Bro, Isn’t it Crazy That Wilcox Arcade is 4 Years Old?

Let’s just stop and think about this for a second. I’ve penned Wilcox Arcade on a fairly consistent basis for 4 whole years. It almost doesn’t feel real.

First, an oral history. I published the very first Wilcox Arcade post—a Terminator Salvation review—on February 6, 2017. I was 15 years old, in 10th grade, and my writing was pretty terrible. But hey, everybody starts somewhere.

Since then, I feel like Wilcox Arcade has grown into something kinda cool. I’ve published 260 articles to date and haven’t skipped a week since February 2020. I sell assorted merchandise on Teepublic. I manage an active Discord server full of delightful arcade-goers. I operate a handful of arcade games in my hometown. Most recently, I've been working on a book called The Magic of Arcades.

Side note: The book has made for a particularly engaging endeavor. The sheer hours of work I've poured into the project have been exhausting, sure, but I feel the results will prove incredibly rewarding. I can't wait to publish it.

Even so, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have recurring doubts, especially regarding the route. Now that I own physical pieces of coin-operated equipment, I’m more or less tied down to the Hopkinsville area forever. Is Wilcox Arcade really what I want to do for the rest of my life?

I have plenty of other dreams—starting a Saturday-morning cartoon block chief among them—and I don’t know how attainable they are with arcade games dominating my headspace.

Isn’t that funny? I’m exactly where I want to be, yet I’m still not sure if it’s the destination. I hope y’all know I’m not complaining. I’m really just thinking aloud.

At the very least, I’m absolutely certain I want to write until the day I die. Writing anything is downright exhilarating to me. Plus, I could move to any point on the globe right now and keep doing exactly what I love. Heck, I might even have time to get back into drawing if writing became my primary gig.

If you’re wondering why I choice an anniversary special to do all this inner-searching, I don’t have a good answer for you. What I can say is that I love and appreciate each and every one of you who support the work I do. I wouldn’t forsake y’all for a second, no matter where my head is.

Thank you. No, seriously. This was all made possible by viewers like you.

Until we meet again—ahem, Monday of next week—I want to leave you with some parting words. If you’ve been with me since day one, you already know what’s coming.

Keep it real, ya sweaty flippin’ nerds.