Best Gaming Console for a 5 year Old (Not Wii)

[Eisho]

My son is five and has Wii and is able to beat all the games he has with ease. Xmas is coming up and he is talking about wanting to get new games but I am instead considering buying him a new console with more challenging games available. Stuff like first person shooters and RPGs are too advanced for him, but does anyone have any suggestions as to which console (except Wii) offers the best games for a five year old? I am thinking platform games, educational stuff, classic arcade style games...

Cheers,

Eisho

[Zach]

The Xbox 360 is pretty fun. It has a very wide variety of games, and the new Kinect device is really cool. There are also tons of old retro games that you can download and buy from Xbox Live.

[ssandra]

I would also go with the xbox 360 and the kinect. it helps your kid move, while having fun.

There are also some fun games available on the online store. The one we like to play as a family (well... just me and my husband) is Trivial Persuit. Maybe a bit to advanced for him yet, but he'll grow into that.

Just.... don't let him connect with a headset to other players. He might learn some new words that you don't really want him to learn...

[Eisho]

Thanks guys. Is the XBox bug free nowadays? I heard in the past it was notorious for the red ring error.

Cheers,

Eisho

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Eisho

Thanks guys. Is the XBox bug free nowadays? I heard in the past it was notorious for the red ring error.

Cheers,

Eisho

That seems to have been fixed. But I don't know much about it. If you google it, I'm sure you have better luck.

[taylor]

super nintendo?

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by ssandra

That seems to have been fixed. But I don't know much about it. If you google it, I'm sure you have better luck.

Thanks

Eisho

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by taylor

super nintendo?

I am not sure they still make it...

Cheers,

Eisho

[taylor]

Originally Posted by Eisho

I am not sure they still make it...

Cheers,

Eisho

I sold mine used a while back with games for like 60 something. Good value considering your needs.

[VinceG]

The difficulty on the games they put out these days is laughable. You have to go back in time to play anything that's remotely hard. The Super Nintendo is a great system for kids his age. The system's can be bought for cheap, the games take some doing to find, but they'll be really cheap too.

[taylor]

back in my day.... you had to be skilled just to save your game...

*shakes fist impotently at youth*

[Andrew Brunelle]

I'd say either Playstation or N64, but that's because that is what was around in my era, and I stopped playing video games around the time I was 16. That and Sega Genesis were the only systems I ever owned, and almost the only systems I ever played regularly.

But on a more serious note, video games are not good for 5 year olds. I didn't start playing video games until I was at least 9 or 10, mostly because my mother would not allow it. So I read books instead, which contributes to my intelligence today.

[taylor]

It strikes me as a little young too Andrew but on second thought it's good to start your video game training early so you can be "lord of the headshots" later.

Just keep him away from MMOs until he's at least 65 and retired.

[VinceG]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

But on a more serious note, video games are not good for 5 year olds. I didn't start playing video games until I was at least 9 or 10, mostly because my mother would not allow it. So I read books instead, which contributes to my intelligence today.

Eh, I think it's pretty much useless to compare the way you were when you were a kid with the kids these days. Things are just so different now. I was the stereotypical "video game kid." I played so much it affected my social development. I didn't want to do anything else.

But my little brother, who's eight this year, started playing even earlier than I did, but isn't so hung up on them. He doesn't want to play with them all the time, he has just as much fun playing outside or with his Legos. He handles it much better than I did. It's not just him, either. I hardly ever see kids like I was anymore.

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by VinceG

The difficulty on the games they put out these days is laughable. You have to go back in time to play anything that's remotely hard. The Super Nintendo is a great system for kids his age. The system's can be bought for cheap, the games take some doing to find, but they'll be really cheap too.

I agree...so I don't want to pay 4000-5000 yen for a game that is only challenging for a few days. When he first started playing, the games were challenging for him, but the last game he got was something like Wii Sports and a week later he was beating the console something like 80-0. So something more challenging....

Eisho

[Eisho]

Both my children started playing video games when they were around 2 years old, either helping with the controls when I was playing or playing Nintendo DS by themselves. I don't see any problem with it, in fact quite the opposite. In Japan plenty of parents play video games with their kids.

