Nintendo Switch advice

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Ds is after a Switch for his birthday (November). He will be 7. He has a Kindle Fire, which is coming up 8 years old (used to be DH's). It is laggy, cracked, and the parental controls are ok, but not as good as on other devices we own. The range of apps is not as good.

Weve been putting it off for a year due, in no small part, to the price. It's ridiculous. However I need to accept that as he grows, he will choose items for his birthday that are more expensive than they were when I was young.

I know nothing about them. Is the range of games (both physical and apps) good? Do I have to attach a credit card (if so it will be an immediate no).

Are the parental controls good? Can I plug in headphones?

Switch or Switch lite?

He has been warned in advance that if he gets the switch there will be little to nothing else to open on the day.

[MegBusset]

The Switch is a fabulous family console. We got ours at the start of lockdown and it gets used loads. My kids are a bit older but they use it for Mario Kart, Mario Maker, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Super Smash Bros... All very family friendly.

You can buy online games but not in-app purchasing AFAIK. It's all very locked down and child-safe.

Not sure about connecting headphones in handheld mode, I would presume so? We play ours through the TV mostly.

[itsanamechangetonight]

Switch lite will be fine for him if it's only him using it, he won't be able to use it on the tv though. Games are okay, don't need to attach a credit card - solid present idea.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

I like the idea of putting it on the TV - we have a slightly older DC who shows barely any interest in gaming but every now and again will join in on the Wii or DHS old xbox360. It would be nice for them to dip into play on the TV if they fancied every now and again.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

solid present idea

That's good!

[Howmanysleepsnow]

Parental controls are easier than on kindle fire. I don’t have a credit card attached- if they want to buy a game they buy a Nintendo voucher to use. Headphones are essential! If you want to play on the tv it needs to be the switch rather than the lite.

[TokyoSushi]

It's great! We had a full Switch which lasted about 2.5 years of being used pretty much every day before the charging port gave up. We did find that DS barely used it on the TV so we have replaced it with a Switch Lite (DD has one too).

All very well controlled in terms of parental controls, not storing credit cards etc, I would wholeheartedly reccommend.

[SoupDragon]

I was dubious about them but adult DS bought himself one and it's been great fun. Family Bomberman has been particularly competitive!

[Yellow85]

My 7 yo is a massive switch fan. I wouldn’t bother with the switch lite, as the controllers don’t come off nor can it be attached to the tv.

Favourite games are super Mario odyssey, super smash bros and Mario Kart. Best part is no WiFi needed so they can play it in the car too!

Ended up buying in for the 4 yo too. Def buy a decent carry case for it as they’ll want to take it places with them.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Best part is no WiFi needed so they can play it in the car too

That's good - we do a few long drives every year and they know they can only play one or two games on the kindle then (or we pre download shows and movies)

[AdditionalCharacter]

Definitely the best child friendly console out there. I'd get the Switch rather than the light so that you can play family games.

[whatever1980]

Can you add more handsets so all kids can play as I've 3 girls and can envisage the arguments over it already if only one can play

[whatever1980]

Also what's the difference between the normal switch and the neon switch please apart from the price??

[SwayingInTime]

They’re brilliant fun and very social if you leave the charging station next to the TV. Mine play games from when I was little!

[Mummyme87]

My 7yr old wants one for Christmas.
I’m Particularly excited about mario games 😬

[SoupDragon]

@whatever1980

Can you add more handsets so all kids can play as I've 3 girls and can envisage the arguments over it already if only one can play

Yes. DS1 bought 2 extra ones so that 4 can play at once.

[whatever1980]

Hi thanks everyone.

Using it on long car rides I thought you could only use the switch with a tv or does it come with its own screen? I guess therefore it's different to a PS4 (which doesn't have a screen)

Sounds like I may need to buy 2...

[SoupDragon]

It has its own screen. My 3 DC were playing it together on our long haul flight this summer!

[Foxhasbigsocks]

Can you use any headphones or does it have to be Nintendo ones?

[whatever1980]

@SoupDragon thanks so there's plenty of games you can play with 3

I assume it comes with 2 hand things and is need to buy one more

What's the neon please?

Sounds like it is battery charged too?

I'm aware I'm coming across as completely tech clueless!

[KatharinaRosalie]

Switch is really great for this age. It comes with its own screen, so you can use it as a handheld console - or slide into the charger and it connects to TV. Tons of games, check out also RingFit, gives you a decent workout.

[Nap1983]

They are quite expensive, but honestly with it! We bought DD one a few years ago and she’s had so much use out of it… still going strong. One of the best gifts weve ever got her!

[whatever1980]

Thanks everyone I’ve just bought one!

It comes with animal Crossy and mario

I’ve bought the steering wheel things for mario.

I like the look of the ringfit for the kids but can two people play it please?

If so can you easily buy an additional ring? All I’ve seen seem to be the game and the ring. Does it fit kids too?

Thinking of getting another console for the toddler to use too and someone mentioned getting a spare charger but it is all adding up!

This would be the 3 girls main present between them so want to ensure no arguments but perhaps that is optimistic!

Conscious of everyone talking about toys selling out too so after realising
last Christmas Eve id accidentally not ordered my middle girls main present (I didn’t open the parcels I’d received until Christmas Eve and assumed it was there - won’t do that again...) I want to have it all sorted!

Thanks everyone

[Tiredmum100]

We bought our dc one each for Christmas. I'm so glad as they love them. You can put time limits on them as well as w le found our dc git a bit obessed. No credit card details put on to ours. My dc play them on car journeys which has been great as we've done some very very long journeys this year. We've recently bought headphones so they can play online with their friends and chat.

[ballsdeep]

has been warned in advance that if he gets the switch there will be little to nothing else to open on the day


You sound resentful op. Either get it or don't. My son loves his and plays on it all the time. We've just bought my other son one for Christmas.

[IamJuliaJohnson]

We are big switch fans here - bought one in the winter lockdown/homeschool home work chaos.

Our 7yo loves it and has played Mario 3D world in its entirety, along with Zelda. We occasionally have a whole family mariokart sesh, and he is a big fan of Minecraft.

Our 5yo struggles with it a bit - doesnt seem to be wired the same as the 7yo who has always been great at computer games.

It’s not really like a tablet though. It really just plays games. But it is really very good. It’s probably the most family friendly console out there.

I track their time on it on my phone and it’s pretty locked down. At the moment they are unable to access the internet on it, and can’t play with other people (we don’t have the annual Nintendo subscription that would enable that ).