Cblogs of December, 2019: The End of the Recaps as we Know It

I guess this month's recap-isms is all on the title. You read it right, this will be the final recap that I do, at least do according to the classic CblogRecaps style. Previously, the number of blogs being written almost demanded a daily recap of them, which is how the account was first formed. At least, that is how I think it was formed since I wasn't there at the beginning.

It began on the second of September in 2008, so far back that I cannot scroll down to the earlies blogs written. More than a decade later, 2843 recap blogs were written, not counting this one. When I first joined in 2015 or 2016 (I really don't remember), the recaps were still a daily occurrence and the Cblogs were considerably busy and active. Over the years, I noticed both a drop in the number of blogs as well as the level of engagement. This culminated in a number of Recappers leaving the team and then replaced with great difficulty.

Ultimately, the Recap team started dwindling along with the number of blogs, which is why the few that remained chose to make the recaps a weekly thing. That was most of 2018. However, a number of weeks were being dropped due to several reasons. Frankly, that caused a lot of stress for me as I hated the fact that some blogs are simply not being recapped because the team did not have enough coverage. Being an entirely voluntary endeavor, there was no way to make sure each person cover their shift or inform us of their circumstances.

When we realized that there simply isn't enough people to cover the recaps, we knew that the account was probably going to end. However, I felt that if I change the recap to a monthly format (previously, monthly's were done as a highlight only), then I could guarantee to recap every blog. Of course, that wasn't what the new members signed-up to (and at that moment I was the only senior member of the team) and their hesitation is completely fair and understandable.

This year, with the exception of a few blogs (which Sharukurusu recapped and I am very grateful for that help), I tried the monthly recap scheme. Now, I am completely exhausted. It stopped being fun for a while now and feels more like a chore. I can't even read the Cblogs for my own enjoyment because the recap is always on my mind.

It is unfortunate that a long tradition of Destructoid may now be over but I can no longer be responsible for it. The major reason I kept on doing the recaps is that I wanted to highlight the good work being done by the Cblog community. However, I am not sure the recaps are useful in that regard at all. Although I have no access to click-statistics, I am unsure that these monthly recaps have sent any significant number to read the community blogs. One thing I a sure of is that the monthly recap itself doesn't get much attention or comments and that the blogs being recapped do not get any more attention or comments after the recap is published.

So, we have reached the point where I can no longer go on with the monthly recaps, and there isn't a team in place to continue the task. Yet, I will still try to find a way to recap the blogs, but with significantly reduced effort. Basically, I will do a weekly recap that highlights the blog and the subject, divided into two categories only with no sub-categorization. I will stop my (poor) attempts at wit and humor in discussing the blogs or any attempts in varying the script and writing style.

If it takes me more than an hour to do, then I will probably stop that too.

It may be slightly unfortunate, but this doesn't mean that the Cblog community is down. In fact, there is a significant number of recurring bloggers with really good writings. My hope is that they continue to write for their own enjoyment and that more people become interested in reading the Cblogs and commenting on their work.

Keep on writing and reading.

Sincerely,

Lord Spencer

*- I think this is a very good analysis by Christos Chatsizavvas of what the Xbox Series X means to the future of Microsoft and the "console wars".

*- This is a great bog by Sam van der Meer about the art of breaking the fourth wall in videogames, which has different categories according to him, including when a game is such an obvious homage to other games that it feels like a fourth wall break in by itself.

*-Gamemaniac3434 writes a serious article about whether streaming and the Google Stadia would really be the future of gaming.

• This is the second part of the above article.

B- This month's Band of Bloggers prompt is presented by OmegaPhattyAcid who asks you to write about the most impactful games that you were gifted:

• Here is Shoggoth2588's take on the prompt.
• LaTerry writes about his brother's gift of Dragon Quest VIII, which unleashed his love for the series.

A- Virtua Kazama checks out the freshly translated interviews for the 20th anniversary of the Virtua Fighter series.

• Continuing the theme for Virtua Fighter month, Virtua Kazama focuses on the more unsung fighting games related to the series.
• And keeping up with the month's them, Virtua Kazama has a wish list for any upcoming Virtua Fighter game.
• If not a new game, then here is a wish list for an HD remaster.

A- TheBlondeBass shares with us his own list of decade-defining games.

A- Check out the video game moments of 2019 according to Siddartha85.

A- We should be seeing a lot of these lists by now, with Riley1sCool the latest to share his top 10 games of the decade list (I am not writing such a list since I am yet to play any game released in 2018 and just started with 2017).

A- Here is TheBlondeBass writing about something ver unlikely; the best "genuinely free" games that were released in 2019.

