I want to get a video game set for my 8 year old daughter but I don't know anything about any of them. Any suggestions? X-Box, Play Station 2?...I know absolutely nothing about them. Your help is appreciated.

Basically, I'm asking what kind of system should I get and the names of some games that would be suitable for and eight year old.

Thanks.

I think the best thing you could do would be to keep her away from videogames to be honest.

As it is, PS2 and Xbox are adult consoles, definately not suitable for children.

The GameCube is notorious for being child-friendly and about 75% of it's entire game library is aimed at children. The games are easy to learn and pickup and do not include any content which would be considered unacceptable for an 8 year old.

Make sure any games you do get are rated G or E, which means they're suitable to play for young children and families.

nah theres plenty of games for the ps2 that are child friendly, rayman, jak and daxter, ratchet and clank, spyro, any racing game, singstar games etc no point getting a gamecube theres not enough games

neither console is adult orientated, unless you buy the adult games

There's hundreds of games for the GC, all aimed directly at that age range.

Yes there are several games suitable for children on the PS2 or Xbox, but not nearly as many as on GC, which is intended for children, obviously.



Look at the market Mr. Halo. PS2 and Xbox are marketed directly to teens and adults, and GC to children.

Care to elaborate as to why?

I don't think videogames are good for children period personally. And i'm a good example of it. (6000 posts in the vg forum? )

ok in my opinion joc you should get your daughter a nintendo DS, loads of games for the younger folks, plus its fun

Indeed. Nintendo in general are aimed for children.

I agree,but its gotta be a game-cube,or a game boy(handheld,a bit cheaper,the games are quite basic and she wont be staring at the TV all the time.)
XBox and Playstation games can be quite violent,where the GC,nintendo in general is more aimed at kids like Burnside states.

Very well then...I'll look into Nintendo...thanks guys!

Nononono!!! get her a ps2 and Shadow of Rome as the first game. Its family friendly!





Seriously though, get her a GameCube and some Mario games.

I don't know whether I sould be insulted that everybody wants her to buy a Gamecube or honored. Nintendo games are more kid friendly than others, but sometimes they can be very difficult to beat.


My first question is this: Does she like video games? If not, why are you buying her some? If so, what kind of games does she like?

All the consoles have all types of games. Most games do revolve around violence of some kind, wether it is cartoon violence(Wily Coyote), teen violence(Lord of the Rings), or adult violence(Saw). Since she's eight cartoon violence is probably okay, but that depends on what you feel is best. Some parents let kids play M-rated games.

Here are some you might want to look into:

Gamecube:
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Kirby Airride
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

PS2:
Kingdom Hearts
Jak and Daxter


That's all i can think of right now.

Yes she likes video games. She mostly plays games from Wonka.com. I am not interested in any violent games. She likes Ms. Pac Man, Asteroids and that sort of thing.

Can the GameCube be hooked up to her television?

RPGs.

Yeah right, an 8 year old is going to be able to play an RPG... lol.

Personally though joc I would NEVER buy my 8 year old a video gamne console! Why? Because she is at the age where she should be kept away from those kind of things... she should be getting into outdoor activities, lots of social things. vedeogames are BAD for social development, proven fact. The younger you get her into videogames the higher the risk of her turning into some overweight couch potatoe with bad eyesight from watching too much TV.

And giving them to a kid so young...? NEVER in a million years would I give one to an 8 year old. Sorry but i just think that's really bad...

Take her out, get her enrolled in clubs and outdoor activities... the LAST thing you should be doing is getting her a games console at such a tender age! That is BAD!



Umm ok... PS2 and Xbox are adult-oriented consoles... the people who make it even say so... the catalogues of games are not suited to young children, but more mature audiences...

I appreciate your concern...however she is already quite involved in extra-curricular activities. She takes Dance, Piano lessons, and a church related activity every week. Also swim lessons when the fall comes around. She has to READ aloud to either Mom or myself for at least 30 minutes every night.She isn't allowed to watch TV at all during the week. And when she does there are only 3 channels she is allowed to watch. She loves to play games on the computer and when she does....then I can't post on UM. Actually she is a very well rounded gal and the video game console will not 'become her life'. But I wanted to make sure that what I got her would be Kid Friendly.

Of course they can!
If you buy a simple one they are pretty easy, little kids can suprise you.

Hmm in that case that's cool but i'd still wait a couple of years before gettign her one.

What about getting her a pet?

