What's a birthday without a gift? CoffeeWithGames turns 4!

CoffeeWithCupcakes...coming soon? Maybe in my stomach.

Coffee Beans
What's a birthday without a gift? If you have been wondering if my coffee supply ran out and I went into a deep sleep because of it and that's why I haven't been posting, I can say that has not been the case! I have been doing some CoffeeWithGames related things behind-the-scenes, even though I haven't been posting.

At the end of June, I decided to get all of the Nintendo Channel data I had recorded during the final week (EVERY. SINGLE. WII. GAME!), before Nintendo took the Nintendo Channel offline, into a nice spreadsheet form. I spent my spare moments doing that for about 3 weeks, from late June and into July.

I have enough game-play data recorded from Wii games, that I could continue doing the Nintendo Channel data stories for another 10 years, at my usual pace. While I can tell you the Wii's most played game in the United States, as well as the Wii's least played game in the United States, I have decided to refocus and change the type of consistent content I deliver.

Instead of focusing just on past Wii games, CoffeeWithGames will now focus on more current games and systems. Here are a few things CoffeeWithGames will be doing on a more regular basis now:
1) Reviews! Reviews will now be happening on a more regular basis, and game reviews will have a slight twist from the normal method most sites use when reviewing games today.
2) Interviews! I have done interviews randomly in the past, but not on a regular basis. There will now be at least one interview a month (that's my goal), either from developers, publishers, or people within the industry.
3) Videos! I enjoy creating and editing videos. I'm a bit detail oriented (see: OCD) when it comes to things though, and can spend way too much time editing and creating content (not just game related). So, I will now do more standard gameplay videos now of games I'm currently playing, and/or that the Beans are playing like what I did with Mutant Mudds Deluxe.
4) Opinion pieces! I don't do these often, but I am looking to change that. An example of what these may be like, would be what I wrote about and wished for the first Wii U update to fix, before the first system update was released.
5) Coffee Shop! I browse Amazon.com pretty much every single day, for a number of reasons. One, is checking for any incredible deal I might not be able to pass by, another is more data related. So, I will be doing more Coffee Shop posts to share games deals, at least once a week.
6) CoffeeWithGames Game Nights! I enjoy playing games online. Call of Duty: Black Ops II is my most played Wii U game because of the online multiplayer. Instead of just playing by myself though, I will now try and schedule at least on CoffeeWithGames Game Night a month, and announce what game I'll be playing and when about a week in advance. Hopefully, this will make it easier for some of us game together, and of course, recording the footage and doing a video of it might be possible as well.

While these things should provide a decent amount of content each month, there will also still be the random pieces from time-to-time like the "Critics vs. Customers!" pieces, Sales Ranks Analysis pieces, and maybe even the random Grounds for Celebration! piece(s) will make an occasional return.

Now, what about that birthday gift? Hit the jump and keep reading to find out!

The Brew
While I mentioned in the section above what I plan on doing moving forward with CoffeeWithGames, here is some history and things about (and, because of) CoffeeWithGames that have happened over the last 4 years since I started it:

• Including this post, I have published 716 posts on CoffeeWithGames in the last 4 years. Considering reviews and general news haven't been regular features around here, I don't think that's too shabby for mostly original content. It works out to be about 180 pieces a year, and about 15 posts a month on average.
• I believe I have typed every, single, word written in the posts on CoffeeWithGames, and not done a "copy/paste" of them. When I originally started using Blogger, trying to "copy/paste" text would mess up the font type and size in posts, and so 4 years ago I just started typing each and every post fresh, and have continued. I do use other posts as examples, but never copy/pasting actual text. I'm still not sure if the "copy/paste" issues have been resolved, as it's not something I even try now.
• Almost every single photo, in every single post I have done for at least the last 2+ years (maybe longer), was edited and/or created by me in some fashion. I try to not only keep the content original, but also the images when I can. This means I have probably edited and created well over 200 images for the site that have been published, and many more that have been edited or created, but never used.
• Because of my coverage of one game in particular, not just on CoffeeWithGames, but a number of sites, I was contacted by the developer/publisher and asked if I would be interested in helping them when they were porting the game to the mobile platforms a few years after it originally released. Not only was I able to provide them feedback and help provide them footage of particular things they needed, I was also fortunate enough to get my name put in the credits!
• When I originally started doing the Nintendo Channel data stories, I would take the pictures of the data by standing in front of my television with a digital camera. I originally bought a video capture device, not to actually capture gameplay video, but instead to use it for recording the data from the Nintendo Channel. Data nerd? The image quality definitely changed, for the better though, and I have enjoyed using the video capture devices.
• I have been contacted by developers because of my coverage on certain games and topics, sometimes "off-the-record". Even when the discussions haven't been "off-the-record", I rarely published them, as I enjoy communicating with developers and enjoy them not having to be concerned about a site flaming out something they did/didn't say.

Now, what about that birthday gift? As many birthday gifts probably are (and should be!), this one is a surprise, and I'm giving it away. What do you need to do though, in order to to be entered to receive this birthday gift? Simple, join the party! Do so by leaving a comment on this post and let me know what you have (and, perhaps haven't) enjoyed on CoffeeWithGames over the last 4 years, and what new features you're looking forward to the most!

I'll give this post about a week for comments and feedback, and then draw a winner who follows the guidelines later next week.

Question

Did any of you do a double-take when you saw this post pop-up, and then the new look for the site?

CONNECT WITH COFFEE!