So far, we've made it one month. What does the future hold?

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The Armchair Empire So Far

As September moves to October, and as we get ready for the long, cold winter, the Armchair Empire closes its first month of existence looking forward to what month number two will bring.

We’ve covered a whole lot this month. We had our first impressions of Nintendo’s Gamecube, previewed over two dozen games for a variety of platforms, added a Gaming Goodies section, reviewed many old and new games, written rants of various lengths and comprehension, interviewed Julie Strain, played with toys, and asked for reader input. All I can say is, damn this is fun!

I’ve learned more about the gaming industry in this one month than I have in the last five years. And I’m playing more games. Strangely, I also have more time to do other things. The website has forced me to be organized. Time on my computer is very structured, I have something to do and I do it. Up until a month ago I didn’t use bookmarks. I would type in web addresses. Bookmarks allow me to access ten or twelve sites in as many minutes, printing out any new information for easy reading during my morning bus commute. I’ve learned how to read PR-speak. PR is essentially a giant propaganda machine. There’s nothing wrong with this, afterall, they want to sell games so they can continue to make games. Occasionally, the PR-speak is incredibly convoluted, making a card game out to be the reason to buy a Playstation2. And PR people work extremely hard. They get deluged with

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emails, faxes and letters and try to respond to them all in a timely manner. Of course, some companies succeed at this more often than others do. But it’s cool to receive big press kits in the mail and daily emails to get most of the insider information. I’ve been in contact with gaming editors and developers to talk about the latest stuff and life in general. (Our interview with Jeff Green ranks as one of my personal favourite articles.)

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So where the hell is The Armchair Empire going? We’re going places. Upcoming features include a look at games from start to finish. We’ll trace the path from development to distribution to critical analysis. As a part of this article we’ll be looking at office spaces at each stage so the question of "how high are the ceilings at Electronic Arts?" can be answered. The week leading up to Hallowe’en we’ll feature horror games, hopefully with a Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead: Hail to the King) interview at the same time. And of course, we’ll still churn out new and classic game reviews and the latest previews as developers and publishers gear up for Christmas. Above all, we’ll be having fun. Isn’t that what games are all about?

Omni

"You just sparked a memory that I can’t remember."


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