Hello folks, welcome back! It’s been a while since we wound down things with the old site. Ross and I took a much-needed break from trying to force ourselves to cover as many games as possible and trying to make HalfGen into something it really couldn’t be as a two-man operation. As some of you know we’ve still been doing the podcast as a monthly show and having a great time doing it. It came as a shock to both of us when the itch to do some writing came back after all this time. A few weeks later and a 4-year deal on hosting and HalfGen is back with a fresh new look and a new perspective.
HalfGen is a passion project and something Ross and I love to do, but not something we have the time or ability to commit to in a way that drives growth. Ross is soon to be a father and I have more responsibility than ever thanks to a promotion at my day job. Even still, we’re both passionate about games and we both like expressing that, so bringing back the site the right way was something that interested us. We’re not going to be posting every week and we’re not going to be covering every game that comes out, that’s impossible for any two people to do. We’re also not looking to ask people to contribute for free, that’s hardly fair.
So what is HalfGen now, besides a spiffy new logo? It’s a place where you can get our opinions on what we’ve been playing. “Games old and new, you’ll get our point of view,” still rings true and we’ll cover the gamut of new releases and old-school classics. We’ll have the occasional video posted on our YouTube (check the link up top) and always have the podcast ready to go each month (I’ll need to line up a new co-host when Ross has to go full dad mode). Among the changes is the reduction in the number of types of articles we write. We have condensed things into just a handful of categories:
Reviews
One-Offs and Editorials
Podcasts
Videos
Gone are the days of Final Says and back in is the traditional review. Back when we were first starting HalfGen we looked at the writing on the wall and believed that people weren’t interested in full-scale reviews anymore, opting for shorter snippets or quick videos. We thought our Final Says was a solid solution to that, a two-paragraph explanation of whether or not we recommend a game with supplemental pieces afterward providing deeper explanations. At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly, but a Final Say rarely felt final when we wanted to keep writing about a game, leading to us delaying their release until it almost didn’t matter anymore. Final Says also got tough to write. Two paragraphs became three, sometimes four but condensed into super paragraphs. It clearly wasn’t working. Instead of fixing it, we closed up shop.
For this relaunch, we’re back with the tried and true review. I know Ross is especially happy about this, but it was even refreshing for me despite the fact that I got into a review rut long before HalfGen. With our new format, we’re bringing in review scores (I know it sounds silly but there’s just something about seeing the number that makes it feel good) and experimenting with some formatting at the end of reviews to deliver a quick, concise overview for those who will simply scroll to the bottom anyway. Besides, once they see the score they’ll probably scour the review anyway to figure out why it wasn’t higher/lower.
One-Offs and Editorials is the home for all other written content. For the things a review can’t cover, discussions of industry trends, or simply to reminisce about times long forgotten, you’ll find them here. I wouldn’t expect anything crazy out of them, at least for the time being, but I look forward to writing a few things about what’s on my mind in games. Videos will have posts with our YouTube videos linked and Podcasts will be the home for our various feeds for your convenience. If we have ideas for new stuff we want to do or feel that we want to expand our repertoire then we will adjust these as needed.
If you guys have ideas for HalfGen please feel free to reach out to me at chris@halfgen.com, my inbox is always open. Until next time, see you here on HalfGen!
