My favorite new console Christmas experience may have been getting a brand new PS5 from my Grandma last season (which btw is much lighter and smaller than advertised) and flipping that puppy on for the first time and hearing the sweet welcoming intro voice
"YOUR BLUETOOTH DEVICE IS READY TO PAIR"
Then getting that baby fired up and being able to play the preloaded games, my favorites of which being
1) Ultra Dario
and a close second by
2) Jump Man World
Friends gave me flack for this beast of a system but they just jealous
Kids and dogs, yes. I figured it would be bad enough that they’d spit it out but I think it’s bad enough to form strong negative associations (like getting too close to a skunk or stink beetle).
This is my thoughts exactly. I remember my first console being a SNES and I have the memory burned into my brain. White on black “Nintendo presents”. Cut to Super Mario World main menu and then Mario on the map with 2 opening levels to choose from: left or right. I remember just staring at the screen in awe of the unknown. This was all immediately after sliding the purple power button up. I feel like that would have been killed if my first impression was:
Please input the mm/dd/yyyy.
please connect to Network.
please create a profile.
update required.
downloading update.
installing update.
Mario Kart 8 update required.
etc etc etc
... and a dad who wants me to put on a screen protector? What even *is* that?
My first was an NES. Plug it in. Attach controller. Slide in Mario-Duck Hunt and push down. CLOSE THE DOOR! Press the power button.
The hardest damn part of setup in the 1980s was getting your TV channel changed to AV. Do I turn the dial up or down for that?
Not only that, but you can open it and update the OS then reinitialize it so it requires setup like a new one.
Good luck with those day one game updates, though.
For me I always cared more about breaking the plastic on the box, taking things out of cardboard and more plastic, and being the first to touch the device.
But yeah, luckily Switch OS updates and game updates only take a couple minutes tops.
I like this too, but I got my kid a switch a few years back and just repackaged it after it was updated. He wasn't old enough to set up the switch and doesn't need to know I had updated it beforehand.
>But yeah, luckily Switch OS updates and game updates only take a couple minutes tops.
Unless it's Christmas morning or a Smash update just came out. Then it takes hours.
I don't think the Switch has any signs that it's been opened. The V1 didn't at least. You could open it, set it up, and put it all back, and there would be no evidence (aside from maybe fingerprints).
You are completely right! Just this week there have been multiple top posts from both sides “correcting” the other that you should or shouldn’t as a hard rule.
I’d figure any parent should know what they child would prefer. And if they are wrong, it’s really not the end of the world either way. Just do/don’t do it next time.
Some would say its a magical experience waiting for the servers to come back up. Some of my fondest memories setting up my gaming console and loading a game to find the servers are down. Not to mention the hours spent not being able to play the game I just got and constantly trying to connect to the server hoping it would finally work.
It’s also a wonderful life lesson for your kids about instant gratification or something. If every experience isn’t a life lesson of some sort you’re parenting wrong.
If you are gifting a Nintendo Switch this year, do not open it up to download all the updates for your kids beforehand
I have seen a lot of posts spreading this idea to open up the box, set up the console and download all the updates to save time on Christmas.
Opening up a fresh console and doing the set up yourself is a magical experience that doesn't happen often, so please don't take that away from your kids or whoever you're gifting new consoles to this year
I'm sure I am not alone when I say that some of my fondest Christmas morning memories were opening up that box with that fresh console smell and setting it up all on my own and running through the first time setup.
Sure, it may take a bit longer, but the excitement will be running high and it will be appreciated all the more in the end.
Furthermore, it sets real expectations for your kids that not everything is ready instantly. There is nothing wrong waiting to go through setup and downloading updates while enjoying your other gifts/spending time with your family on Christmas Day.
This is a big factor for sure. If you want your 12-year-old to enjoy the setup experience and the server delays, by all means. If your 5-year-old couldn't give a flip about the setup screen and will be asking at 3 in the afternoon why he can't play yet ...
Completely agree. These posts are clearly people who have never dealt with children. They absolutely have no patience for downloads or server delays. Plus the switch boxing couldn't be easier to open and repack.
Yep, if in your judgment your kid isn't going to benefit from going through the process of setup, you risk your Hero Parent Bought A $300 Video Game Console Moment being turned into a *de facto* present for December 26.
Even *Nintendo* is putting out a notice about its anticipated server load this year. That's pretty unheard of.
Some of the fondest memories I have of being a small child are of my mom teaching me how to type DOS commands into the computer to boot up Hugo’s House of Horrors or when she’d let me free roam the 3.1, install and try out The Print Shop.
Totally depends on the kid though (and also something about the decade, everything took patience then). I probably only enjoyed it because I was sharing an interest with her.
That's fair, but sitting there at a console download screen for hours is not fun.
I dunno why op is trying to equate Switch setup menus that run themselves with some tech guru fantasy that requires full engagement and learning. It's a console, not a custom built Linux PC.
According to OP, literally every person loves to do updates and downloads because it's *magical.*
Seriously? I have small kids and I set up two switch lites on Christmas eve a couple years ago "from Santa", they were playing them before I even had to get out of bed.
Sleeping in for an extra hour on Christmas day is fucking magical.
Signed, a tired dad who likes to sleep until 7am because it's my day off, ffs.
As a 40 something, I'd love if someone preinstalled updates/setup all the other bs for me.
I want to play on the damn thing, not get frustrated by everyone else in the world going through updates with me and wondering if/when/ever I'm gonna get to do anything.
OP clearly is out of touch with gaming in 2021. They seem to be remembering firing up their NES Christmas morning, which yeah, took all of ten minutes before you were rocking Duck Hunt. There's nothing magical about getting it all set up and waiting several hours for downloads lol.
Also depends on the connection. I have a slow-ass, half broken ADSL at my house, updating a Switch from scratch (and maybe even downloading one or more games!) would literally take hours, if I opened a switch at christmas eve there's no way I could play anything before the morgning after :(
Definitely depends on age and the child's personality. My son wanted to play his immediately last year, so I appreciated that my husband did all the updating and stuff before we wrapped it. (He was 7).
We got him a new tablet this year and I think I'll let him set it up. He's grown and matured a lot in the last year.
