[Closed] A games console for a 9 year old ?

The same one that his mates have.

It's all about the online gaming.

Maybe get him/her a ball/hockey stick/bike instead? 😐

The same one that his mates have.

^This!

Although kids seem to have every console going nowadays.

Maybe get him/her a ball/hockey stick/bike instead?

Maybe his kid does those things as well. It is possible.

Watching with interest, as my son has wanted one for the last 3 years and we might actually get him one this Christmas. He's also nine and has 3 bikes and about a thousand balls!

My kids are loving our old Wii.

Maybe get him/her a ball/hockey stick/bike instead?

Maybe don't be such a patronising berk.

I wanted to make a joke about 'A games console for a 9 year old? Sounds like a fair swap.'

But in this day and age it just felt wrong.

But yeah, Perchypanther is right. Get them whatever their mates have.

Maybe don't be such a patronising berk.

Fair.

I just hate video games.

What they said. 9 might be a bit young for online gaming, but s/he could at least swap games with mates. Has the anklebiter expressed a preference?

I can help with:

Xbox, the new Xbox

The Xbox One is the original console.
The Xbox One S is a smaller reissue, it's functionally identical to the One.
The forthcoming Xbox One X is essentially all about the 4K gaming. Unless the box is going to be hooked up to a huge 4K screen it's pointless (doubly so for a 9-year old).

We have an Xbox one. I refuse to pay a monthly sub for online gaming for our kids but I do have 3 so they can play with each other.

I hate the bloody thing. Everyone needs an email, a password, a PIN number. The thing needs to update whenever we turn it on, which is not that often. Unless you have fast fibre you'll take ages to update or download games.

I think a bloody ps1 where you turned it on, played a game and turned it off when you were finished was a much better user experience.

Bah humbug #notlikethegoodolddays

Probably not the best thread for to comment on then.

As mentioned see what his friends have or made the right decision and get a PS4.

Haha, thanks for all the quick replies, my 9 year old GIRL has never done any online gaming and she does not have any friends with a console at the moment (it’s a new town, new school)

I’m just setting her new room up and wanted to get her a console for Christmas.

Ps, she has a track bike, a mountain bike and an Ebike

Probably not the best thread for to comment on then.

You're right. I apologise and withdraw.

If it's for Christmas or a birthday, buy it in advance and set it up and try to play each of the games.

Modern consoles need to downlaod loads of stuff before the games work and you don't want to be pissing about on Xmas day trying to connect to Xbox live for a 4 hour download at the same time as 15 million other frustrated parents with impatient kids who can't play their games.

Ask me how I know this. 🙁

Maybe get him/her a ball/hockey stick/bike instead?

Maybe his kid does those things as well. It is possible.

No, this being the Pillar of Virtue that is STW, that isn't possible.

Ps, she has a track bike, a mountain bike and an [b]Ebike
[/b]

Shhhh! Don’t say that out loud here.

You're right. I apologise and withdraw.

[img] [/img]

So can you not just plug it in a play a game then?

I might not bother if thats the case....

PS3? You could get one for every TV in the house and have LAN battles for less than the cost of a PS4/XB1

So can you not just plug it in a play a game then?

I might not bother if thats the case....

You can, but most games will either want to update straight away or before you log in online. Problem is I'm not sure a new-ish console will even let you play without an internet connection to log into your account.

On the plus side, games are far less buggy than they used to be. Consoles used to have great big re-set buttons on the front, or you were forever switching them on and off as the game crashed.

So can you not just plug it in a play a game then?

Of course you can but as they’re essentially a computer it’s best to update them, takes no time at all on any day but Xmas.

PS3? You could get one for every TV in the house and have LAN battles for less than the cost of a PS4/XB1

A £100 buys you all those out of date consoles?

Nintendo Switch is great

youngest is 11 and he and his mates are on PS4's, whilst eldest boy (14) and his mates are on XBox 1's.

TGF BT Infinity 🙂

A £100 buys you all those out of date consoles?

£70 buys you a PS3, or a third of a PS4.

I'm sure a 9yr old appreciates the 4k skintones on the hookers in GTA and the excellent rendering of blood mist from bullet wounds in COD.

In my day all this were [s]trees [/s][i]SNES[/i]

Xbox 1S + Forza Horizon 3 + FIFA 18 + spare controller. Check hotukdeals for packages and prices.

If it's for Christmas or a birthday, buy it in advance and set it up and try to play each of the games.

This is very good advice. Ask me how I know...

my 9 year old GIRL has never done any online gaming and she does not have any friends with a console at the moment (it’s a new town, new school)

Device might need to be Minecraft positive. She needs to subtly find out whether any of her prospective buddies are into this kind of thing.

Switch is a good call, seems a bit overpriced for what it is though. An old Wii with loads of games might be a lot more fun in the short term (and considerably cheaper).

It's possible that a console will gather dust though as many new releases seem to be geared towards social gaming.

youngest is 11 and he and his mates are on PS4's, whilst eldest boy (14) and his mates are on XBox 1's.

Our son was pretty much the same, pswhatever then switched to xbox in his mid teens, 20 years old and he's still playing the ****ing thing 🙂

£70 buys you a PS3, or a third of a PS4.

Or 2/3 for secondhand.

Why not get her a powerkite instead?

