August 19th 2023.
I recently read an article about the decline of physical media for video games and it got me thinking about modern gaming. It was also around the time of my son's sixth birthday. He had been using my old Xbox 360 to play various kids games and had even tried some of my old games. However, it had started to show its age and the ability to purchase new games was becoming harder.
My son had been begging for a new games console, but we couldn't just buy him a £500 console for Christmas. So we decided that for his birthday he could have an Xbox Series X, but that he would need to earn half the cost. We set up a star pot, with each star worth a pound. He could earn stars for doing helpful things around the house, being well behaved, and for good school reports.
He worked hard over the next few months and managed to earn £250 by the week of his birthday. We took him out for a pizza lunch and then went to the local game store to get the Xbox. He was so excited that he wolfed down his pizza and couldn't wait to go home and set it up.
Unfortunately, when we got home it had to do a big download update, which was a problem as our broadband wasn't really fast enough. After that there were still a few more setup tasks. When we finally put in the physical copy of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, it asked to confirm we wanted the Xbox Series X version installed. I clicked yes, but I was dismayed to find out that this started a download. It turned out that the disc only had the Xbox One version and the Series X version was a digital download.
My son was so disappointed, he had wanted to play his new game on his birthday, but it was already late and he was exhausted. So we decided that he could play the next day for as long as he wanted to make up for it.
I've never felt so bad - the whole process just made me realise how different gaming is today. I used to have a Mega Drive, a Saturn, a PlayStation, an original Xbox, and various others, and they just worked. You could plug them in and be playing in 20 minutes - with no need for downloads.
The Xbox has actually been quite a good investment, as it has become a powerful motivating force for my son. If he plays up at school or at home, he loses the Xbox. It's been a great way to incentivise him to do good things.
It's a shame that gaming consoles can't be like they used to be. I guess it's just a sign of the times.
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