(Pocket Ribbon) – All new technology creates excitement – especially when you give someone a new console that will fill many hours of the day for years to come. With the consoles of the Xbox series and the new PlayStation 5, it is likely to be a gaming Christmas for many.
Sure, if you’re a fan you’ve already bought your console and are playing with your console, but for many parents – who are gifting the console – there’s more to think about. If you managed to get one, of course.
However, that Christmas spirit can be somewhat dulled when you take your new Xbox Series X out of the box and discover that you have hours and hours of downloads to get through before you can actually do anything.
Ding dong downloads high!
Well, it’s not that bad. There is an initial update for the Xbox Series X (at the time of writing) which is only about 700MB and arrives in a flash and updates the console. Beyond that, the games themselves are the big barrier.
If you want to play the latest games or have mostly digital titles you will need to download a lot, especially if you want to take advantage of Optimized for Series X / S. These games should be on the Series Xbox internal storage to get the best experience. to get.
Take Forza Horizon 4 for example. It’s optimized for Xbox Series X / S and it’s about 80 GB of download. The total download for us was about 3 hours – although of course you can start playing before everything is downloaded, but if you only have a few games you probably want to play on Christmas morning, it’s worth getting the console for the big day. .
Unpack the Xbox Series X.
Having the packaging in pristine condition so you don’t ruin the experience is part of the fun here. Fortunately, getting into the Xbox Series X packaging is fairly easy without destroying anything.
The box is held closed by four adhesive tabs. These are not security tabs, they can actually be peeled off the box without tearing or leaving marks. With some care, you can pull them back to loosen the lid. It is then worthwhile to stick them to themselves so that you can use them during repackaging to close the lid of the box.
Then all you have to do is lift the lid for the first sight of your new dream machine, the Xbox Series X. Well, there is some foam packing on top, but once you lift that out, the console will be found in more packs, with a card sleeve wrapped around it.
The card slips off easily, allowing you to handle the black packaging on the console itself.
The inner packaging is reattached with masking tape, so it is easy to lift this tape gently and open one end of the sleeve. You can then slide the console out of the package to keep it in shape.
That’s it – you’re out of the box and ready to move on.
Hear the power cable singing!
The next step is of course connecting. If you’re an existing Xbox owner (which you probably are if you want to download games you already own) then you can just find a moment to hook up your Series X to the connections you usually use for your Xbox One.
To get the console to work, you need power, a network connection and the HDMI to the TV. We unplugged the cables from our existing Xbox and plugged them into the Series X. By using existing cables, you don’t have to walk through the rest of the box, so you can leave it all intact.
The power cable is the standard figure eight type, so you can easily use an existing cable for this if needed.
Using a wired network connection is preferred as these can be much more reliable than a wireless connection – and an attached Ethernet cable is seamlessly detected during the installation process.
The setup itself uses the Xbox app on your phone. You need to install the app where you will see the option to set up a new console. You connect by tapping on the letters displayed on the TV in the app.
The basics of setup are then handled through your phone, including the option to sign in to and link to your Microsoft account, your security options for the new console, and a prompt to download the app to help your family on the go too. Xbox.
Use your old controller if you can
We found an initial approx. 700MB of download was needed before we got to the controller connection stage. Although the on-screen graphics prompts you to plug in one of the new controllers in the box, you can use an existing Xbox One controller if you have one.
You need to turn on the controller, press the orange connect button on the front and then also the connect button on the front of the new Xbox console. That will link the two and you can do everything else without disturbing the rest of the pack.
If you don’t have an old controller, you’ll have to carefully dive into the box to unleash the new Xbox Series controller. Lift the cover on the cover on the back of the box and you will find the controller on the right.
It is packaged simply enough, with tape to keep the bag closed, but easy to open. Batteries are included, but sealed in another bag, so you may want to look for two AA batteries for this temporary measure.
O Come All Ye Downloads
As we said, downloading the games takes a lot of time. After going through the installation process, the Xbox Series X / S is ready to use, but you have nothing to play.
Since some of these downloads take many hours, you may have to choose the games you think are the most important on Christmas morning. Just go to your games list, see what the X / S logo is wearing you want on the internal storage and hit download.
Downloads aren’t the only option, of course. If you have external storage on your existing console, you may want to do some management there, to move games to an external drive so that you can move them to the new console.
This will save you a lot of download time, but you have to handle it carefully to make sure you know what you are doing. We have a guide on how to move your games from one console to another using an external drive and even if you download some games directly, you may find that you will have some games separately using the hard drive at a later date moved. You may also need a different external drive if you don’t have the capacity to move all your games to a drive you already have.
The important thing is to do a little housework and make sure that any games you have stored on your internal drive on your old Xbox are saved to the external storage so you can easily move it around when you need it .
Santa baby, just slide an Xbox under the tree for me
Once you’re done updating and setting up and downloading some games, you can think about getting everything back in the box knowing it will be up and running on Christmas morning with minimal fuss.
If you’ve been careful unpacking, it’s easy to return the console to its packaging in pristine condition and no one will notice – until it’s booted up and ready to play.
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Written by Chris Hall.
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