Retro Gaming Australia

It has been five years since I wrote a State of the Website address, and roughly about the same since we have done regular updates on the site. The site as it is really just exists as an archive for previously written content and the Australian Gaming Database, which never really officially launched, but is there for all to see. This site doesn’t cost much to host and takes very little time to maintain without active content production.

The lack of updates and content boils down to work, personal life and no desire to write. Back when this site was regularly updated, I was either unemployed or in a junior role in my current job. I am now in management. Life decisions like purchasing a house limited my available funds for purchasing retro games, and we found that we were just as happy to play them on mini classic consoles or via emulation. All the while, prices shot through the roof through increased demand and the drop in the Australian dollar. Plus I hate waiting for stuff to come in the mail, and getting it out in the wild is not really an option.

That third point is an interesting one. I have written about video games in some capacity since 2001, starting with amateur reviews and game guides, and eventually through to paid reviews. When you get paid well for something, it becomes difficult to do it for less and/or no money. RGA at its peak made a little bit of beer money after covering its costs, which is more than most hobbyist sites. Writing content takes a lot of time, and writing good content takes more. I’m pretty terrible at writing now, as you’d be able to easily tell comparing any earlier work on this site (coming hot off the heels of 3 years of full time writing) compared to this piece.

The Internet has moved on from writing now. There has never really been a lot of interest in reading good long form content, and there is less now. Basically anything I would write now is just for me, and posted here or on Frothing Demand. Having not done a lot of writing for some time, I find it difficult and that’s demotivating.

Video content and streaming have taken over. Certainly I have the means to get all of the equipment required to shoot video, and I can edit a video together. We tried our hand at it before to limited success. That just all takes a lot of time that I could spend actually playing the games that this site is about – and believe me, although I don’t write about retro games much, I still play them every single day. That would make streaming appealing, and I haven’t quite ruled it out yet, but I would only do it for my own amusement.

So, plans for the year:

• Make sure site doesn’t turn into dumpster fire
• Do a little bit here and there on AGDB
• Maybe futz around with streaming