Hello, and welcome to my blog!
I'll make it as brief as possible: A Mouthful of Games is a blog about video games. Here I intend to review every game I play, as well as write about games in general and what they mean to me. Yup, this time it's personal.
Over the course of 30+ years, I've discovered, abandoned and rediscovered games time and time again. It's an endless loop. They've inspired, agonized, uplifted, infuriated, consoled, oppressed, and relieved me. Above all, I realise they have sheltered me from everything mundane.
When they're good, games contain an emotional immediacy I've yet to encounter in almost any other sort of popular culture. You can go from utter despair to silly, ecstatic joy in a matter of minutes or even seconds. Want to check the full range of your emotions? Play the right video game, man. The only thing I can compare it to is watching a really exciting sports game involving your favorite team.
It's safe to say we've had our differences, games and I. At times I thought we were done for good, but they somehow always clawed their way back. This time it seems like they're here to stay, because they're going places fast. The future clearly belongs to games - for me as for all. There's no denying it. Who would have thought it thirty years ago? The first game I ever played, back in 1985(?), was this one, called Wipe-Out (the video is not mine):
Apart from that I do all the regular stuff that city slickers do - listen to music & podcasts, watch TV & movies, read, exercise and shop around. Summertimes, I love to jog or simply stroll around in the woods. Unfortunately, the winters here are long, dark and harsh. They leave me stranded in my apartment for long hours. This gives me a lot of time to catch up with games.
This is my first venture into English, and it's a little scary. I've previously tried out vanilla blogging, movie reviews and poetry, albeit in Swedish. I'm planning on publishing a collection of poems (in Swedish) before long. I have a few ready but as for the rest, suffice it to say I've got my work cut out for me. If this blog falls silent for a while, it could be because I'm working on that. But that's a whole different story.
Oh, and in case you're wondering - here are some of my favorite games, without any particular order: The Witcher III, Dark Souls, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Demon's Souls, The Last Guardian, Silent Hill 2, The Last of Us, The Mass Effect Trilogy and Red Dead Redemption. Together they reveal my one weakness - I tend to gravitate toward the story- and lore-heavy stuff.
I'll also write some personal stories. These will be stories from and around games and my experience with them; anything I can think of, if I can think of anything. I've got a few of them in mind already but I don't know if they're good enough to make the cut. We'll have to see about that.
But mostly there will be reviews. My long history with games have left me with the backlog to end all backlogs. If there is an end goal to this, it will be to eradicate said backlog by forcing myself to play the games. And what better way to do that than to review them? Of course, my catalogue will expand/refresh itself in the process as I purchase newer games.
So, there will be a healthy mix of fresh and retro going on. I already have a few reviews ready for publication. I'll try and catch some gameplay footage as well, albeit without commentary.
I will use the same rating system I used for my movie blog, consisting of stars - from zero to four - and half-stars, zero being the lowest grade and four the highest, naturally.
Why not a 10-grade scale, you ask? Simply because I find that the more extensive the rating system, the more inflated it gets. Eventually, most games will end up on the upper quarter of the scale. By then, will anything beneath a 9 on a scale of 10 worth playing?
And don't get me started on the 100-grade scale. What's the distinction between a 74 and 75 anyway? Why does the distinction even matter?
With a star rating of up to four, I feel like I'll use the entire scale. But of course, most of all I hope that my writing will speak for itself - grade or no grade.
If you want a five star rating, consider this the fifth star.
I have already decided which game will be first. I can't wait to play it again. You might be surprised. These I will choose out of a personal preference at times, and sometimes out of historical importance. I'll let you know how and why they qualify.
And I think that'll have to be enough for this introduction. I've been looking forward to get blogging again. This'll be fun.
See you soon!
I'll make it as brief as possible: A Mouthful of Games is a blog about video games. Here I intend to review every game I play, as well as write about games in general and what they mean to me. Yup, this time it's personal.
Over the course of 30+ years, I've discovered, abandoned and rediscovered games time and time again. It's an endless loop. They've inspired, agonized, uplifted, infuriated, consoled, oppressed, and relieved me. Above all, I realise they have sheltered me from everything mundane.
