Happy 10 Years of LadiesGamers
LadiesGamers have hit the impressive feat of 10 years old on the internet. It started as a passionate hobby from Yvonne and has turned into a grand community of writers, all sharing their thoughts on games. It’s been an absolute privilege to be a part of this site, and I could not be prouder of what has been achieved. But now it’s time for me to get big-headed and focus on my own memories. So please enjoy my journey with LadiesGamers so far.
Origins
Before I came to LadiesGamers, I had always had an unhealthy obsession with gaming. Since quite a young age, I always considered myself a generation behind the rest of the gaming world. When people were enjoying the Mega Drive, I had fun on the Amstrad microcomputer. When the PSone was the hot thing, I was catching up on the Mega Drive.
You get the point. So, for a while, I was very much a retro gamer. I only kinda caught up to modern-day gaming post University when my brother kindly gave me his unwanted Xbox 360. From there, I guess I went with the flow. But I didn’t just like playing games. I liked talking about them. During my time at university, I got heavily involved in radio production. I had my own show, which focused on student nonsense and indie music. It was very amateur, but it was enough to gain an invisible award for good scriptwriting. When I went into the world of work, I sadly had to say goodbye to my radio dreams.
It wasn’t long before a new trend arose, known as podcasting. Before long, I was hooked on various gaming podcasts. One that really resonated was Gaming History 101. A retro video game podcast. The host, Fred Rojas, made a call out on the show to the audience if anyone wanted to do a Resident Evil/ Silent Hill show. Being a huge Resident Evil fan, I took the step to reach out. To my surprise, Fred let me on his show, and this would then lead to me becoming a co-host of the show. I would do this for many happy years.
Unfortunately, real life takes its toll. Though I loved the show, I was battling health troubles on and off and big life changes in my personal life. Since I did the show very late due to time differences in America, this started to take a toll on me. So, I very reluctantly took a break.
Time would pass, and life would continue. I still loved gaming but missed podcasting. Something I had not explored was the writing aspect, which I kinda always wanted to explore since I loved to journal as a youngster. A new opportunity arose when I was looking up reviews for a game called Heaven Dust. A game a bit like Resident Evil. One of the top results was for a site called LadiesGamers. I digested the well-written review.
Then, I spotted an ad looking for writers. Being male, I assumed I wouldn’t fit the criteria, but on closer inspection, I saw gender was not an issue. So, just like when I applied to radio, I took a chance and forwarded some of my written work from Gaming History 101. Once again, to my surprise, I was welcomed with open arms.
What stood out to me about the site was the review scoring system. I’ve never been one for numbers since you really can’t put a definitive value on a piece of entertainment. Most say Zelda: Breath Of the Wild is 10/10, but it’s fair to say there are plenty of people who just don’t like that type of game. However, using a score of simply liking, disliking, or not sure makes it more of a simple, to-the-point opinion from the reviewer, which I feel is easier for the reader to digest.
Reviews and Articles
In this section, I’ll run through some of my favourite articles. It’s exceptionally hard to whittle down as I could babble for hours about my thought process on any one of them.
You never forget your first review. The first game I covered for LadiesGamers was Dark Tower, a top-down dungeon crawler. The idea was to defeat enemies in a set order simply by bumping into them. Take on enemies too strong, too much, and you perish. It felt more like a puzzle game than a typical dungeon crawler. But it was different. Graphics were a bit crude, and once you figured out the best route, there was not a lot of reason to return. In theory, the game is mediocre, but I’d still give it a score of ‘I like’ even today. I actually still have this game loaded on my Nintendo Switch like some weird trophy.
I reviewed a lot of roguelike/lite games over the years. From greats like Hades and Skul, despite playing so many, I still love the genre somehow. The one review that really stayed with me was Invirium. A clever idea where you play a white blood cell working your way through areas of the body trying to eliminate disease, playing much like a twin-stick shooter. It was a great idea in execution, but the game just didn’t come together.
The game had bugs and glitches and, to top it off, had features not even present at launch. I gave the game a negative review. Usually, when I do this, I feel guilty. One, because I know the hard work that goes into making a video game from previous experience, and two, I had some experience of developers being salty if you don’t like their game.
