A thank-you, some news, and Game Boy Works Gaiden: Trip World

This week, we have a patron-requested Game Boy episode, and (I hope) the last time we'll see a significant break in the planned sequence of coverage for the platforms I'm chronicling. Not much of a chronicle if it doesn't go in order, right? So, as an FYI for future topic requests, I'm modifying the language of that tier a bit to clarify that the request tier is really meant for subjects that will fall outside the standard Works track—things like Famicom imports, games on systems outside of the Works purview, or big-picture concepts like the upcoming patron-request video on the history of NES fandom. Apologies if my original wording didn't make that clear!

That's not my purpose with this post, however. I'd like to take a moment aside to thank everyone for their continuing financial support of this endeavor. This Patreon campaign has been running steady for something like six years now, and it's been a huge help for me and my family. The bulk of this income goes into the acquisition of games and hardware for creating the videos here (as well as maintenance on those increasingly flaky machines), but for most of this time it has also paid for health insurance for me and, more importantly, my wife. I don't know where we'd have been without your support, but it's been essential.

Now, it's become equally essentially to our well-being, because the current pandemic has completely shut down my wife's business. Again, without the support of people who believe in this venture, things would be tough for us. So, I thank you sincerely for continuing to fund this project. Of everything I've ever produced over the past 20-plus years, this project is my favorite thing to create, and I look forward to continuing Video Works and the related books for as long as I'm able (which, fingers crossed, will be for decades to come).

As for the news I mentioned in the title, well, that's also related to the pandemic. It's nothing bad (or at least I hope you won't see it that way!), just a note on a temporary change in my approach here. The state of the world is pretty grim at the moment, and I admit I was struggling for a while to keep my chin up at all the bad news and personal challenges it's introduced into our lives. Now that I've found my balance, I want to maintain it—and, as it happens, the best way I know to cope with bad feelings is to create.

So I hope you won't mind if I use Video Works as a coping mechanism of sorts. I'm continuing the various series, of course, but over the next few months (or as long as lockdowns and illnesses cast a shadow on the world) I will be mixing things up a little by finding excuses to work unrelated topics into the mix. I'd like to create videos about some of my all-time favorite games beyond NES and Game Boy (et al.), and I hope you don't mind indulging me if I throw a few other things into the routine. I'll try to make it relevant... but mostly, I want it to be fun. I hope you'll enjoy a little branching out, too!

Thanks again for your support!