Remember 2023? The answer may be no. It was a lot. Among a flood of big games – Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo IV, Baldur's Gate 3, Armored core 6And Starfieldto name just a few – Barbenheimer's overshadowing cultural moment, the writer-actor strikes, the change of Twitter to Xthe multifaceted legal actions against the Microsoft-Activision takeover and the rise of AI, the year in Culture was a constant drone of milestone moments.
Which makes it easy to forget everything otherwise that happened. Below are some really serious things that happened in the last 365 days that no one would judge you for forgetting.
The M&M's had a high-profile controversy that ended with a Super Bowl
The year started with the desexification of the green M&M, conservative pundits shouting about candy that melts in your mouth and not in your hands, and then a Super Bowl commercial that only added to the chaos. 2023 promised to be a year!
Rumor had it that Shrek was dead
Image: DreamWorks
Puss in Boots: the last wish was a late December 2022 surprise, so we spent a lot of time thinking about what it meant for Shrek in January. Our leading theory: Shrek died. Finally we were allowed to ask the directors for comments. Believe them if you have to.
Two guys tried to steal $300,000 worth of GenCon goods and got extremely busted
We don't tolerate theft, but if you were to walk into GenCon to steal a pallet of MTG cards, wouldn't you wear a mask? Well, two New Yorkers who thought they were the Danny Oceans of the collectible card game scene didn't.
E3 imploded
E3 2023 was a no-go, but in April 2023, organizers believed there was hope for the traditional gaming event. But alas, by the fall, E3 was 100% dead. Time to reminisce about the very first E3!
Amouranth, Seinfeld, and the Pope all had an AI moment.
Image: Twitch/Watch forever
Nothing explains the dizzying “anything goes” moment of AI tools quite like the fourteen-day lifespan of the automated Seinfeld episode generator that – inevitably? – made a transphobic comment and was eventually banned. But maybe some good can come from the technology: This sounds like a troll, but actually Amouranth is all in, if only for everything else. And then there was the Pope puffer coat… perhaps the most 2023 story of 2023.
BioWare apologized for a memorial image of Commander Shepard's corpse
“This image was intended to be part of a series commemorating some of the most important and emotional moments in the series” – and it did.
Max announced a 10-year Harry Potter TV series
After the release of Hogwarts legacyEveryone was yearning for the promise of another decade of Potter discourse, and Warner Bros. Discovery made it happen.
Charles Martinet completed a legendary career as the voice of Mario and all he got was a cameo in the Mario movie
The Super Mario Bros. Movie gave Martinent his comeuppance after replacing him with Chris Pratt, and he still has a place at Nintendo, but it all went wrong… in a dark way. At least the new guy seems nice.
The War Thunder Discord was somehow at the heart of another classified document leak
Earlier this year, the FBI arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira for leaking documents that included information about Russia's war against Ukraine. Note to all gamers: Be less happy about leaks!!
Grimace shook, we shook
Image: McDonald's/YouTube
It's not too early to be nostalgic for simpler times, when we ordered purple milkshakes at McDonald's and pretended to die on the floor.
People got really weird about Oppenheimer's sex scene
Barbenheimer's double feature reinvigorated moviegoing, but a few people left the theater concerned that there was no need for Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh to be naked with each other. Come on people, it was July and very hot outside.
Post Malone purchased the Lord of the Rings One Ring card from Magic the Gathering worth $2 million
Shame on you for forgetting that our leading rapper turned mana caster stormed in to get Wizard of the Coast's golden ticket. (But gosh, think of the taxes!)
Colleen Ballinger, aka Miranda Sings, sang a ukulele song in response to accusations of toxic workplaces
There's a lot of sensitive material in this report about Ballinger's controversial year, but perhaps the most sensitive is your ears as they listen to a classic YouTube reaction video backed by a small string instrument.
“Planet of the Bass” exploded as a listenable shitpost
Image: Kyle Gordon
Song of the summer.
Kai Cenat caused a riot in New York City during an attempted PS5 giveaway
The power of the streamer is real, and as Cenat has taught us this year, potentially dangerous if wielded without much thought. Cenat in particular has become a subject of curiosity, and as we closed the year it was worth exploring.
“You are so Skibidi, so Fanum tax”
There's no quick explanation here, you're either in or out.
Kojima did something to Kojima right before he called it a year
With most major game releases in the rearview mirror, Hideo Kojima took to the Game Awards to truly melt the brains with the reveal of O.D, a game? Experience? Horror thing? Kojima and Jordan Peele chatted for a while after airing a cryptic trailer and when it was all over, we collectively forgot everything that happened in 2023, hence this recap.
This is your moment: what has the world collectively forgotten about the past year?