Chic Pixel’s Ultimate Guide to Blogging

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Recently I had a discussion on Twitter about how important niche blogging is, and it dawned on me that I’ve never really written anything about blogging! When I asked everyone if a post on blogging tips was something they’d like to see, the response was overwhelmingly positive, so I knew what I had to do. It turns out I have a lot of things I want to say, though, so instead of limiting myself to one post, I’ve decided to do four! Check back every Tuesday (Monday for folks in North America) throughout the month of February for a new roundup of my top blogging tips, from how to start a blog to handling social media and maintaining a schedule.

I’ve been running Chic Pixel for 6 years now, and while it sometimes (okay, often) feels like little more than a fun way to pass the time and share my nerdy interests with others, I strongly believe that blogging can be a great way to establish your credentials and build connections with others, both professional and personal. Especially blogging in a niche like anime or video games, sometimes you can be one of the only people writing about a certain topic, it’s not only a rewarding feeling but a helpful resource for others.

Now, more than ever, I feel we need more diverse voices in nerdy fields, so I hope this series will help inspire you to start your own blog, or help you take your existing blog to the next level! See you in a couple of days!

Part 1: Getting Started
Part 2: Nuts and Bolts
Part 3: Growing Your Audience
Part 4: Money Matters

February 2017 Community Game-Along: Fashion Games

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When it comes to fashion in games, people tend to gravitate toward a select few titles that center around the fashion industry in some way, such as the lovely Style Savvy series for Nintendo DS and 3DS. Not that these games aren’t amazing, but have you ever thought about how important equipment is in your favorite RPG? Why shouldn’t your character’s appearance change whenever you equip a rad new suit of armor? That’s why for February’s Community Game-Along, we’ll be focusing both on fashion games and fashion in games to showcase how great video game fashion can be!

The Complete 2017 Community Game-Along Schedule

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Another year, another 12 themes for the Community Game-Along! This is my forth year hosting this event, which was started to help encourage people to play more varied games (or check something off that backlog!). All you need to do to participate is play a game that fits the theme and share your experiences on your social media, blog, or elsewhere! Each month there will be an announcement post with game suggestions and the official hashtag to use. If you like to plan ahead, here’s the full list and official hashtags for the year!

January – Dating sims #DatingSiMonth
February – Fashion games (suggested by @vanishingage) #FashionGameFeb
March – Monster Hunter-likes #MonMonth
April – Grasshopper Manufacture #GrassManMonth
May – Intelligent Systems #IntelligentSystemsMonth
June – Puzzle games #PuzzleGameMonth
July – JRPGs #JRPGJuly
August – Mech games #MechMonth
September – Strategy games #SRPGSeptember
October – Horror games #HorrorGameOctober
November – Visual novels #VNNovember
December – Michiru Yamane #MichiruYamaneMonth

I hope you see some themes you’d like to participate in this year!

Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch and Niche Games

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Occasionally I write articles for sites that aren’t my own (gasp!), and last week I had the opportunity to write my own particular spin on the recent Nintendo Switch news explosion for ZAM.com. The most appealing aspects of the Switch for me are that it 1. is region free and 2. already has a bunch of “niche” games in development (think funky JRPGs, import-only titles, and revivals of forgotten favs), so I combined them into a piece on 3 reasons why the Nintendo Switch has the potential to be a great system for niche game fans. For the third reason, and some elaboration on why those things are so exciting to me, head over to ZAM and read my piece!

I definitely have a lot of additional thoughts on the Nintendo Switch that didn’t fit the scope of the article, which I discuss in detail with my podcast cohost Sarah on an upcoming episode of Chic Pixel Plus. In the meantime, I’ll be honest and say the promise of games in the future is not enough for me to purchase a console day one, so I don’t envision myself getting a Switch anytime soon. Plus, I’ve made one of my personal goals to finish 5 games in my free time this year (i.e. not for review), so I have plenty of things in my backlog to work on!

I would love to know: are you planning on getting a Nintendo Switch day one? What games are you most looking forward to? Leave your thoughts in the comments! And if you haven’t preordered one yet, grab yours at Amazon, a Chic Pixel affiliate, to help support the site!

December 2016 Community Game-Along: Hudson

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We’ve finally reached the last Community Game-Along theme of 2016! This time of year, I like to choose a theme that is completely different from the AAA blockbusters that are coming out in spades for the holiday season. What better way to differentiate the monthly theme than focusing on a developer that for all intents and purposes no longer exists?

Hudson Soft, best known simply as Hudson, was a Japanese company famous for titles such as Bomberman, Adventure Island, and Bonk. Sadly, it shut down in 2012 and was merged with Konami Digital Entertainment. Today, many older Hudson titles are difficult to obtain for modern consoles or remain unreleased outside Japan. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of interesting games that can be played this month! Just pick a title released by Hudson and play it during December to participate in the Game-Along. Be sure to share your experiences using #HudsonMonth to spread the love for this classic developer!

Hudson is a company I’m woefully uninformed about, so I asked folks on Twitter what games they’d recommend to play this month. Here are some of their suggestions!

Pokémon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color, 3DS Virtual Console) – I was extremely surprised to find Hudson developed Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color, and with Pokémon fever at a high right now, I just had to include it on this list! You can even boot it right up on the 3DS Virtual Console for easy access when you’re sick of getting zubats from the Pokémon Sun and Moon Wonder Trade.

Kororinpa (Wii) – Kororinpa is an adorably-titled early Wii game that has players tilting the Wiimote to navigate a sphere through a variety of mazes. Sweets maze? Sign me up! That, and the fact that Kororinpa and its sequel, Marble Saga: Kororinpa, can be found pretty cheaply these days, make this a great quick pickup if you’re looking for some lighthearted fun.

Bomberman ’94 (PC Engine, Genesis, Wii Virtual Console, PSN) – Bomberman is very likely Hudson’s biggest claim to fame, so it wouldn’t be Hudson Month without at least one Bomberman game suggestion! But since I have no idea which Bomberman game to suggest, I’m going to go with @Link6616’s recommendation of Bomberman ’94, which can be purchased on the Wii Virtual Console or digitally on PSN for the PS3 or PSP (I believe the PSP version should be compatible with Vitas, as well!). If you’re looking for some multiplayer bombing fun, this would be it!

Star Parodier (PC Engine, Wii Virtual Console) – Star Parodier is, as the title suggests, a fun parody of Hudson’s more serious scifi vertical shooter series Star Soldier. One of the playable ships is a giant flying Bomberman! Interestingly, the original Star Parodier was not released outside Japan, but you can now purchase it in Europe and North America on the Wii Virtual Console.

Since I’m really not an expert on Hudson games, I would love to hear more about your favorite Hudson titles or game recommendations for December! Be sure to share what you’ll be playing this month, too!