Ok, new year……not likely to be a massive new Ninja Refinery. But that’s ok, every day is about change and I like to think that we just do what we want and pivot as required. There’s no grand plan for 2023, in fact, like 2020, it’s about survival and being reasonably consistent.
With another little one on the way, a job that’s going to require more time away and honestly, a family I want to be with, any grand shifts and changes are on hold. 2023 is about maintaining a holding pattern, and hopefully finding some little shifts into new things as we go.
I have some a list of games that I would like to finish in 2023, and I’ll put it here in black and white to look at, at the end of the year. I’ve got some ideas on content, and I’ll be tweaking my streams (where I can get any in!), but that’s pretty much it. Life is the priority, family is the priority and everything else will happen around that.
2023 Challenge
On challenge I’ve set for myself is to see how far I can go without buying any new games. It seems ridiculous, yes. However, this site has put in some mental “need” that has seen me go a little over the top in ensuring I’m on the latest big games or I’m buying the same game on multiple platforms. It’s stupid, it’s pointless and 2023 is about re-focusing on the important things.
Between a litany of free games from Epic, Amazon Prime and Xbox Gamepass, alongside my backlog, I have no good reason to pick up any games for a long time. One exception being the only 2023 release that matters…… The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
So I’ve done a little last minute stock-piling and have a list as long as my arm of big and small titles to get through.
A few years ago, the big Triple-A titles would have had me salivating, but I suspect I’ll struggle more with the no-buy policy for some independent titles that will pop up over the course of 2023. I wonder how well I can resist?
The checklist
This isn’t definitive, as I’m sure I’m missing some. However, with the glorious Steam Deck at my side, a recent PC CPU upgrade and my good old PS4 and Nintendo Switch, I have options. I have mobility, too!
2023 is about seeing things through before contemplating any big changes or refreshes. Clearing this list down is as much about reviews and site content as it is mentally relieving myself. Some games here are massive, and I know full-well when I hit that 25-30 hour mark, I lose interest in things. I need to mentally push through that barrier that never used to exist when I was younger.
Here we are, lets see how many of these get done in 2023:
- Elden Ring
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- God of War Ragnarok
- DOOM (2016)
- DOOM Eternal
- Uncharted Lost Legacy
- Pokemon Scarlet
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengance
- Halo Infinite Campaign
- Modern Warfare 2 Campaign & prestige in multiplayer
- Horizon Forbidden West
There are some massive ones here, and add the massive amount of games in my libraries, the fact I haven’t even added the Witcher 3 expansions here, too. 2023 is a busy one with plenty of variety plus the usual Battle Royale chaos and other free-to-play games. There’s not really any excuse but to get things done!
Coffee
2023 has to be more about coffee on the site, too. Certainly I’m going to need it! There are some ideas kicking about, but it always seems like the least important (actually the most effort, and I shy away from it) stuff.
Brew guides, coffee reviews, kit recommendations. There’s plenty to be had, but sometimes I put more of that on social channels. As Twitter looks to be slowly dying, Instagram has become a mess of a shit algorithm and advertising. I’m not sure how to steer all of that for 2023, that might be the biggest challenge!
Having worked so long to build numbers on different platforms, that’s a weird position to perhaps have to start again. Especially when the numbers are likely inflated thanks to giveaways, bots etc.
Coffee has to take a more prominent place on the site!
Workflows
I think 2022 has been great at improving my workflows. Writing for this site or any other, I can do it on the go, categorise and manage everything thanks to notion.so
Writing thoughts on my mobile while playing on the Steam Deck in bed, or perhaps when a thought strikes me at work. It’s become more cohesive and functional.
The site needs a re-work, but it’s a big undertaking, so I need to look at how best to do this. Maybe it isn’t a 2023 job, but maybe it’s something I can do in the wee hours as a little one requires feeding whenever they see fit.
Settling into a routine has been nice for the past few months, but I suspect I have 12 months of chaos. Using the tools I have now will at least make it more manageable and consistent. After all, the whole point of the site was always to just learn and grow with it, so it’s fine. Let’s transition into the next phase and see how we go.
Cheers!
For all those that have bothered to read anything on the site, thanks very much!
I see the analytics and those numbers steadily grow. It’s always appreciated and I’ll do more giveaways as a show of thanks to all visitors, followers and of course members of the sickest gaming community there is….the NinJack community!
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that we haven’t got a clue what’s going to happen in the world, so I’ll do all I can to maintain this little world and make sure it isn’t a victim of 2023.