I regard video games as an excellent, fun, interesting way to encourage both brain hemispheres to grow and develop.

Cheers,

Eisho

[MariconesUnited]

There's plenty of challenging games on the Wii. Donkey Kong Country Returns offers a very friendly presentation for kids coupled with a challenge fit for veteran gamers for one.

[Cado]

The Wii is backwards compatible with the Gamecube so you can always get games or compilations that were released for that. One of my recommendations would be the Sonic Mega Collection. Sonic games aren't particularly difficult but if you want to clear all the special stages and whatnot that'll take some skill. There's also the Mega Man Anniversary Collection which is going super retro-we're talking 8-bit Nintendo-and some of those games were brutal when you didn't know what you were doing, especially the first one. On the Gamecube edition the fire and jump buttons are switched from their usual configuration so it might not be the best choice or the best version, but it's there. (Just for reference, the PS2 version of the Mega Man collection doesn't have that issue.)

The PS2 is always a safe bet. There's a massive library of games and a lot of them do pose a decent challenge. On top of that, you can play PSone games on it too so you could pick up classics like Crash Bandicoot 3 or one of the first three Spyro games. It's pretty much impossible to go wrong with a PS2.

If you went with a modern console, I would say go with a PS3 because you don't need to pay for access to the online store. Last I knew, the Xbox 360 required you to have a Gold Xbox Live account to purchase and play any of the downloadable games so if that's a draw for you the PS3 is better. Their actual game libraries differ so little that exclusives aren't even a consideration, and I doubt online multiplayer will be a thing your kid will be interested in (or you'd want for your kid) for another five years or so.

As Ssandra said, the Xbox does have Kinect. I could see that being a hit with a kid. There are some kinks with the motion detection technology and you need a lot of space for it to work properly but I know there's some kid friendly titles for it. Personally, as a grown gamer, I don't like it, I think it works very poorly for what it was intended to do and I'm not fond of more attempts to push motion control on us, but I'm a lot pickier than most because I've been gaming my whole life and gimmicks like motion control and 3D don't appeal to me.

I'd actually recommend against a modern console for the reason that we have no idea what Microsoft or Sony are going to unveil next year. The Wii U-a follow up to the Wii-is set to come out in 2012 and both the 360 and the PS3 are starting to show their age so current hardware may have a short lifespan. I know most people don't expect the next gen stuff to come out until 2014 but if it turns out to be sooner you could probably get the current stuff a lot cheaper next year than you could now. Your kid probably won't care if it's the latest and greatest and there's a lot to tide him over with, both on the Wii and older consoles.

So yeah, I'd strongly recommend the PS2.

[meggarz]

If you go with the Xbox they'll send you prepaid postage to send it in for repair if you get the red ring up to 3 years after purchasing I believe? And one year if there's any disc errors, I just sent mine in and they sent me a free month's worth of live for the inconvenience. I also think the kinect is really fun and keeps you super active.

[taylor]

Originally Posted by MariconesUnited

There's plenty of challenging games on the Wii. Donkey Kong Country Returns offers a very friendly presentation for kids coupled with a challenge fit for veteran gamers for one.

Haven't played that particular Donkey Kong which is for Wii but I was thinking back to SNES and how I don't think I ever beat Donkey Kong Country 2 it was so difficult in the latter stages. Lot of content too.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by meggarz

If you go with the Xbox they'll send you prepaid postage to send it in for repair if you get the red ring up to 3 years after purchasing I believe? And one year if there's any disc errors, I just sent mine in and they sent me a free month's worth of live for the inconvenience. I also think the kinect is really fun and keeps you super active.

They released a new model that doesn't red ring. I think the warranty on that is the standard one year.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by taylor

Haven't played that particular Donkey Kong which is for Wii but I was thinking back to SNES and how I don't think I ever beat Donkey Kong Country 2 it was so difficult in the latter stages. Lot of content too.

