Games consoles

[Hairyhat]

Please help me. I'm not a gamer and don't have any gamer friends. I need a present for DC aged 11/12. Nintendo switch versus Xbox. Pros/cons? I looked at games for Nintendo switch today and they were £45/£50 each! Is this normal? Can you exchange them second hand? Can you go online and download any free games?
Can someone educate me please?
Or aibu to even think of another way to put my child In front of a screen? In which case can someone recommend a brilliant main Christmas present?

I think gaming consoles are fine but I know that's not a popular opinion.
Games for any console kind of range between £40-£60 new but you can pick up cheaper ones secondhand, not sure about free ones but you can get the game pass on Xbox for like £20 a month and you have access to 100s of games (decent ones at that too).
Nintendo switch vs Xbox all depends on DC preferences, Xbox does have more games but Nintendo switch is portable, they can play it anywhere and also on the television.

At that age the important question is what are his friends playing on?

If they've all got playstations, he wont want an xbox or a switch. If they're all on xbox, a playstation is no good etc.

Do you know what his friends play?

Everyone I know plays Playstation rather than Xbox so if all his friends have a Playstation he may prefer one of those or if they have Xbox he may want one of those. The Switch is portable so may be easier to take off him or it may be easier for him to go on it more.

I have a switch and my husband has a ps4, don't know about x box but assume it's similar to ps4.

The benefit of the switch is that you can play handheld without needing to connect to a tv. Games are often 50 although not all games and you can buy much cheaper ones than that. There seem to be more discounted big name games on the ps4 but I can't speak to the x box

Don't know about second hand games, you can download all the games online for switch, some are free but not all. It has less memory, probably, than x box although you can buy a memory card to increase it.

Hope that helps, I really like my switch

I also vote Xbox and then get Gamepass. I'm sure I've seen a year of Ultimate for about £100. There is a massive library of games that changes regularly.

Agree - go with what his friends have.

My DS10 has a PS4 and mainly plays fortnite, but he manages to play with his friends on the switch and Xbox, although this isn't possible with all games.

Don't know about Xbox, but the PS5 has just been released, so I wouldn't buy a PS4 as it won't be long before he'll want the PS5.

Trouble is with buying a PS5 is you can't play old games on it. So if the friends are still playing on PS4s then he wont be able to join them.

I think.

The switch seems more of a family console and the Xbox/PlayStation a bedroom console to play with their mates.

Laiste I think you can play PS4 games on the PS5.

What does your dc want? We have an xbox and a ps4. There isnt much difference tbh. You can buy a subscription for both so dont need to buy games. Iv just got the xbox ultimate pass for £10 a month.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. Yes it seems I need to know what his friends play on before I purchase. I'm a little less ignorant now (tiny bit)

Definitely find out what his friends are on. There is 'Crossplay' in certain games where they can play on different consoles together. But it sounded complicated to me.

It's easier to chat via xbox and ps4 than it is with switch. So I guess the switch is great for playing with friends in the house where xbox and ps4/5 are better online.

Thanks @Bikingbear another thing to think of. He definitely likes chatting with his friends online as he's not allowed to have them over to play so that's quite an important factor.

I'll add that's important you know about console exclusive games. If he likes Mario or Zelda games, you can only play them on Nintendo consoles like the switch. There are a few Xbox exclusive games but can't think of them off the top of my head. Also it takes years for the mario and Zelda games to go down in price, even as used games. But Xbox and PlayStation games go down a lot quicker even the big names like call of duty. So if you don't want to pay £50 a game often, go Xbox.

Good luck getting an Xbox at the moment, it’s impossible to get one of the new consoles (same goes for the ps5 tbh)

I’ve been trying to get one for months, it’s impossible!!!

If you allow your child to be in the same room as a games console their brains will turn to mush and they will devolve into unlovable hunchbacked zombies festering in darkened rooms surrounded by their own filth. Just getting the usual shit out of the way early.

Thanks everyone. Now have a secondhand Xbox (last year's model). His friends are all (apart from one) on Xbox so many thanks for that advice. Happy hols everyone.
Also, he has limited screen time and has to come off them for huge chunks of the day.

@Laiste

Trouble is with buying a PS5 is you can't play old games on it. So if the friends are still playing on PS4s then he wont be able to join them.

I think.

Over 90% of PS4 games are backwards compatible with the PS5.

@Hairyhat

I concur with other posters, it's about what his friends are also playing. However, the Xbox is far more online orientated than the PS and certainly the Switch. At 11, it's something I'd be wary of. I'd be tempted to just get a Switch personally. Regardless, getting the newest Xbox or PS will be quite a task before Christmas.

As for games, yes they are bloody expensive and all the top titles take a long time to come down in price. Some Switch games are still retailing full price years after release, even in places like CeX which specialise in secondhand games and consoles.

Xpost

Hope he has a great time playing it!

Rhayader - we're in the same position with PS5, but we've finally taken the conscious choice that we won't try until Easter at least, possibly June. It'll give them time to iron out all the bugs. There will also be a greater range of games to play on it and we'll have a better idea of what we want to play rather than diving in with any that are available.

Well, that's what we're telling ourselves to make us feel better!

@BrumBoo thanks for your post. Appreciate it. Yes I'm very wary of him being online with anyone he doesn't know. He also has to be in the same room if he's chatting over the internet to his friends. It's very good advice though.

[quote Hairyhat]@BrumBoo thanks for your post. Appreciate it. Yes I'm very wary of him being online with anyone he doesn't know. He also has to be in the same room if he's chatting over the internet to his friends. It's very good advice though. [/quote]
As long as there is supervision then it's all good. I'm a big fan of gaming, I always defend it as a hobby (in moderation of course!) but unfortunately being online can get a bit worrying at times. He's going to be thrilled with his Xbox I'm sure!

I think many kids will still be on Xbox one for another couple of years. Allows the bugs in the new ones to be fixed and allows the price to drop.

Xbox actually has quite good parental controls. You set yourself up as a user then throught the family setting set up the child. My DS is under strict instructions only to add people he knows in real life. Now and then I go thought his list and ask about any gamer tags that I don't recognise.