Xbox for 9 year old?

iwb

My son wants an Xbox for his birthday. We aren't too enthusiastic as there is alaready a Wii in the house but he doesn't want anything else. We were wondering;

Are there many appropriate games available? It seems like most are for older kids or adults.
If we buy him one, what is the best package or bundle?
Is it worth looking for used ones?
Is there a way to back up the disks? We have had a very bad time with the Wii. We only had it a week and the two disks that came with it were scratched beyond working. I polished them and got them back but since then we have had to buy a disk or two again due to them being damaged beyond repair.
(We have younger kids also)

Riskymove

iwb wrote: »

Are there many appropriate games available? It seems like most are for older kids or adults.

the most popular format is shooter type games and tend to be for older kids...but there are plenty of appropriate games too


EDIT: Some examples:

lots of sports and racing games - football, cars, basketball etc

LEGO series - Star wars, indiana jones, harry potter

Harry pother, sonic, monsotrs v aliens, shrek, kung fu panda and so on



in addition xbox is bringing out a new add-on system to effectively compete with Wii....and I imagine they'll be plenty of wii type games then too

If we buy him one, what is the best package or bundle?

plenty of options here - mostly around free games, extra controller etc

Is it worth looking for used ones?

I dont see why not, there is however a common failure amongst older xbox called RROD (red ring of death!!) which has seen many people having to have it repaired a number of tiems.

The newer types (Xbox elite for example) seems to have less issues

there is also a new Xbox out this month...so many might trade in their existing elite for the new one and you could pick up an elite then

Is there a way to back up the disks?

with the elite or the new xbox you can install games to the hard drive with one consequence being scratched disks can generally still be played

um7y1h83ge06nx

Another handy thing to know is that the Xbox 360 has "Family Settings" that allow you to restrict the age rating of games your son will be able to play, ensuring he can't play adult games

For some information on this and link to text and video guide check this link:

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/playsmart/

Ericka89

With kinect coming out, there will be plenty more for him to play too.

allanb49

also has the likes of viva pinata band hero and lego rock band, all family friendly, there are probably more, there's scene it a movie quiz one that i like, but yeah it is a decent enough system and once you set up security features no zombie head killing/modern warfare type escapades for himself

iwb

Thanks all for the very quick and informative replies. I will do some reading up now and see what the best option is to buy one. I like the sound of waiting for the new one to come out so that we can buy a used one.

So basically I need to look for a recent enough used one to avoid the red ring problem?

Thanks again.

allanb49

if you buy a new xbox it comes with a 3 year warrenty if it fúcks up, if you get a second hand one you're not guaranteed the warrenty. Microsoft will fix it for free if it breaks You should be able to get a new console for between €150 - €200 In Game, HMV, Xtra Vision and Smyths, all do special offers so look around

Riskymove

allanb49 wrote: »

if you buy a new xbox it comes with a 3 year warrenty if it fúcks up, if you get a second hand one you're not guaranteed the warrenty. Microsoft will fix it for free if it breaks :

I bought an extended warranty with GAME when I bought my elite...I dont normally bother with such things but given previous RROD issues i think its worthwhile

iwb

Just called local Xtravision as it is closest. New one comes out Friday, so all other consoles and bundles taken back. I will have to check a few others to see if they are the same. I can't see that the new one will be any great advantage and is far less value for money. He told me it is 250.

allanb49

the new one has wifi smaller and quieter and won't need an external power source for the kinetic.

Shiminay

The new one is meant to be a lot quieter (this may not sound like a big deal, but I need to turn the telly up louder than you'd like to drown out the noise of the DVD drive and fans on my XBox) and has the wi-fi adaptor built in which makes it a bit more flexible to set up in the house. It is a better machine to give it it's dues. It's also the machine they should have built the first time

iwb

Although the wifi isn't necessary as I have a network outlet where the console will go, the quieter unit is very important to me. Noisy fans drive me crazy.

I guess it is wait and see what bundles are announced. Smyths said they won't know until Thursday night.

steel_spine

The other thing to be aware of when buying a used Xbox is that a lot of people will be trying to offload consoles that are now permanently banned from Xbox live (Microsoft went on a huge wave of banning 'modified' consoles), which will prevent you doing anything online.

