Hiya!

Well, 2022 is over and, well, at least it was better than 2021. Okay, not by much as it does feel like the entire world can burst into flames at any moment, both metaphorically and literally. However, after a couple of years of being cooped up indoors and being finally able to walk outside without having to wear any kind of face coverings (most of the time), I’ll take any victory I can! Yes, things seem to be normalizing slowly so my hopes and wishes for 2023 isn’t going to be all that dreadful. I’d even say it’s a much more cheerful and selfish list when compared to my previous hopes and wishes from 2021 and 2022. Heck, a couple of them eventually came true!

So, yeah. This year’s list of hopes and wishes are going to be a little more cheerful this time around. Let’s go through them now, shall we?

Still hoping for better understanding between people from all walks of life

What? I said it was going to be a “little more cheerful” and not “entirely cheerful,” did I? Seriously though, there are times when I do think the world is going to hell in a hand basket at any time. However, I’ve been thinking this for the past few years already so, while I can’t really say things are getting better, I’m not entirely sure things are getting worse. Sure, there’s an actual war happening right now but it hasn’t exactly escalated to a global catastrophe yet. Like I said, I’ll take any victory!

So, like last year and the year before that, I’m still going to hope and wish for people to get a better understanding of each other. It’s a very naive dream as the world is much more complicated than just people hating each other just for the sake of hating each other. Real life isn’t all black and white but shades of gray and all that jazz. Even so, I just hope this year people will, at the very least, just pause and think if all the hate and anger is valid. This isn’t going to happen… but it’s nice to dream.

Whew! Now that the serious bit is done, let’s go do some more lighthearted wishes.

Dreaming Sony makes the PlayStation 5 much more readily available in the Philippines

How long has it been since Sony released the PlayStation 5? Has it really been more than 2 years already? Yes, it’s been quite a while since Sony’s latest video game system has been out on the market and gamers all over the world are still struggling to get one. Things aren’t as bad as they were in 2022, though. It’s much easier to find reasonably priced PlayStation 5 systems through reputable online stores now. No more of that scalper bullcrap! Then again, maybe the scalpers are revving up for the rumored updated version of the PlayStation 5 and are backing off so they can sop up the supply of the version. They’re tricky like that.

However, it’s still impossible to get a PlayStation 5, the non-revised version, through brick-and-mortar stores. At least, that’s the story over here in the Philippines. So, if Sony is indeed redesigning their latest gaming console, maybe they can toss a few of the older units over here in the Philippines? There is hope Sony will boost the stocks here because of this as they’ll probably dump the old version here in droves as Philippine gamers are hungry for them. Well, they’re right. I’ll gladly buy one… the one with a disc drive, to be more specific. Hey, I may be starving for a PlayStation 5 but I still have my standards!

Wishing Disney+ fixes their apps to work in the Philippines

One of the things which came true from my previous hopes and wishes lists was Disney+ becoming available in the Philippines. I was a super eager beaver as I subscribed to the service on Day 1 through my phone as I was out late at night when it happened. It was the easiest way to get it. Besides, I could subscribe and then just run it off my PlayStation 4 at home. Well, nope! To my surprise, I can’t! Despite having the Disney+ app on my PlayStation 4, it doesn’t work as it says it’s not available in the Philippines, even though you bombarded us with ads up to the day of launch! What a gyp!

I can still watch Disney+ on my phone and my computer. There’s no problem there. However, I would prefer to watch it on, you know, an actual television screen! I don’t want to be scrunched over a teeny phone screen or have to sit in front of my PC to watch something like She-Hulk or WWE programming. No, I want to watch all of that sitting up from my bed, which is how I watch other streaming services like Netflix! So I hope Disney makes an app which works so that it detects the Philippine servers and I can actually log in from there.

Since I’m on the topic of Disney+ and I did mention the WWE…

Longing for the WWE to actually add RAW and Smackdown to Disney+ Philippines

When we got word Disney+ was coming to the Philippines, it looked like we could finally ditch the WWE app because, thanks to some deal behind the scenes, WWE programming was going to be bundled with the Disney+ service here in the Philippines. That would have been a godsend as subscribing to the WWE service was getting to be a pain as we had to use some technological wizardy to bypass geo-blocking and whatnot. Dream come true, right?

Well, it looks like this is more like a half-truth. While Disney+ over here in the Philippines does have WWE content, that content is extremely limited. As of this writing, they have a few pay-per-view shows like the recent Survivor Series, Wrestlemania and Money in the Bank events. The rest if filled with their “other” programs, such as WWE 24, Ride Along, Chronicle and *ugh* Total Bellas. Where’s the meat and potatoes of WWE programming? Where the RAW and Smackdown shows? Where is the litany of old pay-per-view shows? I mean, I would be fine if they just had the more recent pay-per-view shows broadcast live. The upcoming Royal Rumble would be great. However, I am upset RAW and Smackdown, the reasons why we’re so eager to watch the pay-per-view shows, aren’t available on Disney+. Guess we’ll still have to muck around with the WWE subscription, I guess.

Crossing my fingers Street Fighter 6 makes the Evo 2023 lineup

The people who know me, heck, the readers who regularly peruse through the stuff I write here aren’t the least bit surprised Street Fighter 6 is one of my most anticipated games for 2023. Even though I’m not super good at fighting games, I have a lot of fun playing them. I also do have to say I equally enjoy watching the pros play them. In fact, as I didn’t get into the previous couple of closed beta tests, I still had a blast watching pros test out Street Fighter 6’s offering so far. From what I’ve seen, it looks like the game is on the right track for its June release.

If that’s the case, then that means there’s a more than good chance Street Fighter 6 will be a mainline tournament for this year’s Evo. However, that’s not 100% confirmed and there is a chance it might only be an exhibition tournament. That’s because Evo usually happens in August. It does seem like a couple of months isn’t a whole lot of time for both newbies and pro players to create all sorts of tech to amaze us. Who am I kidding? By the time Evo rolls around, more than a couple of pro players would’ve found exploits and break the game already! Among all of the entries here, this is the most likely to happen. Hey, at least one of my hopes and dreams for 2023 should come true, right?

Byee!

What are some of your biggest hopes and dreams for 2023? Let me know what they are in the comments section below!