A- Another "games of the decade" list is provided by Nernonium, who concedes that the criteria are often pointless.

A- Boxman214 briefly discusses ALL the games he finished this year, which is quite a list.

V- EricWeichart plugs in his video channel if you are interested.

S- Shoggoth2588 is back with another look at his gaming journal.

S- It looks like Osc is still continuing his journey in making his first game, but with another slow update for this month (slow and steady wins the race).

S- It looks like Kerrik52 is back with his weekly reviews of past games in his "Traveller in Playtime" series:

• Here, he is reviewing Whiplash, a rather obscure 3D platformer on the PS2.
• Another JRPG review here as Shining Resonance: Refrain prooves how low the Shining series has fallen into JRPG mediocrity.
• Then out of left-field, as Kerrik52 rarely reviews newish games, we get a good review of Assault Spy, a game that was released in 2018 on PCs.
• The old Squaresoft used to make several gems a year, one of which was Parasite Eve II.

A- Honestly, Kerrik52 is one of the best reviewers in this site, and here is a summary of all the reviews he did this year as well as an overview of his reviewing philosophy.

S- Lord Spencer continues reviewing the supposed best games of the Sega Saturn system:

• In an amazing coincidence, Dragon Force turns out to be a game that I loved years back when I saw some distant cousins play it on a strange console one night. From a single glance, I knew the game was special, and more than 20 years later, playing it for the first time, I can confirm that it certainly is indeed.

S- Otakyoon opens up about the difficulties in the development of his first game.

S- MartinLaw introduces himself to the community.

Q- Lexingtoungue asks the community about their most favorite games in this decade.

N- I am not sure how credible this news by Jim Kelly is, but it says that Sony may publish their games on other systems.

N- OmegaPhattyAcid shares an underreported update on The Killing Floor 2.

T- Even though he is a fan of the newest Borderlands villain, TheRamblingGamer still thinks that Handsome Jack is the better of the two.

T- CorrupstAi125 is a big fan of the unassuming little game, Sayonara Wild Hearts, a stylistic game that is difficult to describe but easy to show.

T- Without touching its multiplayer content, Flegma is not very impressed by Bubble Bobble 4 Friends.

T- I guess it makes sense that a big fan of the Devil May Cry series like Kerrik52 would consider Devil ay Cry V his game of the year.

R- In this review of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Porcsriches thinks it is a very good game.

R- vgMumkey reviews Luigi's Mansion 3 and is very satisfied.

R- Check out these rapid-fire reviews by RocketKnight of all the games he finished this year.

R- In what is a controversial move in Destructoid, Neronium writes a glowing review about A Link Between Worlds.

D- In an epic (and possibly fruitless) quest, ABowlOfCeareal continues writing some interesting balancing suggestions for the Super Smash Bros. cast:

• Character Suggestions.
• Compilation Blog.

M- PhilsPhindings continues his excellent series where he looks for similarities between famous videogame tunes and other music from different sources:

• What is the similarity between Mega Man 1 tracks and Journey that warrants them both being in the same blog?
• It has been some time since Breath of Fire was first featured in one of these blogs.
• Looking back at these blogs, there isn't a lot of sonic love for Sonic (hah) but that changes here.
• Then continues on with Mega Man month.
• And we go back to another sidetrack, this time featuring Wonder Boy 3.
• Then on to Mega Man 2 music.
• In celebration of Christmas, Phil is focusing on the snow-themed tunes of Super Mario Land.
• Then going to Mega Man 3.

M- Instead of doing a 2019 game review blog, Siddartha85 chooses to focus on the bust tracks he liked in the year.

• And then continues that list with another blog.
• And another one.
• One thing that Siddartha85 is doing is that he is not focusing on videogames only, and instead, he is jumping through music genres. This blog features Pop music.

L- Chris Hovermale attempts to write some fiction, starting with chapter 1 of his new story.

• Chapter 3.
• Here you can see Chris's reflection on his complete story.

L- Occam has a funny "Cursdmas" song to sing.

L- Who best to compete with Occam's other than The Actual Charlton Heston.

?- I have no idea what this blog about, but there is something unsettling about the idea of a Mrs. Destructoid as DreezyOfficial4 presents it.

Be Lucky

Blog Count: 59

LOOK WHO CAME:

CblogRecaps   

CelicaCrazed   140

Boxman214   114

Gamemaniac3434   45

LaTerry   43

CoruptAI125   19

Dan Roemer   17

Neronium   12

Nior   11

RolanberryPrins   7

Drifting Deadlock   6

OmegaPhattyAcid   2

CycloneJoker   2

Hakkurei   1