Five years. Woof.

When writing this piece each year, I go back and read all the others. Always a good reminder of how far both Max Frequency and myself have come in such a short—but also a long—time.

In my first year, I was so proud of the work I did on Chasing the Stick and the 655~ people that engaged with it. I was so ambitious in my thinking of pursuing more there. In Year Two, I was jazzed to launch two podcasts (very "Max" of me). Dad brain became a reality in 2022. Long time dreams came true in the site's fourth year. I went from 2,600~ annual views to nearly 200,000 across everything. More important than views, clicks, etc.—I grew.

What has remained consistent is a theme of preservation and discovery; of digging into stories and ideas, which creates a sea of new stories and ideas. It is a cycle that never ends. In that swirl of never ending ideation, older ideas get lost and fade. I've learned that its sort of part of having ADHD and not some mark of shame. Forgotten or shuttered projects is not a sign of failure, but a sign that I tried and I created. As I continue to build and create Max Frequency out here on the world wide web, I continue to build and create me. Like I say on the home page...

...you will find me.

Thank you for another year. Now let's see how it all went.

As a quick refresher, 2023‘s total view count was 6,856 views with 5,003 visitors. You can see 2022, 2021, and 2020, if you like.

  • Total Site Views = 6,560
  • Total Page Views = 9,489
  • Total Site Visitors = 6,088

Most viewed articles/pages:

Top countries:

  • United States of America with 3,691 views
  • United Kingdom with 347 views
  • Canada with 296 views

Total articles published in 2024 – 205 Total articles published – 1,355

It is an odd year for stats. I moved from Wordpress to Plausible and some data got reshuffled. I was able to import some data from Jetpack, but I think it all got thrown into the Home page count. Stat migration was not a factor I accounted for in my research and I wasn't prepared. The nice thing is that we have a solid starting point here in 2025.

Never underestimate the desire to backup, manage, and play ROMs. I've been interested in it since I was like 12-years-old and people are still into it. Perhaps it helps that Apple lifted the emulator restriction on iOS this year to try and alleviate some competition. It was a very, very good year for friend-of-the-site Riley Testut.

Now let's check how those two podcasts did during 2024.

  • Chapter Select all time downloads = 63,851 (unique) / 16,277 (IAB) with 29 episodes published
    • 58,517 / 11,381 with 27 episodes published in 2023
    • Gain of 5,334 / 4,896 | 9% / 43%
  • The Max Frequency Podcast all time downloads = 91,530 (unique) / 13,415 (IAB) with 13 episodes published
    • 87,714 / 10,023 with 15 episode published in 2023
    • Gain of 3,816 / 3,392 | 4% / 34%

Podcasting was of two halves this year. The stronger half was The Max Frequency Podcast. I had a rock solid slate of guests, including my wife. There were plenty of new and returning guests. I certainly entered "YouTube essayist" territory this year and it was a blast.

On the Chapter Select side of things, it has felt like a total slow fest. We only beat and recorded four episodes. I haven't edited a single one yet. I feel in a fog. We let up on the two seasons a year for more breathing room and I think relieving us of that deadline has made us, for a lack of a better word, lazy. It's not a great feeling.

Data-wise, the big thing I noticed is just how close the "unique" and "IAB" numbers are this year. In the past, these were separated by tens of thousands. This year the gap is a few hundred. Does that mean the data is more accurate now? Are the high unique numbers of previous years a sham? I don't know. What I do know is that I won't be driven mad by the disparity between them anymore. Thank goodness.

Speaking of drastic year-over-year changes, let's look at YouTube.

  • 25,232 total views
  • 423 live stream views
  • 834.1 watch time hours
  • 593 likes
  • 95 new subscribers
  • 459,885 lifetime views

The top three viewed videos of 2024 were:

The biggest moves I made this year were in YouTube. I found my new niche of essayist and made four videos in that vein. We can read more about them below. When comparing to last year's YouTube numbers, it might look like a failure, but that's just because people stopped trying to illegally watch Furious 7 en mass. That 80K away and the numbers semi-line up. I did less on YouTube this year as far as output, but the quality and the reach was higher. As I continue to pursue making more essays, I hope to see quality climb higher and reach extend even further.

If you add up everything, across all the platforms, Max Frequency reached just over 40,000 people this year. That is a decline from the previous year. One might be discouraged by that fact, but I am not that one. There was a time where I was thrilled that 600~ people took the time to look at my 18,000+ words on Naughty Dog and The Last of Us Part II. By that metric, 40,000 is incredible. Never lose sight of where you've come from and I think you will always be amazed at how far you've come along.

