Volume 5's Topic, and Other Big Announcements!

Volume 5's Topic Finalized, New Temporary Publishing Schedule Takes Effect, and a Very Lucky Survey Respondent Wins Big!

Jan 15, 2023

Good morning, dear readers!

I hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday morning (or whichever’s the time of day where you live). I have some big announcements for everyone, so pour yourself a cuppa, have a seat, stay a while, and listen. First off:

❌🗞️📲 No New Issue Today 📆🔜📚

I’d been working my butt off on a concluding article to wrap up Volume 4, but dozens of hours and 10,000 words later, it’s just not good enough. It’s not a good fit for the Volume’s overarching theme, and—more importantly—the quality just isn’t up to par. My readers deserve better, and the clock’s ticked long enough on this piece as is. So alas, it gets the axe.

Besides, my latest series (the four-parter on the Chrono games) also taxed my brain’s processing capacity so much that I’m quite burned out on the topic of time. This, along with the fact that Volume 4 was by far the worst-performing out of all four volumes, and it being an entirely new year, all pointed to one thing: perhaps it’s time to let time fly. Away. Into the sunset.

Who knows, maybe I’ll publish some of the better parts as bonus material for my paid subscribers. Either way, and to end on Volume 4’s theme of time, I have decided to leave the past and enter the future.

So instead of toiling for days writing a contrived and inauthentic bookend to a merely “OK” volume, I’ll use this time prepare for and write for the next chapter (literally and figuratively) in Game & Word’s journey.

Oh! And speaking of new chapters, I’ve chosen—or rather, you’ve chosen—the topic for Game & Word Volume 5!

🧙‍♀️🔮 Double, Double, Game & Trouble… 🪄✨

My, oh my… I had no idea my readers were such a mystically-inclined bunch! The clear winner in the poll to pick Volume 5’s topic was MAGIC (full title: “AbraCODEabra: The Mystical, Mysterious, and Magical Side of Video Games,”) beating out the likes of food and even pets (!!!) to snag the top spot, at 39% of the vote! Alakazam!

If you’re curious, the results are in the New Year’s Eve issue, but I’ll go ahead and list them here anyway:

Magic: 39%
Food: 17%
Pets: 22%
Society: 22%

The people hath spoken! Not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping that pets would win out, but rest easy, I will actually honor the poll’s results. And since magic was the poll’s clear winner, magic will be Volume 5’s topic.

Besides, magic is as fascinating as pets are adorable and food is delicious. Both the practice and the very concept of magic has a fascinating history, a complicated (and often deadly) relationship with society, and enough mystery, danger, and wonder to fuel multiple literary and artistic genres for centuries. Think about it: what would the Fantasy genre even be, without magic?

Video games are no exception—and I guarantee that once you’re done with this series, you’ll be constantly spotting mystical and esoteric references that the developers have hidden, in plain sight, in countless games. And I’m not just talking about LEGO Harry Potter, either!

So… get ready, neophytes! You’re about to be inducted into the Superb Hidden Order of Wise, Outstanding, Fantastic and Flawless Sorcerers (SHOWOFFS). Just go ahead and put on this oversized hooded robe, stand in the middle of that NES Power Pad, wave this Wiimote around, and repeat after me:

Mario to my North,
Master Chief to my East,
Through the power of the GameShark,
I now have infinite lives!

Excellent. Now that you’ve been initiated, you can start learning the hidden, arcane secrets of your favorite games. In the meantime, start familiarizing yourself with your first spell: The Konami Code. And remember the first rule of SHOWOFFS: you do not talk about SHOWOFFS (unless it’s to bless the world with awareness of your own exceptional brilliance).

Ok, back to normality!

⏳🕑🔚 Schedule Updates 🔜⌛️🕘

Since I’ve decided to let Volume 4 die quietly and in dignity, I’ll immediately start preparing for Volume 5. Throughout this time (about ~3-4 weeks, give or take a week or so), I will focus on planning, writing, lining up podcast guests, and generally frontloading as much content as I can so I don’t lose my mind pulling all-nighters to stay on schedule.

To help me achieve this, I am pausing delivery of Game & Word’s free weekly newsletter throughout the planning period, effective immediately. However, Paid subscribers will continue to receive weekly articles—these will be shorter, slightly more topical, and more “casual” than the regular newsletter, but just as fun and informative.

So, if you still want to get your weekly fix until Volume 5’s launch, you know what to do:

🧾✔️📊 Survey Raffle Winner! 🎟️💰💃

Thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy days to fill out the Game & Word reader survey! Responses are now closed, and based on the feedback I’ve received, I’m going to experiment with new structures, topics, and content formats.

But first, I’d like to announce the winner of the survey raffle! Congratulations, Leanne Hillegas, on being the lucky winner! Enjoy your Amazon gift card, and thank you—both for filling out the survey, and for your ongoing readership and support!

🎧🎙️💬 The Game & Word Mini-Podcast Tour 📢🌐📲

In another change of pace, I’ve been making my way through a mini podcast circuit, of sorts. Over the past few weeks, as well as throughout the next few weeks, I’ve been invited on podcasts covering all sorts of different topics, where I do my best to educate hosts and audiences about the wonders of video games.

These are great opportunities for showcasing games’ artistic value, narrative potency, and educational potential to audiences beyond the gaming community—and in the process, to also dispel the maddeningly persistent myths and stigma seared onto video games by decades of inaccurate and sensationalized media coverage.

Two of my appearances are now live, with more to come in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more!

👾✍️📖 Until Next Time! 💡📲💯

That’s it for now, but fear not—I’ll still be around these next few weeks! Paid subscribers will get their weekly updates, but please feel free to stop by the Game & Word Subscriber Chat to say hi, recommend a game, share fan theories, or simply chat about whatever’s on your mind. It’s free, though you do need the mobile app to access the threads.