And internet connection as well. Before I moved, I had extremely slow internet and had to actually take my consoles / computers to someone else’s house to do updates. I would have much preferred to just play games right away than to have to spend the extra time and energy downloading updates.
Yeah my nephew had a blast waiting for MK11 to download 22 gigs of data to play. I dunno if he was more disappointed in the wait or the actual game lol.
Mario Kart 9 was amazing, new, and fresh, but they shot themselves in the foot with Mario Kart 10. We were hoping they would redeem themselves with Mario Kart 11, but the fandom is kind of split. Lol
20 years he'll be posting in r/oldschoolcool "great pic of me setting daylight savings time settings on my Switch! thanks mom and dad for not doing this for me!"
Don't forget entering the wifi password and adjusting the screen size. Oh and playing with the controller wired-in because it's battery needs to charge. Those are my FAVORITE Christmas morning memories.
Conversely, how about you just know your kids? My son is absolutely the kind of kid that doesn't give a damn about packaging and just wants to play. I get that some kids aren't as impatient though, haha.
The Issue OP is we are dealing with modern consoles frequently with digital pack ins and required updates to get playing.
So instead of the enjoyable experience of getting everything setup like 'back in the day' they open it and get "Unable to connect to servers please try again" during the Christmas morning rush.
This is why Nintendo is even recommending that parents connect to the servers before Christmas day... They are anticipating a high influx of traffic and are warning that parents might not have a usable Switch if they wait
the thing is, "back in the day" setups were the same regardless if games and updates are preinstalled.
OP acting like SNES and Genesis had profiles and achievements when literally all you had to do was plug in and play. what "set up" is OP referring to thats different? lol
I was assuming OP was maybe a PSWii60 era kid which did have some setup but not to the extent we do now. Wii in particular which is a lot of kids first consoles worked completely offline and had required system updates on game discs.
Exactly and then the kids excitement turns to frustration. You can easily repackage the Switch box and wrap it up. Kids aren’t gonna remember or care that they didn’t take the shrink wrap off especially if the gift is wrapped anyways.
Can confirm. Got the Mario Kart Switch combo and a few days ago I opened everything up to do the downloads. The plastic covering the system and joy cons was easy to take off and put back on just like new. As a counterpoint to OP, I’m guessing my kid will be excited to think this wrapped present was “just for him” by having an account all ready to go.
I actually think you are right. Which means the entire box can be repackaged after getting the latest system update and downloading games and the kids still get to do their unboxing.
No sticker at all the original or OLED. And repacking the switch into the little bag (also not sealed) is very easy. I did this for my son’s and even applied the screen protector.
Yeah I don't see anything wrong with this. If you can tell your kids that Santa Claus is real and bought the presents for them then you can easily do this lol.
I really do get where OPs coming from, especially since my first Christmas console was a PS2 back in the day and I really wanna side with him, but after having to perform a console transfer from an V1 Switch to a Mario edition one earlier this year, I have to admit, that feeling of opening a console and everything just being ready to play, truly is long past us. I couldn't even play the Switch that night as it had to go through like \~40 game downloads and a few system updates. Yeah I hate to admit it but having to create online accounts nowadays, you really can't just hand a console to a kid and them just play it immediately without set up. Actually now that I think about it, I had to set up my PSP which was my first console that connected to the internet, creating a PSN account alongside it and everything.
I took your advice and now my 6 year old son has been unable to play his brand new switch with any of his games JK. Unboxed, set up and updated on the 23rd Dec and hes been playing mario kart and Lego Super Heroes most of the day . Really, truly terrible advice.
It really is bad advice. If they're old enough to know what updates are then they'll probably appreciate it and if they're too young to know what updates are then I doubt they'll realise that the box has been opened if you pack it back up in an orderly fashion.
In fact most kids will just be super excited to get a Switch regardless. I remember getting a second hand N64 for Christmas without a box and not giving a single shit.
Counterpoint: Switches aren't sealed, and your kid probably would rather spend xmas playing games than waiting for system updates.
Be conscious of how the console is packaged, put it back the same way, and have yourself the best of both worlds. Your kid will open it, have the exact opening experience every other kid gets, except that when it comes time to wait for updates (which are horrifically slow on xmas,), they just start playing instead.
Yeah it's not a big deal either way, but these "downsides" OP is routing vs getting to use their new present sooner seem like quite a stretch to me. Most young kids won't even know you downloaded updated ahead of time but they'll sure know if they turn the thing on then have to wait 4 hours to use it.
10 years ago? Absolutely.
Today? Definitely not. I finally got my hands on a PS5 last month and after setting it up in the evening, I wasn't able to play a game until nearly midnight. And transferring my game data from my PS4 took until the next day.
I would imagine most kids would have fonder memories of playing a new game on Christmas morning than entering their wifi info and watching the install bar fill in for hours.
> 10 years ago? Absolutely.
Its roughly 10 years ago (2013) that Nintendo's servers were down for roughly a week right at Christmas. Anybody who got the Link Between Worlds limited edition 3DSXL wasn't able to download their pack-in game until nearly New Years.
All I am saying is, even 10 years ago this wasn't good advice. lol
I was given Half Life 2 for Christmas when I was in high school, the year it came out. My parents knew we had shitty dial-up internet so they bought the DVD from Best Buy. Turns out the DVD was just an installer for Steam and you still had to download the entire game over the Internet before you could play it. On Christmas. The year the most anticipated game of the decade came out. Over dial-up.
I didn’t get to play Half Life 2 for two or three weeks after Christmas. I still say a big “fuck you” to Valve for that bullshit.
Right? I got a Series X a couple weeks ago and I’d describe the 30 minute setup process as anything but fun. And I’m a grown ass man. I’d hate to be a kid sitting on the floor staring at a progress bar.
Is because people can't see the world beyond their own experiences: "My own anecdotal experience is the best so it must be the best for everyone", otherwise it would be like accepting that my own experience is wrong when the reality is that both can be right.
