Cleaning out my closet
So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.
Leaving Riot was something I’d been wanting to do for a while, and happy as I was to get the free time I’d been so desperately seeking — I was finally face-to-face with the big question of what to actually do with any of it.
After my initial vacation (which was mostly watching a lot of Very Good movies and playing Night in the Woods), I figured I’d do the ~adult~ thing and actually confront the possible paths my life could take. Following a lot of conversations with some neat folks, I took some time to reflect … and realized that I wasn’t really … thaaat excited? by any of them? I feel guilty typing that! It’s not that they weren’t cool opportunities! It’s just that after 5 years at a gaming studio you start to look at each new potential role or position as another 5 years-or-longer investment— at which point the young, homeless vagabond in my soul wakes up just long enough to say ‘hold up my dude — are we doing this again?’ This is a good question, but young homeless me also thinks we should just stay inside playing video games and never leave.
So I compromised.
I went back through the five year-span of my employment and compiled a rather ambitious list of every single game I wished I’d had enough time to play, or (shamefully) had put time into without finishing. I ended up with 50.
And starting April 3rd, I’m going to stream every single one of them.
I know that I’d feel even more anxiety than I already do about not getting around to these games, and as anyone who’s ridden shotgun on the couch knows (shout-outs to Arthouse), it’s probably the only way I can play videogames. So, I’m inviting y’all to join me on my virtual couch to hang out and journey through some of the best games of the last few years, analyzing them back-to-front and dying a lot along the way.
I’ll be honest — I didn’t think I’d be the type of person to end up streaming, and I have no idea how it’ll work out. This is something that could very well take the next year of my life (!) or longer, but it’s also a unique opportunity to share a journey that’s special to me with a lot of different people. I don’t have any real expectations, and I’m not in this for financial gain. Meeting so many different types of gamers has been the highlight of my life over the last few years, and if want to get serious about impacting the community as a positive role model, I can’t just stick to yelling at everyone from Twitter.
THE SPECIFICS / HOW YOU CAN JOIN ME:
- Visit this poll for the above list and cast your votes for which game we start on. I already picked the games — you pick the order (it’s multiple choice, so knock yourself out).
- Follow me on twitch.tv/scarizardplays
- Join me live when the Backlog airs — every weekday from 12–6PST.
- Upon completion of the most popular game, we reset the poll and roll it again.
- RT/Share/Like/etc this post (or whenever I go live) if you think I’m doing a good job, or if you know folks you’d like me to meet and jam sweet games with!
Until Monday,
