Which console for my 7 year old ... if any?

positivenote

Hi all, my young fella is obsessed with his DS2 but anytime he goes to his friends or cousins he comes home wanting an Xbox. His friends have older brothers and his cousin is nearly 10.we are thinking of getting him a console for Christmas but I’ve never played an Xbox or play station before so haven’t a notion where to start.
I’m looking for advice on what console should I get him or should I leave it for a year or two? Any advice would be great but I’d rather he wasn’t online if I’m honest.
Thanks

shamrock55

My young fella is 6 and plays Lego games and Minecraft on my old PS3, as long as you keep game time to a minimum(wkend) and keep the games age appropriate I don't see the harm

CiDeRmAn

The Switch would be a great buy for him.
So many of the games on the Xbox and PlayStation are geared for older gamers, while Nintendo have a better selection of games for all ages.
Also, the format allows a person to play on the tv or in portable mode, it also allows for multiplayer gaming out of the box.
A Switch, Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart is a great combination, maybe throw in Arms and Rayman as well.

Paleblood

positivenote wrote: »

Hi all, my young fella is obsessed with his DS2 but anytime he goes to his friends or cousins he comes home wanting an Xbox. His friends have older brothers and his cousin is nearly 10.we are thinking of getting him a console for Christmas but I’ve never played an Xbox or play station before so haven’t a notion where to start.
I’m looking for advice on what console should I get him or should I leave it for a year or two? Any advice would be great but I’d rather he wasn’t online if I’m honest.
Thanks

You don't have to let him online and at that age you shouldn't if you can't guarantee constant supervision. At that age he'll get plenty of fulfilling experiences just playing single player games or playing side by side with friends or family.

I'd pick him up a second-hand PS3 slim in CeX. You'll have over a decade worth of games to choose from and all of them are cheap and getting cheaper. You could also for an Xbox 360 for the same reason. There's not much between them but I reckon there's a better selection of age appropriate games for the PS3.

Don't get won over by a PS4 if you see one going cheap. It simply does not have enough games for younger players. My 8 year old nephew has a PS4 and he's barely turned it on in over a year. He loves his 360 more for exactly the reasons outlined above. My brother takes him to get a string of 'new' games every fortnight because they're so cheap.

Paleblood

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The Switch would be a great buy for him.
So many of the games on the Xbox and PlayStation are geared for older gamers, while Nintendo have a better selection of games for all ages.
Also, the format allows a person to play on the tv or in portable mode, it also allows for multiplayer gaming out of the box.
A Switch, Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart is a great combination, maybe throw in Arms and Rayman as well.

Maybe when it drops in price and has a large selection of age appropriate games. Right now your 'great combination' would cost the best part of €500.

Digital Solitude

What about a Nintendo Switch?

Its portable, powerful and a lot of new games are coming to it, though maybe not as much as Xbox/PS so far.

From the start you can play multiplayer in a lot of games and have the likes of Overcooked, Mario Kart now and Super Mario Oddessy coming soon.

Gfs siblings (7 & 10) basically go into meltdown when we take the Switch away

Might be worth looking at

Paleblood

Paleblood wrote: »

Right now your 'great combination' would cost the best part of €500.

More like €650 actually. I didn't realise the Switch was still €400 second hand.

PS3 slim is €95 in CeX.

Maybe even go for the PS4. There's still a great selection of kids games available for it and at least if a brand new game comes along that he's interested in he'll be able to play it.

Digital Solitude

Paleblood wrote: »

More like €650 actually. I didn't realise the Switch was still €400 second hand.

PS3 slim is €95 in CeX.

Maybe even go for the PS4. There's still a great selection of kids games available for it and at least if a brand new game comes along that he's interested in he'll be able to play it.

€650?

Switch €330
MK8 €50
An Indie €20
Total €400

€650?

Tom Mann Centuria

If you're going old generation I'd go Nintendo

Wii - dirt cheap 2nd hand loads and loads of games suitable for a 7 year old, way more than the PS3 or Xbox 360

Wii U - still pretty cheap, can play all Wii games and has screen controller or play using Wii controllers.

If you're going latest generation

Switch - I'd worry a bit about robustness of screen/controller but Nintendo still kings of family friendly gaming.

Xbox One - plenty of indie games that are suitable, EA Access (like a library of games you own for duration of a subscription) around 30 euro for the year. Other games such as Rocket League and Minecraft (so does wii u and Switch tbf) available and a lot of Xbox 360 games that are compatible with the Xbox One can be got cheaply (check compatibility lists online first)

Kids can tease a bit if it's not the latest this that or the other, and want the games their friends have, otherwise I'd say go for the Wii U or Wii all day long.

Paleblood

Digital Solitude wrote: »

€650?

Switch €330
MK8 €50
An Indie €20
Total €400

€650?

Switch, Zelda, MK8, Arms and Rayman was the magic combination.