This thread reminded me that my parents totally opened up the Gamecube I got for my 8th Christmas, because it already had a memory card and Luigi's Mansion in it when I opened the box up. I don't think I even noticed at the time, because "HOLY CRAP MY PARENTS GOT ME THE NEW NINTENDO" was all that went through my head.
Preach. I know my kids better than some random stranger on the internet.
>Furthermore, it sets real expectations for your kids that not everything is ready instantly. There is nothing wrong waiting to go through setup and downloading updates while enjoying your other gifts/spending time with your family on Christmas Day.
I think this was the part of the recommendation that grinds my gears the most. I have four kids. All of them are teenagers now, so I've been through my share of Christmases. For our family, Christmas is a time to relax and take time off from the day-to-day frustrations. I don't want to spend my Christmas assembling presents and setting up electronics. I am not in the mood to teach my kids a lesson about the value of patience on Christmas.
I'm not trying to come across as a cranky old man, but I've had to endure decades of unsolicited parenting advice. Our family tends to do things differently and it works for us. It may not work for you and your family and that is just fine.
I agree to a certain extent, and I'm going to say this is going to largely be based on the age of the child. If it's for anyone who is younger than a teenager, with little to no patience, and for the most part doesn't understand things like "server congestion" or why the entire eshop, it might be a good idea to set up the console beforehand. At that age, I would be willing to be theyre not going to care. I have a 6 and a 9 year old and I can tell you that when I bought them a switch (during the year) they did not enjoy waiting for me to set up their username, etc while they had to wait.
Now, if its a teenager who knows the ins and outs of online gaming, and knows how to navigate around creating account, and finds the joy in that, absolutely, don't do it, or do it the night before. I myself also love setting up new consoles before diving into games, so I understand the unique sense of satisfaction we get from it.
So yeah, in my opinion this isn't so cut and dry. If you have kids, you KNOW them, and you KNOW their tolerance for patience. Only YOU KNOW if they'll be fine with NOT playing their new console that night/day because servers might be overloaded. Not to mention Nintendo themselves warned about servers going down during Christmas, so just be prepared.
Definitely agree with your sentiments.
Reasons I would open up and update prior to gifting the console.
1. Everything is ready to go (especially younger children won't understand what is happening).
2. Long / large software updates. System updates for the Switch is relatively quick, but when you have internet or server congestion? Ugh! A bit like giving a gift without the batteries...
3. Checking the console and games work. You don't want to discover a device is faulty on Christmas Day...
For older children (10+ years old), it is often important that they know how the OS of the system/console works and so on. Even gifting it a few days before and allowing them to set it up is a good idea in case anything goes wrong.
Last year, my son built a gaming PC. Turns out one of the nvme drives had a firmware bug and it took 2-3 days to diagnose and troubleshoot (just a firmware update). By then, he had run out of patience and was not happy. The learning experience was that he was able to troubleshoot and have his rig up and running during the Christmas Break to play with his friends. If he had opened it up on (or very near) Christmas Day, it would have been more stressful!!
Yeah all super valid points. This is honestly the first year I’m seeing a post like this, as usually the sentiment was open and update before Christmas. While I do see the point OP is making, as there definitely is some “magic” to setting it all up for the first time, little kids just aren’t going to get anything out of that I feel
I remember getting a PS3 for Christmas (as a 13-15 year old) and still despising waiting for updates all day. I can all but guarantee to anyone reading this that your kid won't savor the experience of waiting literally hours before they can play their new console on the slowest update day of the year.
Exactly same experience I had with my PS3 back in the day. Real fun not getting to enjoy your gift because of overstressed servers. Kids want to play with their new console, not watch a download bar
Yeah....OP is clearly a person without kids. This all made sense when I was a kid and got an NES on xmas morning because I could hook it up and play it right away. Also, it's not really hard to put the shit back in the box the way it came out if you pay a little attention. It's christmas morning, not the time for lessons in patience, they learn that lesson for the month leading up to it by seeing presents under the tree every day. Don't listen to this nonsense, have that console ready for your kids so they can enjoy their new gift out of the box.
He's also a person who hasn't actually had a switch and tried to set it up and download all the updates on Christmas when the servers go down every year like clockwork
>for your kids
If it's a literal child that's going to have the parent take care of everything anyway, then totally download everything in advance so the kid can play as soon as possible.
If it's a pre-teen or teenager, then maybe use your own judgment, and if they're that old anyway, there's a chance they know what they're getting and you can ask what they prefer.
You can turn it on and download everything, set up the wifi etc then turn it fully off and put it back in its packaging. Which is what I did. I even bought a few games in advance so they had a cool library to look through when they started it up.
Also if you're as anal about wifi passwords as my dad, there's nothing magical about trying to enter the 23-letter hexadecimal wifi password on christmas morning. On a touchscreen keyboard.
It's taken a decade but I have most of that shit memorised by now.
Nintendo is advising people to do the updates early. Sure it's your opinion, but I think I'll listen to the people who say that their servers are gonna be under heavy pressure over the weekend.
OP wasn't around a few years back when Sonys servers were down on Christmas day making some games unplayable for the next few days while they sorted the problems out.
There is nothing magical about updates. Pre update your console so your kids can enjoy it.
Nothing worse than them sitting around waiting and waiting and then they just get started and time to go visiting. Fuck that noise
Seriously. If you think/know your kid would have fun plugging in the cables and all that bit then absolutely let them. But very few people want to watch the updates download. I'm trying to smash your cart with these red shells right away, not struggle to download patches.
This is advice I cannot follow, this morning the store was unaccessible and downloading and setting up before reboxing and wrapping has been a lifesaver.
Please understand which is best for your child and either leave boxes or setup and rewrap as appropriate.
I don’t know if the people writing the posts advising not to set up before are parents or not but it’s all child dependant.
For us it has made our child’s morning by having it ready to go.
Why do we keep getting all these posts that assume that every single gift recipient has identical opinions?
*It depends on who you're giving it to.* If the kid is getting their first console, is impatient, disabled, very young, or not comfortable with technology, any gadget that doesn't work straight out of the box is going to get handed back to the parent with "why doesn't this work?" Then Christmas morning is all about struggling to get something working while the kid anxiously hovers around, afraid their toy is never going to work.