When they're good, games contain an emotional immediacy I've yet to encounter in almost any other sort of popular culture. You can go from utter despair to silly, ecstatic joy in a matter of minutes or even seconds. Want to check the full range of your emotions? Play the right video game, man. The only thing I can compare it to is watching a really exciting sports game involving your favorite team.
It's safe to say we've had our differences, games and I. At times I thought we were done for good, but they somehow always clawed their way back. This time it seems like they're here to stay, because they're going places fast. The future clearly belongs to games - for me as for all. There's no denying it. Who would have thought it thirty years ago? The first game I ever played, back in 1985(?), was this one, called Wipe-Out (the video is not mine):
SO, WHO THE HELL AM I?
No one of consequence, that's who - a northern Swedish postal worker (for the time being) closing in on my forties (for the time being). Writing is a hobby of mine, and has been for all my life - I just never realised it until about 13 years ago, when I started blogging. Apart from games, writing is the only thing that I can lose myself in to the extent that I forget to eat. I'll try and keep that from happening this time (I'm already failing).Apart from that I do all the regular stuff that city slickers do - listen to music & podcasts, watch TV & movies, read, exercise and shop around. Summertimes, I love to jog or simply stroll around in the woods. Unfortunately, the winters here are long, dark and harsh. They leave me stranded in my apartment for long hours. This gives me a lot of time to catch up with games.
This is my first venture into English, and it's a little scary. I've previously tried out vanilla blogging, movie reviews and poetry, albeit in Swedish. I'm planning on publishing a collection of poems (in Swedish) before long. I have a few ready but as for the rest, suffice it to say I've got my work cut out for me. If this blog falls silent for a while, it could be because I'm working on that. But that's a whole different story.
Oh, and in case you're wondering - here are some of my favorite games, without any particular order: The Witcher III, Dark Souls, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Demon's Souls, The Last Guardian, Silent Hill 2, The Last of Us, The Mass Effect Trilogy and Red Dead Redemption. Together they reveal my one weakness - I tend to gravitate toward the story- and lore-heavy stuff.
PLANS FOR THIS BLOG
Over the years a few game ideas have popped into my mind, but of course I never made any effort to make anything palpable of them. I had no knowledge, money, confidence or contacts to even take a first step. Some of these ideas have since been realised by other people - or at least incorporated into existing game franchises. No regrets, though. I'm really glad that I actually could see some of them on the screen, or at least parts of them. I plan on writing about these ideas here (provided I can remember them).I'll also write some personal stories. These will be stories from and around games and my experience with them; anything I can think of, if I can think of anything. I've got a few of them in mind already but I don't know if they're good enough to make the cut. We'll have to see about that.
But mostly there will be reviews. My long history with games have left me with the backlog to end all backlogs. If there is an end goal to this, it will be to eradicate said backlog by forcing myself to play the games. And what better way to do that than to review them? Of course, my catalogue will expand/refresh itself in the process as I purchase newer games.
So, there will be a healthy mix of fresh and retro going on. I already have a few reviews ready for publication. I'll try and catch some gameplay footage as well, albeit without commentary.
RATINGS FOR REVIEWS - A Christmas Tree Approach
Why not a 10-grade scale, you ask? Simply because I find that the more extensive the rating system, the more inflated it gets. Eventually, most games will end up on the upper quarter of the scale. By then, will anything beneath a 9 on a scale of 10 worth playing?
And don't get me started on the 100-grade scale. What's the distinction between a 74 and 75 anyway? Why does the distinction even matter?
With a star rating of up to four, I feel like I'll use the entire scale. But of course, most of all I hope that my writing will speak for itself - grade or no grade.
HALL OF FAME
Occasionally - maybe every 10th-20th review or so - I will write extensively about a favorite game of mine and consider it an inductee into my personal hall of fame. It's inspired by Roger Ebert's "Great Movies"-list.If you want a five star rating, consider this the fifth star.
I have already decided which game will be first. I can't wait to play it again. You might be surprised. These I will choose out of a personal preference at times, and sometimes out of historical importance. I'll let you know how and why they qualify.
And I think that'll have to be enough for this introduction. I've been looking forward to get blogging again. This'll be fun.
See you soon!
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