Do you own or are you considering buying an Xbox One this Christmas? Share your top tips for getting the most out of your Xbox One with Microsoft. £300 Love2Shop voucher to be won. NOW CLOSED!

[ZaneMumsnet]

Across the festive season, Microsoft Xbox would like to hear the top tips Mumsnetters have for getting the most out of Xbox One for all the family.

Here’s what they say: “Providing hours of endless family fun, the Xbox One is home to the greatest games – including family favourites ‘Minecraft Xbox One Edition’, ‘Forza Motorsport 6’ and ‘Ori and the Blind Forest’ – as well as popular entertainment apps such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix Kids.“

They’ve even included a tutorial video to help you set up your Xbox One. You can view it below.









So how do you and your family get the most out of your Xbox One? Do you gather round the sofa to build a virtual world together on Minecraft? Maybe you challenge each other to FIFA football competitions? Perhaps you use the apps on your console to watch Christmas movies as a family? Have you any advice for parents considering buying an Xbox One this Christmas? Whatever your tips are, Microsoft wants to know.

Everyone who posts on this thread with their tips will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[Chocolatecoin]

My son asked for an Xbox one for Christmas, instead of giving him the console unopened on Christmas day, I thought it would be a good idea to download the game that came with it in advance. I'm so glad I did,fifa 16 took a full 24 hours to download. He'd have had to spend Christmas day without the game he wanted, if I hadn't thought to do it in advance.

[Undertheboredwalk]

We've had an Xbox one for a while now, it's rarely used for games! Our virgin box runs through it so we watch Tv on it, use it for Netflix and Iplayer and DH has a huge collection of films on his computer which we can easily send to the Xbox and watch on the tv.
It pretty much does all of our media, and plays the odd game now and again

[bloodyteenagers]

Would be great to have more games actually suited for children.
Would be great to have accessible kinnect games. WE find the Kinnect games difficult to use unlike the Wii games that require less movement.
Updates take far too long and too frequent. Spent the last two weeks updating the stupid thing, luckily I am now in the habit of checking first.
Hate that unless it's connected to the Internet game play won't save even none digital games.

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

We are saving to see if there's any good xbox one deals in the new year.
Kinect is a massive draw.

We're not fussed about the apps etc as we have internet television and use that for films/youtube etc.

Love seeing the kids playing the dancing games together. At the moment they watch videos of it on youtube and copy them!

[Blueprintorange]

I love using the voice commands on the Xbox one to put nexflix on - it means I can switch the tv on, load Netflix and select what I want to watch without having to get up from the sofa!

[Kerberos]

We find ours are used for watching YouTube / Netflix / Amazon Prime almost as much as gaming if not more. The kids and I love to share a game of Minecraft and they've made some amazing creations in it.

[CopperPan]

We got one for DS's birthday last year. We didn't get a Kinect as we had one for the Xbox 360 and didn't really use it. Out living room is an awkward shape and we had to move furniture out of the way to really use it, so in the end we got bored of having to do that.

Agree with the updates being annoyingly frequent - they just want to get on with playing a game. He enjoyed the new Batman game this year and I've got him the new Star Wars game for Christmas.

[voyager50]

We don't have an Xbox but my nephews do - getting games that the whole family can join in with is a good idea, especially at Christmas so the kids don't go off and play them on their own.

[Kerberos]

One piece of advice for parents is to get to know the technology yourself too. It saves a whole load of hassle and conflict if you understand the mechanics of the games they're playing. For example: some games can't just be switched off NOW without losing progress, so if you know you are going out or need them to switch if off knowing what the impact of that will be makes the negotiation a lot easier on both sides.

And most of all for parents. Gaming isn't only for children - there are many different types of games available through the Xbox console so try it yourself too. This is the reason we have two Xbox One consoles. They don't belong to the children...

[purplepandas]

I agree re downloading games in advance if the X box is a gift. Saves time and stress. People want to play straight away!

[bloodyteenagers]

Can I just remind people looking at getting consoles for their children about the ratings?

There are Age ratings on games for reasons. These are generally PEGI 3, 7 ,12, 16, 18.

The 12 rating is generally when mild violence is introduced, and at 18 it's very graphic in imagery and language. The 18 is really, really for adults not for small children.

