Do people really spend £300 on their kids console

[Arren12]

Hi

My dd who is 8 has been asking for a console for ages and ages now. We have never owned anything like that. She's autistic and has never played with toys so we are limited to what we can get her for Xmas. I thought I'd look at getting a console of some sort but I'm gobsmacked at the price.

Most of her friends at school have had them for ages so obviously people must spend this but its seems so excessive.

We are by no means rich but we are not struggling for money. We are quite comfortable. Its just I feel its such a lot and think about what else that money could go on.

As I say my dd does not play in the traditional sense and spends all her time doing arts and crafts. We have every art and craft thing you can imagine so can't get her any more of that really. This seemed ideal but its way more than I'd normally like to spend on each child.

What do others do? Is it that people do spend £300 on Xmas gifts or is it purely seen as a one off big purchase.

The games are also so expensive.

Do most children have a console.

I feel a bit like I'm a bad mum because dd seems one of the only children in her class not to game. This was evident in a recent homework assignment.

Aibu to be shocked that parents are spending this and wondering how most afford it or feel comfortable with it.

It's not the sort of thing parents are buying every year it's accepting this year will be £££ and next year cheaper as you're maybe buying a couple new games.

I'd agree that kids can be left out if they don't have some access.

Buy her a switch - we play with ours loads as a family and they have some fantastic games...

Get a second hand on op if you want to keep the cost down. It can be expensive but it will last for years, and you can build a games collection over time. A new game for her birthday etc.

£300 is around the norm for a large gift, especially as they get older. When my dc were young I could easily only spend 50£ on thier main gift, now it's easily 150£ - £300 plus.

Obviously you can spend as little or as much as you want, but I think if you can afford it and you don't buy one out of principal it's a bit mean on your child (this is in response to a pp who said she refuses to buy any). Buying expensive things for your children don't make them spoilt or ungrateful or destined to become socialy inept because they stay in all day gaming.

If you genuinely can't afford it then that's different, don't go into debt for a present.

My DC asked for a switch last Xmas age 8. I baulked at the price too tbh. It seemed too much. I’ve never been a gamer so it seemed so extravagant and I hate seeing kids on screens, I paid the same for a bike on DC’s birthday without a quarter of the agonising because a bike was more my thing growing up I suppose.

After a year, DC has only two games and one of them is secondhand from Game. I really dislike seeing DC in front of the screen and I have no intention of buying more consoles but never say never…

I wouldn’t hesitate paying for instruments, sports equipment so I think the cost of electronics seems high because I dislike them so much.

@Arren12 Families with child with additional needs + receive certain benefits (tax credits, UC etc) can apply for Fund Family grant

A Family Fund grant can pay for a games console or iPad.

@Arren12 yes they have asked for them - for this reason I give them an allowance plus opportunities to earn money, so if they really wanted one they could save up and get one. They do understand where I’m coming from though and I’ve always been like this so they know what to expect . I think it all depends on your values: personally I have a strong ‘anti-materialist’ philosophy and I would prefer them to spend their time living in the real world. They don’t have to agree with me but if they want to go in the opposite direction they have to make a bit of effort. So far they haven’t bothered and are happy with other stuff, but the youngest is only 10 so we’ll see.

Ds has an xbox which was about £250. He really wanted one so he agreed to have some small presents for his birthday so he could have a big Christmas present.

Quite a number of DD2's 5 & 6yo classmates are getting one this year (there has been a lot of discussion about it on the class chat group). Personally I think it's a crazy amount to spend on something they won't play that much (we limit screen time). DH and I are pretty keen on gaming ourselves, but don't have any of the latest consoles because since DCs came along we don't have enough time to spend on it to justify the price either. We have a family Wii and the DCs have a second hand Nintendo DS each. Nintendo is built on gaming characters and formats that have run in every generation of their consoles. The story line may change, but the premise is the same and each new reincarnation is familiar to the player. As a result, 7yo DD1 happily plays 'Mario' in the playground with the Switch-owners, she isn't out of the loop.
If you don't know whether your DCs are gamers yet (or what genre of games they like), I would start with a Wii or older PlayStation/Xbox and see how they get on. It isn't just the Switch console that is expensive, the games are too. Wii games cost a lot less (because they're second hand), and DS games can be picked up from as little as £1 each.

NRTFT

It’s more than common. So many kids have more than one. My DD 9 has been asking for 2 years for a switch, we have given in this year. Almost everyone she knows has them. Even when I was a kid in the late 80s/90s loads of kids had Nintendo’s or degas. She can play games at home with her friends online. My DH was a big gamer so I’m leaving security to him. He dose all the parental locks on things and also joins the games to keep and eye on DDs. We have 2 younger DDs so they will play with it too. DH has also got a VR headset (also expensive) but can get it free through work. He’s giving it to the DDs for Xmas.

