PlayStation/Xbox/etc Question

[Alice28]

If you have one of these, and you have children, how old were your children when you bought it?

My 7, almost 8 year old said he thought it would be cool to get one for Christmas this year, but I'm just not sure I want to get it yet. I bought him a Gameboy for his bday last year (it's in November), and then of course his 4 year old brother wanted one for his birthday.

I realize I can set time limits, etc once it's in the house, but I'm just not sure I want to deal with one yet. My DH is definitely NOT a gamer, so he's not into it at all either.

I'm leaning more towards him being 9 and his brother being 5 1/2 before we get one....

 

[Papa Deuce]

MY kids are 4 and I let them use the PS2 "eyetoy", which is a game that lets them see themselves on the TV screen. You play games like washing windows, hitting balls up in the air, dancing.... all software driven with they eyetoy software. The actual eyetoy is a USB camera that plugs in to the PS2.

It is quite a hoot! And they LOVE it!

 

[Jennifer S]

My ds was 4 when we got PS1- I think it was more for DH though. We are now on to PS2 and that ds is now 9 and the other ds is 5 and he plays it too. They hardly ever play when it is nice out. It's more of a winter/rainy day toy. They also don't play all day. I like it. It teaches hand eye coordination. I also don't get violent games

The best part is less clutter of big toys. Now for presents they get games - takes up much less room. A great game to start with is Spyro. It's about a little dragon that collect gems. Very cute and easy.

 

[tiggerlover]

We held out for a while and finally bought DS a Game Cube for his 9th birthday. He really wanted an XBox, but we found most of the games for the XBox were more violent than we wanted him to play. It seems like the Game Cube has more games geared to the younger set. We set limits as to how much time DS can play otherwise he would be obsessed with it.

 

[paigevz]

DS got a game boy at age 6, Nintendo at 7, Playstation at 8, which broke, and now XBOX at 10.

He was an only child until just after he turned 7, so that's probably why we started early........nobody to play with. Playstation was actually purchased for dh and ds just kind of took it over. He didn't know the XBOX was coming, we really surprised him!

 

[SeeDisney]

My eldest son, 9, still doesn't have any playstation, etc. I too just don't know if I'm going to get him a playstation or whatnot this coming Christmas. He does have gameboy and I bought him the Nitendo DS this past 9th birthday.

We, husband and I don't want him to be too obessive with video games. We like our son just the way he is without the games.

We'll see too about this Christmas or not.

 

[DisneyArk]

We bought DS a PS2 when he turned 6. He LOVES it!! I monitor the time he spends playing it. He is very motivated to do what I need him to do if I give him extra PS2 time.

The bad news is that my younger son was 4 when he started playing PS2.

By the way, my son does not play with his Gameboy Advanced. I think the screen on the GBA is too small.

 

[SarahandPaul]

If your kids are that age then buy a GameCube. It's geared to kids that age and the game are still really fun.

 

[Alice28]

Hmmmm....a Game Cube....but can you buy some of the games like Star Wars and such for it???

And to SarahandPaul----we're neighbors!

 

[Papa Deuce]

Hmmmm....a Game Cube....but can you buy some of the games like Star Wars and such for it???

And to SarahandPaul----we're neighbors!

Yes, you can. And while Game Cube is definitely more geared toward the younger crowd, they do have their share of older oriented games.

BTW, the Game Cube has a $40 adapter that allows you to play Game BOY games on your TV.

 

[Sparx]

We had a PS1 for years, I don't know how old I was when we got it. I am thinking 6,7,8, somewhere around there. Three years ago I think we got a game cube, then a year or a year and a half ago (maybe two) we got an xbox. I remember playing the OLD NS, infact, several versions of it. So I've been playing video games for most of my life.

 

[MoniqueU]

I think mine was in preschool when we first got our systems. Now I just ordered the XBOX 360. Just have always been around and have yet to cause a problem.

 

[Shutterbug]

I say wait...PS3 will be coming out later.....might as well get the best technology when you can.

 

[crazee4mickey]

DS who just turned 19 has a Playstation, PS2, Xbox and Gamecube(before anyone flames us , he bought these all with his own money and has had each system since it was first released).
He ended up giving his younger brother(9 yrs) the Gamecube because he felt the games were more for younger kids--loves the Playstation and PS2 as you can get amazing games for young and old---Xbox, he feels is more for teens or adults.
Our DS 9 loves the Gamecube but does play PS2 alot for the NHL games.

 

[minkydog]

We bought our DS his first Playstation at age 15. He was going into high school and I felt he could handle it. Not to mention that he didn't want to be the only freshman who had no idea what Mortal Kombat was. Since then he has bought himself an X-box and GameCube, and a big screen TV to play them on.

 

[Papa Deuce]

I say wait...PS3 will be coming out later.....might as well get the best technology when you can.

ah, but then you can be saying wait for the XBOX 720!..... ya buy what ya like when ya can afford it, just like with computers. Besides, it is all about the games, not the technology.

 

[golfgal]

I would put XBox as my last choice of games because they just don't have much for the younger crowd. DS13 bought his own XBox and has a hard time finding games I will let him play. We also have a PS2 and there are a lot more options for younger kids with that one. They are both also DVD players so that is handy.

As for it being a "problem". That will depend on your child. DS13 loves playing video games and we have to limit how much time he spends playing. The twins can take it or leave it so we have never really had to put any controls on their playing time, which is probably less then an hour/week.

 

[jrydberg]

I dunno about that. I have an Xbox and have no problem finding games that I'll let my 7 year old daughter play. Xbox has a much wider variety of games than Game Cube. You do have to make sure the games are appropriate, but that's not really difficult to figure out.

Shrek 2, NASCAR, Spongebob, Midway Arcade Treasures, Crash Bandicoot and Crash Nitro Kart are all games my daughter loves to play with me and I think are perfectly appropriate. There are plenty of others I'd let her play, but frankly, she's happy with those and I see no need to spend the money on more games