G'day legends, hope everyone is well! I've got a few different things to update you on, upcoming content, mental health, games, life stuff, all the fun classics.
tl;dr: videos are on the way but April is probably going to be a right off!
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VIDEOS) Let's start with some good news, I've got 2 videos in the works currently. The first is a new GAME TESTING episode, yeah! Unreal right, it's been over a year since the last one. I think I definitely needed the break because I had fun getting back into it. Having said that, I don't know how consistently they're going to be seen. I'd like to do a REALLY big one like some of the classics where I do like 20 games in a single video but I find even just with a standard episode, man I'm fucking tired. They fully tucker me out like they never used to do, so the long awaited adjustment over to live streaming is finally making it into my immediate plans. More on that in a bit!
I'm also working on a new review, episode 193 is going to be on some wrestling games. Something I also haven't done in a while. Simply just found myself getting into some retro classics (and not so classics) and got in the mood. No crazy dressing up as Macho Man or anything like that, I just wanna talk about the games and if it goes over well then maybe a Hawktober-esque mass review series could be an option in the future. But yeah for now, just working on that. It's in the script phase and I'm hoping to have it up before Wrestlemania this year (the first weekend of April) to try and get a little slice of the relevant topic searches!
After that though... I've got no idea!
APRIL) So April is looking really stacked in my personal life. Honestly the entire start of this year has had a lot going on but April is really important. My partner Donnie is having an important surgery early on in the month (nothing bad, we're really excited) and recovery is intense so I'm obviously going to have to pick up the slack around the house. On top of that, we're gonna have family staying with us to help as well with travel and whatnot and then after all that is done... I'm also due to catch up with a friend for a few days while they're in town... once that's over, so is April.
So yeah got a lot on which is going to impact workflow. I'll still be chipping away at things, not 100% sure what yet. Maybe some early 3d-era GTA games? No idea but I will keep you guys posted. Worst case, I'll have some live streams happening to fill in the void while I'm working on getting more substantial videos completed. Just have to play it by ear.
LIVESTREAMS) Some of you may have caught I did a livestream a few weeks ago playing Crash 1 which was a lot of fun. I think I might finally be in the headspace to attempt more streaming on an irregular basis. No schedules or anything, I enjoy just kinda going live and whoever is around can check it out and there is always replays available. Not only is it a less intensive way to play through stuff vs. setting up a game testing episode (mentally I put a lot more pressure on myself). But I've always enjoyed the direct interaction. And if I'm having an off day where I'm feeling unproductive, chilling on stream CAN be productive which is gonna help with not beating myself up all the time. So I have been setting up Stream Elements recently, all the little popups and notifications for my overlays like a real streamer.
I've been working really hard to adjust my workflow and my approach to content production over the past 12 months to find something more comfortable for myself because simple fact is that mentally... emotionally... I can't do things the same way I always have done!
MENTAL) Even though my mental health is 100 times better now than it was say in... 2019,2020, I'm still on the recovery from that time period and it's a roll of the dice each morning on how I feel. For example: suddenly waking up on one of the hottest days all Summer and thinking "yep, I wanna do game testing" is a rare thing for me. Most days I'm often more lethargic or in my head to the point that it's a big hurdle to feel productive with anything. I've already taken some big steps such as reducing the amount of energy I need to be on camera. I'm a lot more chill these days and that's a big reason why, I've still got a big loud personality but I'm more content with where I'm at now and I want that to be my normal on camera presence.
But also the things I've mentioned above like streaming, less strict deadlines/schedules is all a part of making the process more tolerable and less of a ball-ache mentally for me so that I can do more each week. And I have been doing really well lately, smashing through a lot of different games that I wanna talk about at some point, doing research and feeling more active in general both in regards to the creative process AND my personal life. I'm looking after myself better, finding time and energy to work and then also still cook real food for dinner, going to the gym, all of that important stuff.
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Closing Thoughts) So yeah that's where I'm at: doing well overall but still working some things out and trying to find a comfy groove that works on a consistent basis. I've had a lot fun working on this wrestling game, it's required me to play A LOT of games I haven't touched in years to collect footage and examples for comparison and all that, been having a blast with it. And now that I've wrapped my head around streaming, that is definitely something I'm looking forward to enjoying once again!
As always, thanks everyone for putting up with my shit and sticking with me, supporting me. Love all you guys, wouldn't be able to do it without you honestly! Currently looking to upgrade my 7 year old PC to squeeze more life out of it as well as expanding my storage options because I've had a few external drives start to crap out. I will hopefully have an update on all of that next month but until then, I hope you all have a great fucking day. Cheers guys, take it easy! 👍