Thank you all for the past five years. Here's to many more five year chunks and here's to 2025!

As is now tradition, here is the list if games I played, beat, and platinumed. It is a slightly shorter list this year, thanks to not have 20 games to play for Chapter Select. The linked games below will take you to my Game Notes for that title. It's a cool new hobby I picked up this year and the format was totally inspired by Mike Schmitz and his book notes.

  • The Last of Us Part I (PS5, 1/3/24, Plat'd) 10th time beating TLOU
  • The Last of Us: Left Behind (PS5, 1/5/24)
  • Fortnite (PS5)
  • Castlevania (NES via Switch, 1/14/24)
  • The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PS5, 2/12/24, Plat'd)
  • The Great Ace Attorney 2 Resolve (Switch, 5/17/24)
  • Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS, 5/29/24)
  • Mario Party 2 (NSO)
  • Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch, )
  • Animal Well (PS5, 5/31/24)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch, )
  • The Walking Dead S1E1 (PS4, 7/19/24)
  • Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube, 9/20/24)
  • The Walking Dead S1E2 (PS4, 7/28/24)
  • The Walking Dead S1E3 (PS4, 7/31/24)
  • The Walking Dead S1E4 (PS4, 8/12/24)
  • Hades (PS5, Plat, 8/21/24)
  • Death's Door (PS4, Plat, 9/3/24)
  • Outer Wilds (PS5, 9/15/24, Plat'd 9/18/24)
  • Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (GameCube, 10/1/24)
  • Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye (PS5, 9/27/24)
  • Super Mario Galaxy (Switch, 10/19/24, 120 Stars)
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 11/12/24, 120 Stars)
  • Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch)
  • Splatoon 3 (Switch, 12/7/24)
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (XSX, 11/26/24)
  • Balatro+ (Apple Arcade)

Thanks to all the major platforms tracking playtime now, I can tell I basically played 300~ hours this year.1 Obviously, the games on older hardware don't count, but that may bring me up to 350~ hours or so. I'd say that is a fairly healthy chuck of my year. One strange omission was Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which I definitely sunk 15-20 hours into for Super Mario Galaxy. Nintendo did not seem to count that one. Odd.

As for the list of games I flagged to beat in 2024, I accomplished half of that feat. 😅 I did beat The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, Splatoon 3, and The Last of Us Part II Remastered. I also started Tears of the Kingdom, but I did not beat it. I barely scratched the surface...and the clouds...and the depths...

I did say my Switch needed some love in 2024 and I gave it plenty. I really liked playing my Switch in 2024. Maybe it's because it's the end of the console's generation. Maybe it's the fact I played excellent games on it. We shall see how the love holds up in the face of Switch 2, if I weasel my way into getting one this year. We shall see.

Without further adieu, here are the games I would like to beat in 2025. Some how I landed on six again...

  • Alan Wake Remastered
  • Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
  • Batman: Arkham Shadow
  • God of War: Ragnarök
  • Pikmin 4
  • Resident Evil 4 VR (PS VR 2)
  • Stray

And the leftovers from 2023...

  • Mirror’s Edge
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Tunic

I upgraded my Quest headset this holiday. I need to actually play the thing and so I am using this list and the excellent sounding Batman: Arkham Shadow to get me back in VR. My hope is that will kick me into giving PS VR2 some love with RE4. VR is the best way to play that game after all.

I've never played a Pikmin game before and I figured it was time to rectify that. I have wanted to get into Remedy's games for ages and this feels like the year to do it. I own em all, so let's start chipping away at them. Stray seems like a quick game and I could use more of those. The big one is Ragnarök, a game I have a lot of issues with, and yet, I talk about quite a bit. It's time for a proper revisit and to see that Valhalla DLC. Plus, I need to capture it. 👀

Here’s a list of the posts, shows, and projects I am most proud of from 2024.

The Video Essays

What started as a quarterly goal has turned into my favorite type of thing to create these days. The pure fusion of essay writing, video editing, humor, creative, commentary, critical analysis is pure. There's a sense of totality in the video essay. I love it. More are incoming, but here are the four I made this past year, one of which was Razbuten's favorite essay of 2024. 🤯🫠

My Journey to Becoming a Map Maker – A Video Essay

I chronicle my journey to being a "map maker." Through video game maps, I explore just how I ended up where I am creatively today. Plus, I sing.

Zelda Stole Fortnite's Best Mechanic – A Video Essay

The spiciest essay of the year. Want clicks? Say Nintendo stole an idea. Pro content creator advice. Controversy aside, the look at game design was snappy, focused, and fun. I loved making this project.

