to ask what gaming console to buy for ds?

[PicaK]

I'm in the lucky position of being able to buy DS9 a gaming console for xmas. But am lost trying to work out which one is best as i've never really played games myself. Any advice welcome.
PS4 Pro ?
PS4 Slim?
Xbox 1x?
Xbox 1s?

We have both a Switch and an X-box One S. The Switch hardly ever gets used but I can't get them off the X-box - luckily you can set limits to play so it will turn itself off.

Definitely check what consoles his friends have.

Don't bother with the pro versions of whatever you choose to buy - really not worth it unless you are a hard core gamer.

Go for as much hard drive as you can get - at least 1TB.

Keep it where you can see what he's playing and who he's talking to - not in his bedroom.

Be prepared for some battles if he gets into Fortnight. I've only just allowed my youngest (aged 13) to start playing it and we've had several occasions where he's lost all his screen time because of his attitude when asked to get off the X-box and do other things.

I'd recommed an XBox 1 S
Get a Microsoft Xbox Live subscription (as you get free game downloads throughout year, it's £30/year )
Headset /mic

It'll be a brilliant xmas present!!

my 11 year old has a xbox 1 and a playstation 4 and he plays the xbox far more. if he wants to play with friends you might want to also get him a subscription to xbox live and a headset so he can chat as he plays.

If he doesn’t really know what he wants, does he really want one? Could you get away with holding off?

My DS rarely touches the Switch and the PS4 even less. He'll sometimes take the Switch out if he wants to play a Mario game when not at home but that's rare.

His Xbox is very well used however, as are mine and DH's. I can't say either of us ever use the switch either and we only use the PS4 for old Final Fantasy games.

My brothers runs out of battery constantly. Also find there are issues with screen glare when out with it.
Yeh of course you can buy external memory but just adds to the cost. Xbox is cheaper with far much more inbuilt memory.
And also Xbox and PS4 both act as DVD players and can stream videos. As far as I know switch still can't.

Investigate parental controls too. We don't have a console but do have other devices and an automated time-up mechanism is brilliant and saves quite a lot of nagging from me. DD is 9yo so not in the teenage league of trying to hack past the controls, so it works for us at the moment.

Whatever you buy, make sure you turn it on a couple of weeks before Xmas and it has all the updates and the game(s) you want installed.

Seen it many times where my friends have bought their little ones a console, and waited hours on Xmas day for it to update/install, kids end up bouncing off the walls and get sent to their rooms for complaining/bad behaviour.

Good advice from Starcutter - updates and installs can take hours especially if your internet isn’t the best.

Fortnite can now be played across platforms so if he had Xbox One and his friend PS4 they could still play together and vice versa

The cheaper PS4

DS (7) already has a switch, and is getting a PS4 for Christmas. A quick poll on the class WhatsApp gives it a very even split between the two but I understand that on Fortnite in particular it doesn't particularly matter which box you have I hope

@StarCutterCookie - if we bought one for ds can it be set up on another tv, e.g. we're spending Christmas going to Yorkshire so could bil set it al up over there in preparation?

@buckeejit Yes - the crucial thing is to get the most recent updates downloaded onto the console. The TV is really just a monitor.

Splendid, thank you!

How about none

I’m buying the younger two a switch to share this Christmas. I’m buying my eldest a PS4 for her birthday next year as she wants to play some of the games for it.

Nobody will be getting a copy of fortnite though! :o

Fortnite Battle Royale is a free-to-play free download. You don’t need to make any payment to get hold of it. If you don’t want your child to have access to it make sure that you have control of the account associated with the console.

Always! My younger two both have ASD so I have all their devices locked down in order to head off any rebellions around screen time! :o

Lethaldrizzle - if you don't approve of gaming, why on earth do you keep appearing on threads about gaming? It's really fucking odd behaviour.

You're best to find out what consoles his friends play.
People with Xbox's can't play with people with PlayStation. So he will be left out if majority have 1 over the other.

The switch is very different from other next gen consoles! The op didn’t ask about the switch. Those people that are so down on gaming the op hardly said she was buying a console so her 9yo could game all night on GTA!!! Seriously gaming is a hobby, like any other.

Anyway op, does your son have a preference?

There are exclusives for each console, the consoles themselves are fairly equal. I agree with a previous poster get as much memory as you can afford especially if you’re planning on digital downloads.

I’d ask your son which he wants.

Then find out the games he likes.

If he genuinely has no preference, then I would buy which ever will give you the best bundle deal.

People with Xbox's can't play with people with PlayStation

Usually, yes, but Fortnite can now be played cross-platform.

How about none

What a strange reply to someone looking for help to choose.

Usually, yes, but Fortnite can now be played cross-platform.

Yeah but it's definitely the exception. And I do think kids will start playing other games again at some point! Maybe?

OP, I agree with checking what his friends have. And also check if there are any games in particular that he wants to play, because some are exclusive to a specific console. Apart from those two factors, they're much the same thing.

Som - unfortunately some users of Mumsnet don't have the brain capacity to understand that people like different things. They also think that gaming is BAD because they have no experience in it. It's very closed-minded and very tiring for those who have actually spent the time carrying out research.