This month we’re celebrating Virtual Bastion’s 5-year anniversary by sharing our favorite memories of the site, blogging, gaming, and our online friendships. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane!

When it comes to defining  “[x year] in gaming,” you’d be hard pressed to find a more substantial one in recent memory than 2013. If nothing else, that year saw the announcement and release of both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, two consoles that have changed the way we play games, by ourselves and with each other. And with these releases came loads of questions about gaming in general. When Hatm0nster, The Duck, and I first got United We Game off the ground, there was no way to avoid the fact that the game community was changing, becoming more inquisitive and less…well…for lack of a better work, gullible. Through community posts and our own articles, we asked questions of the industry and invited others to discuss their own thoughts on the evolving scope of games and gaming. Despite being a new online presence, we were really proud of the writers who answered the call and the writings they produced. Looking back over five years, it’s amazing that many of the same questions we were asking then, we’re still asking now. (The more things change…and all that.) Needless to say, 2013 was a great year for gaming discussions of all sorts, so please join us now as we link back to a few of our written highlights from the year.

Within weeks of starting United We Game, we were already sharing thoughts on big questions concerning the state of gaming and our own places within it. (Suffice to say, what we thought then might not be what we think now!)

• Immersion and The Breaking Of It by David Russell Gutsche
• Can games be too open world? by Sam Leung
• Realism in games – a step in the wrong direction? by Sam Leung
• Some Backwards Thinking by Chip Chasterson
• The Eighth Console Generation: Will the Duck Buy…the PlayStation 4? by The Duck of Indeed
• Could This Be The One? My First Few Weeks With The Xbox One by niallsramblings
• Heroes and Villains: Console Gaming by Hatm0nster

We opined about game mechanics and tropes.

• They Always Respawn by Chip Chasterson
• Leveling Up “Leveling Up” by Hatm0nster
• The Wiimote and Me: An Onerous Ode by Cary

We challenged gaming conventions and questioned industry practices.

• Is a Game Bad Just Because It’s Different? by The Duck of Indeed
• My personal plea to those in the game industry by Cary
• Point-Counterpoint — The “Gamer” Label: Should It Be Retired? – a roundtable discussion

We opened up about own own gaming habits and identities.

• “I’ll Definitely Need This Later…” (Probably Not) by Hatm0nster
• Gaming And Me – My Identity As An Intermediate Gamer by simpleek
• Gaming through others by Cynenway
• Gaming Idiosyncrasies by Cary
• Gimme More – The Urge To Collect More Games by simpleek

We had fun offering up personal gaming stories through self-chosen topics and community-driven posts, along with particaption in industry events.

• A Friday at PAX Prime by Hatm0nster
• Community Post: The Embarrassing Joys of Lost Kingdoms II by The Duck of Indeed
• When Glitches Just Ruin It by Cary
• Games that Inspire Adult Tantrums by The Duck of Indeed

And rounding out the year, we participated in our very first blogging event, Listmas, which we continue to celebrate each year!

• Merry Listmas: Things I Dislike About Games I Like by The Duck of Indeed
• Merry Listmas: My 3 BEST Gaming Moments by Hatm0nster
• Merry Listmas: Games I Hope to Complete in 2014 by Cary

Now it’s your turn! If you were blogging in 2013, what we’re YOU talking about? Link to your best/favorite posts from that year in the comments below.

Lede image by Flickr user Mark Farrell (CC BY 2.0)