Gaming History 101

It’s the first day of 2025 and all I can currently think about is the past. I shouldn’t be. You can’t change the past and if being into retro games and pop culture has taught me anything about the past, it’s that we should learn from it. In an attempt to move on, I’m “re-launching” Gaming History 101 as a blog. I intend to use this space to explore and discuss various topics of popular culture, but the core focus of retro video games should be the largest volume of content. Previously this site was intended to inform, being a resource for the readers as opposed to the authors. It worked for a while, but eventually I found myself more interested in exploring new games and topics. By that time, however, there was a strong audience on the site and with the Gaming History 101 podcast that I feared de-railing the whole thing.

In the last 24 hours I have done just that in my current ventures, ending the Video Game Purists podcast with episode 234 and removing the GH101 Discord Server, and it’s already clear this wasn’t a popular choice. A wise person once advised me to do these projects for myself and never for other people, but frankly I have not followed that advice until now. I no longer want to be the researcher digging into little facts for the reader, I don’t want to do a weekly podcast to entertain listeners, and I don’t want to talk about what others want to talk about. As admittedly selfish as those statements are, I want to discuss, create, and play what I want to play. I’m sorry to those wonderful people in the community, both the vocal and silent ones, that appreciated everything we’ve been able to create over the years with myself and co-hosts like Rob “Trees”, Jamalais, and countless others.

So what is this blog going to be about? It’s my place to post highlights on the various experiences I’m exploring. Those who have listened to my podcasts know that in addition to video games, I really enjoy movies, tech, and reading, which is pretty much what you can expect in terms of topics. Unlike the past, it’s not going to specifically be reviews or deep dives, but rather a catalyst for engagement. My goal is not engagement between myself and the audience, but that will hopefully be a side benefit. Instead, my goal is to encourage the reader to engage with these things I explore and the post itself will discuss why they may want to. It’s likely these posts will read like most of my other content because I’m not trying to change anything about my style. I hope that with the written form I can ramble less, improve my writing skills that have dwindled since my graduation from Journalism school more than 20 years ago, and improve the quality of what I put out. Time will tell.