropping the blog because you were upset, or a lack of responses or anything like that, but simply because it doesn't necessarily mesh with your goals in life going forward. That's about as high of a note for ending a project like this as I can think of. I haven't always commented, but I do regularly poke by here to read what you write (too soon to bring up the Saints again?) - and hope you have success with whatever new initiatives you take on going forward. Best of luck - take care.
ReplyDelete- Nick/Chalgyr