Distance Is ‘Madden’ing, so I Got My Brother an Xbox Series S

My brother and I, while only five years apart in age, couldn’t be any more different. He was always the “hunt, fish, camp” kind of guy. I was always the pale and pudgy computer geek. However, one thing in particular always gave us a chance to bond: video games.

The Xbox Series S Was the Perfect Choice for My Brother

While I’ve spent many of the last 32 years of my life gaming, the last system my brother played religiously was our PlayStation 1. I can count the number of games he’s played from start to finish on one finger: Metal Gear Solid. Many summer afternoons were spent together playing Madden and NHL games on our Sega Genesis. But as we got older, he got into different things. My love stayed on all things electronic.

Although we don’t live all that far away from one another, adult responsibilities make time a bit more difficult to come by. Keeping in touch via Snapchat is one thing, but I wanted to do something nice for him. Something to hopefully rekindle some of those nostalgic memories that we got to share in our younger years. So, I gathered up a large portion of my game collection and made the trek to the sacred grounds of my childhood: GameStop.

I know the meme is to laugh at the price of trade-ins. But, I was able to get away pretty well. After these trades, I got him a pre-owned Xbox Series S, a GameStop-branded headset, and some digital codes for Madden 25, Way of the Hunter, and Monster Energy Supercross 6. I also made sure he got three months of Game Pass Core. All of the games I found? Things we could do together that align with his interests.

And I have to say, this was a fantastic idea.

Something Old, Something New

My brother has always been an inspiration to me, but things have been a little rough the past 10 years or so. He was involved in a car accident that confined him to a wheelchair. A lot of things he enjoyed doing are, to say the least, much more difficult now. But, I’m hoping through the power of video games, we can at least spend some time together in these old hobbies once again.

Here’s the thing about Patrick: critical reception of video games isn’t the most important thing to him. Ironic, coming from someone who has spent the last three years of their life doing exactly that. The last time he played Madden religiously, it was still pixel graphics. He didn’t even realize that online gaming was as prevalent as it is.

He’s played a few games over the years, primarily from hand-me-down consoles when I upgraded to the newest generation. But getting to see his reaction to the quality of even the pared-down Xbox Series S when I hooked it up was great. It proves to me that while someone may not view the Series S as the best in the business, it’s something that can still make people smile.

Power Your Dreams, as well as Your Families

I went ahead and got everything installed for him before taking it over, carefully adding my gamer tag to his system so we could play games together. I’m excited to stalk wildlife in Way of the Hunter. The chance to hit the gridiron in Madden 25 against my brother after all these years sounds like a dream come true. And even though he hasn’t really touched many motocross games over the years, I know he’s going to smoke me in Monster Energy Supercross 6.

All things considered, we still have yet to play together. Life has been a little hectic on both sides of the coin. We do have a preemptive time and date set for our first Madden game, and I’m already eager to see how that turns out for us.

It’s also great to see him so interested in something I thought he might never really appreciate. He gets in touch to find out about new games. He wants to learn more about these systems. Weirdly enough, I feel closer than we have in quite a while because of this.