One Year of The Nocturnal Rambler

On July 12th of 2011, I published my first article on this blag -- my rambling thoughts on the good and bad elements of the first Mass Effect. Since then I've continued to write reviews of whatever games I was playing at the time while offering occasional commentary on the industry in general. In the past year I've published 152 articles and still have 22 drafts kicking around that may one day develop into full articles. Over 60,000 total page views and 109 published comments. And still no six-figure endorsement money. Perhaps it's time I start posting obnoxious PayPal donation links everywhere.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount of praise and acknowledgment that regular and incidental readers have had to offer; it's rather validating to know that you all appreciate the thought I put into these things. Even though this is basically just a frivolous hobby, I feel like I've done a fair bit of good for gaming by criticizing everything that's wrong with Skyrim and Twilight Princess, and for giving the spotlight to some lesser-known gems. I've had a lot of fun reviewing TV episodes that use video games as their central plot device, and it was fun putting my psychology background to use interpreting a news piece on video game violence.

As year two of The Nocturnal Rambler rolls on, I hope to continue growing with my writing while keeping pace with reviews and opinionated editorials. I'd like to remodel the aesthetic design of the blog some day, and find inspiration for some new periodical series to run (anybody have any ideas or suggestions?). Free and effective publicity would be nice, too, but that seems like a lot of work. Either way, thank you to everyone who visits this humble site, and a special thanks for all of the kind words so far. Hard to believe an entire year can go by so quickly.