Correct age for child to start gaming?

ohboy10451

ohboy10451

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I would like to get my 3 year old daughter into gaming. I just purchased a dsi from GameStop for $35 because I can easily get games for her and wouldn't be mad if she broke it. I was thinking later on to get her a 2DS because of durability and price. I do own a vita, xb1, xb360 & PS3 but I don't think she's ready for any of them. Any one have any advice or experience?
 
If she likes music, I would suggest going with some Kinect rhythm games for now.  It's something they can jump around, and flail to make it seem like they're doing great, even if the stage keeps giving them 0 points, but at least they think they're playing along, lol. 

There are some other Kinect games she may enjoy, but some of them will require you to kind of help move things along, or for you to play through first to progress the game, and open up more options.

I mean, handhelds are great if they're a bit older, but to be honest, most games still require some reading, and motor skills aside, I'm not sure how many of the handheld games are that fun for a 3-4 year old if there's any story in it.

If you have a decent tablet, I would consider possibly starting with some simple app games.  There are tons of app games that are built for tablets now, most of which are free, and great for kids.  My niece just loves those games on the tablet, and can just sit there playing them for awhile.  It's my brother in laws master plan to transition them into a handheld when she's a bit older, but for now, that seems to be pretty effective, and the apps are mostly free.

Of course, the tablet is much more expensive than a DSi (in most cases), so depending on how rough or gentle she is with it, it could end up in the trash, lol.  Just make sure you get a good case.  ;P

But yeah, Kinect games are probably a good way to go for now, and you can participate too at times if you want.

 
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I have never met a child who played true gaming console games at 3. I was 6-9 when I got a SNES and Gameboy. For that age range it's really more "LeapFrog" games which look fun for the children on the commercials.

 
WakaBrea said:
Lol true I guess it's my wishful thinking. Any time she sees Mario she goes crazy. She does have her iPad
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Then buy her Mario Run. This way you don't need a new console just for her, and I think she only needs to hit a few buttons and might not notice if she dies. Every children is different. We never grew up with this tech world. I bought an Amazon Fire for $33. That be like a third of the cost of a SNES game. :lol:

But with the Switch coming out the 2DS and 3DS will drop in price a lot. So I say in 18 months to two years pick her up one and some of the great games it has and it can grow with her. I can see a 4-5 year old (badly) playing Mario in todays world and the 2/3DS series has amazing Mario games.

 
I would agree that 4 is a good age to get started, just depends on the games. I started at 3-4 on the SNES as a kid (the SNES was my brothers). I walked in on him playing zelda, he let me watch, and a few months later my parents got me some surprisingly age appropriate games that included Mario ABC (which was indeed a thing). I learned how to hone my skills with them quickly.
I think platformers with a linear path were what helped me, (well that, and two of the games were more like little arcade mini games). I was able to play the harder games, like Mario kart & star fox (not well but able) after that. Perhaps find something similiar. A game full of fun mini games or really easy platformers (one that is not in 3D would probably help). I can't really think of any right now, but I know there are some decent ones based on animated movies/shows out there for the DS that even I actually enjoyed.
 
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