My 7 year old wants a console - help!
Discussion
My 7-year old son is asking for an XBox, having not really played with one - apart from a few goes on one of his mates. Currently he plays fairly simplistic stuff on his Kindle tablet, and is massively into MineCraft. We're not planning on allowing him onto Call of Duty/etc at his age.
My gaming knowledge is limited, I used to play stuff on PC in the 90's and early 2000's, and a bit on PlayStation up until PS3. Never really got as far as online gaming, and mostly just played either FIFA or Gran Turismo/Dirt Rally.
Obviously everything has moved on a lot!
Are there any good reasons to choose one way or the other between Xbox and PlayStation?
Is everything streamed now, rather than you having to go and actually by a disc? Am I inevitably going to have to buy the console - then ongoing subscription charges (we don't currently have any subscriptions services like Netflix/Amazon Prime/etc...)
AND - am I likely to find the games aren't really suitable for his age range, and we might be better of waiting a few more years?
My gaming knowledge is limited, I used to play stuff on PC in the 90's and early 2000's, and a bit on PlayStation up until PS3. Never really got as far as online gaming, and mostly just played either FIFA or Gran Turismo/Dirt Rally.
Obviously everything has moved on a lot!
Are there any good reasons to choose one way or the other between Xbox and PlayStation?
Is everything streamed now, rather than you having to go and actually by a disc? Am I inevitably going to have to buy the console - then ongoing subscription charges (we don't currently have any subscriptions services like Netflix/Amazon Prime/etc...)
AND - am I likely to find the games aren't really suitable for his age range, and we might be better of waiting a few more years?
Edited by johnpsanderson on Wednesday 11th November 12:38
You should be able to get an Xbox One S for fairly cheap now as the new console has just be released. Although it may be more prudent to get the new Xbox as it should last him easily into his teenage years.
I think at that age the choice is dictated by what his friends have. He doesn't want to be the only one with an Xbox when everyone else has a PlayStation and vice versa.
I think you can put parental controls on it. Games for the Xbox One can still be bought on disc, Minecraft should be fairly cheap now and I know through my other halfs daughter that plenty of people still play it on xbox.
I think at that age the choice is dictated by what his friends have. He doesn't want to be the only one with an Xbox when everyone else has a PlayStation and vice versa.
I think you can put parental controls on it. Games for the Xbox One can still be bought on disc, Minecraft should be fairly cheap now and I know through my other halfs daughter that plenty of people still play it on xbox.
We have Switch and Xbox
Get the switch. You can get Minecraft on it and it's much more flexible (pick up and play without someone needing to not watch TV, play outside on hols etc) The pick up and play-ability of it wins over booting up the xbox, creating a Microsoft account (you'll need to do this) setting age appropriate controls etc. You'll need to do this on the Nintendo but I speak from experience when I say my 2 (8 and 10) never touch the xbox as it's easier to pick up the switch. Set up Realms and it's cross platform on Bedrock (the version that isn't Java) so he can play with any friends who are playing it too on any platform, you can even play cross platform Switch>Phone.
Also, its more fun when you play together (it has 2 controllers out of the box without having to pay extra on the xbox), it's more family oriented and Nintendo make great kids games. There are plenty of kids games on the other 2 consoles but the games on the whole are going to be better when he's older.
Get the switch. You can get Minecraft on it and it's much more flexible (pick up and play without someone needing to not watch TV, play outside on hols etc) The pick up and play-ability of it wins over booting up the xbox, creating a Microsoft account (you'll need to do this) setting age appropriate controls etc. You'll need to do this on the Nintendo but I speak from experience when I say my 2 (8 and 10) never touch the xbox as it's easier to pick up the switch. Set up Realms and it's cross platform on Bedrock (the version that isn't Java) so he can play with any friends who are playing it too on any platform, you can even play cross platform Switch>Phone.
Also, its more fun when you play together (it has 2 controllers out of the box without having to pay extra on the xbox), it's more family oriented and Nintendo make great kids games. There are plenty of kids games on the other 2 consoles but the games on the whole are going to be better when he's older.
Edited by TimmyMallett on Wednesday 11th November 13:14
Edited by TimmyMallett on Wednesday 11th November 13:16
WonkeyDonkey said:
I think at that age the choice is dictated by what his friends have. He doesn't want to be the only one with an Xbox when everyone else has a PlayStation and vice versa.
This.He'll be playing online with his mates, so needs what they have really.
Be prepared for him to turn into a Fortnite disciple.
Not advice on the console per se but something I heard someone say the other day. If you're concerned about how much they might end up playing on the console it may be worth having a frank conversation about it and asking how much time they would like to play per day/week. Usually it will be a sensible amount of time, and you should be able to set up time limits in parental controls.
Same thing applied to social media etc. in due course.
Same thing applied to social media etc. in due course.
Xbox + game pass gets you a lot of content for not a lot of money. Not all of it suitable for 7 year olds.
My 8 year old plays on my Xbox and his Switch.
The switch is an excellent machine, but I’d suggest he does more gaming on the Xbox.
If he plans to play with his friends, get what they have so they can play together. However minecraft is cross platform (we’ve had pc, Xbox, PS4 and switch all playing together).
If it’s a Christmas gift, unbox and setup the week before and let it download all the updates and games _before_ Christmas Day.
Nowt so sad as a disappointed child on the 25th when the servers are wilting under load.
My 8 year old plays on my Xbox and his Switch.
The switch is an excellent machine, but I’d suggest he does more gaming on the Xbox.
