The tragic Downfall of the Video Game Console

My definition of a video game console is the following: A video game console is a highly specialised device designed for the consumption of video games that is connected to a TV. It has the option of connecting one or more game controllers, does not need a keyboard and does not require an internet connection. It is affordable, easy to operate, immediately ready for use and comes with just enough software to play games bought as modules or optical discs.

Maybe that’s just my personal view because I grew up with just such consoles - although that’s not really true either. I was very attached to computers from an early age, starting with a Commodore 64, then moving on to the Amiga and finally the PC. At the same time, I also had a Playstation 1, which was my first console, followed by a Playstation 2 and then numerous 80s and 90s consoles that I gradually bought second-hand. At some point, however, I bought a modern console, an Xbox One, so that I could play Minecraft on the couch. That didn’t really work out, but more on that later. Now it’s supposed to be used by my children to play Minecraft.

Good old Times

When I used to want to play something on my PSX (Playstation 1), I took the CD from the shelf, inserted it into the PSX and pressed the power button. The game was then loaded pretty much immediately and I could get started. That’s especially nice when you’re short on time: Adults because they have lots of commitments and children because they only have a certain amount of screen time available.

First attempt to have Fun

When I bought the Xbox One, I planned to play games on the couch in the evening from time to time. Sometimes the console was switched off for months until I felt like it again. After 10 p.m., even in cases of hardship, you are usually a free person and swap bedtime for free time. So it happened to me twice that I switched on the console at around 10 p.m. and had to put up with a longer loading time. I was then forced to enter my live.com password using a gamepad. As you can imagine, this didn’t work the first time because my password is not ‘123456’. Once that worked, I had to update the console and then the game. With the Xbox One, you buy a game on an optical disc (or via download), but then have to install it and unfortunately insert it again each time despite the installation (copy protection). In both cases, I fell asleep around midnight during the update process. After that it just gathered dust because my time was too precious for that sort of thing.

Second attempt to have Fun

The children were getting older and were slowly getting to the age where they wanted to and were allowed to play Minecraft. So I fired up the console, password, password, update, great. At first, one of the kids used my live.com account and the other used a guest account to be able to play in split-screen mode at the same time. The downside was that the one with the guest account had to start all over again after every restart. It then turned out that I had to create a Microsoft account for both children. It should be noted that the console must always have an internet connection in order to work. Maybe there is another way, I couldn’t figure it out and felt like my parents in the 90s trying to program a video recorder.

Child 1

So I created own live.com accounts for the children on my PC. That was already annoying enough, but now things really got going. I logged in the first child on the console, again with a complex password using the gamepad. Then I immediately got the message that the account was locked due to irregularities. So I went back to the PC, logged in with the locked account, solved three captchas and then had to enter a mobile phone number for security reasons. Then I used the code sent to me to unlock the account. Back at the console, I entered the password again and it actually worked. Child 1 was logged in but the children became increasingly restless and I became increasingly irritable.

Child 2

Then the same procedure again: log-in with child 2’s account, error, account blocked. At this point, both children had added a few new words to their vocabulary, which I’m not proud of. So I went to my PC, logged in with child 2’s account, solved three captchas and then - as expected - entered my mobile phone number for the security code. Then I learnt that I can no longer use this number. So I entered a different mobile phone number, which was accepted. I then received the message that the account was now unlocked. After clicking on ‘Next’, I was informed that the account had been locked due to irregularities. Again my children learnt new words and I tried again: log-in, solve three captchas, enter a third mobile phone number, get code, enter code, account unlocked. This time for real. Back to the console, entered child 2’s password with the gamepad and the child was actually successfully logged in to the console.

Fear

All of this worked in the end, but the console would have flown out of the window if I had been the only user. I now have a console that the kids use to play Minecraft, with three Microsoft accounts logged in. It’s always possible that the children want to play and either an update is due, the password has to be re-entered or one or more accounts are locked. Or there are network/internet problems. The result is the same: Anger and despair.

Frustration

So now I have a video game console that only works when Microsoft wants it to. I also don’t own any games. You’ve never owned games, but at least a licensed copy of a game. So if Microsoft no longer wants me to play a game, then I’m no longer allowed to play it. On the other hand, I can play any game on my PSX, NES etc. at any time without the internet, without a stupid online account, cloud sync and whatnot. Because you still owned things back then. And because it’s the only way to let my kids play current games, which is also important for their social life, I have to go along with this stupid crap.

Thanks for nothing.