[img] [/img]

Why not get him a powerkite instead?

She won't thank him for it.

#prayforrusty

Why not get him a powerkite instead?

Read the thread, you terrible [s]sexist[/s] stealth editor!

I've got a PS3 that will be for sale shortly, but that's because we just upgraded to a PS4 (200 quid from amazon) as all the cool new games won't work on PS3 (Lego Worlds and Lego Ninjago specifically).

The PS3 is a good gateway drug, console is cheap and games are cheaper if you go to CeX. But if all his mates already have a console then they'll want to play the same game at some point...

Can you get one that runs Zwift?

On updates, The trick with Xbox one updates is to use the standby, rather than full eco shutdown mode. It will update automatically games, OS etc overnight. Everything ready as soon as you turn on. These can be pretty big updates, but everyone has unlimited data on home broadband now?

I assume the above is true of PS4, but don't own one.

Yup you can have standby mode with auto update.

2 9 year olds here.. We have a PS3, good for minecraft, and Wii, good for Mario and sports simulation / dance games that are great fun. The Wii gets more use

The thing needs to update whenever we turn it on, which is not that often.

If that's true then "not that often" must be annually.

If you leave it plugged in and switched off, it'll download any updates in the background.

So can you not just plug it in a play a game then?

I might not bother if thats the case....

Yes and no. On initially connecting it up there may be a system update available. I don't really remember these taking more than a few minutes.

A game on disc will need an initial install, which can take a while. They may also require a fairly hefty download (which can be postponed by disconnecting from the 'net before you install it). Downloaded games will self-evidently need downloading.

Once that's done though, that's it. So long as you leave it plugged in to get background updates, you'll be able to play anything you've got installed straight away from then on.

Yes and no. On initially connecting it up there may be a system update available. I don't really remember these taking more than a few minutes.

A game on disc will need an initial install, which can take a while. They may also require a fairly hefty download

Other than that, it's all gravy.

Nintendo 2ds XL has loads of good games for it and it's quite cheap compared to others. She will also be able to use it in the car.

The games are more nine year old friendly.

Love some of these suggestions. What nine year old (girl or boy) is going to want to play forza?

Not read the whole tread (standard) but we've got a selection of used ones. A Wii U, a PS3 and they've got a DS each. They (and I) want a switch too, so will keep an eye out for them.

They've all got decent games for kids now though, only got the PS3 at the weekend so spent last night nailing down the parental controls. I don't want them online gaming yet, and it's in the living room so they're not getting up to anything we don't know about.

What nine year old is going to want to play forza?

I have one. I'd bet money on it that that's what he's doing right now whilst he's waiting for me to come home for dinner.

I would also recommend the 2DS XL. The 3DS has a 3D display (which is very good) but probably not really needed for most games.

My 10 yo absolutely loves his, the games do seem much more appropriate for his age, lots of Lego games etc, lots of demos to download (for free!).

Minecraft is coming to it too if that's her thing.

My 8 year old loves Forza Horizon 3** and the 2 year old steers whilst I do the pedals (#parentingfail although he's just gone three and it says PEGI3 on the box so we're all good)

** buying cars, winning cars, racing cars, crashing cars, painting cars, maxpowering cars, dukes-of-hazzarding cars and even tuning the radio.

Maybe get him/her a ball/hockey stick/bike instead?

2nd reply. I expected it....just not that quick.

Love some of these suggestions. What nine year old (girl or boy) is going to want to play forza?

Well a few but there’s at lest one more game not just Forza.

Don't fall for the "same one as his mates have" rhetoric because his mates will have a different one in a few months time so you may as well bite the bullet and get both PS and Xbox to cover all eventualities.

That’s very odd as my daughters’ and nephews’ mates all still have the same console. How many months should he wait and is this a frequent occurrence?

probably about as long as it takes for the other console to bring out a new game that's better than those on his console.

PlayStation it is then. 😀

Love some of these suggestions. What nine year old (girl or boy) is going to want to play forza?

So we're clear, I wasn't recommending anything, I was explaining the differences in the Xbox range. I'd have thought both the PS4 and Xbox One would be overkill for a 9yo and she'd be better off with a Wii-U or something, but I'm not a parent.

Ignore Drac, he's a fanboy and therefore his opinion is worthless.

Haha! You’re getting slow.

If that's true then "not that often" must be annually.

If you leave it plugged in and switched off, it'll download any updates in the background.

monthly maybe... most games less often than that.

I'd definitely say you need a fibre-speed connection. We didn't have it when we bought it and I did try to download the games that came with it (but as downloads). Obviously, I had to turn it all off and pack it away before the kids were around then get it out to carry on after they'd gone to bed... it took over a week of the same faff every day.

Today we switched on tomb raider... again another 200 Mb download.

I'm not sure why but mine doesn't seem to download anything in the background.

Don't get me wrong, its good fun when it's up and running but it's not plug and play. I always seem to have enter passwords and codes and download stuff when they want to play.

My 9 yr old has a second hand wii that he loves. Trouble is it does not play the newer games he wants like Lego dimensions so it looks like I am going to get a second hand xbox 360e for him.
I cannot justify the prices of new consoles that change every other year.

my 9 yr old has an xbox one s, its what all his mates have..
it seems to be all about the online games like overwatch and destiny.