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Ask Slashdot: Best Console For the Kids This Holiday?
First time accepted submitter undulato writes "I've got an aging, fat PS3 with only a couple of games that I still play on it but three kids under 9 who love Skylanders, iPet, Lego whatever etc. We all watch movies on it and it has been pretty much the centre of our entertainment world for a few years now. I've already got a spare HDMI monitor we could use for a screen so my question is — should we go for a new console this Christmas? Just buy another controller or two and a new game or two for PS3 and be done? Or get the still pretty viable Xbox 360, or even plump for a cheap Wii or even a Wii U if we're feeling flush. What do you think?"
Just get some PS3 games imo
Easiest "Ask Slashdot" ever. More child friendly games are available for Nintendo's platforms than for the PS3 or Xbox 360.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Just get a semi decent PC and a few game controllers. PC vs Console aside, since Nintendo just released a new system and the other gaming consoles are starting to show their age, investing in one now seems counter intuitive. If you have enough money that it doesn't matter, I'm not sure why you don't just have one of each already. If money is tight enough that that isn't an option, then you really don't have a leg to stand on pushing to get a new system in the first place.
This feels more like fishing for a current idea of how consumers feel about the consoles than a legitimate question. Unless your kids (or yourself) are dying to play games that aren't on the PS3 that you already have, or are having issues with Sony, there's no reason to move to a new system at all.
Buy them baseball bats - if you live in a safe area they can play ball - if you don't they can join a gang! Win-Win!
My kid already donates from her allowance weekly and volunteers her time. Kindly keep your moralizing out of the discussion. It wasn't asked for, I doubt it will be appreciated, and it's completely off topic.
And get raped and killed, great idea.
They live near a church?
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
This is a forum dedicated to uncontrolled mass consumption. We don't want your charitable kind around here. Don't you have a dank alley to patrol for losers?
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
yea cause skateboards are great when there's 2 foot of snow and its -8 outside
Use Steam and a Linux Box, later, your sons will play less and learn more, because they will have all the free tools to learn.
If someone would only somehow adapt a skateboard for such a situation. Maybe lose the wheels and strap yourself to it?
This year I am thankful for Tom Sims. Props bro.
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
Why don't you ask your children what console they want? Chances are they will be very disappointed by whatever group consensus you will get from Slashdot, which will probably be some Linux based 10 year old shoebox computer running Steam beta...
Yep, 5 comments up "Use Steam and a Linux Box"...sigh.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
As someone who owns all of the consoles in question, I have to agree. I would recommend the Wii U over the plain Wii, because it just came out and the Wii won't be supported for much longer. Plus, the Wii U can play the old Wii games just fine, and will actually make use of that spare HDMI monitor.
With that said, the Wii U doesn't have a ton of great games right now. For kids, there's Mario, Epic Mickey 2 (available on other platforms as well), Scribblenauts Unlimited (actually supposed to be good this time, though I'd hesitate at $60), and a couple others that may or may not be good (I know a lot of kids like the Just Dance games). All things said, it's a pretty good launch selection, but the other systems will obviously have a lot more to offer for now.
NSMBU is great, though. It's very much a mix of SMB3 and Super Mario World.
If you can't convince them, convict them.
Use it as an opportunity to teach valuable shopping, reasoning, and persusasion skills.
Research each console, titles for each console, and options; find pluses and minuses.
Ask the 3 kids to make "Features/Advantages" and "Disadvantages" lists for each console, each one to pick the console they find most compelling, and tell the story.
If there's a disagreement have a discussion, and requirement for the kids to persuade each other/ come to unanimous agreement on which console they want.
Then take your kids' opinions under advisement, in making your final decision....
I have 3 kids under 9 and one over 9. We have both a Wii and a 360. Two Wiis in fact. Both the Wiis are gathering dust, probably not turned on in over a year. The 360 on the other hand gets TONS of use from the kids. While the Wii has lots of shitty games DIRECTED at kids, the 360 has tons of GOOD child friendly games.
There's tons of great games for the PC but they're 99% one player/machine with mouse and keyboard.
I've been collecting a list of multiplayer-capable games, along with links to other people's lists.
At best you'll get a few console ports who kept the console controller scheme as an option
That or indie games whose developers heed Microsoft's advice that "Applications should support multiple controllers" better than the majors do. So does the whole one-machine-per-player mentality on the PC come from a belief that not enough potential customers own multiple USB game controllers and a 20" or bigger monitor? Or is it more a matter of publisher greed?
Why bother debating on it? Just get more ps3 games, you already have the system.
I see a lot of comments saying nintendo is better for kids games and thats not true, nintendo is better for shovelware games. Sure nintendo has some good kids games but no more than anyone else since the vast majority of games on nintendos systems are complete garbage where some developer craps out a family friendly game that is a complete waste of time.
Ps3 has a lot of great games for kids and adults. Ratchet and clank hd collection, sly cooper collection, rayman origins, little big planet, little big planet 2, all of the "lego" theme games on it, skylanders, skylanders giants, ratchet and clank a crack in time, modnation racers, sonic generations, playstation move heroes, epic mickey 2, disney universe, wonderbook, and dozens more. Plus the dozens and dozens of smaller games you can buy cheap on the playstation store.
And if you mean aging as in your ps3 is aged since you bought it yes, but its hardly aging in techology sense. Last of us and beyond two souls are coming out and still advancing what can be done on it.
If the ps3 is such a big part of your family and you already have a library of games for it then why change it out while its still in its prime?
Really? Has it come down to tihs where people really don't give a hoot about the less fortunate?
Cut the crap. Buying a Christmas present for your kids does not mean you don't care about less fortunate. Nothing is going to do more to sour kids on charitable giving than telling them they are getting nothing for Christmas because of the "needy". Most people have enough income to give something to the needy while still providing for their own families.
What could go wrong?
This one time, at band camp...