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Original poster

Play stations - good or bad?

15 replies

hermia · 01/12/2007 23:39

Does anyone have an opinion or strong views on whether or not playstations are a good or bad idea for primary kids? My son has played with them at friends houses and wants one for Christmas. If good/ok or unharmful (!) what games are good for juniors, and if bad what are your reasons?

OP posts:

harleyd · 01/12/2007 23:40

dunno about playstations

but xbox360 is fabbo

Original poster

hermia · 02/12/2007 00:40

Thanks harleyd. Dont want father christmas to be out of pocket - but good to know it's good.

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Niecie · 02/12/2007 00:47

Good in small doses. DS1 has a PS2 and plays it at weekends only in 4 shortish sessions. Any more and he wouldn't do his homework properly - he would rush it to get on the machine. Not only that but he wouldn't spend anytime with me and DS2 either.

He only got it in July and has Narnia, Lego Star Wars, one of the Harry Potters and a rugby game but all of them are suitable for his age (7) and he seems to like them.

I got it as he has dyspraxia and it helps a little with his hand/eye coordination.

bunnyhunny · 02/12/2007 00:48

love it!
there are lots of kids games out too - just check the certification (as SO many people don;t, then say games are bad for kids when their 6 year old is playing an 18 certificate game!!!! don't get me started!)

Original poster

hermia · 02/12/2007 00:52

Thanks - this is helping to get me past the clueless stage. Keep it coming!

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bunnyhunny · 02/12/2007 00:56

try the lego games, dogs life (dh made it, so I am a bit biased), simpsons games. there is a huge back catalogue cos the ps3 is out now, so you can get loads of games for cheap.

Original poster

hermia · 02/12/2007 12:03

Thanks bunnyhunny. impressed with dh's job! It must be fun. What age do they recommend for the games. Ds is rather young..

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bunnyhunny · 02/12/2007 12:23

how old is your ds?

roisin · 02/12/2007 12:31

One of the problems with playstations is that a lot of the games are aged at teenagers or adult; and you can guarantee these are the games the boys want.

So if you are going to get one, you need to be very clear beforehand as to the rules you are going to play by.

Like anything similar they have the capacity to be very addictive, so you need to be prepared to set out the rules you're going to go by and stick to them.

We don't have a playstation (boys 8 and 10)basically because we only have one TV and I don't want another one upstairs, and I don't want a playstation in the lounge. But they do have Nintendo DSs and play on the PC too.

bunnyhunny · 02/12/2007 12:40

roisin - i agree, in particular about agreeing rules and limiting playing time.

but you can get lots of kids games for ps2, there are childrens versions of grand theft auto etc. I think its ridiculous that parents buy 18 certificate games that are clearly unsuitable for their lo's then complain about them. Just like their are children's and teen's films, so there are children's and teen's games.

sorry, that is a personal rant of mine. my neice and nephew play 18c games and they are way too young for it. It makes me so angry

Original poster

hermia · 02/12/2007 16:41

Dont all shout.. ds is 5..! The reason he wants one is because every friend we have visited from his new school has one. He didnt know they existed til then! I understand there are games for 3 and up. Are they any good? We really dont want any violence and to be fair none of his friends showed us violent games - but I wasnt sure about what they did have.

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Niecie · 02/12/2007 17:06

The Lego Star Wars game is 3+ I think. There are several that are tied in with films, like Madagascar, Cars or Flushed Away. DS doesn't have those (he has only had the machine 5 months so hasn't saved up yet) but I would think they would be good.

Actually he does have Cars but for GBA and not the PS2 but he certainly got plenty of play out of that.

Original poster

hermia · 02/12/2007 23:15

Thanks Niecie- will look at cars. Even dh - who is against getting a ps2 - wants the star wars so that would be on our list if we did.
Would your sons dyspraxia be helped by learning a musical instrument? Piano is a lot to do with hand eye coordination at first. I have taught it so just wondered.
Does anyone have a view on the eye toy games? I think ds has had a go on one and it seemed a bit annoying - but maybe so just from lack of practise.

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Niecie · 03/12/2007 00:06

DS's yr 1 teacher suggested the piano and I was keen for him to have a go. I quite fancy having a go myself!

Unfortunately he wants to play the flute.

Trying to blow and use his fingers at the same is proving difficult but he wants to give it a try so I don't think I should stop him. He has started on the fife so no great expense yet. You never know - he might prove me wrong.

I haven't heard of eye toys - how do they work?

Original poster

hermia · 03/12/2007 09:43

Great! The piano can be really tough too and may well not be easier than the flute. I had a dyslexic pupil who found it very hard and slow. I did lots of singing and aural work to keep the lesson fun. If he really wants the flute I'd say go for it. If he loves the sound it might help get through the frustrations at the start. Every instrument is deeply frustrating to begin with dispraxic or not - but with the right books and tutor can also be fun.
Eye toy has a camera that sits on top of the monitor and a picture of you apears in the image on the screen. That's all I know..

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