Christmas morning. The kids’ eyes are wide with excitement, and the energy is palpable. This isn’t a sugar rush, this is… something more. They race to the tree and tear the paper off the biggest gift they could find – it’s the console they’ve been bugging you for all year. It’s finally here; and for a few days you’ll get some respite from the questions of being asked for it for Christmas, and they’ll be thanking Santa.
You help them unbox it and set it up, and it’s mostly ready to go. They can play with the controllers plugged in, as they need a charge – nothing comes fully charged out of the box. But your eyes widen in horror as you insert the disc into the console – there’s installation required, and an update of 50gb. Christmas lunch is in two hours. Nobody’s playing this thing until tonight at the earliest.
Long gone are the days of plug-and-play technology gifts, especially when it comes to special events. I unwrapped my first ever console, a Super Nintendo that I still have packed away somewhere, on a fateful Christmas morning when I was six. We plugged it in, popped in the bundled ‘Kid Klown in Crazy Chase’ cartridge, and that was it – I was glued to the TV until it was time to go to lunch. The intro music to the game still haunts me, and it probably also explains my lack of patience as I grew up – that game was hell. But those were simpler times; and just like us, gaming has grown and changed over the years. So what can you do to make sure Christmas morning remains as special as it was for you.
ACCOUNTS AND PASSWORDS
One that takes primary spot above all else, everything you buy these days needs an account. Whether it’s PSN, Xbox Live, Nintendo Accounts, Apple Accounts, etc, it needs to be logged in and ready to go.
It’s also a dreaded task of writing down and remembering the passwords to all these accounts – but especially if you’re setting up the device for a child, you want to make sure you have control over that account to avoid any accidental transactions or mistakes. If you already have an account, great! If the person you’re gifting already has an account and you don’t know the information, this one may have to wait just a little bit longer.
SETUP THE CONSOLE
All new consoles come with a plethora of the latest updates to improve stability, unlock features or work at their best. If the youngsters of the house are getting a brand new console, they’re going to want to play it as soon as they possibly can – but fresh out of the box isn’t going to help.
That’s where you, the tech-savvy parent, can come into the mix – by carefully opening the console and setting it up for them, not only can you ensure that it is ready to go out of the box, but you can also add parental controls or account details that only you will know. Bonus points for pre-installing games on the console too, so that you can play them right off the bat
CHARGE EVERYTHING UP
This is probably handier for portables or wireless things – but out of the box, most accessories will have only the smallest amount of battery and need charging ASAP. Provided that you can open them carefully without damaging the packaging, plug them in and have those batteries ready to go.
Nobody wants a flat controller or headset – and some (although very limited amounts) of devices *still* require external batteries – so make sure you’ve got the right batteries on hand!
UPDATE EVERYTHING
The biggest part of games these days is updates. They can literally be 2-4gb for a console update and anywhere from 5gb to 50gb for a game update. The last thing you want is to be stuck updating games or consoles on Christmas day, so turn that console on and check for any system updates. You should then put any games you’ve purchased into the console and updates should automatically start updating.
ONLINE CAPABILITIES
So your new console can get online; but is it going to cost you? The last thing you want to hear from the kids is “We can’t play online with our friends because it costs more!” Unfortunately everything requires an online subscription these days (except PC gaming, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish) and I can guarantee that if your kids have been asking for a console, they want to play with their friends online.
Now is the PERFECT chance to make sure you grab an online subscription – or do a bit of research into it so that you can test the free trial that most of them offer. It also means you can keep an eye out for Boxing Day sales, where sometimes the companies will offer a discounted subscription pack. Both Xbox and PlayStation’s online services come with monthly free games to download too, meaning you do get value out of them. Nintendo Switch Online also comes with free SNES and NES games so you can live out your own childhood playing some retro games.
Now that you’re across these things, you should be ready to go come Christmas morning! And if your kids don’t react with the same amount of excitement as the Nintendo 64 kid below, well… next year they can get coal instead!
