It’s time to reflect on 2022. From a computing angle, my rural area FINALLY rolled out fiber internet. Social media’s demise seems to have accelerated this year. And in a gaming letdown, the Breath of the Wild sequel was delayed until next year. On the upside, 2022 was surprised with JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which released to rave reviews and later got three nominations in the annual Game Awards. As for blogging, there were vexing WordPress shenanigans.
In April I pulled the plug on Twitter. When word first got out that Elon Musk was eyeing a takeover and after I felt the burn of borderline addiction — doomscrolling, constantly checking Tweets — I’d had enough. My ten year old account…deleted! And the Twitter that was is no more; Elon’s Twitter is…tumultuous.
Also in April, I logged out of Facebook; I didn’t delete my account…yet. If I stay off until next April — a whole year — then I might finally nuke my account from orbit. Meanwhile in 2022, Facebook’s earnings and market share dropped big time. Zuckerberg continues to pivot towards an unwelcome metaverse while Instagram saw negative blowback from troubling changes and more feature bloat.
April was crazy. It was around that time I stopped staff writing at RPGamer. Then WordPress shadow dropped a radical plan/pricing upheaval that caused the WP community much consternation. After a few months of uncertainty and backpedaling, WordPress basically hit the big UNDO button on the whole thing! So…I left WP and rejoined Blogger!
In late summer, I employed Minimalism (anti-consumerism) to moderate my tech fascination and related personal interests (photography), avoiding Apple’s annual new iPhone adver-nouncement. With Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism, I also got a fresh take on Biblical Minimalism, wanting more of less. Later I slowly and intentionally resumed my normal habits of blogging, computing, and gaming.
Interestingly, this Fall I started to change my mind about Apple’s AirPods due to their expense and lack of audio quality. Despite their great convenience, I realized other brands and types of wireless audio are more affordable and convenient enough. Then I got a new pair of wireless JBL over-ear headphones for Christmas! Now my two year old AirPods are…backup? Going forward, I’m open to more non-Apple gear; don’t want to drink too much of that kool-aid.
This year I played JRPGs and a racing game. I began 2022 with progress in both Bravely Default II and Octopath Traveler then paused for months. Later I started Pokémon Legends: Arceus, finishing in the fall. Then I quickly beat BDII and Octopath. Finally, I started the epic Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, which I should finish in early 2023. I also enjoyed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered on the side. Speaking of side gaming, I plan to resume Animal Crossing: New Horizons, hopefully on a Switch OLED in 2023!
I set my usual goal of reading 12 books in a year, one per month. I failed, reading only 8. But I think I read quality over quantity! Also, I upgraded my Kindle to the newest Paperwhite; love it.
For movies, I loved Top Gun: Maverick at the theater this summer, watching it twice on the big screen before buying the blu-ray disc set with the original. In the fall, I watched The Batman for the first time; great movie though a tad long. Also new to me this year, Tenet, which I’ll need to watch backwards to see if it makes sense.
I didn’t watch much TV this year, but the little I did was fantastic. It was Severence on Apple TV+! Can’t wait for the next season.
What did you like/dislike in 2022? What do you look forward to in 2023?