Would you buy your 5 yr old girl a gamecube this xmas??

[trinityrocks]

it's all she wants, she loves to play mario!

In a word NO

No, sorry.

Nor me - sorry.

oh dear, i forgot for a moment what a crap mum i am

You asked a question, you got some answers.

What is the problem ??

Confused.

No. You can get CD-ROMs to play on the PC, can't you? That way you can keep an eye on how much she plays.

trinityrocks, what i'd be inclined to do (espeicially if you have other kids) is buy it for the family, not just her.

btw, my dd wants a nintendo ds thingy, am umming and err-ing over that.

whats the diff between her playing on a gamecube or the pc. i can still seriously limit her gamecube time

my 4 yr old plays on an xbox it promotes hand to eye co-ordination and he loves it

Ds1 (5yrs) loves playing computer games. I think it'd be a nightmare trying to get him (and dh!) away from a Gamecube.

I'm trying to hold out for as long as possible tbh.

Plus she'll have to get off so you can get on MN, tr

we have a ps2, which gets played about every 3months by the kids. they like the i-play camera games.

Why did you ask the question, if you didn't want to hear anyone say no?

My reason for saying no would be that 5 year olds are better off playing outside than sitting for hours on a gamecube, and having suffered RSI for the last 11 years, brought on by using a computer, it's not something I would want to inflict on a 5 year old. PC games are much cheaper, and in my experience it's easier to get a child to come away from the family PC than it is to get her to come away from a toy/game that's specifically hers.

But you've obviously made your mind up anyway, regardless of what anyone else says.

It looks OK to me not as expensive as others and if she enjoys the games then there are some advantages in not having the complexities of playstation and X Box...

How expensive are the games though, that might concern me..

Just to add a completely different point of view.
Nintendo are not doing as well as they hoped so alot of stores are reducing the amount of gamecube games they sell. Also Blockbusters are not renting them anymore.
You may find it hard to get games for it and a lot of newer games are not on the gamecube format.

I don't see why not , as long as it isn't all she does during her playtime.

I'd like to know what a gamecube is

no

like this Carla Purple Gamecube

well, I'd go for a nintendo DS - dd (just turned 6) loves her's. It's so cool, has a touch screen and a microphone, and you can get lots of really kiddie games for it. Oh, it comes in pearlescent pink, too. Plus it uses tough cartridges rather than discs - our gamecube discs always get scratched.

LOL - just read all the negative comments. don't worry about it trinity, it's better than telly and good for hand-eye coordination. Just because they have one and enjoy playing on it doesn't mean they don't do anything else for goodness' sake. Dh and I have both been gamers since childhood without any negative effects as far as I can tell.

I have a gamecube, have had it for years, and my dd has recently gotton interested in it. she's 4 1/2 and I've bought a few kiddie games for it on ebay - very cheaply
I don't see a problem with it really, as long as usage is monitored and she's not on it constantly.
It does promote hand eye co-ordination, and really is no better or worse than kids playing with cd-roms on the pc, and I'm pretty sure most 5 year olds will be doing this at home or school.
I think games consoles get themselves a pretty bad name, hearing about the awful games you can get for them and young kids playing for hours and hours, but really with a bit of common sense they don't do any harm.
If she really wants one, I'd get it for her

yes

Yes. So long as you restrict the use it is fine. Also don't see how letting her play on the PC is particularly different.