A small group of vocal folks need to understand: I don't owe anyone a single explanation, about anything. I say how I feel and what I think, unabashedly and honestly. That's my explanation. If people don't like that, that's there prerogative, and I don't begrudge them that. But I'm not about to argue with random people or justify what I say to folks on a message board because they have a different opinion than me. Just not going to happen. If people want to obsess over what I/we say, or not understand that sometimes we have to give our gut reactions to things, and that sometimes we will be wrong, and other times we will change our minds, then so be it. I promise you if someone followed you around and recorded you for the... what is it, now... 12 hours a week I talk into a microphone, you'd figure out pretty quickly what I mean. But that's pretty much no one's reality, so I accept that it's sometimes hard to think from the other side.
On that note, people need to stop taking everything everyone says so seriously, as if we're discussing life and death, and not VIDEO GAMES. We all love them. We all have a passion for them. Some people have X opinions. Some people have Y opinions. Others even have Z opinions. That's all good to me. Wish others would take note.
I've been doing this far longer than most, with the same co-pilot for many years, with amazing access that I try to share with my audience, and with insight that I think is valuable, as someone who has been playing games daily for nearly three decades. You may not agree with me, you may not agree with how I say things, you may not even like me. That's fine. It doesn't change a fundamental fact: you can count on me telling you the truth, exactly how I feel, with no glossy finish over it. That's all I owe you, and I give THAT my all, each and every day. Everything else is irrelevant to me, including if people like what I'm saying them. If that was the barometer by which I measured myself and my output, I'd frankly be ashamed of myself.
Thankfully, we have a ton of viewers, listeners, and fans, and 99% of them understand that. The most vocal "haters" we get aren't even people that listen to our stuff or support us or care about us, so I'm not going to lose much sleep if some people are mad at me because I don't carry Sony's water. If people want a podcast that oozes over everything Sony does, and loves every video game that comes down the pipe, and thinks gaming is just a ton of fun all of the time, no matter what, I'm sure there are plenty of podcasts out there that do just that. I don't know why you'd want to listen to that, but hey, different strokes for different folks. I happen to take pride in realism and honesty. Many of you have been listening to me for many years, now, and I hope you know that about me. I wear it on my sleeve.
I'm 31 years old. I started writing about games professionally at 18, when I was a freshman in college. I joined a PlayStation podcast in 2009, and have been doing it pretty much weekly since then, helping to build one podcast into the most-listened to PlayStation podcast, then the other one into the most-listened to PlayStation podcast, and both of them into the top echelon of most-listened to video game podcasts of any kind in the entire world. Needless to say, I'm not going to change my approach now. Not an inch.
I'm proud of what I've helped built, I'm proud of my reputation as a straight-shooter (and curmudgeon), I'm proud of the contacts and sources I've developed over the years, and I'm proud that we have such a hardcore following based on trust and entertainment. They go hand-in-hand.
I hope you are all well. Your continued love and support is appreciated, and doesn't go unnoticed. -Colin
