Shortie

No, I haven't ever been to an esports event in person, mainly due to the fact that I live in the UK, we don't always get many here that I know of and any we may get, I always feel nervous to want to go to them because of my anxiety and not being overly keen of crowded places. The most I have done it watch them live on say YouTube or Twitch when someone I watch or know of is taking part in an esports tournament and I find them very fun to watch.

Yes, I love to watch Twitch streamers play in competitive tournaments, it's quite interesting to see how they play and when watching I have found myself picking up things and trying them out myself in games which has helped my gameplay in certain games. NickEh30 is one Twitch streamer I love to watch play Fortnite tournaments especially when he plays it cash cups. The games get so intense throughout and it's a lot of fun to watch how they handle the pressure in the games. I know I couldn't handle pressure like they do during big tournaments like that.

With my anxiety and how I am around people socially there is no way I would be able to handle the stardom and the popularity that would come with being an esports pro, not in terms of going to tournaments that were filled with fans. Maybe if I was just an esports pro who only live streamed from say my own home it would be a different story, but I know as an esports pro, it would take a lot more than just streaming from your home and definitely not something I would be able to cope with at all. I prefer to keep myself to myself.

No, definitely not. Competitive gaming is more where you gain something out of it rather than losing anything such as you get a payment for competing or get a payment for getting to a certain place in the tournament. Bingo is definitely not a competitive game and if you have to put money into it with the risk of getting nothing back then it is gambling and not competitive. I personally myself stay away from anything that is gambling as you nearly always get reeled in and end up going too far and losing more than you won and ending up in a mess.

I haven't done it for a while now as they changed the way they did things, but I used to use ZLeague for Fortnite tournaments for Solo and Duo games and I would either play on my own or me and my daughter would play in tournaments. It wouldn't be a whole lot of money we would win but sometimes we would win something as high as about $20 which wasn't bad at all being that it was a free tournament. They unfortunately stopped doing Fortnite tournaments and now only seem to do Halo, Apex and Call of Duty Warzone and being I am not overly competitive in those games I don't have any use to play in the tournaments they offer now.

It never fails to amaze me the excuses that they will use for cheating or hacking in a game even though they were caught red handed doing so. It really is like because they are a professional e-sports player they can just get away with it and they wouldn't possibly do such a thing, even though the footage is now viral on the internet. I can never understand what their mentality is when they do these things because if they get caught, they have so much to lose. In my opinion if you cheat or hack you deserve to lose your accounts and no matter who you are or how famous you are, that should never be an excuse to get away with it.

When you mention attacking NPCs the one game that comes to mind for me is Fortnite. Not so much for just outright shooting them on accident but if the NPC in question has a dual option, it's so easy to accidentally hit that option over say purchasing a weapon or meds from the NPC. The number of times I have spoken to an NPC in Fortnite and accidentally hit the dual option is quite high and because you are not intentionally hitting the dual option, it catches you off guard and they can be quite overpowered.

2022 was really slow for games which is a shame. Usually, I have quite a few games that by the end of the year I look back and think about that I played throughout the year that were released and this year, there really hasn't been many at all. Saints Row was released and whilst that game is okay, I feel it's nothing compared to previous Saints Row games. Crossfire X was another game released that I remember but again, the game lacked so much at launch I never really went back to it. The only other game I remember that I was looking forward to was 2 Point Campus and since its release, I tried it once and haven't been back. Call of Duty is another game that came out this year but again, as much as it's fun to play for a little, it's pretty much the same as previous years. 2022 really was a dull year for gaming and I am really hoping 2023 is a better year for game releases.

2022 has been a year that has pretty much flown by and as much as we have had so many games come out in that time, there are only a handful that I have tried myself and have actually played that I can comment on. Crossfire X which was a free to play game released earlier this year was a game I was really interested in, and I played it on launch, as much as it was a fun game, I really feel like the game needed a lot of work and I haven't actually gone back to it at all since my first initial play when it was launched. When I think about it, I haven't even heard anything regarding any updates on it either, so I am wondering if it's just been left in the state, it was in or if they just gave up on it.

I remember spending a chunk of time when I was playing Saints Row 4 creating my character. There were so many options and so much you could do for your character I just sat for at least an hour going through everything and perfecting my character. I will admit that the most of my time was spent going back and redoing things because I had messed things up and I just wasn't happy with it. The only other game I think I ever spent a chunk of time on for a character was Destiny 2 but that wasn't quite as much time as Saints Row 4.

I agree, you become submerged in the game, and you get into that game, and it does become like your surroundings and that is where it catches you out and you get the jumps. Don't get me wrong I love to get fully submerged into a game, it's one of the reasons I love gaming but when it comes to those jump scares, it's a whole different story. I admire the people who can sit with a headset on, in the dark on these games because I wouldn't be able to do it with my anxiety.

It really depends on what game it is and as you say, how far through the section of the game I am on and how much progress I would lose doing it. If I haven't done a lot and reloading the save wouldn't be a big issue, I usually go that route. These kinds of games where if you die you lose everything tend to be the games that frustrate me a lot so they are ones I only play if I know my full focus can be on the game and I am not overly distracted as that tend to get me a more chance of success and less chance of having to start over after losing everything.

