Coffee Beans
Time flies when you're having fun? Well, something is another year older today, and that would be the site! August 29, 2009 was the first day I posted an article on the blog, "Analyzing the Wii Manufacturing Costs in 2009". Today marks 3 years of posting for me on CoffeeWithGames, with only two months being absent of any posts at all over the last 3 years!
If you have been reading the site since I started it back in 2009, you probably have noticed the slight, but hopefully better, changes to the data stories I do on a regular basis. You might even remember when I changed the background to the coffee beans that are currently still there, shocking you awake each time you visit. If you are new to visiting and reading CoffeeWithGames though, you might wonder what you have missed since the beginning.
Brew yourself some coffee, and take a look at some things you might not know about CoffeeWithGames.
Here are some things about CoffeeWithGames from over the last 3 years that you might not know, or may have just forgotten:
- CoffeeWithGames.com started off as CoffeeWithGames.Blogspot.com, not an official ".com".
- The current banner at the top now was made a reader, Araknid, who also made the coffee mug that is standard in data report images as well. You can see one of the first CoffeeWithGames banners I put together with my terrible skills, HERE.
- I was contacted by Nintendo's PR firm after I broke the story on Metroid Prime: Trilogy no longer being published or shipped; which I thought was odd as they offered nothing in return for wanting to know how I "broke" the news that they had told me. Terrible PR is terrible PR, and Nintendo I think has a clear history of having terrible PR.
- I have participated in podcasts on sites like Nintendo-Okie.com and WhoBurnedMyToast.Blogspot.com over the last 3 years. My first podcast was with the guys from WhoBurnedMyToast, and you can see my post on it HERE.
- Keith, of RespawnAction.com (in hibernation), and I started up our own podcast that lasted I believe for 2 weeks...MAYBE? It was called Tornadoes in Alaska, and you can check out the first podcast we did HERE.
- I have written only one "new" official review of a game for the site and that was for Max & the Magic Marker. You can read the full review for it HERE. Though I have only written one review since forming the site, I have provided lots of coverage for other games; some very detailed coverage, such as THIS.
- My first review was with Interplay, about their DSiWare game, Legendary Wars: T-Rex Rumble. You can read that interview HERE.
Caffeinated Thoughts
How long will CoffeeWithGames continue to be active with posts? I'm not sure at this point, but I am working on a few ideas for future features such as the "Critics vs. Customers" one I posted up 2 weeks ago. Counting this post, I have gotten up 604 posts over the last 3 years, and most of them have been original data stories that aren't really found anywhere else. While I have enjoyed blogging these last 3 years the biggest enjoyment hasn't been just doing the posts, but the conversations, friends, and readers I have met because of it. It seems I have connections all around the U.S. now, and even around the world now, because of starting up CoffeeWithGames 3 years ago.
Thank you all for the comments and discussions you have provided over the last 3 years on the site, and I hope to provide more stories and coverage of the "coffee" and "games" industry to provide more conversations going forward. Being that today marks CoffeeWithGames' third anniversary, or birthday, what is an anniversary or birthday without a gift? Well, let's not have to answer that question!
If you leave feedback to the questions below, I'll put your name in the coffee container next week and draw it for a coffee and/or game related giveaway. Keep the coffee brewing, to help keep your eyes peeled for more contests/giveaways over the next month!
Questions
If there was one new feature on CoffeeWithGames, be it regular reviews, a podcast, coffee talk, opinion pieces, or even just game-play videos, or something totally different, what would you like to see? Do you have a favorite post on CoffeeWithGames, that you enjoyed more than the others?
I remember that first banner! Haha, must say your website has evolved over the years for the better ;)
ReplyDeleteVideo content would be great - do more of that! I enjoyed watching your old Monster Hunter ones.
Don't want to suck up to you but you my friend are the reason Nintendo Nation exists today. I had head of blogging before and I googled something along the lines of Small Video Game Blogs and found CoffeeWithGames! The rest is history!
ReplyDeleteAs @GamesAndBiz:disqus has said, more video content would be nice. You've done some nice ones in the past.
But, now it is time for me to sing happy birthday. Cue bad music...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY COFFEE WITH GAMESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! (hip hip, hooray, and so on)
Major congrats! I can't latch onto a single feature or type of article you do that is a favorite - I poke over to read pretty much all of them, and at least try to leave some sort of feedback on 90% of what I read just because I know it's nice to get some sort of response from readers along the way.
ReplyDeleteMy little corner of blogdom hits 3 years in November, so I wasn't one of your very first readers - I probably stumbled onto this place around December of that year, or late November. The two things that really stick out to me at this point are:
1) this was one of the first two or three gaming blogs I found and started to comment on after setting mine up and trying to 'network' just a bit.
2) you were one of the two people who contacted me after I let my blog sit dormant for a few weeks. I was a bit discouraged by the lack of interest in the site at the time (I had like 4 followers I think, after like 6 months, and one was my wife) - and had just gotten pretty busy. Then you and the other reader both emailed me in the same day, and that sort of lite a fire under my bottom and got me posting again.
