My Top Nine Photos of 2021
I haven’t posted an “of 20xx” roundup to the site since 2018, which is embarrassingly only a few posts below this one in chronological order. 2019 was a speeding bullet train of stress thanks to my last job, destined to burst into flames and derail once we hit 2020. I dove headlong into work on Delisted Games while being unemployed and looking for a new job, and didn’t feel like I had anything to say about what I played in 2020. Spoiler alert: I feel even worse about, well, everything in 2021. But I made some neat graphics for Instagram and wanted to write just a bit more about a few things from the year.
My energy for Instagram and social media in general took a nosedive in 2019.This year wasn’t any better with only around 75 posts and very few of them featuring the *pop* of years past. Still, I’m glad to see that random snapshots of food and cats didn’t outweigh the photos I actively tried to compose. Not surprisingly, the No.1 post was a series of photos (and video) of the new Super Impulse “Tiny Arcade” Dance Dance Revolution cabinet. It’s crazy that this thing exists and is actually playable. I think I also did a pretty good job with the presentation.
In another montage post from March I wanted to share the assorted frames I finally got situated on the wall in what has become my office. No more is my desk relegated to the corner of a kitchen or front room! I’ve added more stuff since this post but Socks the Cat and Bubsy are still prominently featured on my dumb wall. No.3 is the only one I feel a little bad about since it only ranked so high thanks to #WaltDisneyWorld. It’s another montage from our vacation in October featuring some of the fantastic art for sale at Disney Springs. I totally missed my chance to buy that Darkwing illustration!
The only Nintendo post to rank so high in 2021 was the amazing sticker book that came with the original WarioWare on Game Boy Advance. They’re actually used to play more minigames found throughout the instruction manual. Genius! Next up is the only Xbox pic to break the Top Nine, although I tried my best by sharing lots of photos as I resuscitated my original Xbox and got to work capturing Dinosaur Hunting and Drihoo. The most retro thing in my top nine pics was this Magnavox Odyssey 3000 console, looking as sharp as possible after a thorough cleaning and 44 years of neglect.
The power of the Gremsters is strong! One of my most recent posts immediately broke the Top Nine, and how could it not? NECA’s made tons of gorgeously detailed figures over the years but this one, featuring the “Ultimate Gamer Gremlin”, is my first and a Christmas gift from Katy. I love the Atari 2600 inspired controller and game box as well as the creative reskin of the impossible-to-license Donkey Kong Coleco mini-arcade from the 80’s. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game finally, finally, finally made its return to form after being delisted years ago. Being the purveyor of all things Delisted, I just had to own it on physical media and I went with the mid-tier Complete Edition, laying out all the goodies inside the giant Genesis-style box.
Finally, one of the most photogenic and nerdy hotspots on the planet slid in at No.9: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There are simply too many details and references to spot at this place! I could (and did?) take hundreds of photos here but this last post was just a handful of my favorites.
Here’s hoping that another new year might finally reinvigorate my energy for Instagram. Right now it doesn’t feel like it’ll happen, but who knows! Follow along and give me a kick in the pants if I haven’t posted anything by February.
