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X-Entertainment Staff
X-Entertainment F.A.Q.
Version 6.6-C, Late 2002. But not TOO Late 2002.
Question: What is the point of X-E?
Answer: Basically, the entire site is a tribute to anything I feel, or have felt, passionately about in my life. It's really not an '80s nostalgia site,' the reason it's garnered that reputation is because I'm big on nostalgia and I was a child in that decade. To say it's by design though would overstate it a bit. The main purpose of X-E is to bring to light many of the more obscure, geeky parts of pop-culture that often get buried as years go by. Whether it's an old movie, toy, video game, television show, or candy bar - if I feel strongly enough to write about it, I probably will.
For me though, it's very much a personal interest site. I try to make my articles entertaining for those who are reading, but honestly, I'm not writing about anything that doesn't interest me. If I thought I was making an 80s nostalgia site, I'd be doing a pretty bad job. There's a lot more out there than I talk about - I just talk about what I enjoy.
Question: Where do you find all the pictures for these articles?
Answer: I've gone through great lengths to track some of this stuff down. When the site began, most of the pictures were just from other websites - I just gathered whatever I could. As things have progressed, I've garnered a stronger interest in bringing you the kind of content you really can't find anywhere else. To do so, I've had to hunt down a lot of tapes that by all means should not still exist. The short answer is that the media I'm using isn't readily available - there's no megasite I can point you too if you're looking for more. Just keep readin' and eventually I'm sure I'll get to whatever you're looking for. ;)
Question: Who are you? Why do you devote so much time to this site? Does it pay THAT well?
Answer: Matt, I'm 23, I live in NY, and I really enjoy Golden Girls reruns. I own a chinchilla, cats, and many fish. I live with my girlfriend, who is an alien gypsy with five count 'em FIVE heads. Anything else you want to know about me can probably be surmised from my articles. If it's not, I probably don't want to talk about it with strangers. Unless you're willing to pay for the information. I'll tell you what my sister gave me on my last birthday for five bucks.
A lot of doors have opened for me because of this site, so there are benefits to keeping it up. The site, not my junk. I've gotten to talk to many great people, got to meet and interview some of my favorite actors for UGO, and of course, have had a lot of fun seeking out these little corners of my past loves. I doubt I'd go through all the trouble if I wasn't forging articles because of it. No, I'm not a millionaire because of the site. Not even close. The Internet ad market died a long time ago, and if you can make even a standard week's pay for a month's work with your website, you're doing a pretty good job.
Question: Why are updates sometimes so sporadic?
Answer: I'm the only writer on X-E. We used to have more, most notably Robert Berry of Retrocrush, but in all sincerity, I work best on my own. X-E has taken on a life of it's own, but in the end, that's more of my life, and I don't think many people could fit into it too well. This isn't to say the net's not full of very talented writers, because I can name at least thirty who are way better than me. I just would rather do it alone, have my successes and failures fall on my shoulders and my shoulders alone.
Furthermore, I lost faith in the net a long time ago. I have some great 'online friends', but in general, there's few people I'd want to deal with that heavily on a regular basis. Believe me, it's much easier to the site where I want it without having to worry about anyone else. This would also answer the 'Can I write for X-E?' question.
As for sporadic updates, I'm only one guy. The site's been running for three years or so now - do you really think there hasn't been a week here and there where I didn't particularly feel like churning out 2,000-word 'funny' articles? There's been plenty of those. Additionally, there's also been entire month spreads in the past where the last thing on my mind was the Internet. I don't think I'll ever have that much of a dry run again, but keep in mind that there's only so much I can do, and I do the best I can.
Question: You never answered my e-mail!!! MEAN DICKHEAD I HATE YOU.
Answer: I read all the e-mail that's sent to me, from start to finish. If you've sent me anything, I've read it. However, I don't have time to respond to all the letters I get. I still get e-mails regarding articles I wrote in early 2000 from people who landed there from search engines. I love and appreciate the feedback, but it's unfortunately impossible to send back responses to everyone who writes in. Personally, I think it'd be worse for me to respond with a 'hey thanks for the feedback' to a really long and well-thought letter. I'd rather just have you know that I've read it, and thanks to everyone who's sent in feedback!
