Wrapping up

Recently I was informed that Raptr will be closing up at the end of this month.
So I thought I might take the time to reflect on this app as a regular user.

I first encountered Raptr in 2012 when a friend told me about it. And I took to it readily, delighted that there was this app that allowed me, a gamer, to record all my gaming times. It allowed me to add all my games in my collection and to enter the hours spent on them, regardless of system or era.
Indeed, it was important for me that this was something that provided a record. I had so many games that was important to see how much time I had spent on them, in relation to each other, and also call attention to other games that may have slipped my notice - indeed, there's something to be said to see a game that had been neglected for so long, race up the ranks.

Most importantly for me was, again, the record. I can't stress this enough: As the passage of time renders obsolete media, like optical discs and console memory cards, completely unusable, it was refreshing to know that I had such historical information preserved.
Granted this may not be what the makers of Raptr wanted  (I cringe at the thought of them making the first rank of pre-2000 games at twenty hours) but for me it filled a vital need.

Later on, Raptr moved away from the console field., This was a disappointment on my end as I enjoyed having so many platforms under the one umbrella. Granted the consoles of now may have their own game/achievement tracking device but it is disappointing they can't...well...mix. One can't underestimate the importance of having everything within easy reach and easily comparable (after all isn't that the main driving force of the technological advanced times we live in?).
Losing the consoles to me, however, was the turning point with Raptor and myself: Sure it was nice to record everything I played on Steam and GoG Galaxy but without console input, it was never the same.

And now Raptr is pulling up stumps and calling quits. It is disappointing that my record is now obsolete. Sure I have Steam keeping track of my game time but over a decade's worth of gaming has been effectively erased. Sure it exists as a file on my computer's hard drive, but somehow it doesn't seem the same.
Raptr may have failed to keep up with the times but for me it represented something that is not often thought of in the gaming community: An archive. The original idea may have been strong enough for the major companies to take notice but without an app representing, well, everything it doesn't seem the same.

So here's to you Raptr you magnificent archive you.
Hopefully something comes along that fulfills the niche you pioneered.