Klingon Hamlet

The new one also has a 250GB hard drive which allows lots more room for downloading games and demos.

iwb

Yes, I am convinced that a new one is the best option given all your comments above, not least of which is the banned modded ones. I have to read up on that one out of interest.

Thanks again for all the help.

Liathroidi Dana

In regards to discs getting scratched, The xbox 360 now has a feature letting you install the game to the hard-drive. You will still need to have the disc in the tray to play it however, it only needs to read a small part of the disc to make sure it is indeed the game.

I dont know if this will definately solve your disc scatching problems, but it would be an extra way to combat it.

Pov06

Liathroidi Dana wrote: »

In regards to discs getting scratched, The xbox 360 now has a feature letting you install the game to the hard-drive. You will still need to have the disc in the tray to play it however, it only needs to read a small part of the disc to make sure it is indeed the game.

I dont know if this will definately solve your disc scatching problems, but it would be an extra way to combat it.

It would solve the problem, when the Xbox is tilted while disk is spinning.

It could also solve the problem, if it isn't scratched in the part where the disk is identified.

When the disk is installed onto the HDD, the games load much faster, less noise comes out of the Xbox.

OnTopic: You should definately get your son an Xbox, there are plenty of games available, like car driving games (Need For Speed, Forza etc..) aswell as games for kids like LEGO games.

The Kinect project is also a big plus, to get an Xbox, once this is released he will have plenty of fun!

froog

9 is plenty old for an xbox! and not every game is violent.

Klingon Hamlet

Probably off-topic, and I don't want to offend the OP...but I do think it's a bit overkill buying two consoles for a 9 year old. The reason being I can only imagine when the next generation come out in around 2013, and the little fella is 12, he may want/expect two consoles too...

The wii has a decent selection of games already, and a lot of the games on PS3 and XBox are on the wii too (not all, but some). Anyone who is touting the Kinect as the next big thing may want to hold their horses the E3 demos only gave us a taster...we don't know how good/bad the games will be.

Just saying...

iwb

Well, I have to say that I am not for spoiling the kids if at all possible although we do slip up sometimes. I agree with your point wholeheartedly as a general rule.

In this particular situation, his brother bought the Wii a few years ago out of his communion money (another quagmire) and although he does share, he sometimes revokes privelages when he is in a bad mood. The nine year old wants to spend some of his communion money and as with his brother, we will help out with the purchase but he must share it also.

We have five kids, so these things do get shared out and although we fought it for a couple of years, we can't really deny him the spending opportunity his brother got at the same age.

Klingon Hamlet

iwb wrote: »

Well, I have to say that I am not for spoiling the kids if at all possible although we do slip up sometimes. I agree with your point wholeheartedly as a general rule.

In this particular situation, his brother bought the Wii a few years ago out of his communion money (another quagmire) and although he does share, he sometimes revokes privelages when he is in a bad mood. The nine year old wants to spend some of his communion money and as with his brother, we will help out with the purchase but he must share it also.

We have five kids, so these things do get shared out and although we fought it for a couple of years, we can't really deny him the spending opportunity his brother got at the same age.

Oh that's different...sorry hope I didn't overstep the mark...:)

iwb

Based on the lack of info in my original post, it was a fair comment. I have absolutely no problem with your comments. They are very valid.

RolandIRL

as said before, there's plenty of non-violent games for the xbox, and it's good craic especially if your lads play splitscreen on say racing games. there's also parental controls to control the age limit on games.
i remember the days of me and my brothers fighting over who plays what. :rolleyes: needless to say, we put our parents through a bit they eventually told us that we had to share and it didn't matter who owned it. i miss those days

ChrisJefferies

My Son is 8 and we have an Xbox 360 and a Wii. We started off with only a Wii and obviously found it very suited to young people and family gaming. I decided to buy the 360 for myself to play more adult orientated shooters and to watch DVD's, stream video from the PC etc. The adult rated games like Red Dead Redemption, Gears of War etc are just amazing and would turn any dad into a night time gamer when the kids are in bed (Hide those disks away in the daytime though!)