The Games That Got Me Through Our Miscarriages – A Video Essay

Sometimes the idea that hits you at 3:00 AM is worth pursuing. I felt compelled to share Abby and I's miscarriage story in a way that I thought could help more people. I believe this accomplishes that.

Skyward Sword is the Most Influential Zelda Game – A Video Essay

If an essayist plays Outer Wilds and then doesn't immediately make a video essay about it, are they really an essayist? My September was dominated by my favorite game in years. I enjoyed making a Short essay, even though the process wasn't as short as I thought.

Memory Card

Speaking of essays, I also launched a newsletter focused on the real-time creation process of my own—Memory Card. So far I have written 24 letters and would have wrote more if the flu hadn't debilitated me for the past 10 days. If you are at all curious about the/my creative process, sign up and check it out.

The Max Frequency Podcast

I loved the episodes this year. There was certainly a trend with video essayists right from the outset with Brian Henken. That conversation motivated me to make my own and join Brian's Discord where I met new pal wizawhat. And of course, I crossed another bucket list guest off with Razbuten.

Returning guests were also peak in 2024. I can't think of a more pure fun episode than MFP38 -"Everyone Get Together for a Hootenanny" with Marc "Try4ce" Duddleson where we broke down Nintendo's Summer 2024 Direct. I suspect Try will return in 2025. I was able to chat with Javed Sterritt again about his banger year at Good Blood and Second Wind. Of course, there was the last show of the year with Phil Summers about his wonderful book 202X: Video Game Reflections.

My wife gets her own paragraph. It is by far the most-listened-to-by-my-real-life-friends episode of MFP. I like that. She will, of course, be returning this year.

Playing Sly Cooper with My Life in Gaming

Speaking of Try from My Life in Gaming, I had the distinct honor and privilege of joining him on their Sunday night stream while Coury was out of town. I suggested Sly Cooper and the Thevius Raccoonus because it had just come to PS5 as a classic. Try loved the game and has his sights set on the others. Maybe I should give them a replay. It has been far too long.

The Max Frequency 2024 Redesign

The biggest change of the year was leaving Wordpress and hosting my blog on Obsidian Publish; and this was before all the Wordpress drama. Incredibly proud of the move, the look, and the accessibility it all provides me and my audience.

Lessons I Learned in Archiving All My Work

With the redesign came a total archive of all my written work online. Many lessons and laughs were had along the way.

"The Year of The Last of Us" In Review

Can't have a year in review without another year in review embedded inside it, right? It was fun albeit sad to look back at the lackluster decade of The Last of Us. Things are looking up for season two of the show here in 2025. I am so curious how it is going to be split into season three. As my pal Brian likes to say, "we will be seated."

Concord and the Coat of Many Failures

PlayStation had quite the year and there was no bigger standout than the launch and shut down of Concord. The story is quite the ride and I loved digging into it for you.

I'll Have Two Servings of Claim Chowder Please

I just liked the bite of this chowder, okay?

Civil War's Environmental Storytelling

I still stand by Civil War. I'm certainly due for a rewatch. Count me in for Warfare on day one. Love, love, love the posters—even if they were made by AI.

How to Backup and Play Your Games and Saves on Delta for iPhone (or any Emulator)

The most popular article of the year. I'd love to get back in there and add some more methods for other consoles, like PlayStation and PSP.

Running the Hades II Technical Test on my iMac

The sheer hacky marvel of this experiment should not go unnoticed. I hope Supergiant saw this.

Trading Pokémon from the Nintendo 64 to the Switch

Speaking of hacking, I went on a surprisingly emotional and tricky journey to try and revive what Pokémon I had left from my very first, original save in Pokémon Blue that I copied over to Pokémon Stadium.

Shutting Down Super Chapter Select

We did make the call to axe Super Chapter Select after losing all the monies. Good for everyone though, because all of that content is now free!

One Last Time - A Letter from the Game Informer Editor

An abhorrent sham of a way to kill of a industry staple like Game Informer. The site is still unaccessible. Decades of work left to the hands of the community to restore and preserve.

Jodi Benson Finally Confirmed as EVA in Metal Gear Solid 3

Finally. We know.

Taking a Chomp out of Creativity

This felt like the last big, chewy, creative, reflective piece of the year. It festered. It still sort of is. There is this gnawing presence inside a creator and I think I tried to describe it with this piece.

2025 is Gonna Pop Off, Right

This year is seriously packed and ho mama I cannot wait for some of these games.

Footnotes

  1. Here is my Nintendo Wrapped, PlayStation Wrapped, and my pitiful Xbox Wrapped. If it wasn't for Call of Duty, I wouldn't have had one. ↩