Didn't watch MSFT presentation for first time in years

Long title rings true. Throught the years, i used to always watch the MSFT E3 show and then the streaming event near June. This was the first year in a long time (maybe Xbox 360 reveal) where i didn't watch.

Why? i guess because i don't really care. Modern games kind of suck - pretty disasters with potentially political undertones. Am i interested in Fable? Yes. Maybe some JRPGs. At some point i'll have to subscribe to Game Pass again.

i would be more interested in ports from PS1 and PS2 era consoles than anything new and shiny (with 100GB+ File sizes). Online multiplayer and games as a service, forget that (mostly).

Persona on Game Passs

Persona games. These games are kind of long (100 hrs 5, 65 hours 3, 4 about 35).  Story wise they are ok -some variant of teenage angst and identity issues.  Turn-based, nice.  However, sometimes the structure of the games and the feeling of bloat (especially around the "social" links) seems annoying.  The games are structured into days with mostly after school and evening activities.  Unfortunately, there is not a ton to do in the evenings.  Then there are forced events that don't always let you do what you want to on certain days. Also, very heavy on Japanese stuff that i was not familiar with (especially the questions).

Persona games have the same themes but tackle it a slightly different story way. Persona 3 had the dark hour and Tartarus. Persona 5 had stealing people's warped desires and Mementos.  Persona 4 has this weird TV thing when it rains at midnight (and going through the TV) - kind of more of a mystery (so far).

Checking in 2023 Edition

 So, what have i been doing in the video game playing space.

i got Game Pass for 3 months (November-February).  Have been playing the Persona games.  Beat (not 1,000ed) 3 and 5.  Playing 4. Backlog of games is still pretty long. Still playing on Xbox One - because it is easier and i don't want to deal with inflated game sizes on a tiny HD.

GamerScore up to 243K (will i hit 250k this year? Probably not, unless i get Game Pass again several times this year). Other (original account) 107,000 - mostly to get Xbox weekly rewards now.  Third gamertag, never really took off (too many games, streaming services, solstice item watching). 

Checking in 2022 edition

 Well, here i am sort of posting this.  So, what did i do in 22?  

Gamerscore (as of 11/28/22): 241,176 

What have i been doing?  Playing stuff on Game Pass (not ultimate) mostly.  i started Persona 5 (decent so far, though not a fan of its structure), though for some reason i got sucked into Disney Dreamlight Valley.

Since they dropped Xbox 360 Games with Gold, i don't have use for Gold anymore.    

1,000ed a few games:

• Turnip Boy Commits Tax evasion
• Asdivine Kamura
• AreA
• Eiyuden Chronicles Rising
• Unpacking

Did i Have a Gaming Problem

 i was clearing out my email and discovered that i kept many emails for Xbox purchases since 2018. Being a whatever i am, i inputted the receipts in a spreadsheet.  How out of control did i get with spending on individual video games during the span of 2018-2022 (not including Game Pass Ultimate)?  It feels like this is not all there is (some seem missing).

$1,140.30 (for 118 digital games).  

$460+ of that could be accounted for with Bing/Microsoft Rewards Xbox Gift Cards.  There were probably some gift card actual gifts in there too.

Yeah, that seems a little high (and i might not have really paid all of them).  Many of these were decent discounts (under $10), however some were overpays, like:  Yakuza Like a Dragon. Some were overpriced Backwards Compatibility digital copies.   

This does not include: Immortals Fenix Rising ($43.95), Assassin's Creed Valhalla ($26.40), Halo Guardians ($8.78), Borderlands GOTY ($10.87), Forza Horizon 4 ($28.01) purchased digitally at Amazon.com. 

Now, the Xbox Series S that i barely have used (decent machine) is another story (with Game Pass it doesn't have the storage space i would prefer, i would always want to use the Xbox One version of games). Also, my launch Xbox One still works pretty well. 

2020 blog post in 2021

Yeah, this is based off the annoying Olympics (the annoying "sporting event", not the much superior mountain range). 

 Started a new gamertag to experience some of the games again. Started playing Lips (man, i lost a lot of range). i used to almost be decent. 

 Seriously, it is getting harder to play games now. Unidentified long-term chest/shoulder problems partly (playing for hours at a time is much harder). Part of it is Game Pass - i now don't play as much in case the game shows up in the weekly/monthly quests. Backlog still out of control (almost filled 4 TB of drives). 

Let's see, i have a Series S i rarely use - partly because my Samsung Smart TV won't recognize it (piece of garbage, i have to recouple the garbage remote almost every time i turn it on. Why did they have to go from IR, which worked, to garbage Bluetooth?) 

 Is anybody else disappointed by the future of gaming. In my days, we would just put a disc or a cartridge in and it would work. Now every other game is some type of GaaS, or needs huge updates so often (definitely looking at you Master Chief Collection - every month another 30+ GB update). i guess i'm kind of getting a little burned out.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Xmas

Been away for a while (chest/shoulder chronic condition that still bothers me immensely), so what happened.  i finally got 200K gamer score.  i beat a couple games, gave up on more. Game Pass is not bad.  Apparently there was some kind of "pandemic" or something.  No, i don't believe it either.  

i'm sure that Santa is going to bring me an Xbox Series S for Xmas.  First launch ever without a launch title game (unless there is).  The games i was considering: AC Valhalla, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon.  

i also asked Santa for $120 million in cash, we'll see if that one comes through.