I’m One Year Old (In Kotaku Australia Years)

Wow! Times flies when you’re having fun, and I’ve been having a ball!

Today marks the first year that I’ve been writing for Kotaku Australia, and also my first year in the video games media industry as a whole! I know it’s not usually ‘a thing’ to write a post like this, but this past year has been an absolute whirlwind of opportunities and shitposts and me showing my whole ass on this website that I felt it was only right to mark it in some way, so here I am.

When I started here at Kotaku Australia, I genuinely had no idea what the fuck I was doing. I had come from 4 years of volunteering at a community radio station, with two of those being a producer and the other two hosting three different shows, and many many years of doing a video game podcast with my brothers and our friends. While I tried to squeeze in as much gaming garbage as I could onto the radio shows, it was nothing compared to what I do now. I live and breathe video games these days, it’s hard not to talk about them outside of typing a silly little post.

So I sat down on this day a year ago and I wrote my first post, Finally, A Game That Lets You Be A Silly Little Cat Doing Silly Little Things. I, once again, had no idea what I was doing, but I did the darn thing. After that came the drawings, and then the shitposts, and then the YouTube recommendations, and then the return of ScribbleTaku, and so on. And you know what? It’s been amazing.

Since starting this job, I’ve got to speak to some of the most amazing people in the industry, including developers, publishers, composers, streamers, artists, filmmakers, video game archivists, voice actors and more. I’ve learnt so much from them all, and I’ve had the pleasure of passing on their wisdom to you folks. It rocks and rolls.

I’ve also got to go for PAX for the first time and do three panels there (seriously what the fuck!!!), talk shit on a bunch of great podcasts, and go to some awesome events that showcase the amazing work being done in the industry. I’ve discovered more Australian-made games in this job than I ever did before, and getting to spotlight them and show them to you guys has been incredibly cool. My love for our local industry grows every day with every new exciting idea that springs out of it.

Getting to know all of you and reading what you have to say about the news and new games (although some of it can be a bit brash at times) has been awesome too. I love seeing all these different perspectives on video games and how they exist in different people’s lives. I hope I have written something out of the 600 articles that I’ve done since I started that’s made you laugh, made you think, made you sick, or made you keen to try something new.

I don’t think I could’ve gotten as far as I have without David, who has taught me everything I know about writing for this website and more. He is truly one of the greats, and we’re lucky to have him. He’s like my incredibly patient dad, and I am his slimy little beast of a daughter. It’s a great set-up we’ve got here.

I’ve not got much else to say except thank you for having me, and I hope I can make you think about playing Bratz: Flaunt Your Fashion and see pictures of Mario kissing Sonic on New Year’s Day for a million years.

The post I’m One Year Old (In Kotaku Australia Years) appeared first on Kotaku Australia.