Expanding Horizons

No, this blog post has nothing to do with Forza Horizons. If that was your first thought from reading the title, as you may assume from a video game crazy man, then I’m afraid you have been misled. Talking about being misled I think I’ve been reading too many popular gaming websites these days, sprouting their attention grabbing headlines and filling my noggin with so many factoids about nothing in particular that for some reason I feel like I actually learned something useful.

Where did that chip come from? Who cares it tastes great!

So in case you didn’t notice, I’m on my soapbox today. The reason this happened is because for the first time in many years I decided to read GamesMaster magazine, my childhood publication of choice. This magazine fundamentally grew my enjoyment of gaming at a very early age into a love and a passion. I read every inch of every magazine and absorbed all the cross platform goodness even though I only owned a Gameboy and later, a Playstation. But that didn’t matter to me, what I was reading was and still is good wholesome material about games that reminds me of a time when I didn’t care about achievements, multiplayer high scores or internet hits. I feel like I’ve become too bogged down in exclusivity and review scores lately and GamesMaster has been a welcome change to the OXM’s, OPM’s and 10 out of 10’s.

I started writing because of my love for gaming and I started gaming when I was old enough to hold a Gameboy, which was harder than it sounds, as Gameboy’s were chunky grey bricks back then. Lately it feels as if this passion has been dimmed due to, in my opinion, an un-founded feeling of needing to be faithful to my platform. GamesMaster has opened my eyes to the world I have been missing, the plethora of accessible technology and platform variance.

It has also reminded me of a time when I used to read articles because they meant something to me, not because they were top news items, or because I thought it was something that someone else needed to hear, or because I was sponsored to do so (which I most certainly am not). Because I was open minded and interested and passionate.

My writing is for me a means to show what I am passionate about and that’s not what it’s been thus far. I am always looking to improve when I can, learn when I can and from now on, try my best write in a way that presents this passion to the reader.