Questions regarding gaming systems

[LisaR]

We currently have a Wii in our living room. DS is asking for a PS3 for Christmas or maybe an Xbox. If we get him one, we would like to put the system in his bedroom

I have a few questions:

1. Will either gaming system be easy to disconnect and remove from his room daily (assuming we position it in an easy to reach spot)?

I know my son and there is no way I want that in his room all the time. He will go in there to do school work or "clean" and instead end up playing the game. His DS needs to be stored in the living room until he has earned playing time. Will we easily be able to do that with one of the other systems?

2. What is the smallest size TV we can get away with? I am not buying him a 40" TV! His bedroom is probably 10 x 12.

3. Does the TV have to be one of the newer ones? We have an analog TV that is 25" that we don't use. Would that suffice?

Thanks!

 

[CLR4321]

1. Will either gaming system be easy to disconnect and remove from his room daily (assuming we position it in an easy to reach spot)? --- You can unhook the cables from the back of the video game system and leave them attached to the tv set itself, and unplug the power cord. It is very easy to hook up and unhook.
Will we easily be able to do that with one of the other systems? --- Yes

2. What is the smallest size TV we can get away with? I am not buying him a 40" TV! His bedroom is probably 10 x 12. --- Any TV size will work, of course the bigger the screen, the larger and better the picture. If I had a 25" TV around not being used, that would be the one I'd be having my son use. It's just a matter of personal preference. He's going to want a bigger one I am sure, but that's up to you if you want to buy one for him. I just wouldn't even mention the tv size, just hook it up. I'd hope he wouldn't complain to you after you'd just bought him a PS3!

3. Does the TV have to be one of the newer ones? We have an analog TV that is 25" that we don't use. Would that suffice? --- Yes, any TV will work. If your TV does not have the red, white, and yellow (RCA/composite) jacks on it, you can use an adapter called an RF modulator, which is an adapter that will attach to your antenna jack on the TV, and you would then connect the red, white, and yellow cables into the adapter. The PS3 should come with the red, white and yellow cables.

It will be easier than you are thinking.

 

[LisaR]

Thanks so much!

DS won't complain at all about the size of the TV. I could put a hand-held TV in there and he would fall over from the shock that mom is allowing any type of electronics in his room.

 

[BoiseToDisneyland]

You may want to ask the retailer about the PS3 parental controls, you may be able to password it so that they can't use it.

 

[kelly1218]

We just take the power cord if DD loses game priviledges

and she uses a 20" analog TV with no problems.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

We have xbox 360 - just note that if he wants to play "live" as in on-line, he will need a wireless adapter (or direct cable hook up)if you have wireless in your house. I don't know how old your son is, but we allowed the 16 year old on live, and couldn't really keep the 12 year old off of it. I like to be able to hear his end of the conversation as there is some questionable lang. floating around out there.

Truly, I wish I had said no to the "live" thing, but I didn't know what I was getting myself into. 16 is ok, but I feel the need to monitor the 12 year old on it.

 

[Kuraire]

I like to be able to hear his end of the conversation as there is some questionable lang. floating around out there.

Just wanted to mention, the Xbox has filters that can be set to block all messages/ voice messages / friend requests / and block (non friend) voice chat in online games.

 

[scrapquitler]

2. What is the smallest size TV we can get away with? I am not buying him a 40" TV! His bedroom is probably 10 x 12.

3. Does the TV have to be one of the newer ones? We have an analog TV that is 25" that we don't use. Would that suffice?

Thanks!

My DD has her PS2 hooked up to a 19" tv in her room, and it is one of the analog tvs...as long as it has the input plugs it will work fine. We have a Game Cube hooked up to a 13" analog tv in our cabin, and I've never heard the kids complain about that, either.

 

[torinsmom]

We just take the power cord if DD loses game priviledges

and she uses a 20" analog TV with no problems.

Or the controllers!

 

[Fyrefly]

Regarding the TV thing, be aware that the new consoles (I'm looking at you, PS3) are making major pushes to Hi-Def. My boyfriend said he's seen people complaining online that they're making games such high resolution now since so many people have high-def TVs, that the in-game text is getting impossible to read without a high-def set because it's so small and fine.

We already have to move the TV forward onto a tray when we use our XBox so we can read some of the menus in our games.

I would go onto some gaming forums and ask about the resolution issue. I'm not saying buy him the fancy set, but have a look at where people are having problems. You might want to get the system reporting less issues, or be aware he might need to move it outside on occasion to play something on a bigger screen.

