XBOX & GAMES!

A top-spec Xbox is on the list, and not because I need the fastest frame rates or the bragging rights of a leaderboard — I’m not chasing either. It’s because gaming is one of my reliable forms of downtime, and a console capable of running the next generation of titles properly means that downtime is actually good downtime, not fifteen minutes of fan noise and loading screens. GTA6 is the headline reason for the timing: it’s shaping up to be one of the genuine cultural moments in gaming, and I’d rather experience it the way it’s meant to be played than catch up on it secondhand through other people’s clips.

But the real draw, the one I’ll actually sink hours into, is Microsoft Flight Simulator. There’s something genuinely strange and wonderful about being able to take off from a runway near home and fly anywhere on Earth, at any altitude, watching real-world weather and terrain scroll beneath you. It scratches an exploring itch without the cost or commitment of actually going anywhere — which, depending on how you look at it, is either a compromise or the smartest kind of travel there is. And yes, Farm Simulator is on there too. No further explanation offered.