What Did We Accomplish?!?! 2023 YouTube Year in Review (THANK YOU!)

2023 was an amazing year for us here on the channel. We've grown our collection, gone to new conventions, and done a lot of new things to help expand the channel. We have a lot of highlights, a few lowlights, and need to thank you, our audience, for the best year we've ever had. Let's take a closer look.
Amazing Pickups
We snagged a lot of great new games, systems, and a few toys this year and filled in some bigger gaps in the upper end. Granted, a lot of these pickups have been import or Japanese versions, but they games still play all the same. We added copies of Bucky O'Hare & Ducktales 2 to our collection, and they are the Famicom versions but they play the same as the US Vesions! Best of all, I paid under $110 for both games!
I've wanted to add an Atari Jaguar to my collection for a few years, but I only wanted to play a handful of games so I didn't want to overpay for it. At the 2023 Midwest Gaming Classic, I had a chance to pick one up with a few games for a good price, but I just couldn't justify the expense. Then, fan of the channel Kevin reached out to offer his system and a copy of Cybermorph to me for a very awesome price, so I have been able to add that to the collection. I also have added Alien VS Predator and Tempest 2000 to my collection, so I have the 3 main games for the system I wanted.
Fun Conventions
2023 marked a return to a number of venues I haven't been to in years, but I also marked a first. Our first convention of the year was the Midwest Gaming Classic where we hosted a panel about how to manage your gaming collection and not overpay for games. We once again spent time with Jay at Square Pegs, Kris Carlson, John Hancock, John Riggs, Ryan Schlemmer, and many others and had an absolute blast. I had to leave after Saturday to come back home, but I still had a great time.
In June, we went back to the Illinois Game Con, Formerly the Bloomington-Normal Game Con. Here we once again split a booth with Adrain from Live Action Games and had just the best time. I also received my "Walter Day Superstars" award here, and it is a cool honor for me to enjoy. This was where we got our copy of Ducktales 2 from one of our favorite import vendors, but I also got to help my oldest as she made a ton of crocheted items to sell too. She made a few hundred dollars, which was great to see for her!
Later in the summer, we attended both the Video Game Summit and MoGameCon, the first just as a vendor and the second just to walk around. At MoGameCon, I was able to hand-deliver some 3D Printed items for John Hancock to include in his Atari 2600 Homebrew Parcel Service III. It was also a show the my youngest and I attended, just the 2 of us, and she wound up bringing home more stuff than I did!
We got o return to the Southeast Game Exchange this year, and as a vendor, this was the best show I had ever been a part of. We sold so much stuff that we were able to expand our 3D Printer farm from just 1 Bambu Labs P1P and added a 2nd P1S with AMS. I also got to meet and hang out with Tyler from My Retro Life for the first time, and he was so great!
Towards the end of Summer I was invited to be a guest at the Utah Retro Game Swap and it was a really fun show. When I attend conventions as a guest I pretty much stay in my booth unless I'm grabbing a quick sandwich or running to the bathroom, and this show definitely kept me busy. I did have a panel with Ryan from Achardes Games and we just riffed for an hour on a variety of different things. It was so different but so nice. I even picked up something completely different for me with a couple Transformers, including Metroplex!
KZbin
So how did we do on KZbin in 2023 compared to our goals? Well, we DID upload at least 1 video a day every day all year round. That is still so crazy to imagine that I uploaded nearly 500 videos in 2023! We also saw our viewership double, an increase in subscribers, and in watch time too. I wanted to hit 25,000 subscribers very badly, but ended up at just over 24,000. That is still a huge increase, but one of these years it would be nice to hit that subscriber goal.
2024 Goals
I won't lie, 2023 has me a little burned out with producing all those videos. As such I am going to be returning to 3 long form and 4 short form videos a week as my regular cadence. That seemed to be a great balance to bring new eyes to the channel, serve the audience, and not burn out. I also wan to expand what I am offering for content and for 3D Printed items too. I want to hit 30,000 subscribers and clear 3 million views. This is something we can accomplish together, as YOU are the most important part of this community.
Thank you for an amazing 2023, and here's to an even better 2024.
#yearinreview #VideoGames #gamehunting

[@DoYouNerd]

Kudos on the goals you smashed and even those that you at least nearly hit; you're doing awesome! You got some great time with some incredible people last year too, how fantastic is that. The Walter Day Superstars, that is so cool--love those cards and what an honor to be part of it. Man, so many people we've not seen in ages already... Welcome to the Jaguar club!

[@Owazrim]

It's been great to be along for part of the journey and looking forward to what is coming up. Take care my friend.

[@SquarePegs]

I'm really proud of everything you accomplished this year, my friend. I was so happy to be able to watch you get your award from Walter Day. I cannot wait to see what you do next. Love you, dude. :)

[@RoXolid]

Did you notice the extra touch towards the end just for you?

[@SquarePegs]

@@RoXolid Of course! I always notice the music. :D My legal team will also be in contact regarding the usage of Play More Games throughout the video.

[@Omn1Slash]

Congrats Gary! Been with ya since your video about your retro *entertainment center project and used it as the backbone for customizing my own. While I'm not the biggest fan of shorts in general, I love your full content videos, and will continue to be a fan in 2024! Thank you for your content and happy 2024! Looking forward to 3 videos a week!

[@RoXolid]

My retro cabinet?

[@Omn1Slash]

@@RoXolid a while back you did a video where you built/customized an entertainment center for all of your retro consoles. It was a few years back. I probably used the wrong choice of wording there.

[@geeqshuq]

Dude, I enjoyed your videos in 2023 and can't wait to see what you do in 2024. Now as a Detroit Tiger Fan (yes, I am a glutton for punishment lol) or as you called it Minor League American League baseball, I too never liked the DH rule and wish they would have taken it out of the game instead of adding it to the National League too. I am also not a fan of the pitch clock either. I went to my first ever video convention here in Florida (Freeplay Florida) and it was really cool, so hoping to check it out again this year as well as Really Rad Weekend. Hopefully someday I can make it out to the Midwest Gaming Classic. Anyway, love the channel and can't wait for the next video.

[@FamicomDojo]

Congrats on 365 days of consecutive videos!

[@RoXolid]

I still have a box to send you.. I suck :(

[@FamicomDojo]

@@RoXolidWe still owe you a cameo, so we sucked first!

[@pianomanfreak]

A Gameboy 35th Anniversary Video.

[@RoXolid]

What about it?

[@pianomanfreak]

@@RoXolid reason the original Gameboy is turning 35 years old and I would like to see what your favorite Gameboy memories.

[@RoXolid]

That's what i was wondering, if you were going to create something in it or were asking me to

[@pianomanfreak]

@@RoXolid I was asking you to create something for it for the channel either a short or collaboration video to talk about your favorite memory for the Gameboy.