Last Monday, 4/29/13 marks the day Netto's Game Room was created. It's been two long years since that day, and a lot has changed. Back then I really wasn't sure how things would turn out, or how long it would last, but I'm glad I was willing to take the chance.
The day I started Netto's Game Room a lot was going on in my life. I was working on finishing up my college classes, I had family coming from out of state, and I was getting ready to go on a weekend trip to visit some other family members with them. It was a Friday, things were crazy, and as I was trying to relax on the Capcom-Unity forums, an idea came to me. "What if I create a blog here? There's a lot of fan groups, but not many dedicated to gamers in general." Really, the thought was quite random, but I decided to go through with it anyway. Despite the fact that I was going to be leaving the next day, I decided to go ahead and get it started.
I made a post reintroducing myself to Capcom-Unity, I talked about the games I liked, and what I planned on the Game Room becoming; a place where gamers could just hang out and relax. I really didn't have any plans, and I really didn't know what I could or couldn't do. If you were around for last years post, you would remember that I was actually scared of Capcom. I wasn't sure what they would allow me to post, and I really didn't want to do anything to offend them; however I soon found out that I was just being dumb. Capcom wasn't as strict as I thought they were, and before I knew it, Netto's Game Room was in full swing. I was posting news articles (some of my first posts were covering the events around PlayStation Network being hacked), I was reviewing games (Resident Evil 4), and I was just having a good time. I found that I actually enjoyed writing, and because of that, I just kept on going.
As time went on, NGR evolved into something quite a bit different. What started out as a personal blog now had new writers (Cheerfuljochan being the first), and before we knew it, it had turned into a full gaming blog. Posts became more focused on news articles, game updates, and other gaming related articles, and it just slowly became something less personal. It was a place anyone on Capcom-Unity could visit to find out what was going on in the world of gaming, or to just learn something new. Then, things changed once again.
Not too long ago (around two months ago), Netto's Game Room was once again changed. After being pitched the idea by GlacialLeaf, and after talking it over, we decided to move NGR to a brand new location; blogspot. Now the NGR blogspot blog was actually created a year or so ago as well, but back then it was actually just a placeholder. If you visited http://nettosgameroom.blogspot.com, all you would have seen was a link to Netto's Game Room at Capcom-Unity. Really I had no plan on ever using the site, but I also didn't want to risk the chance of someone copying it for some reason. When GlacialLeaf gave me the idea to move the blog here, the process was fast and easy, and all we had to do was begin moving content.
Now, here we are awhile later, and things are finally starting to settle. We've got a lot of our content moved over, we've contacted some of our old followers (who have also made the move over), Lugia came along to help with the graphical aspects of the site, and we were able to shape the blog into something that could stand alone outside Capcom-Unity. The move gave us much more freedom, and allowed us to do many things we couldn't before, but it is still an ongoing process. Things aren't quite fully up to speed, but we knew from the start that it would take time to build up again. I mean we did move from a site with around 600 followers, to a blank slate after all.
For Netto's Game Room's 2nd "Birthday," once again we decided to make a change. It's been a long time coming, but NGR finally has its own place on the net. From this day forward, Netto's Game Room can now be accessed by going to http://www.nettosgameroom.com! We have finally gained our own domain name, and once again we will be making changes! Now, don't worry, you can still access the site from the old URL, but there will be some differences. You can no longer follow the original URL/join us as a member; it has to be done at the new location, and a few other services will no longer work as well. Even so, clicking on the banner will redirect you to the new location if you are having issues.
Although the move was a very much needed one, it doesn't come without losses. For awhile some sections of the site will not be functioning as they should (for example our favicon has yet to be moved over), while other sections will have to be completely redone. Although we have already updated our review lists to direct you to the correct locations, some aspects of the site couldn't be updated or returned. All of our Google + likes have been removed, and that's something we just won't be able to get back. Either way it really isn't that big of a deal, and it won't have that big of an impact.
Well anyway, I just wanted to wish Netto's Game Room a happy birthday, thank all of you for your continued support, and let you know about what has been going on. It has been a fun two years, and I hope to see you all again at this time next year! Thanks a lot everyone!
