Thank you for checking out the site. I wanted to personally say hello and give you an idea of what Active Rewind is and what you can expect from this site.
What is Active Rewind?
Active Rewind is a personal passion project looking to bring back fond memories of video gaming’s past. Through retro reviews, feature shows and posts, I am hoping to put a spotlight on gaming generations before battle passes, season passes, microtransactions and live-service games became engrained in mainstream gaming.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it has changed the landscape of gaming, and with many of us, including myself, getting older and having more adult responsibilities, it has become increasingly important to manage what little time we could have for our hobbies while also hanging on to the memories of our youth.
Who am I?
My name is Jeff (aka Jepheroth, which is a combination of Jeff, Azeroth and Sephiroth). I love my wife, my dog, drinking Guinness, all my sports teams (Cubs, Bears, Timberwolves, Penguins, Manchester United and the Iowa Hawkeyes) and, of course, video games. I was born and raised in Des Moines, IA.
I have been a freelance video game journalist for roughly 15 years, writing for such sites as NerdBacon and SVG, while also having personal blogs, YouTube videos and Twitch streams. I would write everything from Top 10 Lists to full coverages of E3. I have also had the privilege of attending EVO, the largest fighting game tournament in the world, in Las Vegas, NV as a member of the press in 2017 and 2018.
I started my gaming adventure back on the NES with the original triple combo cart of Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/International Track & Field and I was hooked for life. I have fond memories of gaming events like my first time playing The Legend of Zelda, having my mind blown the first time seeing Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis, standing at the store demo kiosk playing Super Mario 64, Christmas 1997 being gifted my original PlayStation, LAN parties with the original Halo, midnight launch of the Xbox 360 and so much more.
I love talking and reminiscing on those times, those games, and those memories, and I hope you do too. I hope Active Rewind can be a place myself and like-minded retro game enthusiasts can come together and celebrate digital generations gone by.
What to expect on Active Rewind?
Fun, hopefully.
My basic plan with the site is to bring back the vibes of Giant Bomb, which was my favorite site from the 2009 – 2019ish era. There is nothing wrong with the current state of the site (before anyone says anything), but I simply loved the vibe of those early years, whether it was the off-the-wall humor, the pure love of the media, or the relationship with the community, that was a time in my life I will never forget.
I’m looking to bring regular blog posts including news from the retro gaming space, Top 10 Lists, Retro Reviews of game and hardware and other feature articles.
On top of that, expect lots of videos, whether one-offs or full series playing through games and entire franchises. I also look to bring full feature shows to the site and the YouTube channel.
Things are just getting started, and I am excited for the road ahead. So, keep an eye out here, on the YouTube Channel, the Discord Channel, and on my Twitch page and get connected to a fun look at retro gaming. Maybe one day, if this gets bigger and better, it may not need to be a one-man show.
Thanks for being here. Enjoy your gaming!
