Microsoft’s Undying Xbox 360 Support is Significant For Your Gaming Library
Microsoft's Xbox project director (at the time) Yoshihiro Maruyama launched the Xbox 360 in May 13, 2005. It continues to be supported. | Source: AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye
- Ownership is an increasing problem in the digital era.
- Xbox recently published a firmware update for the Xbox 360.
- This level of support is promising for the company’s future.
The concept of ‘ownership’ is a confusing one in our modern, digital age. When a lot of the things that we buy are made up of digital information, how are you sure that you own it. This problem is especially prevalent in the world of video games.
Microsoft has actually done the industry a massive favor in leading by example. The tech giant recently pushed out another update for the Xbox 360 , a console that was discontinued in 2016. Most impressively they appear to still be consistently supporting a 14-year-old console, both in words and with their actions.
The Real Reason this is So Important
If you look at your collection of video games, how many of them are digital? How many games that you’ve played do you not own a physical copy of? Even if you’re a die-hard hardcopy gamer, you’ll probably still have a few digital editions.
Imagine what would happen if the services hosting these games went offline. You would lose access to hundreds, or possibly thousands of dollars of games that you legally paid for. Broken support could also leave companies on shaky legal ground.
Microsoft Intent on Leading the Way
While Sony has also updated the PS3, these updates have been infrequent . Microsoft only updated the Xbox 360 back in August, and we’re already getting additional fixes in the second Xbox 360 update this year. It shows that Microsoft is not only willing to support the machine, but they’re willing to react quickly when bugs are found.
It might not seem like a lot to some people. It’s a pretty standard update, literally only listing some bug fixes and improvements. The thing is that it really injects confidence in people like me who’ve got a lot of games, previous-generation games, tied up on these digital accounts.
I won’t be scared to keep buying my games digitally in the future and let’s face it, these companies want that. More digital sales mean less of a cost of producing hard copies. A
s long as Xbox is showing that they’re serious about continued support for their older consoles, I’ll continue to support their new ones. It’s as simple as that. Also, reaffirming their commitment to what’s in gamers’ best interests also helps.
