I'm Completely Torn...Should I No Longer Own an Xbox Console?

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

There is a saying that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Broadly speaking so many things that we use every day are ultimately produced with varying degrees of exploitation as other posters have pointed out. Be thankful for what you have, and if you like your xbox there's no reason to throw it away. You can own one and still acknowledge and condemn Microsoft's business practices. If someone is judging you for having one, that's a "them" problem.

 

[Deleted member 746185]

I say buy and download all the Xbox 360 backwards compatible games and play them, because currently some games like Splinter Cell Double Agent (whose only stable version is the xbox 360 version as the PC and PS3 version are completely broken; the xbox, ps2, and wii versions are a completely different game), Crackdown 1 and 2, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Infinite Undiscovery, Final Fantasy XIII (whose best port, I kid you not is to play the 360 version on series x), Fable 2, Gears of war 2 and 3, Rockstar Games Present Table Tennis, and OG 360 version of Nier and Deadly Premonition (that are vastly different in certain aspects comparison to their later ports) are only currently playable on series x. As while with xemu doing gods work, we move very close to a stable OG xbox emulator release, 360 emulation still feels like it is eons away. So buy all the 360 games, and play them on series x with better framerate and performance, and then you can decide whether to keep the console or not.
Or maybe, sell your Series X for a hacked 360, and enjoy your time there as some more exclusives like N3 Ninety Nine Nights, Project Sylpheed, and the MGS + Zone Of Enders HD Collection (which are vastly better than the Mater Collection) are still there. Again, at the end of the day these are just suggestions, it is your purchase, and it is up to you what to decide.

 

[nattybohman]

All three console companies have recently done things that I don't like or disagree with. I'm just going to wait until there's a 'must have' game on any new consoles that come out before buying. (Unlike what I've done in the past! )

 

[Deleted member 746185]

All three console companies have recently done things that I don't like or disagree with. I'm just going to wait until there's a 'must have' game on any new consoles that come out before buying. (Unlike what I've done in the past! )

Yeah, not to sound superstitious, but I think I might be responsible for it. Basically during 360 era and ps3 era, I used to wish to have a console of my own, especially since there were so many exclusives. That desire carried onto the ps4/one era, especially with Uncharted 4, Bloodborne, and Horizon being exclusive at the time (though Bloodborne is still exclusive), and then when this new generation was starting, i really, really, wished for a console, and the monkey's paw curled, and I got a console (my series x), but the catch was that now we are in the worst generation of console gaming, each console s run by idiots at the top, you don't own any of your game, and the gaming discourse is the worst and most toxic than ever.
I am truly sorry, for what my wish had caused upon you all.

 

[medisinn]

Why not keep it? The Series X is a great machine for playing backwards compatible games. That's why I bought mine. I've lost all optimism for anything new and worthwhile coming from Xbox/Microsoft, they're quickly becoming the next Embracer in terms of buying lots of studios and just to lay people off without any output when they panic about their finances. Still, even if their future sucks, the past is great.

It's also a great machine for emulating older systems if you run it in dev mode, which is presumably not difficult to do.

 

[Tonberry]

It’s not necessary to get personally invested in the video game industry when you’re just a consumer and play games for entertainment.
It’s totally fine to not give a shit about any of the machinations of the giant video game machine. Don’t feel bad just because you want to play video games and have fun.

 

[DjQuick2008]

I only have an Series S for forza and use it as a fighting game storage system love tekken 6 and tekken tag 2 have tekken 7 on there also right now

 

[Jayonnaise6105 Jayonnaise6105]

I picked up my Xbox Series in 2023 and mainly because I wanted a way to play some of my old 360 games, as well as the various OG Xbox & Xbox One backwards compatible games that I'd missed out on from not having those consoles.
I've also subbed to Gamepass twice: both times when it was $1 for two weeks.
I can understand where you're coming from. I feel guilty sometimes myself, but I do also feel that way with Sony & Nintendo.

My way of dealing with it has been buying as many games 2nd-hand as possible/if possible. You can't do that as much with digital games though. Helps more when I've been mainly interested in older physical games that are dirt cheap on eBay. Even in that situation, the people I'm buying stuff from on eBay might be complete scumbags.

It's kind of a no win situation the further you dig into that sort of mentality.
So I echo the sentiment that you've already bought what you've bought and that you should decide for yourself how best to proceed.

If you're gonna be harsh on yourself, then I demand you be harsh on me too, friendo!

 

[The_Real_Thing]

Virtue duly signalled, I guess. That was the real objective here. Beyond that, you make better quality friends and get more respect by not caring what people think (so much).

 

[Bomberman]

I don’t think Phil Spencer is evil. He is just very milquetoast.
Honestly I prefer Don Mattrick as a person atleast then there was humor.
Phil Spencer did help push for game preservation in backwards compatibility, accessibility in porting Xbox games to other platforms increasing player counts, etc.

I will say while I find Phil Spencer to be boring he has made quite an impact in gaming and is probably objectively the best ceo of the three companies for consumers.

