So, I just bought an XBox Series X gaming console.
This is the first XBox I have ever owned, previously being a Playstation then Nintendo fan, and the first “Current Generation” console I have had since the Playstation 2. Basically, I left consoles behind for a couple of decades, in favor of PC gaming, before sliding back in with the Switch, and now this XBox.
But that’s all neither here nor there.
The main reason I’m talking about this now, is that this was a really bad idea. I don’t need this console right now, and with our current credit card debt, I shouldn’t have bought it. But I feel that, in light of the upcoming release of “Starfield”, I couldn’t afford to wait to purchase this XBox.
Yes, I know, this doesn’t make a lot of sense right now. Let me explain my thinking, as I did with my very-irate wife yesterday.
“Starfield”, the big new sci-fi release from Bethesda, will be coming out in September. As we have seen with some of the really big releases previously in the last couple of years, both the supply of XBox Series X’s and Playstation 5’s have run dry, due to scalpers buying up the current supplies. They do this by using bots that scrape websites and can buy up available supplies of these consoles (plus many other products) faster than real people can.
I expect that the same will occur just before “Starfield” launches, and based upon previous such events, it will be some time before the regular customers will be able to purchase these consoles without having to pay a massive upcharge from scalpers… something I absolutely will not do! Therefore, I went ahead and bought that XBox Series X now, even though I don’t need it yet. In fact, I don’t plan on buying “Starfield” immediately upon release, as I expect it will be too buggy to play effectively. It is a game from Bethesda, after all.
Anyway, My sweetie is far from pleased about this turn of events, but she understands where I am coming from on this. She also understands that “The Sims 4” is available on the XBox Series X, and not on the Switch, so she wants that game. I expect she’ll want many of the DLC packages available for it, as well, and I’m okay with that, too. I mean, how can I complain about that, when I just dropped $500+ for the console and a 1TB external SSD ($60, as opposed to the $179 Samsung wants for their proprietary XBox Expansion SSD). I’ll probably end up buying a 2nd controller, too, but we’ll have to see about that.
Now then, since I will shortly have this console in my hot little hands, what will I do with it, other than watch My Lovely Bride™ play “The Sims 4”? Well, I do have a few games I would like to try out, while waiting for “Starfield” to release, then get patched multiple times, before it is finally in a truly playable state. My shortlist includes:
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Skyrim (because why not have it on every device I own?)
- No Man’s Sky
- Hades
- Grim Dawn
- Forza Motorsport (October 2023)
Now I know I have most of these games already on the Switch, and as such I really don’t need them on the XBox, but in a way, yes I absolutely do! “No Man’s Sky”, “Hades”, and “Skyrim” will look much better on the XBox, even better than on my aging gaming laptop. Also, while I don’t have “Grim Dawn” on the Switch, I do on my old laptop, and I would love to be able to play it with a much more powerful device. Also, it will help me resist the pull to buy “Diablo 4”.
Anyway, I expect this will help me kill the time until “Starfield” is out and truly playable… maybe even sold for a discount in a ‘Game of the Year’ edition, which is what I am really hoping for. And I guess this is “Happy Birthday” and “Merry Christmas” to me, for the next couple of years.