[RubbishChristmasName]

I definitely recommend getting it out and downloading any updates and games before Christmas.
It took hours to put the big update on (that makes some 360 games backward compatible) if we hadn't have done that then DSS wouldn't have got any play time on it pm Christmas Day.

[BatmanLovesBaubles]

Would love to see more games aimed at 10-14ish year old boys who are desperate to play Call of Duty / GTA but aren't allowed because they've got the ONLY mum in the whole world who won't let them

We tend to use it to watch Netflix together - it's been a godsend when babysitting 3yo niece. The boys love being better at something than me, and will happily spend hours with me showing me how to work everything and giving me tips. Not that I can remember anything - I'm terribly, terribly old (37), you see.

[ottothedog]

Recommend the apps like netflix and now tv. We all like to watch tv on it.
For gaming, get the play and charge kits to save on batteries

[Theimpossiblegirl]

Buy age appropriate games.
Keep the console in a shared space.
Limit screen time.
Educate yourselves and your kids on eSafety.

Too many children are sat in their rooms late at night playing inappropriate games and chatting to strangers.

[elvisthehamster]

It was just DS bday , we had the same problem with the almost 24 hours to load Fifa -glad we did it for his bday and not xmas day, however his TV is his bedroom is quite an old one and it wasn't compatible so for now it is in the living room until I can afford to buy a new TV for DS! Turned out a pricier present than planned-so I would agree with the poster above who advised to find out a bit about it yourself first for smooth opening day setting up!

Be interested in finding out and getting more family friendly games that everyone can play together though. DS is loving it so far -so much better than the 360 apparently !

[Makemineacabsauv]

Do not enter your card details to buy Xbox Live or anything like that - buy the vouchers from Game or other shops. Even with parental controls etc in place ds managed to run up a £130 bill playing what he thought were free games. Microsoft didn't care and I had to pay the bill. No allowances were made for the fact that he was 8 and had no idea that the games/in app purchases cost money. I had also been assured that the controls that had been set (on the phone with their help team) would prevent this. Left a big bill and a nasty taste. No more card details!!! It's voucher or nothing now.

[harrasseddotcom]

love the voice commands. Nothing better than annoying my son at bedtime by going in his room and saying xbox off midway through his game :D

[Realitea]

I actually bought one for myself so I could play games online with friends who live a little too far away to meet up with. It was so much fun! We had webcams too and it was like being in the same room.
Then my teenage DS realised this console had a lot of potential for fun and I never get to go on it now!
My DC's love to pay minecraft and lego star wars. It's also really handy to watch youtube videos, iplayer, netflix, etc. I love them so much we now have two! (My DH has claimed the other one!)

[TaurielTest]

Glad to have seen this thread! Have got an xbox for my DSs. Came bundled with 3 child friendly games including a zoo one which I hope my 5 yo will love, and I've added on minecraft. Plus tomb raider for me...

[InMySpareTime]

We got them an XBox One after last Christmas, it was a hit from the start.
They mostly make stuff on Minecraft, but they like Forza and Trials Fusion too.
DS likes that he can control the XBox with his Windows phone, and I like the BluRay player.

[DingleberryFinn]

I would consider an Xbox now that iPlayer is no longer supported on our Wii... also for Minecraft, which the DC are obsessed with.

[foxessocks]

We watch Netflix through ours which is fab

Also play Dvds and cds on there which is handy

I leave the gaming side to dh!

[XBoxTesting]

We had one of these from a MN test last year.
Top tips are mostly as PPs above:
A) If it's a family Xmas present then absolutely get it out and set it up in advance, because a) it's complex b) the downloads to get it up to date will take hours. You can then unplug it and wrap it up again, but the Xmas day set up will be much more manageable if your software is up to date.
B) For children aged between 4 and 13 it's hard to go wrong with Lego games - reliably fun and age appropriate - just pick the franchise they're interested in.

We're getting the Lego Dimensions games for Xmas and really looking forward to it, though I know that these collectable toy games can get expensive.

[XBoxTesting]

Oh yes,
C) if your TV is not the newest then do check that it's got an HDMI input because there is absolutely no way to make an XBox One talk to a TV without one.