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.

Never bought or owned a games consol for our kids .
I guess we must be bad parents.
They survived and we went on holidays (but not to Disney )
There wasn't just the money nor were they interested enough.

My Dd has Xbox.
We are now never stuck for gifts, each year someone gets her x box live one year subscription and usually there's a game or two she wants.
Then the odd controller that needs replacing or headphones.

@Cryalot2

Never bought or owned a games consol for our kids . I guess we must be bad parents. They survived and we went on holidays (but not to Disney ) There wasn't just the money nor were they interested enough.

You might want to go for a name change on that one as you wouldn’t want anyone calling CPS! A screen free childhood where they got to see the world !??

I like switch. DC have old Wii at granny's we all still all games on at xmas. Switch we all play Mario kart as a family, you do need extra joy cons. Friend dd uses just dance and they have dance offs

Yes. X box and fifa cost me £375 last month.

We have an old Xbox 360 and a very old Wii. But DC (7 and 10) usually prefer playing games on a laptop like Minecraft, Roblox and Fifa. When they are older we will probably get them a more powerful laptop or PC but what they have at the moment is fine for their age, and they use it to do their homework.

My ASD SS has one and he loves it, it’s ideal, only problem is, is that we have had to replace the joycons on it numerous times and they set us back £70 each time (he absentmindedly breaks them when he’s not careful or has a meltdown while gaming and they aren’t exactly the hardiest of things) make sure you get insurance 😁

Amazon have them on Black Friday deals i believe 😁

DD had a switch for her 7th birthday. She does play on it a lot though.

We have two Switches, a PS3/4/5 and various other things but they're all for me and DH DD will be welcome to play or have her own console when she's older though. DH and I met through gaming so it's fair to say we are a gaming family!

im planning on buying consoles for my kids yes

my console cost £500, my phone £800 my gaming pc £1400

... thats just how much things can cost, i deem them important things in my household.

i got my 2 toddlers tablets at £100 each fpr this Christmas because they use them and like them and ill probably buy them a console each once they reach 6 or 7

I have an xbox x it cost £500. Unless she is a hardcore gamer the field of view and loading times are not worth paying out for. A second hand console from CEX or GAME will be a decent buy with a guarantee. But check what consoles other kids at school have. Many games are now cross play. Whichever console you get if she is going to play online look at a YouTube video and find out how it set up parental controls, have the console in a family area and never leave a credit card on the console.

Much like range rovers and iPhones, many people are buying these and spreading the cost - credit cards, finance plans etc.

I'm not keen on buying these things for children to own themselves. It's one thing for them to have access, controlled and permitted by a parent, to a family owned/shared console, quite another for a child to simply be given a very expensive bit of kit. I prefer to teach my kids that personal ownership of expensive stuff is one of the privileges of adulthood, and if they want to own these things in due course they'll need to work & understand the cost of them.

My three DC share a Switch between them. It was a Christmas present three years ago.

I know where you are coming from with the craft stuff. We’ve had them all. I’m waiting for the next craze to come along for her arts and crafts! It was great when diamond art became a thing as that gave us some more craft options in the past couple of years.

But yeah, consoles are expensive, as are the games. DD got a switch for her first lockdown birthday. It’s played every day.

We've bought a few consoles over the years reconditioned from game

Yes lots of people have loads of money to spend and wouldn’t think twice about getting a console or anything else for £300.

A neighbour told me yesterday they just cut the wire of their outside Christmas lights every year and throw them out, they can’t be bothered ‘with all that rolling up’

We’ve had various consoles over the years. Currently have a Switch and a Wii U.

How about buying one 2nd hand from somewhere like CEX? You can also buy 2nd hand games.

The younger ones are 8 and 10 and play on the kids fire tablets though. They are pretty good at replacing in the first year if they break (8 year old with autism here )

Cryalot I grew up in a home with no consoles too. Holidays yes... disney no...

I had a loving family and attentive parents who shared music & books with us, played games, spent time with us, encouraged us to be outdoors etc. I don't feel we missed out at all not having consoles, although I remember sort of vaguely envying a friend who had a playstation when I was about 13 or 14. However, I remember enjoying playing at her house but not especially wanting one when at home myself.

Gaming can be great for kids on the spectrum. When she's older she can chat to others who also love it. My friend's son is autistic and he games and he has a YouTube channel that's actually started making money.

Not that all kids have to do this but he's also studying game design and it's his absolute passion. He's made friends through it.

[quote Arren12]@Shoxfordian she has seen others play at friends homes i think but never played one herself. Her friends must talk about it that's why she asks.
We could afford it but im uncomfortable because we do have other things that money could be better spent on and itscway more than we usually spend at Xmas and birthdays. It just feels like such a lot for a game.

I am worried she will suffer the social aspects yes @Bessica1970

@Bagamoyo1 what age did yours get them. Most of her classmates seem to already.[/quote]
I’m trying to remember the ages. Of course things tend to be led by the older child, so the younger ones get things earlier. I’m pretty sure DS1 had a handheld PS Vita at age 9, and an Xbox a couple of years later. He was probably one of the last in his group of friends to get one though.

Do your research first, if you decide to buy one. For example, there’s no point buying an Xbox if all her friends have a PlayStation, as they can’t play all their games together. And maybe see how she likes other people’s games consoles, because if she’s not going to use it then it’s a waste of money.

I’m not a fan of screens in general, but as long as you limit the time, they can be invaluable, especially during lockdown. My kids would have been desperately unhappy if they hadn’t had the facility to contact their friends via Xbox at that time.

My DS is 8 and. Has had one since 6. I'd say most kids in his class have a Switch, a few have a PlayStation to play FIFA.

My DS finds socialising difficult and gaming has helped him have something to talk to both boys and girls about. I'd also say he's made a proper friend in his class now, who is also quite shy socially but loves gaming and they talk about it together.

It's had that much use, it's the best thing we've ever bought. I'm expecting to keep it going until Year 6 when we will likely upgrade him to a gaming PC.

The games are expensive, though its well worth shopping around. I've seen Animal Crossing today for £33 on Amazon, Minecraft is generally £20 too. Good to ask relatives to buy games to chip in too.

We got an x-box as a whole family gift a few years ago. It was absolutely worth its weight in gold during lockdown as now teenage DS used it to stay in touch with his friends.

DS also has a switch which he got by asking for cash instead of presents for birthday and Christmas (winter baby so quite close together) so sort of a joint birthday/Christmas present from several family members. I'm not usually a fan of giving cash instead of presents but equally, I couldn't spend nearly £300 on one child, even if it was what he really wanted so this seemed like a good compromise.

There is a charity called special effect which help with gaming setups for disabled children and adults. I don't know if they provide consoles but I have arthritis and they have provided me wirb modded ps4 and now ps5 controllers.

Ds 14 has had his ps4 for about 6 years now I forget how much it cost but he still plays on it daily and has lasted all these years so definitely worth the money. Thankfully he has said he's not bothered about getting a ps5.