Well, kinda. It’s going to cease to exist in its current form.

As of today, July 5th 2010, PK Bloggin’! is no longer a video game blog. I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past few days, and honestly, I think it’s a good decision for me and for the blog itself.

To be honest, I am not nearly as into video games as I used to be. Right now I’m 26 years old, planning on getting married in about two months, and I work a full-time job. I just don’t have the TIME to be as into games as I used to. Not even just that, but reading Kotaku and its commenters I find that I’m pretty disconnected from what today’s gaming culture has evolved into. Not that that means that there’s anything wrong with today’s games or even anything wrong with me, I’m just in a different place than I was a few years ago.

It’s not really hard to see that I haven’t been enjoying writing as much as I did before. Honestly, for the past couple of weeks it’s felt more like a chore than anything else. I was pigeonholing myself as a writer, I was forcing it, and as a result the blog suffered and I was no longer enjoying what I was doing.

But no longer!

I don’t say this with any kind of conceit or anything but my mind works differently from everyone else’s. When I’m out, I’m watching everything, taking everything in, internalizing it and analyzing it. I think about EVERYTHING. I have a 28 minute walk home from work every day and you would not BELIEVE the amount of things that go through my mind. Not only that, but while I’m AT work I’m in a small room by myself counting money for eight hours. My mind has a lot of time to work.

I’m an observer. I can see the most mundane, everyday thing and analyze it to some weird level that even weirds ME out sometimes. Sometimes I can hear two people talking at the mall and I go over the things they say to each other and the inflection in their voices and try to think about what kind of relationship they have. My mind is always working, always thinking.

That’s not to say that PK Bloggin’! (yes I’m keeping the name. They layout is probably gonna change though) is going to become some crazy philosophical exercise in social commentary. Nor is it going to become Joe’s LiveJournal. I’m a writer, and PK Bloggin’! is going to be where I write the things that I write. I’m still going to write about video games and stuff, but it’s not going to be my sole focus anymore. Looking back on it now, I’m not sure how I ever reached the conclusion that doing such was a good idea that I could sustain for more than six months.

Today after finally deciding to go through with this, I was more excited to write than I have been since I first started doing this. I started carrying a pocket sized notepad with me to jot down ideas as they come to me, and I’ve already got about two weeks worth of topics.

I realize that this may alienate some of you, and for that I am sincerely sorry. I’ve managed to meet a handful of really cool and interesting people since this kicked off and they’ve been what’s kept me going even when I didn’t want to. However, I hope those of you that I’ve bonded with over a mutual admiration for electronic gaming can stick around, read my nonsensical musings, and we can get to know each other on a deeper level. Because THAT doesn’t sound creepy.

And hey, I’m going to be around on the forums more. You should be too.

So starting tomorrow, things are going to be different. Will they be better from your perspective? That remains to be seen. From where I’m sitting, though, it’s going to make all the difference in the world.

Thanks for reading for the past six months, and I hope you’ll continue to do so for many, many more.

To keep you entertained in the meantime, I present to you the YouTube sensation Guile’s theme goes with everything.

The channel is #pkbloggin and is on the DarkMyst server. If you’re having any trouble connecting, send me an email at joe@pkbloggin.net and I’ll do my best to guide you through it. Once the conference starts, though, I’m going to be focused on that, so be there early!

The conference is scheduled for tomorrow at 9am pacific/12 noon eastern. I’ll be there early and I’ll be hanging out after too. See you there!

The blog has sucked lately. I haven’t really written anything interesting outside of the California game bill article in a while. Honestly, the last REAL article I wrote before that was the Pokémon article on April 12, and that was almost a month ago.

Sure, I was working on setting up the forums and things like that, but to be honest when it came time to sit down and write, I had NOTHING. I couldn’t think of anything to write about, so I’d just write about Rescue Rangers or F-Zero music or something like that. Those posts are fine, because this is still a personal gaming blog. However, having so many of those posts at once was, at least for me, inexcusable. But, I am my own worst critic.

(Yes I started a sentence with the word “but” and I know it’s wrong but I write how I talk so I’m leaving it.)

I think it’s because I’ve felt kind of disconnected from video games and the industry as a whole lately. The last game I got into was Final Fantasy XIII which was fun for a while, but after a while it turned into me slogging through it just so I could say I finished it (which I didn’t). Then I picked up Mass Effect 2, which I bought at a time when I was so fed up with RPGs that I couldn’t really bring myself to play it, even though I really liked it. Then I got Super Street Fighter IV, which I really enjoy and it’s fantastic, but I’m not relaxed when I play it. It’s a competition, and I get really frustrated with it easily when I get embarrassed online. So that’s three games, totaling over a month of playtime, that I wasn’t playing to have fun.

Video games are SUPPOSED to be fun.

Then I thought about when the blog started, and what I was really into at the time. I was on a huge Nintendo kick when PK Bloggin’! started, and looking back on what I was writing at the time about what’s important in a video game, I realized I need to step away from my Xbox 360 and get reacquainted with my Wii.

Now, don’t take this as me saying I don’t like my 360 anymore. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I absolutely plan on getting back to Mass Effect 2 in the near future, and I’m going to be playing Super Street Fighter IV here and there. It’s just a situation for me right now where my interest in games, and by extension this blog, is waning because I’m not having fun.

So I’m catching up on old Nintendo Week episodes, playing games without achievements, and just playing a game to have fun, rather than to compete with other people, or beating it just for the sake of saying I beat it.

So I pledge to refocus my efforts on making this blog fun and interesting again, and inject it with the same vigor that I had a month ago. With the forum, I’ve gotten to know a few of you and I don’t want to lose that. I’m never going to be a “big deal” on the internet, but if I can write about video games and meet cool people in the process, that’s something I refuse to lose interest in.

2.0 begins tomorrow!

Enjoy, and I’ll see you around the boards!

We hope you enjoy them! Spread the word!

I hate missing a podcast, but circumstances are against me tonight. Our sincerest apologies.

The reason PK Bloggin’! exists is because I love video games. I want PK Bloggin’! to be a celebration of video games and gaming culture. I love what video games are and I love what they do. One of the things they do is bring people together, and with that I’m introducing PK Bloggin’! Multiplayer Game Nights.

I’m really looking for feedback on this, so please, don’t be shy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, on the PK Bloggin’! Facebook page, through my Twitter, or email me. I think this would be cool to do one night a week, so let me know and let’s make it happen!

I… guess that’s all from me, really. I promise I’ll write something that’s an actual article soon. And hey… While I’ve got your attention, don’t forget Lunar: Silver Star Harmony comes out in just 6 short days!!! The anticipation, it hurts us. *cough* Okay, thanks for your time, you may go about your business.

Thanks for sticking around for this first month. Believe me, I’m just getting started!