Bringing Positivity to Gaming Through Forgotten History

I remember when I was eleven years old. As a Cub Scout, my dad got me a subscription to Boys' Life magazine (now called Scouts Life). One of the semi-regular columns in it was the "Readers' Page" which, like Reader's Digest, allowed people to submit their own stories for publication. I submitted a little story to the magazine. I can't remember what it was about as that was over thirty years ago, but I distinctly remember the joy I felt when I received a letter telling me my piece was to be published along with a check for $25. (Snicker if you want, but that was a lot of money for an eleven-year-old in 1990.) At that point, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to write.

However, it would be decades before I would get to realize that dream. While I got notoriety for telling ghost stories for Halloween and I even wrote for the local newspaper when I was a Junior in high school, I was convinced not to pursue writing as a career as that field is too unstable. Write something that doesn't sell, and you're homeless. After a failed attempt to gain a commission in the Army and gaining a job in accounting, I finally found a way to realize my passion for writing... by combining it with my lifelong love of video games.

Even though I have been a gamer since before I was in kindergarten, it was little more than an expensive hobby for years. With the advent of the Internet, I was finally able to do something with it. In college, I started my own website on Geocities called "NGaiden's Fantasy Zone" where I posted my own written reviews of games, mostly RPGs. To be honest, I was enjoying myself doing that so much that I was neglecting my college studies. One would think that I would have gone into journalism to try to get a job at the big gaming magazines like Nintendo Power or Electronic Gaming Monthly, but I was still discouraged from going that way because it was... say it with me... "too unstable". Even though I found stable employment with warehouses and accounting, I still found myself hungry to do what I truly wanted to do.

That all changed when I found the website "Defunct Games" and started speaking to its lead Cyril Lachel. The site was looking for people to talk about retro games, and I pitched the idea of talking about the Atari 2600 which almost no one talks about unless it's to blast E.T. for nearly killing the industry. I wanted to shine a light on games I played and enjoyed as a kid, and Cyril decided to give me a chance. Now, keep in mind that this wasn't a paid gig. I didn't care about that; my day job was paying the bills just fine. I just wanted to do this.

I soon became one of the site's leading outside contributors, to the point that Cyril was accepting ideas that, in hindsight, seemed rather crazy. Who else would've thought to spend four years cataloging a history of golf video games? Yet, that crazy idea became a popular feature to the point that I was even asked to speak for a video promo for the third season, the first time my voice went to Internet video. Though I was thrilled to be using my love of video games and passion for writing, I still wished that it could ascend past the point of being an unpaid hobby and become a profitable side racket.

This is where Vocal came in. I saw an ad back when Vocal was fresh and new and got excited. I can get paid to write pretty much whatever I want? Who wouldn't jump at that?!? When I started on Vocal, I knew what I wanted to do. I had become a fan of angry reviewers on YouTube like "The Angry Video Game Nerd" and the crew of Channel Awesome, but I couldn't help but think that there was a dire need for more positivity in the conversation. It came back to when I started with "Defunct Games", how I wanted to show that the Atari 2600 was more than just E.T. and the crappy Pac-Man port which were the only things anyone talked about. Thus, I started with the column "Silver Linings" where I talked about a host of good things missed among the maligned, starting with bringing up good games on frequently bashed consoles. That extended to a second column called "Second Chances" where I go in-depth on a worthwhile thing that people tend to miss. Those columns expanded to bring up movies, songs, and even a frequently missed vacation spot, but video games were always my bread and butter.

Last year, I decided to expand beyond print and into video with my YouTube channel "Cool Media Sports & Retro". My mission there is the same as on Vocal, bringing attention to games that were unfairly maligned or forgotten. Though negativity will show up occasionally, I've made it my mission to be a counterpoint to the channels that spotlight the worst of the games industry. I know that positivity doesn't get the views or clicks that negativity does, but I don't want to give up. Writing has awakened a beast within me that I wanted to wake up a long time ago. Along with the Vocal articles and YouTube videos, I am also working on a couple of screenplays and a children's book about a trip to the hospital. I don't know if any of those will pan out, but I just want to give it a shot. I don't want to reach old age wondering if I could've made it as a writer.

Do I hope to be able to make a living doing what I love to do? Of course! Will I get there? I don't know, but it certainly wouldn't be for lack of trying. One thing I hope is that people would read, watch, and share my work. The world is overloaded with negativity and has been almost forever. I just want to spread some joy, even if it is just talking about the joy of hitting the Start button on a forgotten gem.

Thanks for checking out this little piece on my mission in this field. Have any suggestions for my writing or videos? Let me know, and take care!