If he plans to play with his friends, get what they have so they can play together. However minecraft is cross platform (we’ve had pc, Xbox, PS4 and switch all playing together).
If it’s a Christmas gift, unbox and setup the week before and let it download all the updates and games _before_ Christmas Day.
Nowt so sad as a disappointed child on the 25th when the servers are wilting under load.
My kids of similar age play a 2nd hand Nintendo Wii U and DS. They are pretty much all kid friendly games and brilliant fun. I have been playing Mario 3D World with my daughter after school, great fun.
They sometimes play on my Xbox One X and now Xbox Series X but the games are all a bit too serious for them and they get bored quickly.
They sometimes play on my Xbox One X and now Xbox Series X but the games are all a bit too serious for them and they get bored quickly.
Ive been down this road. My son (11) has PS4 and numerous tablets. My daughter (9) has a tablet / phone.
Welcome to hell...... get ready for lots of arguements about wanting more screen time, Fornite skins, Roadbuck, and accounts that get scammed / hacked. Prepare for wired kids once they come off and lots of shouting. :-) Blocksberg, tiktok, and all those other apps where 99% of the content is childish sounding americans.
I brought a Wifi Router / API that allows for multiple SIDS with control over times they are switched on. This meant I could configure all consoles / handhelds to this and switch them off when I wanted too / set times.
Consoles tend to move them into phones, yes I said no phones either but it eventually happens, so I use google's Family link to control times / location / app installations too.
Regarding consoles, my son wants to move over to Xbox now and wants me to buy him Xbox X or something. Xbox is meant to have better gaming with friends, so Ive been told. Or it could be that all his friends are on Xbox. Let's just say I aint rushing ..... :-)
Good luck.
SBK
Welcome to hell...... get ready for lots of arguements about wanting more screen time, Fornite skins, Roadbuck, and accounts that get scammed / hacked. Prepare for wired kids once they come off and lots of shouting. :-) Blocksberg, tiktok, and all those other apps where 99% of the content is childish sounding americans.
I brought a Wifi Router / API that allows for multiple SIDS with control over times they are switched on. This meant I could configure all consoles / handhelds to this and switch them off when I wanted too / set times.
Consoles tend to move them into phones, yes I said no phones either but it eventually happens, so I use google's Family link to control times / location / app installations too.
Regarding consoles, my son wants to move over to Xbox now and wants me to buy him Xbox X or something. Xbox is meant to have better gaming with friends, so Ive been told. Or it could be that all his friends are on Xbox. Let's just say I aint rushing ..... :-)
Good luck.
SBK
My sons are 18 and 14 now and all they do is sit in front of their consoles or gaming computers.
All day and all night, yelling into their microphones all sorts of profanities.
The arguments when WiFi is turned off are awful and things get smashed and neighbours have even called the police.
I curse the day when the consoles went online.
Don't talk to me about bloody Fortnite.
All day and all night, yelling into their microphones all sorts of profanities.
The arguments when WiFi is turned off are awful and things get smashed and neighbours have even called the police.
I curse the day when the consoles went online.
Don't talk to me about bloody Fortnite.
Mr E said:
If it’s a Christmas gift, unbox and setup the week before and let it download all the updates and games _before_ Christmas Day.
Nowt so sad as a disappointed child on the 25th when the servers are wilting under load.
This is a very good point. Even though the games are bought on DVD, it seems that there is basically nothing on them, and it all had to be downloaded.Nowt so sad as a disappointed child on the 25th when the servers are wilting under load.
I remember it was three days before one game had completed all it s updates due to the server overload. It was not a happy house.
Shame the Wii is not still going - this was the perfect younger child’s console. Sounds like the Switch may be a good replacement for it.
As others have said, get him what his mates have. These things become the main social interaction device. I've had PlayStations since the original and still have a PS3 and PS4 in the house so I'll probably get the PS5. My mates are upgrading and we play a lot of COD together. I'm used to the OS and prefer the controller to the xBox but in reality the new xBox is a better spec than the new PS if that matters to you/him. In terms of controllers, kids seem to be able to seamlessly switch between them wheres I'm only really effective with the original small PS controllers. The xBox one felt comically big but that's more because I'm an old git.
croyde said:
My sons are 18 and 14 now and all they do is sit in front of their consoles or gaming computers.
All day and all night, yelling into their microphones all sorts of profanities.
The arguments when WiFi is turned off are awful and things get smashed and neighbours have even called the police.
I curse the day when the consoles went online.
Don't talk to me about bloody Fortnite.
My lad was ok until he got his headset. Consoles are a both a total nightmare and a life saver at times.All day and all night, yelling into their microphones all sorts of profanities.
The arguments when WiFi is turned off are awful and things get smashed and neighbours have even called the police.
I curse the day when the consoles went online.
Don't talk to me about bloody Fortnite.
rustyuk said:
croyde said:
My sons are 18 and 14 now and all they do is sit in front of their consoles or gaming computers.
All day and all night, yelling into their microphones all sorts of profanities.
The arguments when WiFi is turned off are awful and things get smashed and neighbours have even called the police.
I curse the day when the consoles went online.
Don't talk to me about bloody Fortnite.
My lad was ok until he got his headset. Consoles are a both a total nightmare and a life saver at times.All day and all night, yelling into their microphones all sorts of profanities.
The arguments when WiFi is turned off are awful and things get smashed and neighbours have even called the police.
I curse the day when the consoles went online.
Don't talk to me about bloody Fortnite.
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