We've since found that there's plenty of 360 games for my son too and I'd say he plays each console about 50/50. When a new game comes out we investigate whether it'd play better on the Wii or the 360 as some are suited better to one or the other. Pokemon, Mario etc are Wii specials so you'd obviously never get them on a 360.

The best thing I found about the 360 over the Wii for my son is that we download alot of demo games over XBox Live (Xbox's Internet Portal). He either plays them for 10 minutes and is bored with them (saving me €50 by not having to buy it for him at the shops) or really likes them and wants to buy it. If so, most of them you can pay for there and then and the game will live on your 360's hard drive, so no scratching of disks etc. They're generally smaller games so they don't cost as much as a big blockbuster which also saves a few euros but keeps them entertained If you have to go to the shops to buy it you feel a little better, safe in the knowledge that they've played the demo and liked it.

I don't think we'll ever buy Kinect as we have a Wii to do that kind of thing. 360 controllers are just great for any sized hands and youngsters learn the buttons in no time. Our latest game was Lego Harry Potter 1-4 years and this time round we bought it for the 360 and not the Wii so it might be that the 360 is starting to win the console battle in our house!

If I could just convince the wife we need a PS3...

Anthony Walsh

If you are connecting the Xbox to the internet make sure if he some how gets his hands on a big multi-player game such as Call Of Duty or Battlefield or Halo that he doesn't have a microphone and that voice sound is turned off, the language used on these games online is atrocious.

ricman

360 games need to be put in a case when not in the console, if left out of the case ,they will GET scratched, smyths toys, games section offer a disk repair service, i think its 3 games fixed for ten euro, they smooth out scratches with a machine.
THERES always kids games like ten euro,preowned in game,xtravision ,or 2 for 20.I ALWAYS BUY preowned games, hold on to your reciept ,if it doesnt work, the shop will replace it.
look at disk, cover ,at the back,theres a rating system, do not get m,or 18 rated game.
see here http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/familysettings/gameratinginformation.htm
eg teen rating =suitable for 13 or over.
if not sure ask assistant ,is this ok for a ten year old.
if you join xbox live ,silver, you can download xbla, or xbox full demos.one demo for say halo=2 or 3 gigabytes, xbla demo= 200megabyte max.
you can join xbox live silver for free ,xbox live gold ,i think its like 60euro per year .
theres an xbox game mag,with a disk each month, usually has 7/8 playable game demos on it.

approx.http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/joinlive.htm
xbla are like mini games ,download demos free.

buy a wired controller, otherwise you,ll be buying batterys every 2 weeks for the controller.


do not have the xbox, going straight up, have it flat, vertical xbox =disk scratching.
i only bought 1 preowned,game that didnt work, halo3 ,the only copy they had left in gamestop.
when you buy a game,open case, look at cd,underneath ,if theres more than 2 lite scratches,
ask em for another copy,
no scrathes on cd= its as good as a new game.
the graphics on the 360 are more advanced and the game levels longer,than the wi.
xbox gold= play games against other xbox users on the internet,basically.

iwb

Sorry I haven't been back to this post. His birthday was the 16th and we wanted to get him the console on the day but it wasn't looking good. Everywhere we called was pre booked to the hilt.

I was going to Waterford on Friday morning so I dropped into Smyths at ten. I was the first one in! The guy there was as surprised as me.

Anyway, we got a bundle with Pure, Forza, Lego Batman and POTC 3. They seem to be really enjoying it. Hopefully the games will last them a while although they downloaded the FIFA 10 demo the other day and I heard my older boy saying he was buying it. (he had better start saving)

Thanks again for all the input. It was very valuable and helped me to make the right decisions.

By the way, I used to play Viper Racing on the PC many years ago and found it to be totally immersive and hyper realistic. Is there an Xbox game that drives like a real car rather than arcade style? I tried Forza and was very disappointed. Not at all realistic.

Zeouterlimits

You don't find Forza realistic?
Actually, have you checked if the assists are on? To make it closer to the simulation racer it really is, you can turn off the driving assists that may be on.

Glad ye're happy with how it went, makes me think back to getting a console when I was 8...