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So you want to buy a new Xbox. Welcome to the club. If you’re like me, and haven’t purchased a console in ten years, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed.

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As a proud casual gamer, who has only owned two consoles in his life, I can say - without much doubt - that the world of gaming today, is a strange and confusing beast. So since today is Xbox day, and I’m torn between getting an Xbox Series X, or S or the PS5, I thought together we’d look at what it takes to buy a new console after ten longer years of playing Skate 2 on my Xbox 360.

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I first checked out the Microsoft website to see the specs firsthand and I couldn’t help but notice the Apple-ification of their graphics. Sweet airflow channels bro, where’d you get those?

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“Designed from the inside out,” both tells me nothing and means nothing to me. Also, “combining hardware and software innovations with intentional engineering”, sounds like lawyer speak for saying, we made it better than the last one. But that doesn’t sound as cool as buying the “monolithic zenith of speed and performance.”

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But this ins’t about the Xbox itself, or the way it’s packaged, this is about buying it, or not, which you can no longer do anywhere. Word on the web is the bots bought up all the consoles in a matter of minutes. So until the appear on Craigslist, we tried clicking through anyway.

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First I tried Target. You know you haven’t bought a console in years when you are surprised by the 2 Year Allstate insurance video game protection plan they advertise with it. This is a thing? Since when? What?

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But next, it asked me to select Series X/S optimized games and I had to Google what that meant. Man being a parent must suck. I would hate to buy a four hundred dollar game box only to not optimize it for my child’s maximum “multi-player live presence I-cloud save” enjoyment. I know, that doesn’t make sense, but this is how it feels being out of the loop.

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Sold-out.

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Of course, Target is sold out, so next I tired BestBuy, which was sold out too. Good to know they also offer a 2-year procreation plan, which seems to be standard now in gaming.

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Then I tired GameStop. Where they were also sold-out, but they did offer the console in a package for a one time payment of $824.99.

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Finally Walmart, who is also sold out. But who offer a protection plan for just $47, which is less than both Target $63 and BestBuy at $69.99.

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To say I feel overwhelmed is an understatement. I feel lost. I also know that to get the best out of my new Xbox Series X I’ll need a new tv, one that runs 4k. One that will cost me another $1,200.

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And I’m not the only one. Many people expecting preorders to ship from Amazon got sour news yesterday when they were notified that delays and high demand might push their delivery dates back to December 31st at the latest.

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I do know this, it seems getting the package with the game pass it best and cheaper in the long run. Not having to buy those expensive games make the price of the console and pass worth it. Though like I said, I haven’t bought a new console in five years, and if one day my copy of Skate 2 got up and walked away, I’d be left with a big hunch a junk. So, I’m still torn and even more confused than I was to begin with.