{"id":3155,"date":"2021-02-18T14:45:25","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T14:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1339528"},"modified":"2021-02-18T14:45:25","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T14:45:25","slug":"game-pass-and-the-pandemic-pummelling-joy-of-gaming-with-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=3155","title":{"rendered":"Game Pass, and the pandemic-pummelling joy of gaming with friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the end of last year, something magnificent happened: I got an Xbox Series X. The experience alone was enthralling<\/a>, but the real joy is how my relationship with it has shifted. It\u2019s moved from being a solo entertainment machine, to an adored social tool. And that\u2019s all down to Game Pass.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re unaware of Game Pass, it\u2019s a monthly Xbox subscription from Microsoft<\/a> that allows you to play online and access a library of over 100 titles. And I mean good<\/em> titles. This has Halo<\/em>, FIFA<\/em>, Forza<\/em>, Gears of War, <\/em>and so much more. It\u2019s crazily stacked.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll put it this way: after a couple of months with the Series X, I\u2019m still<\/em> in awe of what\u2019s on offer on Game Pass.<\/p>\n

One of the (many) negatives of the pandemic has been the social isolation. This is tough by any measure, but one of the things I\u2019ve found hardest is not being able to return to my home country. While in a normal year I\u2019d go back to the motherland a few times, it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve been over there and seen friends and family.<\/p>\n

Because of the joys of our connected age, I can ring and have conversations \u2014 which I appreciate massively \u2014 but it\u2019s been tough to partake in my favorite activity: hanging out. Not doing a big catch-up, or having to talk through things, just\u2026 chilling.<\/p>\n

And this is where playing online and Xbox Game Pass comes in.<\/p>\n

[Read more: How do you build a pet-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners<\/a>] <\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, online gaming isn\u2019t exactly a new thing, but it can be easy to forget about amidst the explosion and hype of things like Zoom. There\u2019s also an element of thinking of online gaming as something like Call of Duty <\/em>\u2014 an intense and furious experience, rather than a relaxed and laid-back one.<\/p>\n

For some reason it took me a little while to realise there are a gamut of titles where you can play against or with a friend that aren\u2019t so\u2026 serious.<\/p>\n

\"fifa
<\/i><\/a>This is the level of skill I display while sat on my sofa, slack-jawed, and staring at the telly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the point where the beauty of Game Pass comes in. One of my favorite things to play with friends is FIFA <\/em>(because I\u2019m better than them at it), but it\u2019s quite tough to convince people to shell out $50+ for the game (because I\u2019m better than them at it). With Game Pass, this stops being an issue. The only thing they need is hard drive space. And a high tolerance for being embarrassed.<\/p>\n

I just used EA\u2018s soccer simulator as an example, there are so many goddamn titles<\/em> on Game Pass that finding something relaxed you can play together is a breeze.<\/p>\n

In this way, I manage to partake in a couple of short gaming sessions a week \u2014 often 15 minutes, rarely longer than an hour \u2014 where I genuinely hang out<\/em> with a friend. We don\u2019t have to properly catch-up or give big updates, we can just chat shit with minimal amounts of pressure. And I love it.<\/p>\n

So, thank you Game Pass, for helping keep the informal parts of my friendships alive. You\u2019re the real MVP.<\/p>\n

Did you know we have a newsletter all about consumer tech? It\u2019s called Plugged In \u2013 and you can subscribe to it right here<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n

Published February 18, 2021 \u2014 14:45 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the end of last year, something magnificent happened: I got an Xbox Series X. The experience alone was enthralling, but the real joy is how my relationship with it has shifted….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}