Oh man, I still love DKC2. I can 100% that thing in about two hours straight through. Platformers don't get better than that. Indeed, it was the best of the DKC series and possibly the best Donkey Kong game ever released. (The new one is no slouch, though.)

[ZephyrusX]

*scratches head*

I think that is a relative statement, in all honesty. My mother was once playing a RPG for either the SNES or sega master system and she asked me how to walk out the door.

Originally Posted by taylor

back in my day.... you had to be skilled just to save your game...

*shakes fist impotently at youth*

[EmulationX]

Are you strictly looking for a console? If not I would strongly recommend a Nintendo DS. The DS has plenty of challenging games for kids and adults both.

[superfoodist]

Honestly, as someone who has played video games since that age (but recently stopped), I'd recommend keeping him away from them while you still can. At least for me, over time, they severely limited my social interaction, and I ended up with Social Anxiety Disorder.

At his age it's not too late. You should get him hooked on reading books instead. Reading as his primary source of entertainment will lead him to a MUCH more successful life than video games or tv ever could.

BUT, if you don't want to take my advice, I'd say xbox 360. Just don't get him the new killing games such as modern warfare 3 and battlefield. I'm about to be 20 soon, and after seeing the new Battlefield trailer prior to it coming out, I decided to sell my xbox, mainly because of how realistic the game looked sickened me. It sounds like they recorded actual screams in war and then put them into the game as the sound of the enemy. Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by Cado

So yeah, I'd strongly recommend the PS2.

Cool. I will take a closer look at that too.

Cheers,

Eisho

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by EmulationX

Are you strictly looking for a console? If not I would strongly recommend a Nintendo DS. The DS has plenty of challenging games for kids and adults both.

They have a DS but prefer console games now.

Thanks,

Eisho

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by superfoodist

Honestly, as someone who has played video games since that age (but recently stopped), I'd recommend keeping him away from them while you still can. At least for me, over time, they severely limited my social interaction, and I ended up with Social Anxiety Disorder.

At his age it's not too late. You should get him hooked on reading books instead. Reading as his primary source of entertainment will lead him to a MUCH more successful life than video games or tv ever could.

BUT, if you don't want to take my advice, I'd say xbox 360. Just don't get him the new killing games such as modern warfare 3 and battlefield. I'm about to be 20 soon, and after seeing the new Battlefield trailer prior to it coming out, I decided to sell my xbox, mainly because of how realistic the game looked sickened me. It sounds like they recorded actual screams in war and then put them into the game as the sound of the enemy. Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

I agree that some of the games nowadays are over the top (and have been for some time for a 5 and 7year old). Xbox looks like it is the way to go.

Cheers,

Eisho

[Eisho]

Just to broadly address the issue of whether or not a 5 year old should be playing video games...

Both my children started playing DS when they were 2. This has in no way affected them in a negative way. They are very sociable, very active (karate and No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and do plenty of other things at home besides playing games. Academically they are way ahead of their peers and yes, they do read.

I make sure they have plenty of different things to do and in many cases am a participant in different activities. In cases of addiction, I doubt it is the video games per se that are to blame, they just become the focus for an addictive personality.

Cheers,

Eisho

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by superfoodist

Honestly, as someone who has played video games since that age (but recently stopped), I'd recommend keeping him away from them while you still can. At least for me, over time, they severely limited my social interaction, and I ended up with Social Anxiety Disorder.

At his age it's not too late. You should get him hooked on reading books instead. Reading as his primary source of entertainment will lead him to a MUCH more successful life than video games or tv ever could.

BUT, if you don't want to take my advice, I'd say xbox 360. Just don't get him the new killing games such as modern warfare 3 and battlefield. I'm about to be 20 soon, and after seeing the new Battlefield trailer prior to it coming out, I decided to sell my xbox, mainly because of how realistic the game looked sickened me. It sounds like they recorded actual screams in war and then put them into the game as the sound of the enemy. Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

I used to read a lot (like... 6 or 7 books a week, a lot). Ever since I was a little kid. To me, that severely limited my ability to interact with other children, and I more and more used it as an escape from reality.

It is not what you use to entertain yourself, it is how you use it.