Electronic games consoles etc - please explain them to me

[oldwoman]

Hello!

My DS is nearly 4 and it seems like children in his class (nursery) at school have games consoles.

eg
One child has a nintendo DS (?)
One child has a wii (?)

I have no idea exactly what either of these things are/how they are used/what age of child they are suitable for/what benefits (!) they provide?

I grew up in an age where my we had a gameboy which you put little square games cartridges into and also my brothers had a sega mega drive which you attach to the TV and play with a hand held control thing. Anything more advanced than that, I am not familiar with

Could anyone explain this stuff to me and tell me if their 4 yo has any of this sort of stuff?

DS is the new gameboy basically. IMHO 4 is too young for one.

Wii plugs into the TV but the difference with the wii is that it recognises movements so for example tennis, you swing the remote like a racket to play.
OK for a 4 yr old and fun for the whole family.

Thought I'd post as you don't have much feedback here. I would say a 4 year old is far too young for a games console. Have these games consoles been bought specifically for the 4 year olds at nursery or for older siblings or the parents? If there is one in the house anyway I'm sure you would be able to fine some games for a 4 year old, but I think it would be better to wait since they date so quickly. Something like a leap pad (I think thats what they are called) would be better for a 4 year old. They plug into to the tv and have some games built in and you can buy extras. Buying second hand is the best way to get these things because they haven't changed that much in the last few years and a 4 year old will grow out of them in a couple of years time.
When they are ready for a games console the best thing to do is look at what games are available for different consoles and picking one that has the best games for your family. The wii is a good family console as it has games that are suitable for all the family, but older kids tend to prefer the xbox or playstation.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, both items have been bought specifically for 4yos. I just wanted to check I was not totally behind the times and check whether every other 4yo in the country owned something I was not familiar with!

I have two much older boys and agree with Cookie. Four is much too young, mainly because he would struggle to manage the games. There are DS games aimed at very young children but I don't think you would get much "play value" from them.
At four I would suggest simple PC games which are aimed at his age group and easy to play.

The other issue is that once you do have electronic games consoles in the house there is no going back to old fashioned toys. Life is a constant battle to restrict their use. Left to themselves I honestly think most teenage boys would spend 24/7 on the x box.
These games are good that's why they are so addictive.

I held off as long as possible. Every other boy on the planet (according to DS) had a playstation before him.
We started with Gameboys (Nintendo DS is the current version) when they were 7 and 9 and we were going on a long journey. They are great for travelling.
The next step up is the playstation which is probably better for the 8 to 12 year old and the older ones prefer the x box for it's on line play.
The Wii is over hyped IMO but is supposed to at least keep them active while looking at a screen.