A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

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Jascott72
Posts: 55
Joined: March 24th, 2020, 8:23 am

A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby Jascott72 » July 25th, 2022, 6:52 pm

Just like everyone else I suffer through bouts of depression. Some people may deal with their depression through the use of drugs or alcohol, maybe overeating, getting into fights, or even chasing after promiscuous women. Me? Well I tend to splurge on video games. Now I don't mean buying several new games at $60 or more a pop. No I mean buying systems that I don't really need, like an Xbox series X.

Let me be clear I am a Sony fan boy through and through. But in a state of depression I bought an Xbox series X because it is backwards compatible with all generations of Xbox. How cool I thought! It is like the PS3! I was planning on selling my Xbox One S and Xbox 360 S on Ebay to help cover the expense of purchasing the Series X. I was hoping to earn over $250 for both systems.

However as I browsed through the sold systems on Ebay it became clear I would likely will not be earning the amount of money I hoped.

Then I found out something about the backward compatibility I wasn't previously aware of. It comes with a serious caveat, you have to be online. Sure the Series X can play Xbox One games. But as far as the 360 and original Xbox games are concerned you have to be online for this feature to work.

In other words it is NOT in the systems hardware like the PS3. Rather it is a service that is offered through Microsoft. And sooner or later Microsoft will discontinue this feature. Meaning you will need the original hardware to play the games. So what is the point?

Then I thought well maybe I can just sell my Xbox one S. But I reminded myself I would maybe get around $100 for it. And what is the point of having the Series X when I already have a PS5? The exclusives between the two systems are pretty thin. I am not a big fan of Halo or Gears of War and I think Forza is pretty boring. Plus to be frank there simply is no reason for me to own the Series X.

Finally my guilt and shame for buying something I cannot afford joined forces with common sense and practicality. I was able to return the Xbox Series X for a full refund. All this trouble because I let my depression get the better of me.

matmico399
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Joined: November 25th, 2015, 6:11 pm

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby matmico399 » July 25th, 2022, 7:57 pm

Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed reading your story. I think a lot of us deal with the things you have talked about and I hope things get better for you. Whatever you do please don't sell your 360. You won't get much of anything for it and it is still the only Xbox I've ever owned. I like you and a PlayStation guy. But the 360 was definitely the best of its generation and their games are still dirt cheap and for the most part still fantastic. It sounds like you're getting a pretty good handle on things and I wish you nothing but the best.

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ASalvaro
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Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby ASalvaro » July 25th, 2022, 8:33 pm

i gamble to resolve depression so yours is much cheaper lol

Voor
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Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby Voor » July 25th, 2022, 9:15 pm

I never quite understand the whole “online is bad” mentality. Sure, it will go away one day, but you’re looking at like a decade (or more), so you will well get your moneys worth out of the backward compatibility, and will be ready to move onto the newer console.

I agree 100% with the Series X not really being attractive due to the lack of games.

But above everything, I’m happy for you that you grew from your experience.

Jascott72
Posts: 55
Joined: March 24th, 2020, 8:23 am

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby Jascott72 » July 26th, 2022, 4:27 am

matmico399 wrote:Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed reading your story. I think a lot of us deal with the things you have talked about and I hope things get better for you. Whatever you do please don't sell your 360. You won't get much of anything for it and it is still the only Xbox I've ever owned. I like you and a PlayStation guy. But the 360 was definitely the best of its generation and their games are still dirt cheap and for the most part still fantastic. It sounds like you're getting a pretty good handle on things and I wish you nothing but the best.


Thank you.

Jascott72
Posts: 55
Joined: March 24th, 2020, 8:23 am

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby Jascott72 » July 26th, 2022, 4:29 am

Voor wrote:I never quite understand the whole “online is bad” mentality. Sure, it will go away one day, but you’re looking at like a decade (or more), so you will well get your moneys worth out of the backward compatibility, and will be ready to move onto the newer console.

I agree 100% with the Series X not really being attractive due to the lack of games.

But above everything, I’m happy for you that you grew from your experience.


Online only has always been a major pet peeve of mine.
Thank you.

ThePixelatedGenocide
Posts: 1232
Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » July 26th, 2022, 8:07 am

Jascott72 wrote:Finally my guilt and shame for buying something I cannot afford joined forces with common sense and practicality. I was able to return the Xbox Series X for a full refund. All this trouble because I let my depression get the better of me.


Sorry to hear you're going through some rough times. I've been there. I've made that mistake. And yeah, it's not the worst way to handle things - far from it.

How are you feeling now?

Voor wrote:I never quite understand the whole “online is bad” mentality.


It looks a lot different when your internet provider sucks.

It's also a way to get credit for games preservation while setting things up so that you can simply erase that preservation in a heartbeat.

I'm not opposed to online only services, but actually owning these older games should be an option. Especially since physical media can be damaged, and we've already seen how fast prices can be driven up by collectors.

MooTheKow2
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Joined: April 8th, 2015, 9:25 am

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby MooTheKow2 » July 26th, 2022, 1:07 pm

For what it is worth - I don't think the requirement is to be online to pay, but rather to install. To the best of my understanding - you're not generally playing the games off the disc - but rather a modified version of the game downloaded from Microsoft with tweaks to support things like frameboost and the auto-HDR. Once it is installed - it basically uses the disc as DRM verification -- making sure you didn't just sell the disc after it installed and continue to be able to play the game.

Jascott72
Posts: 55
Joined: March 24th, 2020, 8:23 am

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby Jascott72 » July 26th, 2022, 1:53 pm

Right, but once you take the disc out the game is essentially "gone." So if you want to play the game again you have to repeat the process.

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: A tale of depression, video games, and Xbox series X

Postby Voor » July 26th, 2022, 3:07 pm

I have zero issue if a console has no backwards compatibility. I mean, when the SNES came out, I wasn’t upset that I couldn’t play NES games on it—that’s what my NES was for. Lol.

If you really love games from a certain time, acquire and maintain the hardware from it. Overall, I think it’s a nice feature, but I don’t see it as a major selling point.


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