Paleblood

Paleblood wrote: »

Switch, Zelda, MK8, Arms and Rayman was the magic combination.

To be fair €320 for a Switch is a good price and in line with my initial valuation. I revised my total estimate when I saw they were still nearly €400 in CeX. I assumed that would be the cheapest bricks and mortar option. But let's split the difference and leave it at €500 for the above combination. That's still an awful whack for a 7 year old's first console. Or perhaps do as you suggest and pick up MK8 and an indie for €400. That seems awful sparse though. It reminds me of my first console. Playing Sonic, just Sonic, for an entire summer.

TerrorFirmer

I agree with an Xbox360, PS3 or Nintendo Wii. Tons of games on each platform suitable for him, he'd never run out of games no matter which he chose.

Also important that if he's fixated on an xbox, maybe just get him that - kids will want what they want and getting a different console probably wouldn't go down as well. In a year or two if he wants to get the Xbox One or PS4 or whatever you can revisit that, but for a 7 year old now I think the 360 or PS3 would be perfect and they're very cheap.

Gamestop sell pre-owned Xbox 360 250GB's for €80, and you have the benefit of a shop warranty, for example. You'd get one for the same price with a fair lot of games second hand on adverts, either.

Anyway, I suppose it's all moot if it's the Xbox One he's fixated on - should be some good deals around Christmas, it's already pretty cheap (usually around €250 with games bundles) and you can get one second hand now for about €150 on adverts.

circadian

I'd recommend the Switch. You can get Minecraft and crossplay with Xbox will be coming for it later this year apparently. He could then play it with friends/cousins on the Xbox then.

Retr0gamer

I'd recommend a switch as a good family console but if he wants an xbox best to get an xbox. He can play games with his cousin and mine craft is on there.

Grumpypants

The Switch is great but If you get a switch (not only is it really expensive) but he will still arrive home from his cousins talking about wanting an xbox.

You can get an Xbox One S, with Minecraft & FIFA 18, and a Fifa 18 jersey, brand new for €250. That's three presents he will love.

Minecraft is a great game for kids to learn life skills. It is being used in schools now as it is such a good developmental tool.

You can set the xbox so it can't go online but most kids games are online safe now anyway. So no chatting, messaging etc. You just play the game with others.

lsjmhar

positivenote wrote:

Hi all, my young fella is obsessed with his DS2 but anytime he goes to his friends or cousins he comes home wanting an Xbox. His friends have older brothers and his cousin is nearly 10.we are thinking of getting him a console for Christmas but I’ve never played an Xbox or play station before so haven’t a notion where to start. I’m looking for advice on what console should I get him or should I leave it for a year or two? Any advice would be great but I’d rather he wasn’t online if I’m honest. Thanks

Switch is best option. Can use as handheld or connect to TV. Games will be age appropriate, e.g. Splatoon is a good shoot em up but no bullets, just paintballing.

Shiminay

Get him whatever his cousins have so he can play with them and swap games and so on, it'll make life easier. You can also ask said cousins for the details if you're not completely familiar with the various options.

NIMAN

I notice everyone is saying, yeah buy him one.

No advocates for him being too young?

CiDeRmAn

Paleblood wrote: »

Maybe when it drops in price and has a large selection of age appropriate games. Right now your 'great combination' would cost the best part of €500.

Price was never mentioned as a factor.

The Switch will cost around the €500?
The console with Zelda = €389.99 in Smyth's
The console with Mario Odyssey = €370 on Amazon
An extra game and it comes to around €430/€450, not quite the €500 you are referencing.

And it already has a great selection of age appropriate games, both in physical form and from the digital shop.

ectoraige

Is it just that he wants something to play on, or is there a specific game/franchise he likes? When our son was 8 we got him a second-hand X-box 360, we'd had a Wii for a couple of years before that but the newer FIFA games weren't supported on it. Now he's hitting the same problem, FIFA aren't supporting the Xbox 360 any more so he's looking to upgrade again.

If he's going to be having friends over a lot, don't forget to have enough controllers, they can be pricey enough too.

CiDeRmAn

NIMAN wrote: »

I notice everyone is saying, yeah buy him one.

No advocates for him being too young?

7 years of age is not too young, but then it's up to each parent to make that call.

Other posters are right too, a PS3 has a great library of games and is cheap as chips right now.
An Xbox One or PS4 is also an affordable console, but the games are pitched at teens and over in the main.
Yes, there's Fifa but most of the focus is on action titles, most of which are at least 15's.

TitianGerm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The console with Zelda = €389.99 in Smyth's
The console with Mario Odyssey = €370 on Amazon

Stop trying to tempt me :pac: I really want one but I don't have the time to play it

Paleblood

NIMAN wrote: »

I notice everyone is saying, yeah buy him one.

No advocates for him being too young?

Not at all. Videogames are a medium, like any other. Is he too young to read, watch films or listen to music.

Everything in moderation, and with a responsible parent calling the shots.

Gaming is a very healthy activity for a young child.

