Download Software and Updates for Game Consoles Before Donating
An Xbox or Playstation is a pretty nice gift, and if you’re planning on giving it for Christmas, chances are the recipient will want to open it up and play right away. To make this possible, download all required software and updates before packaging your console.
Redditor wellingtonbear suggests this on Reddit:
Xbox Live and Playstation Network have been known to slow down to crawl and sometimes go offline completely over Christmas from the thousands of recently connected consoles trying to download at the same time. Not only will system updates be unavailable or excruciatingly slow, but most of the games in the pack are 30GB + download vouchers that take hours to complete, and will take a full day to download on Christmas Day, if not longer. The added bonus is you. ” I’ll make sure the console is in working order ahead of time, so if you’re out of luck and receive a faulty console, you will have time to exchange it before the holiday.
It is like packing batteries with any kind of electronic gift. It’s just nice to make the gift ready to enjoy.
Gift of a new console for Christmas? | Reddit