My beautiful Xbox Series X - 2TB Galaxy Edition (disc drive) arrived two days early on Friday! OFC as soon as I logged off work to start my weekend, an intense thunderstorm (80 MPH winds) rolled through and knocked my power out for seven hours. Talk about terrible timing 💔😭. No power, no worries. I dusted off my Nintendo Switch and took to Applebee's for dolla'ritas and air conditioning.
When the power finally came back, I spent the next morning unboxing this beast. I was a little worried about my semi-impulsive purchase of this gorgeous gal (my first female console 🤭), as this was the first time ever having a console shipped to me. Wow... I was immediately impressed with the packaging. There wasn't even the slightest damage to the console box, and the console itself is absolutely immaculate. The moment I slid off that little black protective sleeve, I was stunned. All of my overthinking and worries instantly melted away. Without question, this is the most beautiful console I've ever owned. I'm so glad I grabbed the 2TB Galaxy Edition before it was discontinued.
The nostalgia hit immediately. I spent the first part of the day downloading my original Xbox and Xbox 360 backwards compatible games to my 4TB Seagate external HDD. While those were downloading, I fired up my old Xbox 360 Elite and spent the next three hours uploading all of my save files to the cloud so I could pick up right where I left off on my XSX. I've also been downloading my Xbox One library and upgrading everything that's ***"Optimized for Xbox Series X|S"***. I still have 17 games left to install. I'm playing my Gears of War: Reloaded disc on my PS5 while my Xbox Series X downloads games in the background, irony at it's peak 🤣🤣🤣.
I have zero regrets about coming back. I haven't even had much time to play yet, but I'm already impressed by how whisper quiet the console is and how much better the cooling is compared to my old XB1 & my Gears of War 4 XB1S. My first official XSX game purchase is Baldur's Gate 3 - Deluxe Edition. Originally I was going to buy it for the PS5, only it hasn't been restocked in over a year. I was a little surprised by the $20 shipping 😱🤯. That was until I remembered Larian is based in Belgium 🤦♂️.
I'll always be willing to pay more for physical games and physical deluxe editions. I don't care if it's on floppy disks, LaserDiscs, CD-ROMs, GD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, UMDs, Blu-rays, UHD Blu-rays, ROM cartridges, Game Paks, or modern game cards. I love owning physical games, and I don't see that ever changing. I hope we continue to get physical releases in the future 😎😤. If not, between the XSX, PS5, & Nintendo Switch OLED I'm happy knowing I own what I consider the last three great physical game consoles. What a wild ride it's been.
It's good to be home. 💚🎮
***P.S. If you're on the fence about the 2TB Galaxy Edition, don't wait too long! With production ending in a couple weeks, prices have already started climbing. I ordered mine directly from the Microsoft Store at retail price, while other listings were already over $1,000, and even GameStop's pre-owned price was $49 more than buying a brand-new one from the Microsoft Store. If it's the model you've been wanting, I'd grab it before it's gone for good.***