We are in sync! oh wait..hurry up and post something EspadaGrim! 

I skipped past the 160+ comments since I last logged in, if anyone had anything important to tell me then I apologise, I didn't see it. Shoutout to the user who gave me over 25 likes though, I always appreciate your support, Lmao. I've taken a small break from the internet, I still keep up to date with the happenings in Ukraine because I consider that too important but I'm exhausted by extra discussions and drama around gaming which in the grand scheme of things are so minor to me.

Had a chat with Jaywood about it, as the OP of Empire, I feel like I have to be constantly involved everyday and deep in the news cycle, so I'm often in the thick of seeing drama, whether it's justifiable anger such as the layoffs (which are really frustrating) to things I don't give a crap about but find myself sucked into the drama and negativity cause I'm so heavily involved in seeking out news. I see constant whining, dooming, I especially see it in the Era thread which I use for news, Lol.

Sometimes, I'll be following the drama all day, refreshing arguments, seeing constant moaning, other times I get involved in debates most of the day instead of actually playing videogames, debates about stuff which I honestly don't really care about. Having said that, Empire is massively better than ResetEra, Twitter, Reddit, etc, at having reasonable takes to things and not jumping straight to doom so it'd likely work if I just stuck exclusively to Empire but I felt I needed/wanted a break from the internet overall, no peaks anywhere, Lol.

Gaming is one of my few escapes which I used to find pure joy in but these extra discussions often make me enjoy it less, and like the hobby less. The way some gamers react to a lot of topics, the clickbait, the rage-bait, the trolling, the dooming, etc, it's never ending. The recent trend of layoffs is 100% justifiable anger though but I can't do anything about that either and that also drags my love for gaming down a little, it feels like doom and gloom everywhere lately, across the entire industry alongside the usual drama and dooming, Lol.

I feel pressure to maintain order in the thread, keep the trolls out, keep the spirits up, then I feel guilty for taking a break because I post most of the news, Lol. Then I have self doubts comparing myself to Jaywood, Lmao. But I've avoided Twitter/ResetEra/VGChartz, etc, lately. Just a blanket cut from the internet so I can actually focus on playing and enjoying Infinite Wealth. This year I wanted to play more games, I recognised that I spend more time debating shit I hardly care about or shit I can't even change, business nonsense, than actually playing videogames, Lol.

So I wanted a break, I might take more throughout the year, I've rarely taken breaks from Empire but it's largely about drama outside of here, it's a lot about me and my bad habits of being drawn into debates, so I stopped and just focused on Infinite Wealth and it has been a joy. This thread I even consider less of a strict Xbox hub and more like an extended family where we just chat shit sometimes and have fun, Lol. People can be upset about certain directions Xbox is taking of course, I just got to stop drawing myself into debates when I'm usually indifferent about it, Lol.

The constant layoffs have really been the thing that just pushed me to take a break. I can usually deal with the extra drama but man the entire industry is negative right now, aside from the actual videogames releasing, I just want to play and appreciate those for now and avoid the extra discussions and drama, Lol. I can't be dealing with them both. Industry needs to unionise.

Having said that, I had a chat with Bandorr and asked if it would be possible to make someone the co-owner of a thread and while nothing is happening on that front yet, I would have made G2TheUnit the co-owner if it was possible. So as far as I'm concerned, if I'm ever on another break, G2 is in charge of the thread, Lol. I had hoped that we could give him powers over the thread title, creating polls, along with receiving points for activity made in the thread because he deserves it but this'll have to do for now, a public recognition of G2, Lmao.

Why I would pick G2 is that he is the 2nd most active poster in Empire, I believe he is the most active news poster beside myself. He is also a great user, a great person and everyone seems to be able to get along with him easy, I don't think I've ever seen someone get mad at him, Lol. The time zone difference between him and myself would mean he would cover periods I'm not active. I also took into account that I'm exclusively an Xbox console user while he plays Xbox IP on PC so G2 is a valuable voice on the PC side and I've always wanted this thread to be welcoming to everyone wherever they play Xbox IP but Console and PC are obviously the biggest.

Anyway, I'm diving back into Yakuza and will be focused on that until I finish it.

And if ANYONE has the bravery to try to beat me in the monthly post count for Empire then February will likely be your best shot

Love the positivity that this thread has about xbox. It reminds me of golden age xbox 360 2006-2010 era.

Sega just announced 1m copies sold for Yakuza 8/LaD Infinite Wealth, in about 1 week since release. Infinite Wealth has curbstomped the record for the series, it isn't even close, 8 has made more than half of Yakuza 7's lifetime sales in just the first week. Safe to say that Yakuza has now achieved mainstream appeal.

To compare to some other games in the series that Sega has revealed numbers for:

• Yakuza 7- 1.8m in just under 4 years
• Yakuza 6- 900k in the first 2 years
• Judgment 1- 1m in the first 3 years
• Yakuza 0- 500k first 3 months (Asia only numbers)
• Yakuza 5- 590k in the first 4 months (Japan only numbers)
• Yakuza 3- 690k in the first year or so (about 1 week after it's release outside of Japan)
• Yakuza Dead Souls- 550k in the first year or so (about 2 weeks after it's release outside of Japan)

I think Microsoft should go Switch style with next gen Series S. 
it should be a handheld device with a docking station, sold separately, that would turn it into a series X in terms of power. Not sure if this is possible.

I can already see two problems, the price and the battery. They can swallow the price by the additional money from the dock and the controller needed to turn it into proper console. It being digital only will compensate the losses as well.

Series S2 (handheld with the charger only) - $399

Series X2 (digital version) - $499

Series X2 (with optical drive) - $599

Should have let Master Chief throw Arnold, he's genetically engineered. Funny commercial, and I love to see Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti together again, I didn't realize that Creed got back together again last summer and are doing a big tour starting in April. Hopefully they decide to record a new Album after the tour, been 14+ years since they reunited the first time and released their Full Circle album.

I'm happy to see the latest Yakuza game is selling well.

If the handheld market begins to blow up then I think it would smart for them to try to make one too, the ecosystem thing is interesting my belief is that they eventually need to have a unified ecosystem/marketplace with Xbox/PC/Mobile in order to try to be on top.

But in order for that to happen they would have to eliminate the MP paywall on Xbox completely and I don't think that they are willing to give up that revenue just yet. The biggest problem though is how you would manage the revenue cut on a unified store as I don't see MS lowering that 30% Xbox revenue cut to match their Windows store 12%. 

Yeah, to get all the achievements you need to do them all, the first 3 are doable, the last 2 are a pain because of the time limit.

Done with Starfield for now. Completed all main quests and all faction side quests in 55 hours.
Will wait for DLC to round up some more achievements I didn't get yet.