Gaming set up for 10 year old - which platform??

[crazypiglady]

So I have a gaming obsessed 10 year old who currently plays things like Roblox/Minecraft on her iPad, loves chatting to her mates on FaceTime as they play the same game.

She really wants like a full gaming set up with the chair, LED headset with microphone, LED keyboard etc but when I look at them in B&M they all needs to attach to either a PC, x-box, PlayStation or Switch & I'm lost…I don’t know which is best especially as she is used to sitting on her bed/sofa with her iPad & playing that way.

These consoles are all so expensive - which do I go for?!

You're better off asking your DD which she'd prefer

I have a gaming obsessed 11 yr old. He has the LED mouse, mouse mat, keyboard and headset and gaming chair. Along with a PS4, a Switch, an iPad and a Meta Quest VR thingy.

He's been into gaming since he was about 6 yrs old.

We're not made of money, so each year for his birthday or Xmas, he gets whatever gaming item hes currently after, but refurbished or secondhand from somewhere like CEX or Backmarket. There's no way we could afford new.

The next thing he wants now though, is the full gaming desk set up with a PC and monitor. They are most definitely not happening this Christmas. We just can't afford it.

My ds10 currently has a ps4 and a headset so he plays and chats with his friends who have similar. Fortnite mostly and sometimes FIFA. He has asked for a ps5 for Xmas but we know very well what he wants more than anything is the full PC set up which costs thousands to do properly. That won’t be happening this year anyway. Would you dd be happy with a console this year? Xbox or PlayStation?

Thing is I don’t think she knows because she’s not played on anything other than the iPad. Same with the gaming desk, I think she’s seen it on Kids YouTube - the power of influencers!! Like you I’m looking 2nd hand, it’s well beyond our reach to buy new & shes knows & understands that.

So a console is a PlayStation or Xbox? (Don’t laugh this is all very new to me!!) - as opposed to a PC? I would play Lemmings back in the day on our ancient family computer so that’s the sort of set up I was imagining though I presumed x-box/PlayStation were more powerful than PC?

No, gaming PCs can be massively powerful. Think needing fans to keep the drives cool etc. My DS has had a gaming PC since he was about 11. We bought it from a man who builds them in his back room. I needed my techy brother to help me ask for the right specs. We had to buy the screen separately. It cost about 600 quid all in and has been powerful enough to do everything DS wants.

He now wants a PS5 for Christmas. I'm hoping for a good Black Friday deal on the fat version now the release of the slim is imminent.

My DC are in their 20s now and do their own thing gaming wise so I might be a little out of touch.

Essentially if going down the console route, her friends would need to be on the same console and have the same games to be able to play together. In DCs time doing thus, you also had to sign up and pay for a membership to play online with others. Games are either physical disks or downloaded. New out games tend to be about £50 but don't think that will be a concern for a few years.

PC gaming tends to be cheaper when you have all the gear and it can be upgraded but a decent setup for the latest games is expensive, even if you build it yourself.

Having said that, a 10 year old playing the games your DD is won't need anything like top of the range and with a bit of research you might be able to pick something up 2nd hand around the same price as a newer console.

However, everything depends on how her friends are playing. If they are all on their ipads, then maybe all she is wanting is the look of being a gamer (led lights etc) rather than the function?

I'm not really up on apple stuff but surely you must be able to get accessories that would give that sort of look?

This sort of thing?

www.amazon.co.uk/Keyboard-Trackpad-Backlit-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B079ZWGR6Z/ref=asc_df_B079ZWGR6Z/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309903005216&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13521929587857467249&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007397&hvtargid=pla-565352005855&psc=1

My boys 7 & 10 both have boxes and the headsets and they generally play Fortnite together online and with their friends as well.

*Boxes!

Omg bloody auto correct Xboxes

My son has a Xbox, iPad and shared PlayStation. He's getting a pc for Christmas and I imagine the rest will be obsolete when he gets that.

Pc is best. Check out pc-laboratory.co.uk they have really good gaming PCs for fairly cheap prices that's where we just got our sons from.

Find out what games she wants to play, that will largely dictate what platform to go for.

Get her to have a look at the offerings on Nintendo/ PlayStation/X Box/ Steam (PC) and see which has more of the type of games she wants to play. For example, if she really wants to play Mario and Zelda it will have to be a Nintendo.

If it’s PC she wants there are many different options out there but it can be expensive to put together a PC that will run the latest games at peak performance.

With the consoles you buy one and it runs all the games for that platform. The X Box S has slightly lower performance than the X but only slightly, and it’s an excellent cheaper option if she wants an X Box. Both versions of the PlayStation 5 have the same performance - one had a disk drive and the other doesn’t.

Ok thank you that’s all really helpful…so she plays Minecraft & Roblox & chats to her mates on FaceTime, that seems to be what they’re all doing at the moment.

So yes I think it’s the look of the gamer set up she’s after really…I’m trying to find a wireless LED keyboard & mouse that will work with an iPad, along the lines that the PP linked.