2023 Xbox Year in Review

 Long time, no post. Yes, still alive, technically. i finally got to 250,00 gamerscore.

The Xbox "Year in Review" came out (oot if you're Candian). What are my stats...

• Total Time: 920 hours.
• Total Game Played: 59
• Total Gamerscore increase: 8,040
• Total Achievements: 386
• Microsoft Reward Points: 176,728
• Top Game Play Month: January
• Top Genre: RPG (49%), Action/Adventure (29%), Puzzle/Trivia (23%), Simulation (1%), Other 1%

Top 5% time played, top 5% Gamerscore, Top 5% achievements unlocked

Most played: Puzzle Quest 3 - 189 hours

True Achievements Year in Review:

• Total Achievements: 391
• Games Played: 33
• Gamerscore: 8,170
• Most Played: Puzzle Quest 3: 180 hours

Why Do i Rarely Use My Series S

 i got the Series S near launch with stimulus money (i think). 

Why the Series S (i targeted that model specifically). Why? Well, i view 4k as a complete waste of resources - especially hard drive space. 2K (1080P) is a little bit of a waste. The fast boot and load times are nice when i use it. But i just don't use it that often. Why is that?

1) One of my biggest problems with the Series S is that there is no ability to select the Xbox One download - i know not an issue with future games (Series S/X only). With the tiny onboard storage, i would rather play the Xbox One version off an external hard drive than the Series Version.

1b) Small hard drive and big games mean i can fit few on the console. i like to have as many as possible and not switch between storage options. Why do i like to have games on the console? - i don't trust they'll always be online if i want to download them (had some issues with Xbox 360 downloaded items disappearing from the store, even when in my download history and download history not saying what the item was).

2) The room it is in has a really crappy wi-fi connection. Really slow download speeds. Doubt i'll be able to use game streaming for future games. 

Superficially it is white and everything else near the TV in my primary recreation area is black (TV edge, soundbar, Blu-ray player, Xbox, weak old Computer - should have never downgraded to Windows 10, i really liked Windows 8). Additionally, i'm swapping out HDMI cables as it is.

3) My Launch Xbox One still works fine - it is more convenient to use.

4) There really aren't that many Series S/X games that interest me, with rising retail prices and modern games, it'd be better for me to use Game Pass Ultimate when there are a few games i want to play. 

Also, games, you don't need to use every button on the controller. i hate using the bumpers and pressing thumb sticks (it feels so wrong).

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.