Switch / Xbox / Playstation?

[Yuja]

Thinking of getting some kind of console for DD (11) and DS (9) for xmas as a joint present - they're going to be y5 & y7. I am drawn towards a switch but will they grow out of this soon? Am I wasting my money and should I go straight for an Xbox or Playstation? I know absolutely nothing about gaming at all no idea what would be best value to get them, and most enjoyed.

It's up to you really. I personally wouldn't get a switch to share unless you're going to let them play on a telly and have the money for new controllers when they start to drift. The games a teeny so they'll need to be out away straight away. They are good fun. You can get remote controlled cars to hook up and play mario around the room.

I'd ask them. They're old enough to have a preference/what are their mates using/what kind of games do they want to play.

We have all of them (teens). The Switch games are expensive, and we tend to use this to play games as a family, and take on holiday. DS14 has an Xbox Series X and DS16 has a PS5. They both have the subscription services for their devices which allow them to access lots of games and to play online with friends, they're both good value (about £13 a month each, I think).
I think if they had to choose between them they'd go for the Xbox. You can get an XBox series S which is not as expensive as the X and still runs the games well.
Wireless headsets also important if relatives are asking what to buy!

I don't think there is any major big difference between the playstation and xbox except for some specs only apparent to computer nerds. I would probably suggest finding out what consoles their friends generally have and go with that and then at least they will be able to play online together.

Switch. My kids are in their late twenties and early thirties and haven't shown any signs of growing out of their Switch'es.
The games are amazing and cover all ages. They will be able to play all the old amazing games too.

We have all of them too. Tbh, it’s all about the gaming pc in this house.

But the switch is quite portable if you do much travelling, to see GPs for example.

I agree with waiting to see what friends in year 7 have.

I think they would like to play together in the first instances so maybe a switch would be best option for this. I don't mind them playing on the telly

Good idea to wait for y7 to get underway though!