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

[trinityrocks]

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

I've never been fussed about computer gwmes on the \PC because they cause big problems if they go wrong or kiddies get into the wrong stuff..much easier to have it separate

although apparently I have now got a computer with a mega game card..

I think so long as you restrict the amount of time she is on it for it's fine.

thnks geek, didn't know about those , I'll go and look at them

Playing on the PC isn't any different from playing on anything else, it just makes it more open and obvious, and as it's a communal piece of kit the amount of time spent on it is necessarily limited.

We have a PS2, which is used by DS1(17) & DS2(12), but DS1 paid for the PS1 it replaced when he was about 13 - before that we had no games machines at all. I just think 5 is way too young for games machines - sorry.

Well that is a fair point but surely you can necessarily limit the amount of time they play on it yourself. So it isn't really that different.

no

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why wouldn't you?

I've got one

yes ,if it was she has her heart set on and you are ok about her pestering you every 5 mins to go on it

we made ds1 wait until he was 6 for a game boy and I am glad we did. Even now we have to be very strict on when he can play it and for how long.

As long as you set up limitations and buy appropriate games I don't see a problem

No, sory i hate them! Dont little girls play with dolls and barbie anymore, i hate game consoles.

My children are 6 and have had a gamecube since last Xmas. I wasn't keen at all but my partner was and talked me round. My fears- that they would become addicted to it and commensurately disinterested in worthier pursuits like imaginative play and running around and lego and reading- were pretty much unfounded. They like it a lot but also like all the other things they've always liked. They play in in the living room as that's where the telly is, so it feels like we know what they're up to when they're on it. I don't really feel it's that different from them watching telly or playing on the pc. Obviously we monitor the games just as we monitor telly programmes and they turn it off when told. It's really not been a problem. It also does their street cred at school no harm which is no bad thing, imo. (Spot the kid who grew up without a telly!) Most of the kids- especially the boys- in their class have some kind of games console and discussing games is quite an important peer group activity.

i can see there are some very strong views on this subjectbut may I just throw in...............some people are against barbies and the like because of the unattainable figure they have and the possible effects on young girls who thunk that they have to look like them.........................just making the point that games consoles aren't the worst thing in the toy area.
oh and we have a PS2 thart hubby bought me and she loves itbut only plays for about an hour on weekend days, she doesn't pester me about that but she wants to play mario and so has asked for gamecube

Ah, well, if you only have one telly and they play on that then it's no different from them using the PC in terms of "oi you, it's my turn now"

If there is a spare telly somewhere else though (like bedroom), then it becomes more like a Gameboy, with them becoming oblivious. FWIW my DDs (now 23 and 20) used to want a Gameboy, and would always play on someone else's if they had the chance, but say now that they are glad I didn't let them have one.

I would!

Its a toy FFS! Just like you wouldn't let your child sit around getting fat playing with their train set or dollshouse every minute of every day! Like everything else in life, there are limits.

I seriously.... personally.... passionately cannot see a problem with this at all.

whispers< Ds has had a TV & Video in his room since he was 3 and as far as I know he isn't turning into an axe murderer.

I actually think it's easier to control a games console than a computer and separates them into different activities...

it also lessens the potential for arguments

you can still use the computer for educational stuff

whispers again< should've said a fat axe murderer.

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I had Donkey Kong for my ninth birthday because I pestered and pestered and pestered We had adn Acorn Electron when I was about the same age, if not a bit younger - 28k of memory and a cassette player to load the games (like this one) ! I loved that computer - learnt to program it too OMG - I'm a geek!

We have an original Playstation (unused now), a PS2 and a Gamecube. The PS2 is DH's, but I sometimes play Tony Hawks on it I prefer the Gamecube though. I like Pikmin

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my brother had a Sinclair computer which he programmed and sold to Cardiff Uni when he was at school

have a vague recollection of crowding over it one Christmas and playin g an adventure game where you went through a series of rooms findignthings but you couldn't see anything so wrote it all mapped on paper???

Nice to see you here Toothache!

Also agree with scummymummy et al about limitation etc... I spend far too much time on mumsnet but I do still enjoy other activities.... now what were they again?

Ah, happy days, hunker. My sister and I loved this with a passion for a while.

I found screenshots of Boxer, Arcadians, Hopper, Business Games (can you believe when I was 10 I used to play stocks and shares on a 28k computer?! Actually, if you can believe that, I don't want to know...!)... Memories!

We had a Spectrum too - just found screenshots of all sorts of games - Head Over Heels, Repton, Chuckie Egg, Elite...

And an Amiga - anyone remember Paperboy? Arkanoid? Bubble Bobble?

Sorry... Hijack over...unless I think of any more!

Buy her one...if you don't mind her turning out like me

thing is...if you don't ...she will be the 'odd one out' at school ...as it seems EVERYONE ELSE has them...or a playstation etc!!!!

It's hard....but i believe that they can be a positive 'toy'...and can encourage concentration ..... also 'helps' with computer skills....as they get used to using a controller whilst watching a screen...hand eye co-ordination...oH! Ok...I'm desparately trying to justify.... and increasingly more and more toys are getting more and more 'electronic'....'interactive' etc....

I also believe that if they had had them when i was a girl (i am 38)..then i would have been an addict.... i hated dolls etc.... and how many of us mums need to confess that we are on MN too much!!!!! Technology is moving forwards...we have to keep up don't we???...well that's MY excuse!!!!!

Finally...i better explain my 'bias'.

My sons are Autistic.... and computers...palystations...gameboys etc...have been an 'essential' part of my boys life...and i have come to accept them as my eldest son's ONLY 'play things'.....

He is then able to chat at school about something the others are interested in...whereas if he was not familiar with it all...he would have nothing to talk about!!! (autism can 'limit' the ability to interact with peers)