GBA or GBA SP for 5 year old?

noahj

noahj

CAGiversary!
Feedback
1 (100%)
Here's the deal.....just got back from a couple nights out of town with the wife and our 5 year old son. We just got away for the weekend and stayed in a cabin in a state park. The cabin had no television, so i brought along my DS Lite for my entertainment.

Now normally, my son enjoys just watching me play some games here and there. However, it's time he needs something on his own to keep him entertained. A DS is too much for him, if nothing else because i'm afraid he'll accidentally abuse it (because he's 5) and i don't want to spend that much on a system for him. I was considering a GBA or even a GBA SP for him......that is if there are some games he can play and enjoy on his own (once i get him started).

So can anyone give any ideas or suggestions on whether either of these is reasonable for a 5 year old? Let me say this, he's very adept at games for his age. He logs onto Disney and Nick Jr.'s website daily and can play those games with relative ease. I was thinking a GBA would do the trick. Am i thinking correct?

If so, anyone got any games they can suggest that would do for a 5 year old?
 
My son at 3 1/2 had a GBA SP and he loved it. His first game was Crash Kart. He loved it and would play it all the time. I got him the SP ( Brighter Screen) when he turned 4. I sold his SP and bought a DS Lite. He takes very good care of his things though. Now he's 5 and lovin' Mario Party / Club House Games. He's starting to enjoy Tetris.


If he doesn't like games , you could also get GBA movies if he likes watching those. Those are very cheap and will normally entertain him.

I think a SP would be great for him. The original is very hard to view in direct sunlight.
 
I would also say the SP. It has a long battery life (rechargable) and is very durable. The screen has like a side lighting so you dont have to mess around trying to find the perfect lighting. The screen has a thick plastic cover on it so you can never really damage the real screen under it.
Not sure on games as I don't have a kid and mostly play more in depth games.
 
awesome, thanks for the replies. gonna look for a GBA SP and look into a couple games to start him off with.
 
Are you guys sure that SP's flip up hinge will be strong enough for 5 year old's abuse? I would rather go for original GBA or Micro.
 
My 5 year old son has had an SP for a while now and beat the HELL out of the thing. They are bullet proof.

I fully recommend going that route, and there are TONS of games for the system as well. This is an area where I like buying used from Gamestop because of the 7 day return policy on used games.

Hope that helps!!!
 
any particular good game recommendations would be appreciated so i don't have to continue to buy and return.

anything someone else has gotten good mileage out of? are the Spiderman, Pirates, X Men, etc. type stuff too much for a 5 year old?

not sure to what to even look for.
 
I'd probably start with some of the Super Mario titles such as the Super Mario Advance series. Also since the GBA is backwards compatible with older Game Boy titles, I'd recommend some of those too. I'm not too sure about the Spider-Man games except for Spidey 3 on GBA, that game seemed like the easiest out of all the GBA Spidey titles and seems like it was made for younger players.

My first Game Boy game was the original Wario Land, which I got when I was very little and I enjoyed it a lot. I even began to like Wario more than Mario when I played that game. I think it has a pretty good difficulty for a 5 year old. The game's a bit too easy for me now but it's still as fun as it used to be. You should be able to find this cheap used at GameStop. The sequels are fun too but I didn't enjoy them as much.
 
My son got his DS for his 5th birthday. He also had and still has a GBA SP. I think they are both great. Why don't you let him try your ds and see how he does with it, you can buy the GBA games for it and ds games.
Just let him know to be careful with it. My son is careful with it. He knows if he is not he will not get to play with it. I keep both systems in my room when he is not playing with them. If you get another ds you can play certain games against each other which is really fun.
 
I started my sons (5 and 6) off with 2 GBA's that I bought for $5 each at a Garage sale. I started with them because they are indestructible and I wanted to see how well they listened to me telling them how to treat them and my games. After that I let them play my old GBA SP. I save on batteries and it has a light. The old ones I save for road trips because if they get lost it's not a big deal.
They are allowed to occasionally play the two DS in the house. But only very carefully. I'll probably give my black one to my sons one day and buy a another new one for myself.
 
Get the SP with the brighter screen. It is hugely better than the previous editions. The hinge isn't a problem. The SP's are very solid. Our 5 and 6 year olds (originally 4 and 5) haven't been able to damage it.
 
Yeah, the hinge on the GBA SP seems plenty strong to me. I'd go with that, as much as I love my DS Lite there's times when I feel like I'm going to end up breaking it sooner or later because the thing feels so fragile.

I think the Mario recommendation is a good one, I think they'd be simple enough for a younger child but still a blast to play.
 
The SP is the better choice I would say. Nintendo products are usually built like tanks so it shouldnt be much worry if he drops it or bends it a little.
 
The DS isn't that fragile either. I actually accidentally threw my DS Lite onto the floor (not carpeted) with a fair bit of force (a ridiculously failed attempt to grab it out of the air that resulted in slapping it to the ground) and it came away unscathed and works perfectly. In general I think Nintendo knows how to make hardware.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top