*NOTE TO THE COMMUNITY MANAGERS - please don't feature this on the soapbox, as it's a mere personal update. Fancy editorials are forthcoming.*

Ah, we meet again. Every time I visit this site - which I have been doing more frequently as of late - I feel a bit guilty for not updating my personal section any more, be it through new editorials or reviews. Guilty not only towards the modest group of people that enjoyed my writing, but also guilty towards System Wars Magazine (the most enjoyable, light-hearted gaming website out there) and towards myself, for not reviewing some games I would obviously have something to say about. Titles falling into the latter category include Dragonborn, the fantastic Skyrim expansion, the very promising Arma 3 Alpha, and Borderlands 2, the highly addictive looting game that helped me reach dawn on multiple occasions already.


"Arma 3 - Indecent Infiltration"

My absence on both Gamespot and System Wars, however, does not mean I have not been flexing my writing muscles during this period. Quite to the contrary - with the help of Willy of SWM, I redesigned my music website, Black Ivory Tower, recruited a few more editors and boosted the activity once more. My music reviews tend to be even longer than my - according to some, overdrawn - video game reviews, and in addition to the length, I maintain my music website in both Dutch and English, meaning that I write every review/article in Dutch first, and then translate it into English. Translation of lyrics (I often review French and German music) takes up some time, as well. So, now you can understand why it has been difficult to write quality video game reviews/articles on the side, as well. To be fair, I haven't been paying too much attention to video game news and developments over the past few months. Music is, again, to blame, as it has been sucking up most of my leisure time and funds associated with it. Look at these pictures to get an idea of my music purchases since the last update:

January - February
March - June

Now, on to more cheerful news. I have decided to pick up my game-related activities again a bit, and the result is that I will probably be in the SWM podcast of July 10th. That's right, my soothing voice and charming accent will be exposed to the GS/SW community. Ladies rejoice. On a more serious note, I will try and start covering some video games again like in the good old days, but seeing as I have quite a few things lined up on the musical side of things, I don't yet have the courage to start making promises. Now, excuse me as I try to start up the Arma 3 Alpha while I make desperate attempts to stop listening to Drudkh...