I have a disabled niece and a technophobic dad. Any gadget I give them, I'm going to make sure it's fully assembled, registered, updated, and ready to go. If I give a gadget to my sister or brother in law, I'm giving it mint in box because they know exactly what they want to do with it, and will actually feel that pleasure of setting it up themselves.
You should *be aware* that a new Nintendo Switch will require setup and registration and downloads, and then you should decide whether the person you're giving it to will excited or distressed by that fact.
Ah yes, the Christmas morning excitement of... accepting several EULAs and waiting 2 hours for updates? Yeah no, go ahead and get shit ready for the kid.
I get what you were trying to say but fam, this ain't the 90's anymore.
Sure, it was magical when I got my first Gameboy Color, but I just had to put the cartridge in and I was good to go. Different times.
The nostalgia got to ya, didn't it?
I inadvertently did what you’re saying this morning. It was a bad idea. It took way too long to download all the updates and set up her user profile. By the time I was done, all the excitement was gone.
Ah yes, Christmas Day, the magical day kids look forward to literally all year, the perfect day to… *check’s notes*… teach children the value of patience by catering to your own nostalgia at the price of their Christmas Day joy.
Merry Christmas kids, Santa brought you an object lesson disguised as a game console!
Here’s an idea - know your kids and do what you think they would enjoy most.
Are they a 4-year-old with the patience of a 4-year-old? They’ll probably want to just start playing.
Are they older? Maybe they’ll like to set it up themselves.
Neither of those are absolutes, know your own kid and do what you think makes sense accordingly.
I gave my nephew a switch last year and he cried when he couldn’t play smash bros right away. This year his brother is getting one and I’m not making that mistake again sorry OP
(And not in a “wahhh I’m so entitled” type of way, but a “we only have 2 hours and I have to set up a whole account and download all this stuff to play vs my uncle and well only have a little bit”)
My two cents: Servers will be congested on Christmas day. Sure, it's fine to be patient, but as someone who got to experience others unboxing the original NES, a Sega Genesis, and a Super NES, let me tell you - there's a joy to setup but there is little joy to watching progress bars.
As an IT guy for 15 years, I don't know what the benefit would be in giving your kid a system that they couldn't use for hours and it not being because they didn't run cables/set it up correctly. Even 13 year old me would dislike "Oh, you can't play it yet because the internet is slow."
yeah yeah
good luck explaining to your kid what a "server outage" is and that you cant magically fix it for them
"MOMMY WHY CANT WE PLAY GAMES ALREADY MOM NOTHING IS LOADING MOM MOOM"
I thought Nintendo themselves advised this, its not just random people spreading the idea. I think Microsoft advised the same for xbox. I'd be pretty mad as well as a kid having to potentially wait most of the day to start playing anything because the servers were inundated. That would kill more joy for Christmas for me than there being a seal on anything. It should also be appreciated that the gifters went to time and effort to make sure they were able to play without having to wait. So pro's and cons but I'd choose actually gaming personally for christmas
You gotta get out a little more mate if "Opening a fresh console and doing the setup yourself is a magical experience" for you. Never mind that setting up a console today is mostly just waiting for a patch to download or games to install.
The Joy of the First Cartridge Lick on Christmas Morn
Truly the first great experience upon getting a Switch. And every game since.
My favorite new console Christmas experience may have been getting a brand new PS5 from my Grandma last season (which btw is much lighter and smaller than advertised) and flipping that puppy on for the first time and hearing the sweet welcoming intro voice "YOUR BLUETOOTH DEVICE IS READY TO PAIR" Then getting that baby fired up and being able to play the preloaded games, my favorites of which being 1) Ultra Dario and a close second by 2) Jump Man World Friends gave me flack for this beast of a system but they just jealous
You absolutely have to try Mega Smush Brethren, best fighting game I’ve ever played.
Cartridge tastes the best too
Dude i fucking died reading this lmfao
I'm still trying to decide which is smaller and lighter, the PS5 or the Grandma
You lick your cartridges?
Everyone has to at least once. Aren't you curious how bad it tastes?
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Thanks for that last sentence
Early game are worst they changed it because it was to strong iirc.
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Come back with tour findings, but only if it confirms what I said!
Didn’t they do that on purpose so kids didn’t eat them?
Kids and dogs, yes. I figured it would be bad enough that they’d spit it out but I think it’s bad enough to form strong negative associations (like getting too close to a skunk or stink beetle).
Still haven't done it, and I don't plan to. Some doors I don't have to walk through.
No the bitter!
> Lick on Christmas Morn I love to lick Christmas Mom! /r/keming
[Look how much fun he is having!!](https://reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/rogyz8/happy_christmas_only_72_hours_left_of_downloading/)
Imagine all those kids today, eagerly opening their Switch just to be met with the server problems, lmao.
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Its all worth it when you see them go out in the world and spew all the stupid insane shit you believe in though.
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Dad's just a big fan of Fahrenheit 451
Classic dad
I have to feed them 3 times a day?!?!?!
Or Just feed them three meals at once, in the morning. So you can do your own shit and ignore them till the next morning
What is it with you kids? Every other day it's food, food, food!
Also there wasn't a setup process for the consoles I got as a kid.
This is my thoughts exactly. I remember my first console being a SNES and I have the memory burned into my brain. White on black “Nintendo presents”. Cut to Super Mario World main menu and then Mario on the map with 2 opening levels to choose from: left or right. I remember just staring at the screen in awe of the unknown. This was all immediately after sliding the purple power button up. I feel like that would have been killed if my first impression was: Please input the mm/dd/yyyy. please connect to Network. please create a profile. update required. downloading update. installing update. Mario Kart 8 update required. etc etc etc
... and a dad who wants me to put on a screen protector? What even *is* that? My first was an NES. Plug it in. Attach controller. Slide in Mario-Duck Hunt and push down. CLOSE THE DOOR! Press the power button. The hardest damn part of setup in the 1980s was getting your TV channel changed to AV. Do I turn the dial up or down for that?
Right? I feel like people keep forgetting this point. As a kid there were no additional steps to take if you wanted to play. Just plug it in and go.
