Happy New Year – A Letter from the Editor
For us here at the Arcade it has been one of our biggest years to date, ArcadeCon saw almost 2,500 people walk through the convention rooms, we’ve had the chance to meet and talk with developers, artists, writers and performers, the Arcade Awards saw record number of nominations and votes and we’ve gotten to play, read, watch and listen to amazing games, comics, movies and music. As a community we’ve grown exponentially, we’ve had the chance to meet and talk to more of you and we learned exactly what you think of the site and what you want to see happen in 2014 (You can still have you say here!).
While I’m not able to go into details just yet, Rebekah and I have sat down and gone over your opinions and suggestions and we count ourselves lucky to have such loyal and dedicated readers – no punches were held when it came to your answers and we are both grateful for that – if we’re not doing something wrong or we’re not meeting your needs then it’s important that you tell us because from day one this website has been about the readers and providing you with the best.
Late this year we began some new projects including meetups, Arcade TV, weekly features including ‘High Score’ ‘At a Glance’ and ‘Cosplay Galleries’ and they will all return in the new year along with some new ones on top of our regular content and news.
I’m sure that some of you are familiar with the origins of ‘The Arcade’, two friends getting together to provide a space for gamers and geeks to get together and share their thoughts and opinions on everything from the latest games, cartoons and movies to the culture and community built up around our passions and interests. Well that’s true but I started The Arcade because I was unemployed, because after five years of college and everything I’d worked for went away I had to do something. In the three and a half years I’ve been running this site, I have gotten to hone my skills but more importantly I’ve gotten to learn some brand new ones, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to insert myself into this wonderful and ever changing community, to meet new people and share my thoughts with thousands more.
I never imagined that after all this time we’d still be going, that there are nearly twenty regular contributors working on the site, that thousands of people visit the site and that this would lead to me finding full-time employment. As of early January I’ll be returning to full-time work and for the first time since the website started I’d be able to expand it with my own financial and finally grow it the way I’ve always wanted to do.
Thank you to the readers, the regular contributors and staff writers, friends and families to the publicists and PR representatives, the companies and businesses who have supported and worked alongside us for 2013 and we look forward to continuing our relationship in the new year.
What I really want to say is thank you, thank you for your support, for your encouragement and for giving me the motivation and strength to undertake and maintain this project. The Arcade is going nowhere, we are here to stay!
No doubt this isn’t the first letter or message you’ve seen today, it’s that time of the year again when many look back at the last year, at the good and great moments that made up 2013. I know that it wasn’t all perfect either that there were those moments when 2013 felt like an utter disaster but they have passed by too and now we have to look forward to 2014 and all that it might bring and we’ll be there for it all.
Have a great night and we’ll see you the other side of it!
Declan
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
