2022 Year in Review

The stupid end-of-year intensity of the holidays make it especially difficult to sit down an write about video games that I hardly have time to play, so here it is, mid-January of 2023, and I am just now starting to jot down thoughts about the previous year. Keeping in mind that I am writing about my year in videogaming, and not yours, or the world's, here we go.

Beaten in 2022:

• Phantasy Star (Master System via Sega Ages version on Switch)
• Mafia: Definitive Edition (PS4)
• Firewatch (One)
• Dying Light 2 (PS4)
• Stray (PS4)
• Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress (C64/MS-DOS/Windows/GOG)
• Moss Book 2 (PSVR)
• Car Battler Joe (GBA)
• Tunic (One)
• Borderlands 3 (One)
• Wildlife! (Odyssey 2)

Games of the Year:

• Winner: Stray (PS4)
• Runner-Up: Tunic (One)
• Runner-Up: Dying Light 2 (PS4)
• Runner-Up: Moss Book 2 (PSVR)

The Year in Review

This year my finances were tight and my time limited, so there is not much to report in terms of collecting or game acquisition. The biggest graphical upgrade I have ever witnessed occurred this year, though, as cataract surgeries on both eyes cleared up my vision at a distance and everything looks better. It's not just sharpness that the surgery corrects, but the ability to see colors brighter as well. This makes all videogames better.

My financial situation improved dramatically by the end of the year and I was able to procure a Sony Playstation 5. Oddly enough, this mirrors my acquisition of the first Playstation at the end of 1995. Unlike that year, where by the last day of the year I was able to play enough Wipeout to name it game of the year, I have not had time to jump into either of the two PS5 games I bought - Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring - much at all. I'm in the middle of Tenchu Z on the 360 and kind of want to finish it.

A recent blog entry detailed the three Odyssey 2 games I got this year, and I think I mentioned finally landing a boxed Space Wars for the Vectrex too. Muppet Pinball Mayhem for the GBA was another missed opportunity from 2006 that I corrected by getting a complete copy of that game. Other than that, not much collecting going on, but if the budget allows, there will be more such purchases in 2023.

I also hope to acquire an XBox Series X in the coming months and like the PS5, begin building a library for it as well. Continuing to acquire or even re-acquire games for the XBox 360 and PS3 remains a priority, and with bargain bins filling up with titles for the One and PS4, those collections could use a boost as well.

Everything is always up in the air, in our fragile civilization and my own chaotic life, so who knows where I'll end up a year from now. 2022 was like the rest of the 2020s have been so far, and I finished the year once again wondering if I'll ever see my dream retirement of comfortable living, endless video game time, and lots of nice, legal weed.