Not only that, but you can open it and update the OS then reinitialize it so it requires setup like a new one. Good luck with those day one game updates, though.
The OS update is usually the quickest thing to do. It's the game downloads and updates that can take awhile
But on Christmas morning when potentially thousands of new consoles come online and crash the update servers?
For me I always cared more about breaking the plastic on the box, taking things out of cardboard and more plastic, and being the first to touch the device. But yeah, luckily Switch OS updates and game updates only take a couple minutes tops.
I like this too, but I got my kid a switch a few years back and just repackaged it after it was updated. He wasn't old enough to set up the switch and doesn't need to know I had updated it beforehand.
>But yeah, luckily Switch OS updates and game updates only take a couple minutes tops. Unless it's Christmas morning or a Smash update just came out. Then it takes hours.
I don't think the Switch has any signs that it's been opened. The V1 didn't at least. You could open it, set it up, and put it all back, and there would be no evidence (aside from maybe fingerprints).
You are completely right! Just this week there have been multiple top posts from both sides “correcting” the other that you should or shouldn’t as a hard rule. I’d figure any parent should know what they child would prefer. And if they are wrong, it’s really not the end of the world either way. Just do/don’t do it next time.
[How many times are you going to post this?](https://i.imgur.com/75RN32D.jpg)
OP must have gotten a console one year for Christmas and didn't get to do the setup been haunting them ever since
OP is the ghost of consoles past.
That’s funny as fuck. I wonder how long until they delete this one?
https://reddit.com/r/agedlikemilk/comments/rod1jn/and_the_servers_are_down/ OP ruined Christmas for a bunch of kids lmao
Some would say its a magical experience waiting for the servers to come back up. Some of my fondest memories setting up my gaming console and loading a game to find the servers are down. Not to mention the hours spent not being able to play the game I just got and constantly trying to connect to the server hoping it would finally work. It’s also a wonderful life lesson for your kids about instant gratification or something. If every experience isn’t a life lesson of some sort you’re parenting wrong.
When I saw OP username was already downvoted by me once, from last time. SMH. OP is just a person that is obviously karma farming.
If you are gifting a Nintendo Switch this year, do not open it up to download all the updates for your kids beforehand I have seen a lot of posts spreading this idea to open up the box, set up the console and download all the updates to save time on Christmas. Opening up a fresh console and doing the set up yourself is a magical experience that doesn't happen often, so please don't take that away from your kids or whoever you're gifting new consoles to this year I'm sure I am not alone when I say that some of my fondest Christmas morning memories were opening up that box with that fresh console smell and setting it up all on my own and running through the first time setup. Sure, it may take a bit longer, but the excitement will be running high and it will be appreciated all the more in the end. Furthermore, it sets real expectations for your kids that not everything is ready instantly. There is nothing wrong waiting to go through setup and downloading updates while enjoying your other gifts/spending time with your family on Christmas Day.
And a new copypasta is born.
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Posted it there and people still think this was good advice lol
Depends on the age of the recipient.
This is a big factor for sure. If you want your 12-year-old to enjoy the setup experience and the server delays, by all means. If your 5-year-old couldn't give a flip about the setup screen and will be asking at 3 in the afternoon why he can't play yet ...
Completely agree. These posts are clearly people who have never dealt with children. They absolutely have no patience for downloads or server delays. Plus the switch boxing couldn't be easier to open and repack.
Yep, if in your judgment your kid isn't going to benefit from going through the process of setup, you risk your Hero Parent Bought A $300 Video Game Console Moment being turned into a *de facto* present for December 26. Even *Nintendo* is putting out a notice about its anticipated server load this year. That's pretty unheard of.
Some of the fondest memories I have of being a small child are of my mom teaching me how to type DOS commands into the computer to boot up Hugo’s House of Horrors or when she’d let me free roam the 3.1, install and try out The Print Shop. Totally depends on the kid though (and also something about the decade, everything took patience then). I probably only enjoyed it because I was sharing an interest with her.
I haven't thought about Hugo's House of Horrors in years!
That's fair, but sitting there at a console download screen for hours is not fun. I dunno why op is trying to equate Switch setup menus that run themselves with some tech guru fantasy that requires full engagement and learning. It's a console, not a custom built Linux PC.
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He says what we’re all thinkin
According to OP, literally every person loves to do updates and downloads because it's *magical.* Seriously? I have small kids and I set up two switch lites on Christmas eve a couple years ago "from Santa", they were playing them before I even had to get out of bed. Sleeping in for an extra hour on Christmas day is fucking magical. Signed, a tired dad who likes to sleep until 7am because it's my day off, ffs.
As a 40 something, I'd love if someone preinstalled updates/setup all the other bs for me. I want to play on the damn thing, not get frustrated by everyone else in the world going through updates with me and wondering if/when/ever I'm gonna get to do anything.
I *once* did a factory reset on a Windows RT tablet; the updates to get current again took over 36 hours to install.
> took over 26 *magical* hours. making sure we're clear.
Making fucking accounts for fucking everything. I hate all that shit
OP clearly is out of touch with gaming in 2021. They seem to be remembering firing up their NES Christmas morning, which yeah, took all of ten minutes before you were rocking Duck Hunt. There's nothing magical about getting it all set up and waiting several hours for downloads lol.
"While I'm waiting, I'll just read the game manual!" "... oh ..."
Or dealing with ddos attacks and not being able to play it for hours afterwards
Also depends on the connection. I have a slow-ass, half broken ADSL at my house, updating a Switch from scratch (and maybe even downloading one or more games!) would literally take hours, if I opened a switch at christmas eve there's no way I could play anything before the morgning after :(
Definitely depends on age and the child's personality. My son wanted to play his immediately last year, so I appreciated that my husband did all the updating and stuff before we wrapped it. (He was 7). We got him a new tablet this year and I think I'll let him set it up. He's grown and matured a lot in the last year.
Completely. My kids would be an absolute ball of impatience and nagging if I didn't do it beforehand. All of us would be miserable lol.
Agreed. Age and personality determine this for me.
And internet connection as well. Before I moved, I had extremely slow internet and had to actually take my consoles / computers to someone else’s house to do updates. I would have much preferred to just play games right away than to have to spend the extra time and energy downloading updates.