As a suggestion, also look at parental locks over unplugging it. It's really not good for a TV component to be unplugged and replugged, especially on a daily basis. Those hookups aren't meant to take that kind of reuse and will probably not last as long.

Edit: I did some googling on the subject and this is what I found in a few minutes:
http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100311064748AA7j8i6
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090521140544AApXzcO
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/starocean4/answers.html?qid=163550

 

[torinsmom]

My son has an analog tv and plays all the newsest Xbox 360 games. He hasn't had any problems playing the games or reading anything on the screen.

I would be careful with moving the system or unplugging it too often. Just keep the controllers in the living room and make his earn them. Can't play without a controller.....

 

[LisaR]

DUH! Why didn't I think about just removing the controllers? How simple! Thanks everyone. We are still thinking about this but one of the big concerns was how we would control this if it was in his room. Now, that won't be an issue.

 

[KAYLI'S DAD]

I have the PS3 and I have it connected in our spare bedroom to a 37" lcd with a HDMI cable. I also have an extra power cable from an old computer which the PS3 uses in there also. So I can just disconnect the PS3 from power and hdmi and take it into our living room tv that is bigger and I have an hdmi and power cable hooked up to it as well so its easy to move. I also take it on business trips to hotels with the rca cable and hdmi cable with power and then you have a blu ray movie player and gaming.

It does come with the RCA cable for older TV's I believe. 25" should be enough.

 

[LynnTH]

We have xbox 360 - just note that if he wants to play "live" as in on-line, he will need a wireless adapter (or direct cable hook up)if you have wireless in your house. I don't know how old your son is, but we allowed the 16 year old on live, and couldn't really keep the 12 year old off of it. I like to be able to hear his end of the conversation as there is some questionable lang. floating around out there.

Truly, I wish I had said no to the "live" thing, but I didn't know what I was getting myself into. 16 is ok, but I feel the need to monitor the 12 year old on it.

We just hooked my DS11 up to XBOX Live as he had been begging for it but I was leary because of the others that are on there also. My DH found a Family Setting so my DS can only play against his friends that he has set up in the system.

 

[kelly1218]

Or the controllers!

oh no....I'm mean. She could stare at the controllers...just not be able to use them

 

[torinsmom]

oh no....I'm mean. She could stare at the controllers...just not be able to use them

But if they have the power cord, they can even turn it on and see that nice Xbox logo. That's as far as they can get though. That is more cruel for my son, LOL

 

[kellydizfan]

I am thinking of moving the PS3 to my DS's 10 room as he hogs the nice TV in the living room and it is driving me crazy. I was going to ask my parents, Aunt & Uncle to pitch in and purchase him a small TV for his bedroom to avoid this. I did disconnect the systems (WII) also to really clean last weekend and it wasn't an issue with reconnecting them at all. I also hate seeing them sitting there in front of the TV, etc. Another pet peeve of mine.

 

[stargazer2892]

As far as which is better, that is all personal preference. Take him to walmart and see which one he goes to first. Personally I have a PS3 and love it, as far as all the nerdy computer/gaming stuff goes, the PS3 is the superior console. DH and I watch TV shows through the Wifi and of course the BluRay movies. However i do have small girly hands and find the 360's controller to big to comfortably use and that is my biggest gripe with the 360. But I would honestly take him to walmart or target and see which one he goes to first.

 

[SandrA9810]

If you do go on the internet, the PS3 is free, the 360 has a yearly membership of 50-60$. You don't have to use your credit card to get Live, they sell membership cards in the stores. So he can save his own money to get it if he wants it. Same thing with PS3 on the PSN, there's "gift cards" you can buy in the store to use on it. PSN offers a variety of digital copy games. Some of the old classics can be purchased from .99-$10, and new games can go all the way up. It's a cheaper way to add more games to his collection without having to go to the store and purchase an actual disc.
PS3 also allows you to stream netflix instantly. And they should have a new update available soon, that lets you do it without the disc. There's even a search feature on it too. So you can add movies to your queu on the computer or from the console.

A lot of the games are made for both consoles. So if playing online is something you're going to allow, just remember the costs.

If he likes watching movies, PS3 makes an excellent bluray player.

Every one is going to have their personal favorite, and hardcore gamers are going to have all of them. But each console has it's own style of gaming. And there's some exclusive titles to each system.

 

[torinsmom]

For Xbox Live, get it on Amazon. It is only $39 for 12 months. That is my mom's present to my son every year at Christmas.

Marsha