The first Xbox I had was the Original Xbox back in 2001 when it was released. Since then, I have had every Xbox Console except the Xbox Series X. My kids have the Xbox Series S so as much as that one is not mine, I have used it so the Series X is the only one that I have not used or purchased. I still have one of the very original Xbox consoles upstairs in storage, but it is one of the limited-edition crystal ones that they released. It doesn't get used anymore and sits in storage but it's definitely a console I will keep.

At the moment none of the COD games are on Game Pass as it stands but I have heard that will be changing once the deal fully goes through. I am hearing that all Call of Duty titles will be available through Game Pass including newer one's day one. I think we will find out more once the deal has fully gone through with Activision and Microsoft and then they will have more rights as to what they can do. It's going to be exciting to see what the future hold for Call of Duty once the deal goes through.

I do know now that Xbox now has Discord fully built in, as long as your Discord account is linked you should see all the servers you are part of and be able to jump into chat lobbies that way or even just jump into chat with people through that. I really feel that with Discord now being built in, that may get used a lot more now over the party chat feature on Xbox. I wouldn't like to say that they will completely phase out Xbox Live Party Chat as I know many still do rely on it, especially if they do not use Discord but I feel that Discord will be a big hit now.

It seems like so long ago when I played Saints Row 2 but I remember it very well. This was another game I spent so much time on, and I have to agree with you, it does not get the recognition it deserves, and it really should have got more. I just last year I think it was bought Saints Row and Saints Row 2 on offer on Xbox and I now have them to go back to at any time. I am always tempted to go back to Saints Row 2 because it was such a great game. If there is anyone who has never played it, I highly recommend you do.

I absolutely loved Simpsons Hit and Run and Simpsons Road Rage but my favorite and the one I spent most time on was definitely Hit and Run. I remember spending hours on that game and completing everything and I never got bored of it. We keep hearing rumors that Hit and Run may come to newer generation consoles and I myself would love to see either Hit and Run or Road Rage or even just both of them on new generation. These are games I would love to go back to and play through again. We can only hope that one day they may go backwards compatible, I would love for my kids to experience these games.

I was always a little skeptical about Apex Legends if I am honest, I didn't start playing it fully until 2020 during the lockdowns and it was then that I started to enjoy it more. Once they released arena, I was pretty much hooked and now still find myself going back and playing it for hours on end. My favorite legend would have to be Loba. I unlocked her and used her almost all the time, before that it was Bangalore and Lifeline. I still use these two from time to time, but I prefer to use Loba now when I can.

You know, I have Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch and as much as I loved the previous games I have not played this one as much as I should have. So many people say it's an amazing game and they love it. I need to just one day sit down and play it when I have the time, feels like a waste to have the game and not play it to be honest. I know I'll end up hooked on it when I play it but that's all part of the fun!

At the moment the only game me and my kids are hyped for is Just Dance 2023, we always get it around Christmas as it's the perfect time to jump in and play and have fun but this year, we have a huge overhaul of the game, and I am super excited to see the changes to the game. I know there are some songs on there that my daughter is super excited for with her being a BTS fan and a KPOP fan so she will be very happy when I finally get it. Not too long to go now 😀

It really is a fun game and if you liked Smash Bros in the past this is a great game. I remember when I played some characters were locked and I can't remember why, may have been due to the battle pass or due to needing to play through the game and they would open up the more I played. I really do need to jump back on Multiverses but there are so many games and just not enough time. I will get back on it at some point. Will be interesting to see how it is now after a few months of release.

They are two amazing skins! I love the fact that you have a built in emote with Vix where you can change the colour of your skin within the game as well as in the lobby, I really feel that is a nice touch to the skin and it's a really cool looking skin as well and if you are fond of anything to do with cats, it's a perfect skin! I personally like the purple style myself of that skin. Does your niece have a favorite color on the Vix skin?

It similar to Halo 3 in terms of game play and style, when I first played Splitgate I was amazed at how it felt so much like the play style of Halo 3. They have changed Halo so much over the years with the different games that they have released that it was nice to go back to a game that brought that feel of gameplay back. Add the portals into it and it really is an interesting game. I actually thought working the portals would have been a pain but it's not as difficult as it seemed, and I soon got the hang of it.

I can't say I have played it Mortuary Assistant myself, but I do know about it due to a YouTuber that I watch quite frequently who plays a lot of horror games, Daz Games (Daz Black) and he not only really does get into the game, but he makes it entertaining to watch as well. I will admit that I have been quite interested in trying this game but at the moment I have not got around to trying it. The game sure does look scary though and I'd probably really have to push myself to play it as I am not overly keen on horror games, but I do like to try them.

Yes I have, the amount of times in Call of Duty I had people trash talk and say they were better than me and when we got into a game they soon quietened down after I pretty much wiped the floor with them. Safe to say they never went on again about being the better player after that. Another game is Fortnite mainly with the ones who want to 1v1 to prove they are better or the best of the best. I have on odd occasion agreed to a 1v1 and have on a few occasions beat them and they've been a bit shocked. I often wonder why people brag about being great and then go into a game only to get beaten and end up looking silly.