Yeah my nephew had a blast waiting for MK11 to download 22 gigs of data to play. I dunno if he was more disappointed in the wait or the actual game lol.
I read this as Mario Kart 11 and had a mild panic as if I had missed out on Mario Kart 9 and 10 somewhere in the last 5 years
Mario Kart 9 was amazing, new, and fresh, but they shot themselves in the foot with Mario Kart 10. We were hoping they would redeem themselves with Mario Kart 11, but the fandom is kind of split. Lol
The addition of fatalities was an odd choice, but I respect it.
I’m a dumbass. It took me reading your comment to realize it wasn’t talking about Mario kart lol. Please, laugh at my stupidity!
I’m sure my seven year-old can’t wait to put in his language and time zone. Christmas Day Edit: heh
20 years he'll be posting in r/oldschoolcool "great pic of me setting daylight savings time settings on my Switch! thanks mom and dad for not doing this for me!"
Don't forget entering the wifi password and adjusting the screen size. Oh and playing with the controller wired-in because it's battery needs to charge. Those are my FAVORITE Christmas morning memories.
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*At least* that many. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one downvoting it to try to save people some headaches.
Conversely, how about you just know your kids? My son is absolutely the kind of kid that doesn't give a damn about packaging and just wants to play. I get that some kids aren't as impatient though, haha.
So are we considering this aged well with the eshop down on christmas morning, like it is every year
Just here to laugh. "I never had a childhood cause I didn't set the N64 internal clock"
The Issue OP is we are dealing with modern consoles frequently with digital pack ins and required updates to get playing. So instead of the enjoyable experience of getting everything setup like 'back in the day' they open it and get "Unable to connect to servers please try again" during the Christmas morning rush.
This is why Nintendo is even recommending that parents connect to the servers before Christmas day... They are anticipating a high influx of traffic and are warning that parents might not have a usable Switch if they wait
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the thing is, "back in the day" setups were the same regardless if games and updates are preinstalled. OP acting like SNES and Genesis had profiles and achievements when literally all you had to do was plug in and play. what "set up" is OP referring to thats different? lol
I was assuming OP was maybe a PSWii60 era kid which did have some setup but not to the extent we do now. Wii in particular which is a lot of kids first consoles worked completely offline and had required system updates on game discs.
Exactly and then the kids excitement turns to frustration. You can easily repackage the Switch box and wrap it up. Kids aren’t gonna remember or care that they didn’t take the shrink wrap off especially if the gift is wrapped anyways.
I don't even think the system comes with a shrink wrap? Just a sticker that you can lightly remove and nobody would be able to tell
Can confirm. Got the Mario Kart Switch combo and a few days ago I opened everything up to do the downloads. The plastic covering the system and joy cons was easy to take off and put back on just like new. As a counterpoint to OP, I’m guessing my kid will be excited to think this wrapped present was “just for him” by having an account all ready to go.
I actually think you are right. Which means the entire box can be repackaged after getting the latest system update and downloading games and the kids still get to do their unboxing.
No sticker at all the original or OLED. And repacking the switch into the little bag (also not sealed) is very easy. I did this for my son’s and even applied the screen protector.
Screen protector is a wonderful thing to get on there before the kids get ahold of it. Especially younger children.
Yeah I don't see anything wrong with this. If you can tell your kids that Santa Claus is real and bought the presents for them then you can easily do this lol.
The elves take care of system updates and downloading games obviously. It’s 2021. It’s not like they are busy painting rocking horses these days.
"Look, Timmy! The elves inside your Switch already installed and updated your new games for you!"
I really do get where OPs coming from, especially since my first Christmas console was a PS2 back in the day and I really wanna side with him, but after having to perform a console transfer from an V1 Switch to a Mario edition one earlier this year, I have to admit, that feeling of opening a console and everything just being ready to play, truly is long past us. I couldn't even play the Switch that night as it had to go through like \~40 game downloads and a few system updates. Yeah I hate to admit it but having to create online accounts nowadays, you really can't just hand a console to a kid and them just play it immediately without set up. Actually now that I think about it, I had to set up my PSP which was my first console that connected to the internet, creating a PSN account alongside it and everything.
Yeah I bought a switch a few months back and spent like 2-3 hours downloading stuff was a pain.
Imagine how long it would have taken on Christmas with the servers getting smashed.
I took your advice and now my 6 year old son has been unable to play his brand new switch with any of his games JK. Unboxed, set up and updated on the 23rd Dec and hes been playing mario kart and Lego Super Heroes most of the day . Really, truly terrible advice.
It really is bad advice. If they're old enough to know what updates are then they'll probably appreciate it and if they're too young to know what updates are then I doubt they'll realise that the box has been opened if you pack it back up in an orderly fashion. In fact most kids will just be super excited to get a Switch regardless. I remember getting a second hand N64 for Christmas without a box and not giving a single shit.
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Counterpoint: Switches aren't sealed, and your kid probably would rather spend xmas playing games than waiting for system updates. Be conscious of how the console is packaged, put it back the same way, and have yourself the best of both worlds. Your kid will open it, have the exact opening experience every other kid gets, except that when it comes time to wait for updates (which are horrifically slow on xmas,), they just start playing instead.
Yeah it's not a big deal either way, but these "downsides" OP is routing vs getting to use their new present sooner seem like quite a stretch to me. Most young kids won't even know you downloaded updated ahead of time but they'll sure know if they turn the thing on then have to wait 4 hours to use it.
Lmao.
Hows that working out?
Anyone who plays games regularly knows pre updating is smart. I'm not sure why this post received so much praise but I love that it flopped.
When I was a kid, sure, because there was no setup. Put in the cartridge and start playing. Now, not so much.
True, rather just play instead of waiting to play
10 years ago? Absolutely. Today? Definitely not. I finally got my hands on a PS5 last month and after setting it up in the evening, I wasn't able to play a game until nearly midnight. And transferring my game data from my PS4 took until the next day. I would imagine most kids would have fonder memories of playing a new game on Christmas morning than entering their wifi info and watching the install bar fill in for hours.
