Buying video games for children.

[mummyofnine1968]

Hello all, I am new to this site so apologies if I do anything wrong!

The DH and I were talking about our youngest, he is old enough that he has become curious of video games. Of course we do not have an issue with this, we just want to make sure the games are appropriate for him. With our other children it was never really much of an issue as the games were nowhere near as graphic as they are today.

How do you try and figure out what games are and are not appropriate for your kids? Is the age rating something to stick with or is it just advisory?

Thank you.

• Helen Smiley face: smile

Hello mummy!

My DS loves mine craft on the Xbox360. he asked me for it because his school friends were playing it, and i found a copy of it on ebay for just a tenner!

the best purchase ive made for him so far, it's shut up him for days on end!

Generally the ones made by Nintendo (ie Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS) are more family/child friendly. Many are 3+ or 7+. You don't get much violence in those games unless you count Mario 'dying' if he does the course wrong or the fact that the Pokémon are 'fighting'. 12+ games are a little bit more scary so that's when you need to just double check it is suitable if your children is age 10/11. The ratings are technically just a guide but anything that is 3/7+ isn't going to be 'bad'.

How old is he?

DD is 8 and has games linked to films that she likes and that are suitable for her age - e.g. Madagascar / Happy Feet / Smurfs etc

The Lego games are good too.

We definitely pick 'children's' games though, rather than guessing with adult / mainstream games.

Hi all, thank you for the replies!

Jolly:
He is a big fan of mindcraft and it does not seem to be too violent besides killing the animals, which you do not have to do - quite cool!

Bookmum:
Would you say that a Nintendo Swish is a family friendly console? Of course we do not mind if he has games that he can play for himself but if there are some games we can get involved in that would be great!

If so, are there any games you would suggest?

Hippbump:
D9 (dearest no.9 I think this should mean!?) has just turned 12, and we are looking at getting him his first console. Most likely will be a nintendo one! Thank you for the suggestions.

Also to all of you, where do you get the games from? I usually use Ebay for most of my stuff and sometimes Amazon - but I hate the way they treat their workers so I try to avoid it at all costs!

• Helen :)

There are more options (and a bigger second hand market so cheaper) with Xbox and ps4 (ps5 will be out soon so depends if he wants to stay up to date, if he's not fussed there will soon be ps4 games for sale for peanuts.)
If you sold on Nintendo the switch is good (also a new one coming out soon I believe) you can play games together on the TV or he can use it as a handheld. Personally I think the switch lite is too small.

(ps, DS12 dear son age 12 is better to use than DS9 as all posters would just assume your son was 9. I've seen those with lovely large families put DS9(12) which makes it clearer although I guess he has sisters so then would be DS5(12) although none of it matters at all and just write what feels normal)

The Nintendo Switch is basically designed as a family-friendly console. They are expensive though so it may be a good idea to try and get an old Nintendo Wii first (the Wii is basically the old version). You can usually get a second-hand Wii and half a dozen games for about £30 or so. CEX is a good shop to go to for secondhand stuff (some branches have re opened). Try this first to see if your childs interest in having one seems strong.
On the Wii my favourite games are Wii Sports (especially 10 pin bowling), Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog.
We upgraded to a Switch and my daughter loves Minecraft, Pokemon, Mario Maker etc.

I thought your ds would be younger, for a 12 year old I would get an xbox

We've got a PS3 and a Wii (so both old / outdated now). I get games on eBay for a couple of pounds each. You can't get the latest released games for the old consoles but if your happy with old games you can get them really cheap.

www.commonsensemedia.org is a good source of information for games which you haven't heard of, reviews by parents.