 

[medisinn]

It's hard to know how much he has actually done though, referring to Phil Spencer. He's a figurehead for the gaming division at Xbox but he answers to Microsoft. One could give him credit for the acquisitions of Zenimax and Activision Blizzard the same way you could credit him with the mass layoffs at Xbox this year. Either way, it happened due to Microsoft money. Phil Spencer, just like the Xbox brand, is somewhat likable but also supremely ineffectual this console generation. I think it'd be fair to want someone else in charge, but I also don't think it would make a difference. Microsoft is going to unfortunately likely continue to appease investors by spending less and less on gaming since they're in way too deep in the AI rabbit hole with no profits to show for it. Gaming could make money and right now AI doesn't, but that's the trend so that's what shareholders expect them to pursue.

 

[MythraZ]

my series s was my 1st console since ps2 and i played some great games old and new. i dont think xbox as a companie is as bad as some people say. I like my series s silent small fast storage

 

[EnthusiastGuy]

So...due to over 9,000 employees from every company owned by Xbox being completely laid off...

And because of Phil Spencer being outright evil and replacing everyone with AI slop...

Should I no longer own an Xbox Series X?

I'm worried if I continue owning an Xbox console...

Everyone will start jumping to conclusions and will start thinking I'm continuing to support the Xbox brand.

The thing is...

Owning an Xbox Series X is the only way to play the best console versions of certain games such as "Rayman Origins," "Sonic Unleashed," "Ultra Street Fighter IV," "Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed," "Duck Tales Remastered," etc.

It's also the only way to play tons of games with the best performance possible.

Also...GTA VI is basically the only reason at this point a lot of people are keeping their Series X consoles.

I WILL make one thing clear...

I'm NOT going to buy or support their next console that's coming out in the far off future.

Especially after hearing about all these unfair layoffs.

No... Absolutely not.. I mean, why would you even say that? That thing has zero connection with you personally.

 

[Segadude113]

I've got an OG XBOX that's offline. :)

 

[Pearly]

Did you fire them? No.
Did you decide to do the massive layoffs? No.
Did you already pay for the console? Yes.
Have you sunk money into games? Yes.
Should you say "Fuck them" and go full pirate with the console? Fuck yes!

Don't feel bad for the people getting fired. They are most likely as bad if not worse than the people firing them. You don't owe them a thing. People get fired en masse from companies every day.

You only hear about this stuff because it's related to video games and is a hot topic right now. If this were some banking company or another non-gaming company, unless you were involved in them like Toyota or Bank of America Ect.. you wouldn't know or hear a thing about it unless someone went on a mass murder spree because of it at that company.

Post automatically merged: Jul 23, 2025

*Edit*
I know not everyone who got fired is going to be a bad person, but you show me 100 employees who got laid off from Microsoft, and I'll show you 90 assholes and 10 yes men or women and brownnosers.

Tech is having a downturn and many project managers and marketers got the sack, alongside anyone working on any cancelled projects, these often include teams of engineers.

Project managers are kinda redundant if the project has a scrum master, there's also the how many jobs can we replace with AI and cheap labour from India. Finally, there's the DEI hiring practice being largely abandoned by Microsoft, so lots of people on payroll to fill quotas all got let go also. All round that is gonna be a lot of people.

Microsoft is also still one of those places that prestige will always have people lining up for jobs there so they can do what they want by sacking 9,000 people and making 14,000 visa applications at the same time and have hiring managers explain it away with, "we sponsor people, so what?", actual quote from a Microsoft hiring manager on linkedIn btw.

So...due to over 9,000 employees from every company owned by Xbox being completely laid off...

And because of Phil Spencer being outright evil and replacing everyone with AI slop...

Should I no longer own an Xbox Series X?

I'm worried if I continue owning an Xbox console...

Everyone will start jumping to conclusions and will start thinking I'm continuing to support the Xbox brand.

The thing is...

Owning an Xbox Series X is the only way to play the best console versions of certain games such as "Rayman Origins," "Sonic Unleashed," "Ultra Street Fighter IV," "Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed," "Duck Tales Remastered," etc.

It's also the only way to play tons of games with the best performance possible.

Also...GTA VI is basically the only reason at this point a lot of people are keeping their Series X consoles.

I WILL make one thing clear...

I'm NOT going to buy or support their next console that's coming out in the far off future.

Especially after hearing about all these unfair layoffs.

Most tech companies are laying off around 10-25% of their workforce from overfiring during covid, and also AI is involved in this too. There' a few other factors but overhring is the main one and changes in the market and what is expected of a company when it comes to public image.

So based on your comment, you also should get rid of your windows PC or anything with a intel CPU in it also. Taking issue with a company collectively that has been staffed by over 100,000 people and they change staff all the time, even board members is a fruitless endeavor. Enjoy YOUR xbox, it's yours to play games on it, it does not mean you agree with Microsoft. Intel have downsized by 20% last year and are doing it again this year after double the losses from the same time last year. It's likely being dismantled and segmented by deliberate design.

I am typing all this on a windows machine that has an Intel CPU in it(need one as it is the only way to use thunderbolt to output usb-c to multiple linked monitors), so it's best to view these things rationally, selling your xbox won't fix microsoft as a company and remember, the xbox division is a passion project of an at the time, insecure Bill Gates concerning gaming dominance by Japanese companies, it always bled money and is one of the first things to get culled or trimmed down if Microsoft falls on hard times.

Bill Gates is currently trying to get everyone to eat bad food so we will die off since he thinks the earth is massively overpopulated. The guy is actively involved in shady things since he left microsoft. I preferred when he was insecure about what a super nintendo could do that his windows could not.