"Puppies in a Wasteland" (Editorial) from 2007

Unearthed from 2007, this editorial lamented the poor availability of great discourse when it comes to video games. I always liked the "Blue Plate Special" banner (the header) for this one and I think the box of puppies in a wasteland is a good metaphor given the topic.

"Once I Think I'm Out, They Pull Me Back In!" (Editorial) from 2007

This editorial from Mr. Nash dates back to 2007 and recounts his year away from World of WarCraft. With all the MMO's that have come and gone during the intervening years, it's still a little mind-boggling to think that WoW is still going strong. Maybe it doesn't post the same kind of numbers that it once did, but WoW probably still has many, many years left in the tank.

Mostly Harmless

Well, here we are. It's July now, and The Armchair Empire's old site has sailed on into the mists embarking on its voyage to Fólkvangr. With that, all that remains is AE Infinite. With Aaron and the gang on to new adventures, you guys are stuck here with me now. Don't bother trying to escape.  I've already locked the doors.

While I've grown to hate doing game reviews over the years, writing about the medium is still enjoyable, and I can see myself doing stuff with AE for years to come. Who knows, maybe in 1000 years I'll still be here sort of like that old guy defending the Grail in that Indiana Jones movie, saying to those who happen upon the site, "He did not choose wisely!" and they're all like, "What are you talking about?!? That doesn't even make sense!" Ah, the future.

So, where will things go from here? For starters, the look of the site has obviously changed. I figure it might as well get redone with such big, bold changes in the works. Something simple and to the point. Something surprisingly not blue and yellow, considering it's been AE's colors for years and years.

Also, the days of the news, previews, and reviews cycle here are done. I suppose there's a time and a place for that sort of thing, but over the years it's all become very boring to me. Long-form articles that are more of a diary or journal of one's experience while playing through a game, more analytical pieces, and generally more slow-paced thoughtful pieces will be the norm. I'm sure there will be the occasional time I gush about some game that I recently played, but traditional reviews don't really appeal to me anymore.

Content will also shift exclusively to PC games. It's the medium that I spend the most time with now by a country mile. The majority of my time is spent on stuff like tactical RPGs, grand strategy, 4X, and even the occasional point-and-click adventure, all of which are genres that we don't see a whole lot of on consoles. So, I'm going to stick the platform that gets the lion's share of my attention.

And that's the way things will be heading from here on in. A lot of AE may be fading from this realm, but I'll be kicking around doing some writing about games still. It still appeals to me just so long as I don't have to write a review. If you like that sort of stuff, stick around. =)

...and Thanks for All the Fish!

It's a hell of thing to look back on 15 years of the Armchair Empire (AE) but I'm ready to turn my gaze forward and leave it behind.

For the last few years it has become increasingly evident – first in little hints then in crushing blows – that I'd gone as far as could with AE. What got me excited in the early days – creating the site, making contacts (when I got press kits in the mail), playing video games sent to my house, the metric ton of action figures, that feeling of endless possibilities – is the exact thing that has worn me down.

Without trying to sound too much like a question from the Riddler, all of it takes Time and once that Time is gone there's no getting it back and I just didn't ever seem to have enough of it.

Editorial: Baker's Dozen Looking Forward

The original 2000 Armchair Empire banner.

It's August so that means my mind starts wandering back to the origins and development of The Armchair Empire.

The year was 2000, the month August, two 23-year old guys thought it would be cool to have a website devoted to writing about video games and action figures. Google wasn't a thing and Steam was associated with trains. Happy Puppy loomed large on the video game reviews landscape. Jeff Green wasn't the Editor-in-Chief of Computer Gaming World. Nintendo Power not only existed, it was going strong, running alongside the likes of (the original) EGM and GamePro. Argon fluorohydride was just discovered by Finnish scientists. Amazon was still "new fangled." The Playstation 2 had recently launched.