A note on the direction of Video Works (Patreon)

Hi all, 

I don't post non-video updates here too often, because there's not really all that much to say beyond "thank you for helping me create these videos." Lately, though, I've been thinking a lot about the purpose and direction of this project, and everything has come into much sharper focus these past few months. I figured I should share my thoughts here and give you a sense of the direction my plans have been building.

Video Works began as a strictly Game Boy-related project, but that was never intended to be the full scope of it. I had already been workshopping ideas for a comprehensive NES project for years, and I also hoped to explore the full breadth of portable games beyond that. NES Works launched back in 2015 in time for the system's 30th anniversary, while the "full breadth of portable games" part was a bit slower in coming... as in five years slower, since I have only very recently kicked off Lynx coverage. 

The Lynx delay ultimately came down to my not wanting to commit to a 70-plus-week one-game-per-episode Lynx series. With Metroidvania Works moving to a format that can incorporate four or more titles per episode, that's opened the door for a more synopsis-style approach to Lynx (and Game Gear, which you'll see soon). The Lynx side series will end up being 15-20 episodes in total, spread across the length of Game Boy Works... and while there'll be more Game Gear episodes than that (due to that system's more expansive library), that coverage will be produced with a similar approach.

However, there's been a thought nagging at me for a long time: Between NES Works and Game Boy Works, this project is ultimately an effort to tell the story of console and portable video game history. However, it's been presented almost entirely from a Nintendo point of view, simply because those are the systems I grew up with and relate to the most. But I've made an active effort with Retronauts (and even video projects like Metroidvania Works) to push beyond the Nintendo sphere, and I constantly reference games from other platform ecosystems when discussing NES and Game Boy titles. While it's humanly impossible for me to comprehensively cover every video game ever made, I do increasingly feel I should make an effort to touch on other systems—not just to recognize those platforms, but also to provide greater context for the Nintendo systems. 

Now that I've leapt into Lynx and Game Gear, and now that the Gaiden approach I'm taking for both has proven solid, everything is starting to come into focus. I intend to continue focusing primarily on NES and Game Boy, but I want to acknowledge the other systems and games that were out there at the same time—not just competing with NES and Game Boy, but also introducing great ideas that would be picked up by games on Nintendo consoles, as well as original works that would later be ported to NES and Game Boy (et al.). The Renegade/Double Dragon II and Bubble Bobble GB episodes I've recently put together have demonstrated the importance of speaking to precedent and context, and the next Lynx episode also would have turned out a bit stronger if I had already shown off the NES versions of those games...

In other words, I finally have a central thesis for the Video Works project as a whole. (It's only taken me six years.) Specifically: Video Works tells the story of the modern American console gaming industry. Beginning in October 1985, when the NES jumpstarted a stagnant market and proved that game enthusiasts were still hungry for great console games despite all the bad stuff that went down with the Atari 2600 market, the American console market rebooted into the industry we see today—and it shaped the global gaming industry, too, by introducing modern licensing models with the NES lockout chip. Tracing the way games evolved after that is kind of the point of all of this.

This has already been discussed pretty comprehensively in the early episodes of NES Works. But what I haven't explored are the other systems that launched alongside the NES: The Atari 7800 and Sega Master System. Then NES Works 1987 ended with no acknowledgement of the fact that the PC Engine in Japan overseas at the end of 1987, completely changing the dynamic of the Japanese market from which the best NES games hailed.

So what does this mean? It means I'm recalibrating my content somewhat to take a more disciplined, focused approach to coverage. In the coming months, I intend to wind down Game Boy Works 1990 while running regular Gaiden episodes about Lynx and Game Gear that will bring all three systems to the end of 1990. And then, it's back over to NES Works for 1988. But once I return to NES, I think I'm going to stick with it for a while—as in, for several years of releases. That is, until NES coverage reaches the end of 1990 and the point we've reached with Game Boy/Lynx/Game Gear. Along the way, I'm going to take a similar Gaiden approach for NES's counterparts with overviews of the U.S. release chronology for the systems that were launched after NES: 7800 and Master System. And, I suppose, eventually TG16 and Genesis games. And once we reach 1991, Game Boy and its rivals enter the mix, too. And then we get to 1992 and catch up with Super NES.

It's an expansive plan, I realize! Honestly, I see this series as a lifetime project. (Hopefully, a long lifetime....) If at the end of it I can look back and show off a comprehensive chronology of a critical decade or so in the evolution of video games, I'll feel like I have contributed something of value to the world. And I'll still nip into the future from time to time. I realize I bit off more than I can chew by attempting N64/GBC/GBA coverage, so I think I may move those series away from complete chronologies and let them focus on interesting games with no particular order, to keep things lively. And there's the question of Neo Geo Pocket—I've always wanted to tackle that platform, so the instant NGPC video capture becomes an option, I will absolutely give it the self-contained Virtual Boy treatment.

SO, IN SUMMARY:

1. Wrap up Game Boy Works 1990, along with portable gaming through the end of 1990

2. Move along to NES Works 1988, while covering competing systems along the way

3. Keep right on moving through NES Works 1989 and ’90, with side surveys of competing systems for context

4. Katamari GB Works and Super NES Works into this ball of coverage as we reach ’91 and ’92

5. Keep on going until I die?

6. (Metroidvania Works keeps on keepin' on once every month or two, because I love it and everyone else seems to love it)

X. Wildcard: Neo Geo Pocket Color???

Sound good? I agree. It really does.

This means I'll probably be changing up the tiers for this Patreon campaign before the end of the year to get rid of unpopular tiers, introduce new incentives, and grapple with the fact that these videos have become WAY more time-consuming to produce (and expensive to source games for). Don't worry, the basic support tier isn't going to jump to $5/mo. or anything; I have some ideas on ways I can supplement the video content here with additional material that will enrich what I'm already creating. None of this will happen until I deliver the Super NES Works Vol. I and Virtual Boy Works books, though! (And everyone who is supporting the color book tier as of this month will also be receiving a third bonus book by, hopefully, the end of the year.)

I think that's about it? It's actually kind of a lot. I'm interested to hear your feedback on this. Thank you once again for your support!