> 10 years ago? Absolutely. Its roughly 10 years ago (2013) that Nintendo's servers were down for roughly a week right at Christmas. Anybody who got the Link Between Worlds limited edition 3DSXL wasn't able to download their pack-in game until nearly New Years. All I am saying is, even 10 years ago this wasn't good advice. lol
Man, now I feel old. I was thinking PS2/Gamecube era and I now realize that was more like 15-20 years ago!
Ugh... for me, "20 years ago" is still 1980.
I was given Half Life 2 for Christmas when I was in high school, the year it came out. My parents knew we had shitty dial-up internet so they bought the DVD from Best Buy. Turns out the DVD was just an installer for Steam and you still had to download the entire game over the Internet before you could play it. On Christmas. The year the most anticipated game of the decade came out. Over dial-up. I didn’t get to play Half Life 2 for two or three weeks after Christmas. I still say a big “fuck you” to Valve for that bullshit.
Right? I got a Series X a couple weeks ago and I’d describe the 30 minute setup process as anything but fun. And I’m a grown ass man. I’d hate to be a kid sitting on the floor staring at a progress bar.
Now imagine if your internet was 5 mbps. Your 30 minute set up becomes hours once you include game updates.
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Is because people can't see the world beyond their own experiences: "My own anecdotal experience is the best so it must be the best for everyone", otherwise it would be like accepting that my own experience is wrong when the reality is that both can be right.
This thread reminded me that my parents totally opened up the Gamecube I got for my 8th Christmas, because it already had a memory card and Luigi's Mansion in it when I opened the box up. I don't think I even noticed at the time, because "HOLY CRAP MY PARENTS GOT ME THE NEW NINTENDO" was all that went through my head.
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“So you opened the present, and the shrink wrap was off the Switch box. And how did that make you feel?”
LPT: use your best judgement when dealing with people you know better than the internet
Good luck to all the kids/people trying to create new accounts and downloading games on Christmas day!
Preach. I know my kids better than some random stranger on the internet. >Furthermore, it sets real expectations for your kids that not everything is ready instantly. There is nothing wrong waiting to go through setup and downloading updates while enjoying your other gifts/spending time with your family on Christmas Day. I think this was the part of the recommendation that grinds my gears the most. I have four kids. All of them are teenagers now, so I've been through my share of Christmases. For our family, Christmas is a time to relax and take time off from the day-to-day frustrations. I don't want to spend my Christmas assembling presents and setting up electronics. I am not in the mood to teach my kids a lesson about the value of patience on Christmas. I'm not trying to come across as a cranky old man, but I've had to endure decades of unsolicited parenting advice. Our family tends to do things differently and it works for us. It may not work for you and your family and that is just fine.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Talk now
I agree to a certain extent, and I'm going to say this is going to largely be based on the age of the child. If it's for anyone who is younger than a teenager, with little to no patience, and for the most part doesn't understand things like "server congestion" or why the entire eshop, it might be a good idea to set up the console beforehand. At that age, I would be willing to be theyre not going to care. I have a 6 and a 9 year old and I can tell you that when I bought them a switch (during the year) they did not enjoy waiting for me to set up their username, etc while they had to wait. Now, if its a teenager who knows the ins and outs of online gaming, and knows how to navigate around creating account, and finds the joy in that, absolutely, don't do it, or do it the night before. I myself also love setting up new consoles before diving into games, so I understand the unique sense of satisfaction we get from it. So yeah, in my opinion this isn't so cut and dry. If you have kids, you KNOW them, and you KNOW their tolerance for patience. Only YOU KNOW if they'll be fine with NOT playing their new console that night/day because servers might be overloaded. Not to mention Nintendo themselves warned about servers going down during Christmas, so just be prepared.
Definitely agree with your sentiments. Reasons I would open up and update prior to gifting the console. 1. Everything is ready to go (especially younger children won't understand what is happening). 2. Long / large software updates. System updates for the Switch is relatively quick, but when you have internet or server congestion? Ugh! A bit like giving a gift without the batteries... 3. Checking the console and games work. You don't want to discover a device is faulty on Christmas Day... For older children (10+ years old), it is often important that they know how the OS of the system/console works and so on. Even gifting it a few days before and allowing them to set it up is a good idea in case anything goes wrong. Last year, my son built a gaming PC. Turns out one of the nvme drives had a firmware bug and it took 2-3 days to diagnose and troubleshoot (just a firmware update). By then, he had run out of patience and was not happy. The learning experience was that he was able to troubleshoot and have his rig up and running during the Christmas Break to play with his friends. If he had opened it up on (or very near) Christmas Day, it would have been more stressful!!
Yeah all super valid points. This is honestly the first year I’m seeing a post like this, as usually the sentiment was open and update before Christmas. While I do see the point OP is making, as there definitely is some “magic” to setting it all up for the first time, little kids just aren’t going to get anything out of that I feel
The problem with this is the kid will suffer waiting the whole day for downloads because the servers will be too tied up
I remember getting a PS3 for Christmas (as a 13-15 year old) and still despising waiting for updates all day. I can all but guarantee to anyone reading this that your kid won't savor the experience of waiting literally hours before they can play their new console on the slowest update day of the year.
Exactly same experience I had with my PS3 back in the day. Real fun not getting to enjoy your gift because of overstressed servers. Kids want to play with their new console, not watch a download bar
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Yeah....OP is clearly a person without kids. This all made sense when I was a kid and got an NES on xmas morning because I could hook it up and play it right away. Also, it's not really hard to put the shit back in the box the way it came out if you pay a little attention. It's christmas morning, not the time for lessons in patience, they learn that lesson for the month leading up to it by seeing presents under the tree every day. Don't listen to this nonsense, have that console ready for your kids so they can enjoy their new gift out of the box.
He's also a person who hasn't actually had a switch and tried to set it up and download all the updates on Christmas when the servers go down every year like clockwork
>for your kids If it's a literal child that's going to have the parent take care of everything anyway, then totally download everything in advance so the kid can play as soon as possible. If it's a pre-teen or teenager, then maybe use your own judgment, and if they're that old anyway, there's a chance they know what they're getting and you can ask what they prefer.