Like you said, it's the friendships and conversations that become the most rewarding, and I appreciate your contributions on both fronts. It has been VERY nice seeing you posting again lately!
Congratulations. Though I do not drink coffee I will continue to read this blog.
ReplyDeleteHappy 3rd Coffee! I'm not sure I found your site until early 2011 and it was the data posts that initially grabbed my attention followed by the conversations. Though I do look forward to the monthly game/coffee wrapups to see what everyone has been up to.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Matt, more video would be cool. Have to say the New SMB Wii multiplayer run with Mrs. Coffee cracks me up each time.
Between you, Chalgyr, Digitally Downloaded and a few other sites I, like Stevo, owe my incomplete mess of a blog to you guys. Not sure if that's a good thing or not... :-)
3 years? has it been that long? :)
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoyed your statistical analysis.
P.S. coming from one coffee addict to another
Dude, your blog is awesome! Don't put yourself down about it!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, man. This site has become more and more of a regular destination for me, so I'm happy to read about your continued commitment towards its upkeep. Keep it up, and I look forward to seeing more opinion pieces and new columns from you. :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that. Just wish I had more time to write more articles and actually flesh them out like I originally intend to.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on three fantastic years! I've been aware of Coffee with Games for a long time, but have only started becoming a regular reader within the past year.
ReplyDeleteI may not comment all the time, but I'm around!
You do a great job with your data reporting and serves to be an interesting read each time. Looking forward to three more years!
P.S. Coffee is in my blood
I have made a few adjustments, tried things out a few different ways with posts, but I always want it to be an improvement...the banner was a start! As for video content, if I can just "pull the trigger" I would have three posts (one from E3) that are video content only basically. I'm just a delay fish.
ReplyDelete"
ReplyDeleteI had head of blogging before and I googled something along the lines of Small Video Game Blogs and found CoffeeWithGames!"
Haha, you mean CoffeeWithGames wasn't ranked above and beyond IGN for traffic? Kotaku? Destructoid? I must be doing something wrong if I came up under "Small Video Game Blogs" in your search!
As for the singing, if this were Coffee Idol with the prize of a coffee contract you would win!
Thanks for the feedback! Glad CWG influenced you in some way.
"this was one of the first two or three gaming blogs I found and started to comment on after setting mine up and trying to 'network' just a bit."
ReplyDeleteYea, I wish Blogger had a better way to "search" for video game blogs (maybe it does, and I just haven't found it), I usually just stumble upon them from comments, random posts, and followers joining here and other sites.
"...you were one of the two people who contacted me after I let my blog sit dormant for a few weeks." I do remember you saying that when I contacted you.
"Like you said, it's the friendships and conversations that become the most rewarding, and I appreciate your contributions on both fronts. It has been VERY nice seeing you posting again lately!"
I'm gonna try to keep posting on a "normal" schedule, until Starbucks, Folgers, or Maxwell House offers me a few million to take over. I've contacted them a few times, just waiting for the answer.
Thanks for the comment and feedback!
"Though I do not drink coffee I will continue to read this blog."
ReplyDeleteIP ban has no been put in place, thanks for all the comments and feedback you have given though.
Just kidding! Do you drink tea? Or, perhaps you have a drink of choice like soda or milk?
Thanks for the comment!
Haha! I think one of your first comments was something about me not having a Steam account....
ReplyDelete"I'm with Matt, more video would be cool. Have to say the New SMB Wii multiplayer run with Mrs. Coffee cracks me up each time."
She still gives me a hard-time about that, saying it was "wrong" LOL. Even when I say, "You gave me permission to upload it, at least I asked right?" Her response? "You would have done it anyway!" LOL.
We might be going out tomorrow to an electronics store, and that might end up with another HDD, and it will at least land me the proper equipment to install my 120 SSD.
I enjoy doing videos, I really do, but the problem is the space, and I have used it all up! Being a digital hoarder, and enjoying making/editing videos, is tough...
"P.S. coming from one coffee addict to another"
ReplyDeleteMy nightly pot just finished brewing, about to be sipping on another cup right now!
Glad to hear you enjoy the "statistical analysis" stories, and yeah, 3 years...
I guess "time flies when you're having fun!", or writing data stories and reading them, and drinking coffee....
Thanks for the comment!
You know what I want your site to get...and if I'm not the first one to use the feature if you get it, it will be a major fail on my part!
ReplyDeleteI'll try to keep the opinion pieces balanced and scattered, kind of like the "Critics vs. Customers" pieces.
Thanks for the comment/feedback!
"
ReplyDeleteP.S. Coffee is in my blood"
Isn't in everybody's? I think they're going to add a new blood type, "C", when they discover what the connection is...
As for the data reporting, not only do I do them because they are different from most other stories, but they provide gamers with a decent idea of how many hours they can expect to get out of a game, which is one thing I like to know before buying a game.
Thanks for the comment./feedback!
ROFL - good luck on that millions of bucks for more coffee-centric posts, and thanks for putting up with us all for 3 years now. :)
ReplyDeleteHeh. Sounds good.
ReplyDelete