Gaming for children

nands

nands

nands

Soldato
Joined
16 Mar 2006
Posts
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Location
Wirral
Hi All,

My son is now four and he is starting to get interested in games, he loves the Pixar film Cars and he got a magazine with a demo disk on the front and loves the game.

He has no real co-ordination yet but is getting there.

If anyone else is in a similar position can they recomend any games or input devices?

I had an old controller but it doesn't seem to like XP, should I get a USB controller?

Any thoughts?
 
My daughter is 4 (5 in 2 months) and has a few on the PS2 but i'm sure they are available on the PC. Dora the Explorer is one of the most basic ones and designed specifically for very young kids, a very good first game. Aswell as that is Hello Kitty which is a little step up, unfortunately it's pretty girley but will teach a lot about moving and jumping and general gaming, without it she wouldnt have been able to play the the others. After playing those 2 she was able to move onto relatively complicated games like chicken little, ape escape and spongebob squarepants.
 
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Hehe! This has reminded me of my ex's son when he got into games, oh the joy of letting him play GTA3, "Look Mum, I've just hit a policeman with a club!"

Seriously though, I don't think you could go wrong with any of the Disney/Pixar games, and out of all the controllers I'd say a PS2 style pad as they're a little smaller than the competition. :D
 
Thanks for the thoughts, will look into controllers.

I don't really want to get a console yet - I am sure that I will eventually, but for now a few games on the PC should bring him up properly!
 
When our son was about 4 or 5, we bought one of the Playskool Store Playsets - it was a huge success. It's a huge cash register that sits on top of your keyboard and clips in place, then when they press the big kid-friendly buttons it pushes down certain keys on the keyboard, which interacts with the game. The software is very cartoon-ish and has loads of jokes that small kids like.

It helps them with numbers, playing with money, adding up total bills, counting fruit, etc.. etc... etc...

If you can find one, I'd really recommend it!

edit: found a review with a pic so you can see what I'm on about. The cash drawer is in the purple part, the bit on the left is for (pretend) scanning barcodes, and on the right is where they swipe credit cards.

http://www.reviewcorner.com/games/playskoolstoreplay.html
 
Kids love Tekken games :D

Its probably the most easyest to pick up aswell pluss it really does start to help with your timing in games :)

Get a PS1 and tekken 3. Should be able to get them pretty cheap these days
 
also get one of those lappy mice the tiny ones, they fit easily in tiny hands and makes it far better for kits to learn the ways of the mouse.

i got tons of barbie games and there is also a lilo and stitch game. such games can be had for 3 for 10 quid or even 99p from some high street shops. and kids just love them. also the more noise and animation there is the better.

currenty my neice loves the Bratz Babyz game and the Brats rock n roll or something.
 
Lego Star Wars I and II.

Nothing else comes close for kids.....and grown ups, should the mood take you :)

My son is Five and has completed both...I'm so proud :D (although I had to do the Podrace)

Grab a PS2 pad and an adapter.
 
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Sweetloaf said:
Lego Star Wars I and II.

Nothing else comes close for kids.....and grown ups, should the mood take you :)

My son is Five and has completed both...I'm so proud :D (although I had to do the Podrace)

Grab a PS2 pad and an adapter.
Click to expand...

That is the ultimate goal, but I wanted to work up to Lego Star Wars.

I think a controller and some driving games first.

I was thinking a controller like this as I think he would get a cick out of the rumble, the Logitech one looks nice and simple though.
 
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Yeah that looks groovy , might be more simple to use also. The Logitech has a lot of buttons to get used to and doesn't have rumble as you've stated, your choice :)
 
Got to be honest and say that we just got back from a big toy shop and have bought so much other stuff that his PC gaming learning can wait for a bit! (anything to pay for anyway! - he can still play the online games at cbeebies)
 
Okiedokie :) if you change your mind let me know, its always open. Yaybe when he's older and beating you at playstation 4-5 :) heh

ps your sig makes me want to eat chewits :/
 
My daughter has lego starwars on the xbox and loves it, she's really good at it too :D. Like Cliffy said though the dora game really started her off. She did complete it very quickly though as it is a very easy game but she enjoyed it.
 
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