FalselogicDec 20, 2022
Tony Cliff
Parents, if you bought a video game system for your kids as a holiday gift, be sure to crack it open, run all the system updates and get any games installed so it's ready to plug-and-play as soon as they open it.
This message brought to you by (admittedly fond) memories of watching my dad make DOS boot disks all afternoon on Christmas.
Dec 19, 2022 at 11:06pmWeb
Show threadTony CliffDec 20, 2022
(I think I first heard this suggestion on the Giant Bomb podcast.)
(Oh, and you put everything back in the box and wrap it when you're done.) :)
Show threadSygninDec 19, 2022
@tangocharlie Not that I have kids, but I guess setting up all the parental controls ahead of time might also be a good idea.
Show threadJohn HarrisDec 19, 2022
@tangocharlie But why would we deprive kids of those beloved Christmas system update memories?
Show threadKyrie ♿️ 🏳️‍⚧️ Dec 21, 2022
@rodneylives @tangocharlie Right?? Is it really Christmas if you don’t spend the whole day updating and installing and only get to play for maybe an hour at the end of the day?
Show threadavatastic  Dec 20, 2022

@tangocharlie I remember when DOS introduced config.sys menus, and I said goodbye to my boot disks.

Although the only one I really needed was the one for X Wing which needed EMM386 set to reserve some memory as EMS.

Fond memories.

Show threadpeazDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie but isn’t unboxing and installing the games part of the fun too? 🎮️ 🕹️
Show threadJeff XilonDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie yep. There is one specific reason I’m not doing this (it’s an upgrade and I can’t really do that migration without giving things away) but in all past years this was the absolute right move.
Show thread/dev/nullDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie But they'd lose the experience of unwrapping, the pure joy when they open in and find out its a mario kart switch that they have seen their friends play.
Show threadScott MichaudDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie Especially since the services may be down part of Christmas due to the other people who did not update ahead of time all turning on their boxes in unison.
Show threadIanhopkinsonDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie also work out your account creation strategy!
Show threadChris FontanaDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie don’t remember downloading updates for the N64. That’s why it was the best system 😉 #old #gamer #retrogaming
Show threadJérôme Leroy – ComposerDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie when I got a Switch for my birthday a few years back I made the mistake to wait the end of dinner to unpack it, needless to say my friends were long gone before it was done updating the system, then Mario Kart 🫣 most frustrating end of a birthday dinner ever 🫠
Show threadMichael McWattersDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie or watching my dad nearly in tears trying to assemble two ten-speed bicycles for my brothers at midnight.
Show threadJaneDec 20, 2022
@tangocharlie I would think this applies to phones, too. Take the person's phone, they can live for a day or two, put the card from the old phone in, make sure it's activated. Then surprise them with it on Christmas morning, all ready to go! No need to fight to get it activated on Christmas Day, then!
Show thread🆃🆁🆄🅽🅳🅻🅴🆂Dec 21, 2022
@tangocharlie Unpopular opinion: autoexec.bat is a text adventure which you need to complete, in order to play Doom
Show threadildaveDec 22, 2022
@tangocharlie @grumpygamer there is nothing worse than having a new game for Christmas and cannot run it because you lack a couple kilobytes of RAM!