Thank You

It's been nearly four years since I created Gaming Rocks On, a side blog for my gaming related posts here on Blogger. Months prior, I was doing a lot of work on Reggie Blogged, which was mostly a comics-based blog and years before that, I posted regular blogs over on GameSpot's website. For a time, I was way from blogging at GameSpot because in spite of all the members I knew over there, my blog never saw much in the way of comments. I foolishly thought that I was wasting my time so I started blogging here on Blogger. I don't get a great deal of comments over here, but as my father told me, it's not about comments.

When I made changes to my blog so I could see the hits it was generating, it was a genuine surprise. I had no idea the blog was getting the views that it was. Sure, it isn't anywhere near the likes of Giant Bomb or GameSpot, but for some dude who just likes to blog about video games, I'm pretty impressed with the hits. Over a very short period of time, I've seen Gaming Rocks On go from over 77,000 views to well over 80,000. Just because people aren't commenting, that doesn't mean the blog has no readership and if the blog views are anything to go by, I do indeed have a nice, sizable readership and that makes me very happy.

This blog has come a very long way since I started it. In the beginning, I didn't really have a set plan for this blog. It was just a place for me to talk about games. It still is, but over time, it's evolved. I post reviews here, talk about the toys, game tunes, game art and other special features that I probably wouldn't have thought of when I first started out. Sometimes you just have to make the decision to start before you can really go anywhere.

In the early days of Gaming Rocks On, I would post about whatever game related things came to mind. These days, I have so much to work with, it's almost overwhelming. I've got posts that are planned in advance, massive features that make me wonder if I should do them in a single post or break them up into multiple parts and lots of other things down the pipeline.

I've been inspired to come up with new features for this blog and green light some features I wasn't sure about thanks to other members on Blogger. SuperPhillip runs a fantastic blog over at SuperPhillip Central, Kayleigh Powis has 8-Bit Girl where keeps up on the news, reviews and is overall is a really nice blog. DSTE, creator of Game Over Yeah, on top of having one of the best names for a blog ever, is a really cool guy and his blog is a joy to read.

Inspiration has also come to me outside of Blogger. Retro Gamer helped me to see beyond the focus of just USA gaming and as a result, I now label UK and Japanese release dates on reviews. Retro Gamer is also an amazing magazine, full of wonderful articles and features and is a wellspring of ideas for anyone that loves old-school gaming, or gaming in general.

The YouTube community has also been great. I've been watching tons of video reviews, rant videos and Lets Plays over the last few years. It's been awesome to see the likes of Happy Console Gamer, Super Gaming Bros., Alpha Omega Sin, and many others doing what they love.

Basically, what I'm trying to say to the gamers on Blogger, YouTube, GameSpot, Retro Gamer and anyone who reads this blog is that I greatly appreciate it. For reading, gaming, blogging and doing what you enjoy, and inspiring me, I just want to say from the bottom of my heart...