Xbox for 7 year old

[Blondie1993]

My DS (6, 7 in December) has asked for an XBOX for Christmas. He has been asking for a little while but I thought he would have changed his mind by now.

AIBU to think he is slightly too young?

He doesn’t use much tech at the moment. He uses my tablet to play minecraft or Sumdog. He generally plays minecraft for half an hour at the weekend and 20 minutes or so in the evening when it’s school holidays. He plays minecraft for half an hour once a week as part of his homework. There’s never an argument when time is up or anything and he doesn’t pester for it.

I’ve just always thought an XBOX was quite a grown up thing, I didn’t expect to him to ask for one quite yet!

We have both the Ps4 and Xbox and 99% of DS' friends play Xbox. He never, ever uses the PS4. It's very rare I come across any of the children I teach with PS4s either, most of them are Xbox.

Pretty pointless getting a PS4 if the OPs DS is going to end up playing with friends, as she'll probably find they're mostly Xbox too.

So what’s a reasonable amount of screen time for age 7-11 say, for those with multiple consoles and DC in primary school?
And do you allow TV time on top of this?

Genuine question, we are not a “gaming family” and I struggle to limit TV, iPad and computer time (mine like coding) so if we got a console I have no idea how they’d have time for it given the limits I already try to impose. I’m interested as to how others manage this. Sorry to hijack your thread OP.

DS is the same age and he's asked just for FIFA for Christmas, he probably won't be hugely interested in anything else. He kind of asked for an Xbox but we have younger ones so I was thinking of getting a switch because I've got loads of fond Mario memories and he's got younger siblings

Hoping this is the right decision. 😬

That's a good point ProfessorMoody - for multiplayer, you need to get the console your friends are all on already. That's Playstation for the people I know - and was Xbox360 before.

Internet multiplayer games with voice chat are not a good plan for a 7yo.

HauntedPencil You can't go wrong with a Switch. There's FIFA for it too :)

Wonderswan and Color,

Get a Wonderswan Crystal - it's much better than the Color

I would wait.
See how he gets on with the switch. See how much time he spends on that. For some children these things are pretty addictive. It is not always poor parenting. Many games are designed to keep players on. You might be glad he spends a few days per week at a console free house.

He can get another console on a year or two if you are happy. Also given how teens are with gaming I would try to develop a strong attachment to other interests ( reading, sport, music, etc.) before letting him have daily access to consoles. Maybe you have already done this. I speak as a mother of older children who sees how hard it can be to lure children from consoles.

And I don't see games as the devil. I live with gamers and se what pleasure they can bring as a leisure activity. But they are a 'easy' activity and can seem more attractive to some young children than activities that initially take more effort but ultimately bring more reward.

Some children will game for a little while then want to move on and do something else. Others are really drawn in. You could see what type if child you have before you get the second console.

Mammmamia - my DS is 10 and has an hour screen time a day, once homework and hobbies are done. I find this enough on a weekday but if he's in the middle of an online match when his time is up, he's allowed to finish it.

On the weekend I might allow more time depending on what we're doing. He's at hobbies all day Saturday anyway so he needs downtime too.

Sometimes I allow TV as well but again it depends. Screen time usually means all screens. If he still has time before bed after homework, hobbies, screens, shower etc, he'll usually find something else to do anyway like draw and he always reads for half an hour in bed.

It works for us.

All ds’ school friends seem to have Xbox’s, they play together after school. I’m not sure what age that started at, 10ish I think? Has certainly improved his social life.

I would wait too.

Go for it.

My advice - get him some of the Lego games (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Avengers, Jurrassic World - whatever he is interested in). They are easy to play and 'complete' as in finish the story, but then offer hours and hours of play if your DS wants to 100% them unlocking every individual character etc.

Most of them are quite old so cheap now. Very good value for money when you consider the entertainment he will get out of them.

Be prepared in a couple years that he will start asking for COD/Fortnite/Whatever is the trendy game at that time. As no doubt other boys at school will be playing it and he will want to play with them online.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but two new consoles at once seems excessive. If his DF is getting him a switch why not just get games or peripheries for that? Or you'll end up buying the same games twice once for switch, once for Xbox

, Or you'll end up buying the same games twice once for switch, once for Xbox*

Eh? Why would anyone do that?

Nintendo is more child-friendly. On Ps4 the coolest games are rated 18. Even though i'm fine with mine playing Skyrim and similar, they will have friends coming over to play, and parents may get pissy if games aren't age appropriate.

Thanks for the replies, lots to think about!

His Dad and I tend to keep most things separate. He will decide how long he is allowed to play at his house ect but he is sensible enough to not allow him free reign. I’m not concerned about him allowing too much screen time there. He already has a Nintendo DS there but he doesn’t seem to play it massively. He hasn’t asked for a Nintendo Switch, it is a surprise from his dad.

He has played the Xbox before at friends houses. Mainly The Incredibles but he seems quite interested in the Lego games (Harry Potter and Jurassic World!). Apparently all his friends at school have an Xbox. I’m not convinced they all have one but it does seem to be the preferred console among his friends.

I’m not massively worried about him becoming addicted ect but is something I would keep a close eye on. If I thought it was becoming an issue beyond my control, I would probably just sell the console or put it in the loft .

Does anyone know if it is better to get a newer version or if an older refurbished one would be a good starting point?

Refurb is fine, the original Xbox One is surprisingly reliable so there's not much bonus for buying new. The current Xbox One S is a fair bit smaller, that's about all.

There's also the Xbox One X, which is twice as expensive. Don't be persuaded you need that one by sales people! It's for frames-per-second fetishists who use 4k screens, totally wasted on a 7yo.

A refurb is fine. There is a big difference between the One and the One S though and that is the 1TB of storage that comes with the One S. If you get the normal Xbox One, you might find yourself having to purchase an external hard drive very soon after, as it only stores a few games.

I have a One X. It's glorious. There's a remarkable difference between that and the One but your DS won't care

I had similar concerns with my child specifically on how much time my son would spend on the Xbox. Initially I would take the controllers away at certain times, but then had real problem getting him to come to dinner as he always claimed he would get banned etc. I couldnt get on with the Xbox parental controls mainly as I wanted to change the timings all the time and he was on the box!!. I got a device off Amazon called Qtime which replaces the HDMI cable and controls it all from an app. Much easier and far less battles. I feel he now has a healthy amount of time on the console and I am in control again.