Two Questions: Origin and Purpose

Question I. "What does the title mean?"

video (v): [Latin.] I see, observe, understand, comprehend.

facio (v): [Latin.] I sacrifice, suit, help, am of service. I give permission / I experience, I suffer (troubles). I make, do, act, perform, cause, bring about.

games (n): [Eng.] A contest with rules to determine a winner. an amusement or pastime.

The term "video games" presupposes a passivity which I would prefer to avoid. Looking for something different, I chose another Latin root, facere, which is verb with many meanings, most commonly construed as "to do or make." Therefore, instead of video or "watching" games, we have facio or "doing, making, and experiencing" games. A new level of agency, of involvement and interactivity, is inherent in the name.

Question II: "So, what's the point of this blog? Why are you writing it? Why should I read it?"

I'm writing this because, frankly, most mainstream game journalism sucks. I won't win any Pulitzers for that sentence, so let me clarify. If I were to have a "mission statement," it would be this:

To deliver quality, reader-focused content in an area where unbiased, articulate, and meaningful analysis has been lacking. To rebel against arbitrary numerical scores and feature lists ripped from corporate press releases masquerading as video game reviews. To treat what has been often derided as a childish diversion on its own level, as a text worthy of intelligent engagement. To speak to my readers as adults. To have fun.

At the very least, I hope to show readers some forgotten classics and obscure new releases that might have otherwise eluded their attention, and to write with incisive honesty about large-publisher titles that have been the recipients of too much fawning PR in the mainstream gaming press.