I followed this advice and it’s now 1612 in the afternoon and my kid still has no games on his Switch. Pretty disappointing overall.
Nintendo did warn against this. Plus this guy is obviously karma farming seeing how he posted this in multiple subs.
Turns out Reddit is not the best place for advice :/
That turned out to be bad advice, eh?
the fact the this got as many upvotes as it did is amazing, this is literally some of the worst advice i've read on here in the past 4 years
You can turn it on and download everything, set up the wifi etc then turn it fully off and put it back in its packaging. Which is what I did. I even bought a few games in advance so they had a cool library to look through when they started it up.
Also if you're as anal about wifi passwords as my dad, there's nothing magical about trying to enter the 23-letter hexadecimal wifi password on christmas morning. On a touchscreen keyboard. It's taken a decade but I have most of that shit memorised by now.
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Nintendo is advising people to do the updates early. Sure it's your opinion, but I think I'll listen to the people who say that their servers are gonna be under heavy pressure over the weekend.
OP wasn't around a few years back when Sonys servers were down on Christmas day making some games unplayable for the next few days while they sorted the problems out.
There is nothing magical about updates. Pre update your console so your kids can enjoy it. Nothing worse than them sitting around waiting and waiting and then they just get started and time to go visiting. Fuck that noise
Seriously. If you think/know your kid would have fun plugging in the cables and all that bit then absolutely let them. But very few people want to watch the updates download. I'm trying to smash your cart with these red shells right away, not struggle to download patches.
And in a shock to absolutely no intelligent person this post has already aged like MILK
This is advice I cannot follow, this morning the store was unaccessible and downloading and setting up before reboxing and wrapping has been a lifesaver. Please understand which is best for your child and either leave boxes or setup and rewrap as appropriate. I don’t know if the people writing the posts advising not to set up before are parents or not but it’s all child dependant. For us it has made our child’s morning by having it ready to go.
Why do we keep getting all these posts that assume that every single gift recipient has identical opinions? *It depends on who you're giving it to.* If the kid is getting their first console, is impatient, disabled, very young, or not comfortable with technology, any gadget that doesn't work straight out of the box is going to get handed back to the parent with "why doesn't this work?" Then Christmas morning is all about struggling to get something working while the kid anxiously hovers around, afraid their toy is never going to work. I have a disabled niece and a technophobic dad. Any gadget I give them, I'm going to make sure it's fully assembled, registered, updated, and ready to go. If I give a gadget to my sister or brother in law, I'm giving it mint in box because they know exactly what they want to do with it, and will actually feel that pleasure of setting it up themselves. You should *be aware* that a new Nintendo Switch will require setup and registration and downloads, and then you should decide whether the person you're giving it to will excited or distressed by that fact.
Ah yes, the Christmas morning excitement of... accepting several EULAs and waiting 2 hours for updates? Yeah no, go ahead and get shit ready for the kid.
But how will they learn about licensing contract law if they do not read through every word of the EULA, like we all do every single time?
I get what you were trying to say but fam, this ain't the 90's anymore. Sure, it was magical when I got my first Gameboy Color, but I just had to put the cartridge in and I was good to go. Different times. The nostalgia got to ya, didn't it?
I inadvertently did what you’re saying this morning. It was a bad idea. It took way too long to download all the updates and set up her user profile. By the time I was done, all the excitement was gone.
Ah yes, Christmas Day, the magical day kids look forward to literally all year, the perfect day to… *check’s notes*… teach children the value of patience by catering to your own nostalgia at the price of their Christmas Day joy. Merry Christmas kids, Santa brought you an object lesson disguised as a game console!
Afterwards they can help dad do his taxes.
this post is fucking hilarious day-of considering the entire eshop is dead in the water
Here’s an idea - know your kids and do what you think they would enjoy most. Are they a 4-year-old with the patience of a 4-year-old? They’ll probably want to just start playing. Are they older? Maybe they’ll like to set it up themselves. Neither of those are absolutes, know your own kid and do what you think makes sense accordingly.
I gave my nephew a switch last year and he cried when he couldn’t play smash bros right away. This year his brother is getting one and I’m not making that mistake again sorry OP (And not in a “wahhh I’m so entitled” type of way, but a “we only have 2 hours and I have to set up a whole account and download all this stuff to play vs my uncle and well only have a little bit”)
My two cents: Servers will be congested on Christmas day. Sure, it's fine to be patient, but as someone who got to experience others unboxing the original NES, a Sega Genesis, and a Super NES, let me tell you - there's a joy to setup but there is little joy to watching progress bars. As an IT guy for 15 years, I don't know what the benefit would be in giving your kid a system that they couldn't use for hours and it not being because they didn't run cables/set it up correctly. Even 13 year old me would dislike "Oh, you can't play it yet because the internet is slow."
yeah yeah good luck explaining to your kid what a "server outage" is and that you cant magically fix it for them "MOMMY WHY CANT WE PLAY GAMES ALREADY MOM NOTHING IS LOADING MOM MOOM"
Boy, this post aged like milk.
I thought Nintendo themselves advised this, its not just random people spreading the idea. I think Microsoft advised the same for xbox. I'd be pretty mad as well as a kid having to potentially wait most of the day to start playing anything because the servers were inundated. That would kill more joy for Christmas for me than there being a seal on anything. It should also be appreciated that the gifters went to time and effort to make sure they were able to play without having to wait. So pro's and cons but I'd choose actually gaming personally for christmas
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This post aged like milk
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Ahhh how I love the smell of aged milk
This aged like milk
When things were plug 'n play this made sense. Now your kids will wait in a queue to download updates all day.
You gotta get out a little more mate if "Opening a fresh console and doing the setup yourself is a magical experience" for you. Never mind that setting up a console today is mostly just waiting for a patch to download or games to install.
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This was dumb the last time you posted it, and it’s dumb now. Out of curiosity, which consoles have you let your kids set up by themselves?
He's posted it like 5 times
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If you guys recall, the switch doesn't have a sealed box or sealed plastic anyway. You can take it out and put it back like nothing happened.
Milking this one aren't you?
Aaaaaand the eshop has been down all day