A weekly status update from everyone’s favourite caffeinated weirdo.

🎵Guess who’s back? (Back.) Back again (again). Coffee’s back! (Back.) Tell a friend! (Friend.)🎵

It’s been a hot minute since you last heard from me, Coffee of Games with Coffee! In the months since my last correspondence to you all, I’ve been hard at work on a variety of things. Today’s update is kind of a return to form on my end. I want to get back into a consistent schedule of written content and this will be the start of many more insightful entries for 2024.

A Return to Basics

Real talk: I miss blogging. I miss talking about video games and why they mean so much to me. More importantly, I miss connecting with readers and reading other viewpoints. It’s going to be a difficult process but I will make an effort to be more involved in the gaming community through this site. That being said, I will have to sacrifice some things. The first being streaming and most social media.

I have to face the facts. I love streaming, but trying to find time to do that at this season of life that I’m in is impossible. So, I’m not going to kill myself only for my efforts to be in vain. If I do return to streaming, I’ll focus less on video games and more on creative hobbies, like LEGO, model kits and other things. The days of me streaming my gameplay, I think, are over. Sorry.

As for social media, I’ve taken an indefinite break. Six or seven years in, I’ve learned that I’m not all that good at posting my thoughts, haha. As such, I’m not gonna force it like I have been these past few years. I’ll keep trying, but aside from post promotions, don’t expect too many personal thoughts about things from me on those platforms. Less time spent on social media is a good thing for my creativity, I think.

The Next Steps

So, what’s left? I’m still writing. It’s my outlet, my raison d’etre. It’s what brings me joy, and so, I’m doubling down on it as much as possible. Alongside writing is gaming. Recently, I’ve felt very disillusioned with my secondary pastime. Part of it is due to how game dev employees have been treated as of late. Part of it is how disgusted I feel at the state of gaming today, with subscriptions being shoved down our throats. And part of it is the unacceptable and toxic behaviour displayed by a very loud minority of gatekeepers. I rebranded the site to combat those things, but now, I’m just burnt out.

I love games and I love writing. So, this year, I’m rekindling those passions and setting aside the stewardship of gaming, at least temporarily. 2024 will be the year I focus strictly on my backlog. No new games. Just me, 133 physical and digital titles spread out over 18 consoles, and the progression through that backlog which I’ll note here. I’m calling it “Backlog Busting.” Look out for the first entry coming out soon.

Mobius VII is still ongoing. I’ve hit the halfway point of the story and have just crossed 100K words, but I’m stuck in a rut right now. I know I’ll get over it and progress on Book II will continue shortly. I’m aiming for a June release, similar to when I started publishing Book I four years ago. As I work through the block, I’ve decided to try and read more. As a writer, reading is the best way to hone the craft and I haven’t been consistent with it. So, I’ll track it like I do with everything else.

As for my fitness goals, I had a few setbacks due to health, but I’m trending in the right direction when it comes to getting ridiculously strong. Expect updates on my progress as usual.

Whatcha Been Up To?

Gaming-wise, I have multiple titles in progress.

I finished Double Dragon II: The Revenge for the NES, which I’ll write in more detail for the first Backlog Busting entry of 2024. Long story short, it’s a fun, but difficult beat-em-up that doesn’t demand a large time commitment.

I’m currently playing the hard mode chapters in Final Fantasy VII Remake on PS5, which looks gorgeous, btw. Remake really helped me appreciate just how much I love Final Fantasy VII. Expect a Backlog Busting entry on that one some time in February.

Finally, I’ve completed Light Crusader for the Sega Genesis. It’s an unexpectedly fun dungeon crawler that I first played on my Genesis Mini back in 2019. It’s been on my TBP since then. Thankfully, the game is available on the the Sega Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online app, which I used to beat it. As it was developed by Treasure, there are a lot of elements that are shared between this title and other Treasure games, like Landstalker and Gunstar Heroes. I’ll talk about this more in a Backlog Busting entry.

I mentioned Mobius VII already, but to reiterate, I’m writing an epic boss fight chapter right now. I know what to write, I’m just stuck on writing it. The motivation just isn’t there, but it will come soon enough. The rest of the book should flow smoothly after that fight. I’m especially excited to write the latter chapters. I’ve repurposed the Cosmo Canyon section of the story to fit my setting and I can’t wait to present the delicious twist I’ve cooked up in that part!

I’m currently reading Ronin: A Star Wars Visions Novel. Set in a feudal Japan-esque galactic setting based on the Star Wars Visions animated shorts, the story follows an unnamed Ronin on the hunt for someone or something. I just started, but it’s intriguing so far. I’ll share an update on this for next week.

Fitness-wise, I’m getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I should be able to be more consistent with exercise by next week or so.

That’s it for updates. What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments below! I’ll catch you next week!

~Coffee