No Fooling: April Will Be Video Game Movie Month Here at the Happy Place
In late 2019 I had an ambitious idea for how I could increase traffic and revenue for a website in desperate need of both. Instead of writing about whatever random bullshit fascinated me at the moment for Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place I’d have a big poll to determine what I would be covering in what promised to be easily the greatest, easiest year in human history. I’m not sure why, I just had a hunch that 2020 was going to be the Year of Nathan Rabin.
So I dreamed up 2020: The Year YOU Control Nathan Rabin, a project where kind-hearted patrons could suggest nominees for theme months for 99 dollars that people who pledge to the site’s Patreon account would then vote on.
Like pretty much everything I have done to increase revenue and traffic for this site, with the exception of Control Nathan Rabin 4.0, this failed spectacularly. Instead of increasing income and popularity the site’s monthly Patreon haul nose-dived. The page-views followed suit.
I don’t want to brag, but 2020: The Year YOU Control Nathan Rabin is currently in its third year of failure. It failed to attract money and attention and excitement when it was introduced in 2019. It was the one 2020 project that didn’t turn out quite as well as expected for a number of reasons. I had to hit the pause button on 2020: The Year YOU Control Nathan Rabin repeatedly so that I could focus on making enough money through Control Nathan Rabin 4.0 to survive so it looks like it’s going to take me something in the area of 18 to 20 months to finish what was supposed to be a year-long project.
But you know what? I’m going to finish it. Oh yes I am. I am going to finish it because I am stubborn and hard-headed and I made a promise to y’all and I am going to keep it. I will keep every promise I make on this site. It just might take longer than expected.
With that in mind, I am happy to announce that April will be Video Game Month here at Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place, the seventh theme month 2020: The Year YOU Control Nathan Rabin. For those keeping track at home, so far I have done Phil Hartman Month, Direct to Video Sequels Month, Wrestlemania Month, Danny DeVito Month, John Candy Month and Mismatched Buddy Cop Month. After Video Game Month all that remains for me to cover is Wild Disney Animation, Movies About Television Month (which I started but did not finish, meaning I will need to start again from scratch), Nora Ephron Month, Unexpected tearjerkers and Lovable Losers/Bad with Money.
My brain craves order and consistency and projects so it is uniquely suited for something like this.
Here’s what I’m thinking about covering for Video Game Movie Month:
Mortal Kombat (1995, done)
Need for Speed
Pixels
Ace Attorney
Hitman
Boss Level
Max Payne
Sonic the Hedgehog
Wing Commander
Christmas Comes to Pac-Land
Gamer
I’m trying to take an expansive view of what constitutes a video game movie, so it’s not just movies based on video games but also movies inspired by video games, movies with video game-themed plots and movies with a video game aesthetic. So Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is definitely in play even if I wrote about it for Rotten Tomatoes not too long ago.
What would you like me to write about for Video Game Month? What’s not on my radar that should be?
Please do let me know!
I have a lot of love for shitty video game movies based on cheap nostalgia so this should be a whole lot of fun, for me, and hopefully for you as well.
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