PSA: Remember to Update Game Consoles Before Giving Them as Gifts
Reading Time: 4 minutesIf you’re giving a game console as a gift, you should always update it first. Here’s why…
So, you’re gifting someone a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X, and you couldn’t be more excited to see them unwrap the big gift.
Paper discarded, howls of excitement abate, and it’s down to business: getting this new console plugged in.
But there’s a problem. Modern game consoles and their games require downloading and updating before playing.
The mood is crushed. Tears flow—adult and child—and the painful wait to start gaming begins.
So, to avoid such a scenario, remember to update any game consoles before gifting them. Trust us; it’ll save birthdays, Christmas, holidays, and everything else in between.
Why Do I Need to Update a Game Console Before Giving It as a Present?
Something parents worldwide have overlooked (if you’ve done it, you are absolutely not the only one!) is that modern games have become big. Like, really big in some cases. Furthermore, most games now receive regular updates. Where in the past, you bought a PlayStation 1 with Crash Bandicoot, and that was the game, many blockbuster titles now receive frequent content updates to tweak gameplay, iron out bugs, add new content, or even introduce entirely new game modes.
Gone are the days when you could simply head to the shop, grab a console off the shelf, snap up the top titles on the gaming chart, and call it a day. That Sega Mega Drive in your cupboard gathering dust still runs the exact same code as it did 30 years ago. Its code remains untouched, but that isn’t the case for modern consoles. On top of the games, the consoles themselves receive frequent updates, sometimes to introduce new features but also to react to security issues in the internet-connected gaming era.
The issue is that some of these updates are massive and can take hours to download, ranging from a few hundred megabytes to tens of gigabytes. Furthermore, buying a physical game instead of a digital one doesn’t always make a difference. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II shipped a physical disc with just 72MB of data, meaning even if you go to the store and buy it now, you’ll still have to download it when you get home.
‘So what,’ you think. ‘I’ve got a great internet connection.’
For the most part, you’re right; a blazing-fast internet connection can mitigate the issue. However, on numerous occasions in the past decade, PlayStation and Xbox users have struggled to update their shiny new consoles on Christmas Day as millions of new machines plug-in and attempt to update simultaneously.
Not only that, but on more than one occasion, hackers have launched DDoS attacks at the Xbox and PlayStation networks to force them offline, preventing anyone from updating any hardware. So in some cases, even if you bought a console package with bundled games, those games will still require an internet-connected update before the console will allow you access the content, and if the network is down, you’re out of luck.
So, in short, if you’re considering giving your loved one (especially kids!) a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or Series S, and to a lesser extent, a Nintendo Switch as a top-tier gift, you should absolutely update it first.
How Do I Update a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X Without Them Knowing?
Now, onto the next big issue. You know you need to update the console, but how do you do so without alerting suspicion?
The answer is guest accounts. On both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, you can fire up the machine, connect to the internet, and update the console firmware without creating a specific user account or having to log in to a PlayStation Network or Xbox Live account. On both consoles, the option to update comes before the option to sign in, and it’s a fairly prominent page, too.
Of course, once you update the console, you’re going to want to install and update some games, too.
If you have games with physical media, like those that come bundled with a new console, you can pop the disc into the console. Typically, the console will recognize the disc and ask if you want to download and apply any updates. If you’re swimming in new games and content, you could even take a moment to transfer games from the PS5 internal storage to an M.2 SSD. Furthermore, you could also take a moment to update the PS5’s DualSense controller—yes, even the controllers receive updates these days!
Xbox owners, don’t worry: it’s a very similar process on both consoles.
Furthermore, you can download and install system updates for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S from a USB flash drive.
In both cases, you’ll download the latest update for the console to an external flash drive. Then on the big day, you can whip it out and update it as and when you want.
One thing to consider with the USB flash drive update method is how recent the update is when you download it. Say you’re gifting a new console for Christmas, so you get everything ready under the tree, wrapped, and good to go. Your console update USB flash drive is prepped too, but you might find that by the time you go to use the drive, it’s already out of date.
Now, that’s not a major problem, as the update will still work, and given the proximity to when you downloaded it, it’s likely to work regardless. But it may also mean you need a little extra downloading on the day, so bear that in mind. Often, it’s best to leave the USB flash drive method as late as you can or even use it as a backup method.
Go Forth and Update Your Consoles Before Gifting
Gifting someone a next-gen console is an awesome idea. You’re sure to bring countless hours of amazing fun and entertainment into someone’s life!
Just remember that modern consoles are like regular computers or laptops at this point. They require frequent updates to keep up with new features, not to mention security patches and bugs. So long as you unbox that new console and update it before the big day, everything will be just fine.
And, of course, if not, don’t sweat it. A game console is a brilliant gift, updated or not!