If you don’t want to buy a expensive console, what about a tablet. All my DDs including 4yo have them. They play roblox which I’m assuming your DDs school friends play. And other games as well as do school work when we were in lockdown. Mine have Amazon fire 10” ones which are in the Black Friday sales at the moment.

No I have dd 8 and ds 5 we dont feel we are socially dusadvantaging them and we wont be getting a console. My ds would actually like one dd 8 isnt bothered about it at all but we think too young and they have better things to do. All the price tag is massive!

We have bloody loads of consoles. Yes, they are expensive - but so are bikes or musical instruments, and no one bats an eye at spending money on those. There's such snobbery around gaming, especially console gaming.

My advice would be - have the tv in a living room so you can see what she's playing. Set up the social stuff with strict controls - all consoles have parental controls so you can set up times they can play, how long they can play, how visible they are online and what's visible to them.

As you've decided on a Switch - I'd like to recommend Yoshi's Crafted World which is so cute and charming, and you can't really go wrong with Minecraft either.

Both of those you can play multiplayer .

PS mine didn't ask for them as DH and I were already gamers before they were born. They have played age appropriate games since very little. At age 10 and nearly 13 they still have everything locked down tight which hasn't been a problem thus far.

Wait until they want a gaming computer, Nearly £2k (bought by ex) which is crazy imo

Well if she is using it every day then the cost per use is a lot less than other toys.

Our kids aged 3 and 7 have cast off tech - an iPad from Nanny which has school games and a couple of sweet puzzle games that we bought.

I've also put Duolingo on our old phones for each of them. There's no way I'm getting them a console at this age. They are so hungry for screens already.

My 6 year old has a switch and I was so against him having one at first because I felt like he was too young and it was too expensive. A friend got a free switch when she upgraded her mobile phone and didn’t want it, so we bought it. It has actually been so nice playing games with my son on there, our favourites are the super Mario adventure games that can be played two player. We also like Mario party. We do have a limit on it and he has been good at respecting that. It’s also been quite helpful for when family ask what he would like for his birthday/Christmas as they are quite happy to put money towards a new game (we have a large family and there is only so many toys a child can play with).

Unfortunately yes, that's the price of them really. My two each have an Xbox, PS4 and one has a VR for the PS4. We've bought an oculus quest 2 for the other for Christmas this year. But they've all been either main Christmas or birthday presents, 11+ rewards or they've saved up themselves - and they do last a long time. When we buy the newest versions we do get a little back by selling the previous ones too.

The Switch is really good as a games console and has a very different set up and games (more child friendly) than the PS4 and the Xbox. You can set up a parent Nintendo account and add the child one so restrict it that way. My kid with asd loves his switch more than his Xbox, my other one has adhd and likes the switch and the PS4.
On Xbox and PS4 you can run things like Amazon films and Netflix etc. On switch you can’t.

Buy from Cex games, they are online or stores. Everything comes with a 2 year warranty.
I paid £135 for a used Xbox one and it’s perfect for my 9 year old.

How about interest free monthly instalments ?

It's a big buy but I've paid similar for bikes and the like. It's just the price of them I'm afraid.

Just like I have an iPhone 11 (so we're talking quite a few quid there), you gotta pay big bucks for big tech. As a family of gamers we have 2 Xbox 360's, 2 PS4s and a Xbox one here as well as 4 laptops, 4 kindles and an iPad here. We're by no means well off but we don't begrudge buying tech spread out over the years. It is an investment and I would definitely say they were a godsend over lockdown and subsequent isolation periods. My kids had plenty contact with their friends. Gaming is a big part of modern day kids lives and most children these days are socialising with each other by playing games together online.

Yes I buy them new for full price, mine has a PlayStation Xbox and a switch, I wouldn’t buy electronics second hand personally, too many scammers

We spent £500 on the new X box last year for ds.Its his first console and it will last him many,many years! I hate how expensive they are

We have 3dc so they got a Nintendo switch between them, we also have a PS4 (but not a smart tv so use it for streaming more than games). The PS4 is dh’s but the dc use it too now. I never had one as a dc but dh and his brother were gamers and so totally normal for him.

I liken to it to the big products I was gifted as a child. It's no more expensive than the bikes my mum bought us as children, or all the presents combined when we didn't have a big one.
If you can afford it great. It is a good investment, as they last and will get tons of play out of them. If you can't afford it, then I also wouldn't try and stress yourself to buy one. Plenty of other presents they could enjoy as much.

You could look into second hand in stores like CEX too