Really? How old are you? I got my first games console at 13 and my Amiga at around 15 or so.
I know the world has changed but 8 should be Lego, board games, riding your bike, football, swimming and smashing radio control cars around.
I'm early 40s and can't remember a time that we didn't have a computer of some sort, the one I really remember would be the amiga, and that was when I was 8 at the oldest, if not earlier. The world has drastically changed. Kids aren't allowed, expected or accepted outside very much now. I'd much rather my son be playing vr than watching youtube, tv, or xbox etc. It's more active and social in a way that the others aren't.
My son 8 years old, has recently started asking for a vr headset. Originally he wanted a gaming pc, but he's flipped to the vr headset.
I'm sceptical, a) not sure 8 years old is appropriate b) is it good enough to play games and what sort of games.
I should add he's been asking for a meta quest 3.
What's people's thoughts,
Should I stick to my current stance and say he's too young
Or is he ok age wise, but is there a better system out there than the meta quest
p.s I won't just be buying it for him, he will have to earn it over a period of time like he had to for his xbox
8 is young to have his own headset that he has full control of in my opinion, but it's easy to simply place in a cupboard. My son used to use mine when he was 8. Not for long periods, strictly games I knew about. Even when he plays with randoms now, he's muted (now 13). He's had his own headset for some time now.
In terms of development, there was some minimal research showing that up until the age of 10, children can struggle with manipulating movement in unconventional ways (I can't remember the study exactly, but it was along the lines of using the head to change the direction of flight, along with joysticks). They struggled to get it, whilst older children had development sufficient sense of balance and adaptation.
I wouldn't put him in rollercoaster sims etc, but see what it is he wants to play.
I would not get him a quest 3 or a 3s, most games still play fine on a q2, and the q2 controllers have nice big tracking rings made of titanium, which will probably prevent some very sore fingers. First purchase I made when my son got his q3 a month or so ago, was some protective rings, that are already not sitting on as well as they did!
Ask him what games he wants to play, who are the friends (are they people you know already? Do you want him hanging out with them?), and tell him that it will be limited.
A second hand q2, often with headstrap (which will be essential), will set you back £150 max, it will also let you know if it's just a phase, or something he really enjoys. As he gets older, and if he continues to enjoy it, he can earn his way to a q3.
As others have said, a PC can of course have more uses for school etc, but my son has been supplied with a chromebook from school, which is more than sufficient for his schoolwork, this is secondary school though, maybe investigate if something similar will happen for your son. Again, chromebook like headset, is far easier to take away than a full PC.
If you do get him one, make sure the primary account, that the games are purchased on, is yours, and password protected, open a secondary account on the headset with app sharing enabled, so he can play the games, but if the account is terminated for any reason, you don't lose your primary account with the actual purchases.
Used to use it on my parents all the time and now I use it on the wife
