Xmas Xbox?

[Makemeachannelofyourpeas]

DS(9) has been asking for an Xbox since the dawn of time it seems. DH and I are at the stage of considering whether this is the year we get one - for him and DD(8) to share.

We feel utterly out of our depths here. What should we be considering?! Are they still too young? If not, what kind of XBox is best? Or is a PS4 better? Can they have internet disabled? I don't like the thought of DS and DD interacting with strangers on the internet so young.

Also, does anyone have a good idea of age appropriate games? How much time do you let them play for? DS tends to have a slightly obsessive personality so if we get one we will have to make the rules very clear and loophole-free.

Sorry for so many questions, as you can see I don't have the first clue! All advice and experience from you all will be very gratefully received!!

i would go for an xbox one (look for a second hand one on gumtree or ebay). you can set parental controls and time limits (google how to do this) so you shouldn't have issues with limiting time. the skylanders (link attached) game is good for that age range, its an adventure game and has a 'portal' that attaches to the tv, so when your ds places a figure on the portal they appear on the screen. the packs are expensive so again, might be worth looking second hand. sonic racing is also good.

you can have a system where you give your ds 5 hours at the start of the week (for example) of playing time. write this on the board, and he can choose when he uses this time (only after he has done homework). once he has used up all his hours he can't get any more and it is his responsibility to make sure he hasn't used them all up.
all the best x

oh, and both games i linked are multiplayer so both of your dc could play together

Another vote for Xbox 1. Definitely google how to set it up. As previous poster said. You set up a adult account then a child account for the kids. You can restrict everything then. My ds who is nearly 8 loves Minecraft.

Great advice, thank you so much!

Does anyone have any advice on all-digital vs normal console? I instinctively distrust all digital for reasons I can't really explain, mainly about protecting my kids from the big bad web I think. But am I being a Luddite?

All I want are some fun, age appropriate games they can play with everything else pretty nailed down privacy-wise. Does anyone have any advice? Sorry for my enormous ignorance....

All digital will cost about £45-£50 per game. They are much more expensive that disk. Also you can sell games on Ebay when they are finished with them whereas when there digital you cannot.

Great advice thank you!!

what kind of XBox is best? Or is a PS4 better?

Why does he want one, to play games, or to play games with his friends because his friends all talk in school how they played with/talked to each other the night before?

If he wants to play games with his friends, you need to get the same platform (Xbox or PS4 as them). If you are not going to get internet access he might be very disappointed. ds(15) had his first xbox around 9-10ish (cant remember, probably closer to 10), but the main attraction was connecting with school friends, he still doesn't play it unless friends are online to chat to.

Don't write off connecting him to his friends as you can lock down so he can only be in a party/talk to his friends, but if you do allow it you will need somewhere he can play/talk without taking over the main TV/living room.

Lego games are great first games - you get Lego Star Wars, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Jurassic world - just search on amazon.
Definitely get two controllers and wireless if you can afford them.

Don't write off connecting him to his friends as you can lock down so he can only be in a party/talk to his friends
Really helpful, thank you. I don't think DS is expecting to play with friends, but if he is it's great to know that we can shut everyone else out it need be.

My 9yr old has ps4, he plays Fife, Minecraft and Plants vs Zombies.

He says the lego games are too babyish and he used to play Skylanders but has grown out of that too. His 5yr old brother does play Minecraft and Skylanders.

He used to play Fortnite but I found it was affecting his behaviour, so not allowed that one anymore.

He can live chat with his friends but not unknown contacts and we have the ps4 linked to an app on our own phones so we can see any friends requests and private messages and monitor that.

Fifa* not fife