2022 was an interesting one in my game-buying hobby, since I only bought games for the Switch. Things were quite different in 2023, mostly due to two Japan trips during which I bought lots of games. In several ways, this would prove to be a historic year for my game collection.
Before I get to the purchases, I made another game sale this past year. I sold off my Wii, Wii U, PS3 and PS4 collections: a total of about 270 games. I made much less than my previous sales, but I had little attachment to any of the games and it was an easy decision to make since it freed up considerable space and helped me consolidate my remaining collection (still >1000 games) into one part of the house.
In terms of adding to the collection, I bought 95 games for 11 different systems in 2023. Here’s the breakdown by quantity
The Switch saw by far the most purchases: 65 in total (in addition to a second console). Second was the Playstation 2 with 5 games, and the remainder had only 1 – 3 games each. Here’s the breakdown by dollars spent:
An interesting result, since the Switch had nearly 70% of the purchases but only 63% of the dollars spent. The reason why will be discussed later.
Unpacking the above graphs with some actual values: in 2023 I spent ~$3900 on games (about 40% of which was in Yen). This is by a wide margin the most I have ever spent on games in a single year, and also the third most games I have ever bought in a single year (2006 and 2009 were both higher). The average cost per game – $41 – is also the second highest ever, only beaten by a whopping $51 average all the way back in 1993 (when I bought 14 games). These are astounding numbers, but what if we focus on Switch games only? Even then I spent $2480 on 65 games, both of which are considerably higher totals than 2022 or in fact any year since 2007!
I suppose 2023 was the year I doubled down on the ‘collecting’ part of my collection 🙂
The above two games were blogged after Japan trips but I’m including them again here because they’re notable: At about $163 (for Black Onyx) and $148 (Wizardry) they are the two most expensive games I have ever purchased. During the pandemic the prices for ‘retro’ games have skyrocketed, and while this is one reason I have sold out of large portions of my collection, it also makes buying such games an expensive proposition. As I have sold my collections I chose to focus subsets of each, such as basic lands for Magic, R2 units for Star Wars figures and Wizardry video games. And to paraphrase what a retro store attendant in Japan told me in June: “Only maniacs collect Wizardry games!”
That said I more or less have the Wizardry games now (unless I venture in computer versions…), and while a lot of the purchases in 2023 were Wizardry related – 22 of the 95 games were Wizardry – I daresay there won’t be any more going forward. I think it’s a given that 2024 will be less than 2023 both in the number of games bought and dollars spent, but I’m still fairly sure the Switch collection – now over 200 games – will continue to grow 🙂
Time for my three favourite games of the year, in no particular order:
Diablo 3 (Switch)
A return from a game that made a similar ‘best-of’ list way back in 2015? I had a craving to replay this one, so I bought it (for the 4th time…) for the Switch and played it like a monster for a few weeks. I started with a Sorceress, and once she reached the maximum level I then switched to a Barbarian and maxed him in one day. I went on to earn over 1000 paragon levels while hunting best-in-slot gear for both, and ended up reaching the highest levels of difficulty I ever had in the game. And I loved every minute of it 🙂
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom (Switch)
In some ways this was a ‘more of the same’ sequel, but considering it followed one of the best games ever made it wasn’t at all surprising that the latest Zelda was a masterpiece. This was another game I dove right into and that owned me while I was playing it. I saw everything, found everything, unlocked everything, and when I finally finished it about 100 hours later I wished another game in the series was already available!
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch)
Another sequel, but this time to a DS game from 2014. This is a rhythm game based on Final Fantasy and was an absolute joy to play. Once again I unlocked everything and enjoyed every second of it. It’s an enormously satisfying game to play, especially when you do well, and I think the engine would lend itself to many other games (such as a Zelda or Mario version). As much as I loved this one, I have to say I’m humbled watching videos online of players beating the seemingly impossible highest difficulty levels. I think they’re probably the greatest levels of video game skill I’ve ever witnessed!
This was a difficult trio to select, since I played a lot of very good games in 2023. In fact I played a lot of games in 2023, which is one reason why this post is titled ‘Part 1’. For the first time ever I’m following up with a bit of a crazy second part, but it’s going to take some work to complete. Watch for it in a few days…