Retr0gamer

NIMAN wrote: »

I notice everyone is saying, yeah buy him one.

No advocates for him being too young?

Got my first computer, a Commodore 64, at 7. Still remember it as a great present... even if I was jealous of the girls next door who got an import SNES that year....

7 is the perfect age to get into it.

sierra117x

A big thing is if he's playing with his friends online this requires a paid account on either Xbox or Playstation. If it's just having his friends around to play there's no need.

There are parental controls on most consoles these days so you can limit the content he has access to. For example he could only speak to people on his friends list and he could only add people to that list with your approval first. You can also limit time played I believe so for example he could play it for no longer than an hour.

I think there's no harm in having it at a young age but definitely have it in a public area in the house so you can monitor his activity. And invest in some.good headphones so you don't have to listen to Lego star wars the whole time....

ambro25

NIMAN wrote: »

No advocates for him being too young?

No such thing. Provided that you monitor usage and games.

I deliberately "dropped" my kid in the "digital cauldron" when she was 12 months. Always supervised, always time-limited, but dispensing as broad an experience of digital-y things as possible (portable media players, tablets before tablets were ubiquitous (e.g. MS Paint on creaky old PII/PIII Fujitsu yokes), PC & PC gaming, consoles <handheld and lounger models>, etc).

12 years on, she's with anything and everything 'digital', like a fish in water.

But will still spend far more time creative writing, drawing, painting, horse riding <etc.> than gaming. I can barely interest her in coop Halo or a 2 player arcade cab session these days (:()

I trust her enough to have put a TV (no aerial) and Wii U in her bedroom a few months back. I don't think it's been turned on more than twice (each time, when she had a school friend stay for a sleepover, and with lights self-extinguished by 22:00).

Same as everything: it's not the media. It's how you raise them

Paleblood

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Price was never mentioned as a factor.

The Switch will cost around the €500?
The console with Zelda = €389.99 in Smyth's
The console with Mario Odyssey = €370 on Amazon
An extra game and it comes to around €430/€450, not quite the €500 you are referencing.

I based my opinion on the price of a Switch in CeX, where they're still almost €400 without a game. They were the cheapest around when I purchased mine and I thought they'd still be cheaper. My mistake. In fact I priced your entire recommendation in CeX, including Arms and Rayman (and I included a second JoyCon) and it was over €600. So let that be a cautionary tale for anyone who, like me, thought that CeX will save you a few quid.

And you're right, price wasn't mentioned as a factor but I (perhaps wrongly) thought it would be given that the OP, by his/her own admission, hasn't a clue what they're buying and that it's a 7 year old's first console. I certainly know that price would be a major factor for me in that situation, but that's just me.

Mickeroo

If he's raving about an xbox just get him that. Plenty games for younger players on them and some good deals around at the moment.

NIMAN

Moderation is very important.

I have a 7yr old who has been asking about a console for 2 yrs now, as all his friends have one. Many play their consoles for a few hours a day. For me, that's not healthy.

We have considered relenting and letting Santa bring one this Xmas, when he will be 8. But it would be strictly controlled and likely only be allowed at weekends.

He loves reading,lego and documentaries, and I just fear the presence of a console would become the number 1 priority.

TitianGerm

NIMAN wrote: »

Moderation is very important.

I have a 7yr old who has been asking about a console for 2 yrs now, as all his friends have one. Many play their consoles for a few hours a day. For me, that's not healthy.

We have considered relenting and letting Santa bring one this Xmas, when he will be 8. But it would be strictly controlled and likely only be allowed at weekends.

He loves reading,lego and documentaries, and I just fear the presence of a console would become the number 1 priority.

You could just say 1 hour a day and that's it. If there's any argument you don't get to play for a week.

Paleblood

NIMAN wrote: »

Moderation is very important.

I have a 7yr old who has been asking about a console for 2 yrs now, as all his friends have one. Many play their consoles for a few hours a day. For me, that's not healthy.

We have considered relenting and letting Santa bring one this Xmas, when he will be 8. But it would be strictly controlled and likely only be allowed at weekends.

He loves reading,lego and documentaries, and I just fear the presence of a console would become the number 1 priority.

As much as I love games, and despite my previous comment above about how healthy an activity is can be for young children, I'd still exercise caution where a child has a very keen interest in reading. A lot of children like reading, but some children love reading and if your child is in the latter camp then I'd let him continue with that as a priority until he's a bit older. That's just my two cents.

But you seem to have the right attitude about how to introduce a console so I don't imagine it would be too disruptive either way. I imagine the important thing is to be strict. If the child knows that the console is for an hour or two at the weekend, and there's no getting around that, then he'll get used to it. But if he knows it's there whenever he stags for long enough, or whenever mam and dad aren't looking, then it's possible that he'll get distracted.

I should qualify all of the above by saying that I've been both a videogame lover and a bookworm for the past 27 years, and one has never interfered with the other.