The Name May Have Changed, But It's All Still The Same

You may or may not notice that the name of this here blog has changed.  Well I guess you'll notice now that I've told you.  What was once The Casual Gamer is now My Life in Gaming: A Video Game Blog by JimmyJackJones.  It might change again if I can ever think of something more clever than that.  Boy I hope I can, but the last couple of hours haven't filled me with hope.

So why the name change?  I guess I should explain why I was calling this The Casual Gamer in the first place.  I believe it was on a podcast, likely The Hotspot or 1-Up Yours, when I heard someone explain what they believed to be the differences between the casual and the hardcore gamers.  They said the hardcore gamers were the ones who devoted hours to mastering games and being the best at those games.  I don't think that's how most marketing people would define it, but I could see where they were coming from.  I could also see that I didn't fit that definition.  Not that I don't play a lot of games.  I'd say most of my free time winds up devoted to video games.  But I don't usually labor over individual games, not resting until I've conquered each one.  Just take a look at my pile of shame if you want proof of that.  Instead, I like to experience a broad range of games, and check out what people consider to be the best in the industry.  I'm also not the kind to obsess over achievements, which seems to be the new measuring stick for "hardcore".  Don't get me wrong.  I love getting them.  I just can't see devoted the time and energy needed to get some of the crazy ones.  I also don't want to label myself as hardcore.  That makes me think of skateboarding out on a battlefield while chugging a Mountain Dew.  That's not me, though I do love me some Mountain Dew.  So I thought, "OK, I guess I'm a casual gamer.  I can live with that."  And so when I started this blog, that thought came back to my mind.  Hence the name.

But the more I've thought about it, the more I don't feel like that name fits.  It seems wrong, especially when the content makes me look mad obsessed about video game.  And I'm not.  I'm only mildly obsessed.  I wanted to change the name, but I decided I should think about what this blog is about.  You know, besides just being about video games.  A lot of what I've done is mostly review games that I've played.  Not to score them or anything, but rather discuss my overall impressions and experiences and describe what I thought stood out.  But I also like to post some silly humor stuff here, usually about games, and talk about some of my thoughts on the state of gaming.  I do want to get back to my "stories in games" series as well.  Basically, this blog is a showcase of how video games are kind of a big deal to me.  It's a way for me to speak my mind on this pastime, even if only a few people are around to hear it.  I wanted a name that would reflect this.  I...couldn't really come up with one.  So hey!  My Life in Gaming.  That kind of works, I guess.

So the content and tone of the blog won't be changing.  Rather, the name of the blog has changed to better reflect those things.  Honestly, a name change doesn't really need a long post to justify it.  Rather, I wanted to communicate what this blog is meant to be about.  This is a blog that shows how I feel about games, and what makes a game a meaningful experience to me.  So until I can come up with a better name to reflect that (and I won't post a huge thing to explain it again, I promise), welcome to My Life in Gaming!