Question: I disagree with your opinion on an article.
Answer: That's good. Opinions shouldn't be uniform. So don't complain about it.
Question: How long do you think you can keep this up?
Answer: Who knows? I've thought I've run out of stuff to say before, but it always turns around. I think it would be very hard for me to write an article on everything I want to, so thus, it would be hard for me to really run out of things to say. At the very least, I've got a few good years left. Will I be able to update at this rate next year? Hard to say. But I'll always do it when I can, or more specifically, when I feel inspired to.
Question: There are pictures/media files missing from one of the articles. What do I do?
Answer: E-mail me, and I'll try to fix it. I realize there are several older articles with missing stuff, but I'm pretty sure they can all be fixed if I search around hard enough. Just send me a note with the article's web location and I'll see what I can do. As for the larger downloads, in some cases they're down for a reason: I don't want to pay for the bandwidth on a vague media file from a three-year-old article, because no matter what, once you put something like that on the web, it's gonna get hotlinked somehow.
Question: What are your favorite things to write about?
Answer: I've always been pretty partial to He-Man. Dunno why, but those articles always seem to come together pretty well. I like doing the movie reviews, but they can get tedious. The recent run we're having with the old ad spots is probably some of my better work - I'm a sucker for advertising, and when the commercials are advertising old toys and video games, it's basically a goldmine for me. The articles that mean the most to me are the ones where I take my digital camera out for a trip. They can't possibly mean as much to you since you weren't there, but those are the ones I read again the most often.
Question: What happened to the 'Quickies' and 'Animalia'?
Answer: My 'Quickies' weren't all that quick, so I was cheating myself. Some of the best articles on the site are buried in there, and for whatever reason, people couldn't seem to learn how to check the side panel for new Quickies. Oh well. In the end, I've learned that more words doesn't necessarily mean a better article. More words just create the illusion of a better article. It's why people switch their Arial fonts to Verdana or whatever. These days, I'll put something up regardless if it's 1,000 words or 5,000 words. As long as I think it says something, it warrants a full article to me.
'Animalia' probably won't come back. The audience for that type of feature just isn't worth the effort, especially since that's a huge interest of mine and I don't want it soiled by the net. All of the Quickies and Animalia articles are archived on the site, so you can still check 'em out if you want.
Question: How long can you make this F.A.Q.?
Answer: I wanted to stop five questions ago, but then this wouldn't have been much of a F.A.Q. So I'll keep making up questions until my hands cramp.
Question: I want to talk to you.
Answer: Put my AIM name on your list - it's "xecharchar." Keep in mind that I might be talking to a number of people simultaneous when you message me, so don't be offended if I can't get back to you right away, or not at all. What can I say? Chicks dig webmasters with Pokemon fetishes.
Question: When did the site start?
Answer: April of 2000. It was originally meant to be an offshoot of a pro-wrestling site I worked on, with a group of fifteen-year-olds giving their world views. For obvious reasons, the idea never got off the ground. X-E's original title was 'Subvulture'. I bought that domain but hooked up with a bad hosting plan, so we just took the ol' X-E domain off the shelf and threw this together. There was no way, and no reason to expect it to do as well as it has. The site's a constant work-in-progress. If you look back into the archives, things may seem the same on the surface, but the general flavor has changed quite a bit over time. That's flavor as in style, not Flava as in Queen Latifah's magazine.
Question: Anything else?
Answer: Oh yes, there's PLENTY else, but I want to keep up some sense of mystique. So that's all you get. Sorry.
Question: I don't have a question, but didn't you have something else you wanted to say?
Answer: Why, yes I did, you psychic little boy you. I wanted to send a quick thanks to the many numerous sites that've helped me along the way. The webmasters of each of the following sites have done a lot for me personally, so if you could, go check out their stuff and tell 'em Large Marge sent ya. Retrocrush - Fark - Stile (18+) - Something Awful - Slush Factory - I-Mockery - Newgrounds. And of course, thanks to all of you for your continued support. You make me warm and fuzzy. All day long. And some nights, too.
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