June 18, 2014 by

Hello everyone. My name is Bryce. I have been an active member on MyIGN since June 18, 2011. Today marks my third full year being on this site. And somehow, along the way, I have convinced 600 people that I am marginally interesting enough to follow. I should start a cult.

I'll be placing these gifs throughout.

Anyway, the last twelve months have been rather interesting. For one, I am a comment moderator now. I was not sure whether I wanted to be one when I applied, but I cannot say that I regret it. Sure, it is a bit depressing to browse through the hundreds of flagged comments we get per day, but it sure feels good to give back to the community that gave so much to me.

Also, you may remember in my previous Personal Blog that I stated my desire to build a gaming PC. Well, thanks to the help of some fine MyIGNers, I have finished my first build. It looks great, plays great, and just overall feels like a great investment. I will probably write a more in-depth blog about it later, but I just wanted to take the time and thank the many people who left me feedback when I first asked for help on – you guessed it – MyIGN. Also, I named it Aurorus. Yes, after the Pokemon.

Okay, now that I have covered what I managed to accomplish last year, now I want to talk about my plans for the year to come. Consider this my E3, directly to you. What are my plans for the next twelve months here on MyIGN?

Well, one of these things has already begun. As some of you may have noticed, I started the first ever MyIGN Metacritic Prediction League earlier this month, which will go on until January. Turn out has been somewhat disappointing – many had gauged interest when I first announced it a few weeks ago, but few have signed up – but it has not even been a week yet, and every day at least a few new people sign up. Thanks to those of you who have already joined, and for those who have not, click here to sign up before June 30!

Another thing I want to do is to start vlogging, for a few reasons. One of them is to put a face on this blog in place of my rather generic username. Another one is to put me out of my comfort zone and really work on my communication skills. I have always been a rather shy person growing up, but I always tried to put myself out there when I could, and this is certainly an extension of that. Of course, I also want to give myself just another creative outlet to express my thoughts about games and life to you guys.

In addition to vlogging, I am trying to revamp my YouTube channel. Things are still in the planning phase at the moment, but I will try to update you guys on it whenever I can.

Before I close, I would just like to thank you guys for the great three years I have been on this site, especially the 600 of you who have so gratefully given me a virtual follow on my blog. If you are not a follower, why not join? If you love Nintendo, this is the perfect place for you.

I would like to conclude this blog with something I always do when it comes to these anniversary Personal Blog’s. Every so often, someone leaves me a very kind and thoughtful message in the comments, the kind that makes me very happy and want to continue doing the things I love:

"This was a wonderful write up for a great business man." --MrsDeanMartin on my look back at the legacy of Hiroshi Yamauchi.

"This was a fantastic review - thanks for writing!" --Foxfire64 on my review for Pikmin 3.

"This is very well written and I can see you have really paid attention to what the trailer shows, and I'm glad you write about even the little details in there :) " --ShotgunHoward on my hype piece for Super Mario 3D World.

"I do want to point out that I find that your writing skills have vastly improved since I began reading your reviews when you first joined the site." --paleselan on my review for Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

"You've become a great blogger man, your pieces are well written and well argued." --Unoclay1 on my op-ed about whether the Wii will be remembered as a failure.

"This was a very entertaining blog. Kudos on putting it together!" --pigeonhammer on my compilation of gaming screw-ups of 2013.

"This is very well written, I mean WOW. Great job!" --Arieces on my paper about storytelling and video games.

"Really great, informative post. Thanks!" --skywardprincess on my analysis of Nintendo’s strategy with third parties.

"This is a really amazing blog. Congratulations from the very depth of my being. There are not enough words to describe my feelings while reading this blog. I wish to hug you, and say how a great writer you are, and how I loved your blog (this one), but I can't do that, since we're on the internet :) " --RCC97 on my op-ed about the humanity of internet personalities.

Thank you to all of my followers and readers, and here is to another year of being a part of this awesome community! Cheers!

P.S.: Here's a little thank you gift for you all. Enter the product key 7H830-KEZ59-8JFZQ into Steam and you get Mirror's Edge for free! First come first serve!

~Bryce

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