Wow! Source Gaming has turned two years old today. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s been two years already! I’ve been thinking a lot about the two year anniversary, and wanted to explain how I came to Source Gaming, and my thoughts on the site. So it’s something a little different — very personal…but I hope you guys take the time to read it and let me know what you think.

…I first started Source Gaming as a way to improve myself.

See, I started this site in a time where I was extremely frustrated with myself. August 2014 was not a very happy time for me. It wasn’t the lowest point of my life. Late November 2012 was, as I was devastated to hear that my father had suddenly passed away from sepsis. Hours later after hearing that my dad has passed away, I got another phone call stating that my mom was now in ICU due to Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or as it’s generally known, broken heart syndrome. Being almost 7,000 miles away from not only the people you need, but the people that needed you absolutely sucked, to say the least. I got home, helped my mom recover and made the difficult decision of going back to Japan.

2013 was a year of adjusting to the new reality. For awhile, I was pretty depressed and I was also diagnosed with type two diabetes. Eventually though, I got out of it. In that year I made some great friends, adopted Kuma and dated an amazing girl and lost over 10 kilos.

However, I still felt like I was in a rut, and I needed a change. I decided to leave my job, and move closer to Kansai — a place where I lived during high school as I enjoyed that region of Japan more. I got a job, and became adjusted to the new area. In 2014, as my 25th birthday inched closer and closer (It’s September), I felt like I didn’t accomplish much. I decided that I need to do something with myself. I felt like I wasn’t spending my time effectively, and I wanted to change it somehow.

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I found it difficult to find my own voice, or to convince myself what I was writing was important. I started numerous blogs and projects, only to give up on them in a matter of weeks. I did have a blog in college that I wrote weekly with a friend. However, we both kind of fell out of updating it, and it died fairly quickly. When starting Source Gaming my goal was to take advantage of my current location, and generally provide new information about old games. From the very start, I wanted to practice translating and researching as I felt that those would be skills that I could hone for my next place of employment eventually. I didn’t have any concrete goals with Source Gaming…instead it’d be about whatever I felt like. Gaming, Japan and life. 

The original header and motto (Site is archived here).

…originally, I wasn’t taking Source Gaming very seriously. The first couple posts are pretty infrequent, and the quality is all over the place. After becoming familiar with Smash — more than I had previously (I’ve always loved Smash…it’s a game that I played for countless hours in high school and college) I realized just how much information was missing. And it was absolutely shocking. Smash is a huge series, with a very rich history…and a lot of the information that we’ve published in the past two years could’ve — should’ve been known for years. Even though it’s kind of self centered, I do think as SmashChu has put it, Smash speculation has changed dramatically in a post-SG world.

I have every member of the Source Gaming staff to thank for helping me achieve that goal. A lot of our posts are created through collaboration, as we believe working together will produce stronger content than if we went alone. We peer edit, offer suggestions and advice. It’s a long process, and we are doing it out of the love for the content and so you guys (the audience) can enjoy it. We want to provide non-partial translations, so you guys can use it as sources. We want to back up our arguments with facts and research…so that you can use that information in any way you see fit. Source Gaming is meant to be a resource, first and foremost. Sometimes we probably do way too much work that’s required. But I’d personally rather do too much, than do too little and regret it.

…a bit more professional, and a clearer focus one year in (Archived here).

…It’s been difficult though. There’s been numerous times where I wanted to give up. Nights that I felt incredibly frustrated as other sites, whether it be for malicious purposes or complete incompetence, decided not to properly credit us for the work we did. Or nights where I wondered if it was worth my time and energy. The lowest point was after I spent well over 24 hours awake, only to see other blogs deliberately not credit us after we published the Geno translation from the Nintendo Dream interview. I seriously thought about shutting down the site that day. Luckily, the community came through and supported us. From that support, I had the strength to continue SG.

It’s been six months since the last DLC has come out. We don’t know for sure if another Smash is in development or not, but we are still here — providing new information daily. Sometimes it’s a grind, but at the end of the day, when I go to sleep — I don’t regret it. I love the challenge. I love interacting with you guys and the other SG staff members everyday.

This week we were honored to have Dean Harrington, the announcer for Melee as a guest. I spent hundreds of hours playing Melee, and never did I ever think I’d meet the announcer! This year, I also got to meet one of my childhood heroes, Kamiya. Then I met Igarashi, who I deeply admire, and dozens of indie developers at Bit Summit. These are all opportunities I had because of Source Gaming. Because of the love and support the community has given us.

I’m not sure where the next two years will bring us. Quite frankly, two years ago I didn’t imagine Source Gaming being such a big part of my life. I kind of expected it to fail. I hope that Source Gaming can continue growing in these next two years. I hope that we can contribute positively to the video game community. I hope that I can continue to challenge myself through Source Gaming, and grow both as a person and as a leader. I hope to see you guys there on Saturday!

So with a heavy heart: thank you.

Much love,

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PushDustIn

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