Invirium was a different experience. The developers actually reached out and took on board my critiques and thanked me for the review. The experience taught me not to be afraid to speak my mind but also to maintain compassion when approaching a review. Sadly, the game has yet to receive any updates from my review, which is a darn shame.
Nuclear Blaze was a lovely platformer where you played a fireman putting out fires. It was short and simple. But I loved this game since the developer said he was inspired to make it for their child. As a father myself, that pulled on my heartstrings. I also love this review, as it was one of my first reviews to be present on an accolade poster for the game.
Greek Myths the Inspired Final Fantasy VII was my first book review for the site. Final Fantasy VII was an important game to me during a tricky period in my life. I played it as a kid, but I really reconnected to it when I was playing it on PSP and commuting on the train. I was also a big fan of mythology in general. So when I saw this book existed, I reached out to the Author, who kindly sent me a physical copy.
I love how the book linked famous Greek stories to parts of Final Fantasy VII. It felt like a true passion project came to life in book form. I like to think some of my own passion for writing came out in that review.
Mindfulness for Gamers Interview is my most recent favourite article. I had listened to a podcast Mindfulness for Beginners hosted by Shaun Donaghy over the past year. As fate would have it he announced a new Mindfulness for Gamers. So, of course, I had to reach out and learn more. Shaun kindly agreed to an interview over email which I published on the site. But the story didn’t end there. I was given the opportunity to meet with Shaun on a Zoom call and pick up some more of his brains on mindfulness.
I ended up asking Shaun what I considered a tough question when making difficult decisions in life. To my surprise, Shaun gave a pretty quick and comprehensive answer, something I often find hard to do when you’re put on the spot. But it didn’t end there. Within what seemed like less than 24 hours, Shaun wrote and published a podcast based on my question, which I found incredibly heartwarming. If you haven’t already checked out Mindfulness for Gamers, please do.
Lastly, I’ve always been fond of the various co-op games I have covered on the site. Examples of great games include Cat Quest 2, Speed Crew and Heroes of Hammerwatch. But even not-so-great co-op games like Cannibal Cuisine and Shakes on a Plane, I had a lot of fun covering as it gave me a chance to bond with my wife or my buddy in America and share in the joy of gaming. Gaming has always been a fun hobby, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned I like it even more when I get to share it with the people I love.
In Jokes
For those who paid close attention to my work, you may have picked up on some recurring attempts at humour. The first that probably arose was any game featuring Otters e.g Space Otter Charlie I automatically deemed as amazing.
This was always for my wife. When we dated in the early days, we were at a Zoo, and I saw some Otters. We seemed to agree that those animals were the highlight of the trip. Otters, of course, don’t automatically make a video game awesome, but that reference was often snuck in for her. However, there is a dangerously low number of Otter-based video games on the market.
The most famous joke by far is ‘Buzzsaw Approved.’ This idea simply evolved from the fact that I was doing a lot of 2D platform reviews, and it felt like every darn game used buzzsaws, so I think I just reached this peak of madness where I just had to shove in my reviews.
It made sense to feature these hazards at mechanical levels, but I was seeing them pop into forest levels and places you would not expect. The game wasn’t necessarily bad, but it did create a very enjoyable joke when reviewing.
I will admit I have seen significantly less buzzsaws over time. But when one idea wanes, new ones arise. One currently gaining popularity in my notes includes more games featuring an ‘Evil Sorcerer,’ and the deadly video game disease of Amnesia.
Final Thoughts on 10 Years of LadiesGamers
It’s been a fun ride since 2020. I have made some new friends behind the scenes, and I have had an absolute blast expressing myself through my written work, often more so than playing video games.
Over the last four years, I have somehow managed to write and publish over 500 reviews and editorials. But that’s not all that’s happened. I’ve moved house twice and had a child. So, there will be a lot of changes, so who knows what will happen next? I would quite like to return to podcasting someday. But recently, I have learned that I need to slow down a bit and focus on my well-being.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Yvonne and Paula for allowing me to contribute to the site. Of course, I want to thank anyone who has taken the time out of their busy lives to read any of my articles. You guys are the best.
As I often say at the end of the year. If you do want to get into writing yourself. Please don’t be afraid to pick the pen up or get on that keyboard and give it a go. Happy ten years, LadiesGamers!
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