I have xbox at home and there are plenty of kid(E) rated games, Lego Star Wars, Finding Nemo, Scooby Doo, Shrek 2, Spiderman, Harry potter, Sonic, Sponge Bob, The Hobbit, Animaniacs, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory....the list goes on. My little guy also plays some teen(T) rated ones like the different Star Wars games.

3 crabs, one fish in an aquarium, a tarantula in an aquarium, two dogs.

How old are your kids?




Are all of these systems capable of hooking up to a television? And does it hurt the television?

Hah none yet, although I came pretty damn close a few months ago.

But as sad as it may sound, I kind of already have my kids childhoods as planned out as you can have without actually having them, lol. I'm really looking forward to having kids, a boy and a girl hopefully.

Not for a few years yet though... i'm thinking 30.

Hee hee hee hee hee hee! Planning a kid's life. Hee hee hee hee hee!

I'm a mother of 2 boys - 7 and 6 and I would never dream of getting them a game system at all. If they want to buy one themselves when they get old enough, that's their choice.

BUT... kids playing video games is not a bad thing. Playing uninterrupted all day long to the exclusion of all else IS a bad thing. Playing for an hour here and there in between playing and doing 'activities' is not.

Yes they hook up to a TV, how would you see the game?
And no, they're harmless to your TV.

Only the early foundation stages obviously, if they're anything like me that's all they'll need. I had a great foundation upbringing and it produces a vey balanced, free-spirited young chap.

Actually they can harm some large projection screen tv's.

Only if the are on the wrong settings.

Nintendo GC is definetely the way to go IMO.

I have to disagree with whoever said videogames are bad for social development etc. I'm 15 and I have many friends; the ones who I hang out with to play videogames etc. are funny and I genuinely enjoy being with; the ones who havent touched videogames spent most their time going out and 'enjoying life to the fullest' and now a good 90% of them regularly get drunk and high. Playing videogames and staying indoors more does change your social life but motly in a positive way. Keeps you out of trouble and Its not as if Im a couch potato or whatever you want to call it; Im one of the healthiest of my group of friends and I still get regular exercise; especially compared to the friends of mine who spend their time just getting high

Just wanted to add that

Well just viewing some of the pictures online I thought maybe they had their own screen..like a laptop kind of thing...I told you I didn't know anything about them...

Get your girl a PS2 with a dance-mat, if she likes singing, there is this microphone for PS2, and you sing down it in tune with the TV and get points for it, or get her an Eye toy. But i have always played FPS, RTS,RPG and beat-em up games since i was 4 so i dont really know any games for girls, my sisters play on the sims




Yeah, my little brother is 5 and he is awesome at spider-man 2, timesplitters 2 and Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs Death. But he grew up with Videogames, *coughs*its not my fault

P.S-Sorry about the poor quote, I cant do them properlly yet

The only way that the console will mess up your tv is if You let one picture run too long on a large screen or plasma screen. I know this from experience. I suggest letting her play on a small screen tv. But not too small. And dont let her sit too close to the tv either.

For an 8 year old, I have no idea how they can figure out all those buttons so easy for video games unless they grew up with them.

I recommend an NES or an Atari 2600. You can get tons and tons of games, probably get them cheap, you may need a little work done, but you can get good ones at flea markets for like $10 and games for a dollar each. Atari has Asteroids and Pac Man, all that good stuff, and retro is always better...

There are little devices that you can find just about anywhere that have old Atari, Activision, or Sega games on them. They are just the controller that you hook up to the TV.



Your kid likes what I call "short games". Those are arcade kinda things; really simple and are easy to start playing and easy to stop.
Your kid seems to have a lot to do already, so they don't have much time to devote to console games. (Which tend to be longer and more complicated than internet/arcade type games.)


These have ten games: Centepide, Asteroids, Missle Command, Circus Atari, Yar's Revenge, Breakout, Gravitar, RealSports Volleyball, Pong and Aventure.

Otherwise, a Nintendo Ds would be good cause most of the games for it are those short and simple ones. And then there's Nintendogs!

Puppy!!



That's alright, some third-party companies (MadCatz, Pelican) make screens that you can attach to your console so you can take it with you on vacations and stuff.
But I don't have one 'cause they cost a couple of hundred, and I don't leave my house for long much. (PS: The Nintendo DS has two screens; the top one is just a normal one, and the bottom one is a touch screen.)

I hope that helps you out some.