Why?

A commenter asked a good question as I come up on my 6th anniversary of this project — why the blog?

This can be answered in several ways. Why play all these games in chronological order? For some reason I like doing stuff like this; before I did this blog I was playing all the Super Robot Wars games in release order and I have other projects like this that aren’t video game related. I’m not entirely sure why I like doing this kind of thing.

Next — why do something like this site rather than just playing the games? I like having a record of what I did that I can look back on later. I was just looking back at my Dragon Quest V posts in preparation for making the first DQ6 post this weekend and it was fun. I wouldn’t have remembered all the things I wrote down. Plus I like getting comments from people.

Finally, why a blog? Why not a twitch stream or a youtube channel? The main reason for this is that it’s the least effort — the relatively low amount of effort the blog posts take is the main reason I’ve been able to consistently update almost every week for the whole 6 years I’ve been doing this. I never wanted to get into a situation where I was backed up on things, with the blog or channel 10 games behind where I actually was. So I never force myself to write more than I want. This means my posts aren’t as good as someone like CRPGAddict but at least I can keep the consistency.

I don’t know much about video editing so I would have to learn a lot to make youtube videos and it would take more effort than I’m willing to put in given the (probable) low viewership of the videos.

I did actually twitch stream for a little bit, but this is just too niche to attract even retro gamers who probably don’t want to watch games in Japanese. Plus, for several reasons I hardly ever play a game for more than an hour in a sitting, which isn’t good for streaming.

So the blog is the best way to record my progress in a way that’s convenient for me (I also like revisiting blog posts more than youtube videos).

6 thoughts on “Why?

  1. Unknown Pseudoartist

    I’d personally add another reason that I consider important and it’s the main reason why I follow this blog (besides the interest to read your own opinion and experiences about these kinda obscure games, of course):

    Blog posts are more likely to keep reachable in the internet as well as easier to find part of, easier to read “in diagonal mode” (checking only what you are truly interested of while discarded everything else) and generally more accessible and without needing a powerful machine to browse thoughout info. Jumping throughout timestamps in a video and checking info at your own pace is just not the same.

    Sure, I know the video format as well as live streams are full of other advantages and can be more convenient for many reasons, but the text format is also special because its own reason and I’m glad that blogs like this one exists, honestly.

    Greetings from a long time lurker who reads this from a RSS reader 🙂

    Reply
    1. kurisu Post author

      Thanks for the response — that’s how I feel about videos as well. I have at times wanted to make some videos at least of games that are harder to find good footage of on Youtube. But I’ve never been able to figure out exactly how I wanted the videos to look so I never got around to it.

      Reply
  2. Morpheus Kitami

    I note there’s at least one Youtuber/streamer who plays games primarily in Japanese. Saint…although his relative popularity for covering such obscure games isn’t really related to what he covers.

    That said, I applaud the choice. I feel like way too many people who do videos or streams lack some key component that makes it work; Far too many either seem to love the sound of their own voice, lack the ability to properly critic what they’re playing or just lack the ability to be entertaining. And based on what I’ve heard from people who do these things, video editing is a nightmare.
    Text LPs seem like a lost art. Its not a question of filling time anymore, its a question of deciding what to show to the audience. Even if you aren’t as good as the Addict, you’re still pretty good.

    Reply
  3. Shrunken Shrine

    Thanks for taking the time to articulate some thoughts on the value of the blog format. I’ve often felt that the ‘pivot to video’ still has a lot to answer for in terms of its impact on media consumption. Gaming content, for many, has become background noise that can be streamed 24/7, and has also become a passionless day job for many who produce it.

    I value coming across little treasures like niche gaming blogs, and it motivates me to keep trying with my own. They don’t have the draw of video, but they have greater staying power and capacity to go into detail on some really out there stuff. Long live the unprinted word!

    Reply

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