Let the Rebellion Begin...

Good news everyone! You may know about the annoyingly sudden decision to shutter Rant Gaming by the corporate types at Rant Media. They made the choice to shutter us, because they did not understand the gaming industry, and they wanted instead to persue only the fields of sports and sexism ( see-or rather don't see- their new site Rant Girls). Anywhoo, to get to the point- I am pleased to announce that I will be a part of the new gaming site Rebel Gaming. This new site is born out of the ashes of Rant, and aims to continue our work over there, only do it much better. It's being started by the former Director of Content over at Rant, and all round top bloke Mr Ryan Johnson, and it will feature a good chunk of the former RG staffers (although, sadly some of the former site's best writers won't be joining us). It only launched this week, and it's very early days but Ryan surely has the technical knowledge and know-how needed to make it a success. I will fill you more about my contributions over the coming weeks but my content so far can be found here. I also highly suggest reading Rebel Gaming's mission statement for the whole story. Exciting times!.

MyM issue 13 Has Been Unleashed...

Just a quick post to give you your regular notification that MyM magazine issue number 13 is out now. As always you'll find it in all good magazine stockists in the UK, in Barnes and Noble (and possibly specialist retailers) in the US and worldwide via the App Store for iPad. Yay! In this issue you'll find my article on the Japanese monsters and ghosts known as Yokai, and three reviews: for Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood 3, and FMA the movie. Have at it! Also, in unrelated news, in the near future expect to find some original content on this very blog!

Lists, Lists and lastly, lists.

So, exactly what have I've been up to since I last updated? Writing wise, there's a fair bit of stuff that I haven't covered here yet so I figured I should fill you in. MyM issue 13 is incoming, but I'll save that for a future post. I'm still working on reposting the articles published on Rant Gaming that can be updated (when needed)  and republished, so a few of them have appeared on NerdSpan. Some more will follow, both there and elsewhere.

• 5 Classic Disney Games.
• 5 Crazy Celebrity Games
• Video Game Movie [Possibly] coming to a screen Near you.

Other Articles;
 Tiger and Bunny volume 1 Review

MyM issue 12 and other Newness

Hey folks! Issue number 12(!) of MyM magazine is now available in your local magazine emporium in the UK, Barnes and Noble in the US and on the App Store (presumably anywhere) for your enjoyment. I have a stonking great three-page feature on the ace Pirate-based animation series One Piece, plus reviews of the latest volumes of Bleach and Naruto. There's plenty of great stuff from a bevvy of fine writers too, so if I wasn't in it, I'd buy it!

On other news I will be contributing reviews for a mighty fine website named Japan Cinema. As you might expect it covers cinema from Japan, but also stuff from Korea, Hong Kong, China and elsewhere. My first review is up, others to follow.  I reviewed a smashing little animated flick Oblivion Island for Anime UK News, and I continue to publish over on NerdSpan, with my weekly feature Bonus Stage. I say weekly, but it doesn't have a strict schedule, so it could appear any day of the week. Sometimes I might miss a week (if other writing is keeping me busy) while other weeks I might give you TWO. I'm just a loose cannon. Following me on Twitter is a good idea to keep in the loop.

Other articles:
 The Price Of Gaming: Where's Best To Be a Gamer (republished on NerdSpan)
 Bonus Stage: Tomb Raider Special

Have you got your copy of MyM issue 11 yet? Shonen Showdown my "One Piece vs Bleach vs Naruto" feature is pride of place on the cover, and is the first feature in the mag too. It was a fun article to write, and the designer has once again done a bang-up job. One of the joys of print work is sending off a humble word document only to see a talented designer turn it into a thing of beauty! Elsewhere in the issue, I review Bleach: The Movie 4 - Hell Verse and Shana Series 2 Part 1 . It's in shops now (and also in the apple App Store).

In other news I am gradually working at getting my Rant Gaming articles back online and "10 future Locations for Assassin's Creed" is now back up at NerdSpan. The rest of my salvageable articles will be going up in due course, and Bonus Stage now lives on at NerdSpan too!

Write Back In The Saddle

Well, I'm glad to say that the minor set-back of the death of Rant Gaming hasn't phased me too much, and I'm back on the ol' writing horse. I've already joined the good folks at NerdSpan where I'll be helping out with their gaming section. I'll be reposting several of my Rant Gaming articles there, as well as brand spanking new stuff.I have already reposted Are Used Games Hurting The Industry? Plus NerdSpan will be the home of Bonus Stage, my regular feature highlighting Fan-art, fan videos, music Cosplay and more from the video game fan community. It was my favourite regular feature on RG so I'm delighted to be able to find it a new home.

Meanwhile, over at The Void, I wrote a little piece in defence of Pixar- "Pixar Imperfect- why it's too early to write off America's Greatest Animators". Finally (for now) look out for the new issue of MyM on February 22nd, which will feature two reviews from me and a fun article called The Shonen Showdown!

Rant Gaming RIP

 

So, as of January 31st 2013 Rant Gaming will be no more. The site, which I've been writing for since August last year is being shuttered, as Rant Media had decided to focus all it's efforts on Rant Sports instead. This decision came as a shock to all of us who worked on it, as the site seemed to be building momentum and we were all excited for it's future. Hell, they'd only just taken on a bunch of new writers. Maybe we weren't about to become IGN overnight, but this decision seems to be misguided and way premature. I'd been with them since near enough the beginning (it started in July) and had become one of it's most prolific contributors. So yeah, I'm pretty annoyed that my work is going to oblivion, but what can you do? It's kind of depressing to think of the hundreds of hours we've collectively spent that are disappearing into the ether. Nonetheless I'm thankful for the opportunity, and all in all it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. The worst thing is that I'm sad to be leaving behind a crew of fine writers, and generally awesome human beings who I've got to know over my time at Rant. I'm going to be following all their work though, and hopefully I will be able to work with many of them again in future.

In the short term I'm hoping to get several of my articles back up online. I'm looking for suitable places to repost the stuff that's worth doing so, and I will keep you updated. I should be able to bring you some exciting news very soon.