Xbox time
I recently joked that I was old enough for a midlife crisis now, and then I thought about it and I bought an Xbox.
Other than the Nintendo Switch, which I got in 2019 to celebrate my 100th book (DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS, audiobook version available for free to Audible members), it’s the first traditional game console I’ve used since 1998. I didn’t play any console games at all from 1998 to 2019
The technology has changed just a little since 1998. 🙂
Anyway, the reason I got an Xbox is because back in the old days, one of my jobs was doing tech support for college dormitories. I used to get very annoyed when students complained about connectivity problems with their Xboxes and Playstations. Like, college is expensive. You should be doing homework and networking for career opportunities, not playing games.
But, I’m older now. Perhaps less dour. Maybe marginally wiser? Traditionally, a midlife crisis is when you reflect back on your life and try to relive your youth or experience things that you missed out on the first time around. That said, I’m pretty happy with how my life turned out. Like, if Doc Brown pulled up in his DeLorean and offered me the chance to go back and change something, I’d tell him “Nah, bro, I’m good.”
(Also, I’ve seen enough time travel stories to know that if I tried to change something, one of the people who complained to me that Xbox Live was running sloooooooooow would wind up becoming the tyrannical Supreme Leader of the dystopian Imperium of Global Harmony or something.)
That said, I did wonder if I missed out on something in terms of console gaming. Perhaps I denied myself what would otherwise have been an enjoyable and enriching experience, so I got an Xbox Series X.
Brand new game console. What’s the first game I play?
Skyrim. Obviously!
I have to admit playing Skyrim this way is very comfortable.
And I’m going to finish a quest I never played on the PC or Switch – the Imperial/Stormcloak civil war. I flipped a coin and it landed on Empire, so I sided with the Empire. Once I win the Empire’s war for them, it will be onto the Dawnguard expansion.
The Xbox ecosystem is very impressive. Granted, I still remember playing PC games by swapping out a stack of 5 1/4 floppies and very carefully configuring EMM386.EXE, so maybe I’m easily impressed, but still. 🙂
Anyway, if you have suggestions for enjoyable Xbox games, please leave them in the comments!
-JM
XCOM 2. Hands down. I’ve only played on PC, but I’m told the console versions are well done too. I appreciate that it’s turn based. I get interrupted I can just get up and take care of it. It’s inexpensive, and if you purchase a copy you can download the game engine source and IDE free.
Speaking of XCOM, I’m looking forward to the Shadowrun trilogy coming to console this summer – I never got around to beating it on PC.
Thanks, I’ll try that one. BTW… XCom2 isn’t cheap on XBox. The PC verison runs about 1/3rd the price.
Wait till June then try the new Ark Survivsl nmap fjorder it’s going to be very minimal technology and very much viking based survival game… with dinosaurs thrown in for good measure!