Which Game Console to Buy?

Which Game Console to Buy?

Comments 9 comments

My sister asked me which game console I’d recommend. She is thinking of buying one for her sons this Christmas. Her boys are 7, 5, and 2.

My initial response was (not having researched it yet):

Very generally, the XBOX may have the latest technologies and potential for expansion (turning it into a media center for your living room). The competitors have more games to play on it.

Each company tries to get “exclusive” games.

You might want to approach it by anticipating what games you would buy them and see which console they work on. Include very young kids titles, in your research.

9 thoughts on “Which Game Console to Buy?”

  1. I was at Toys R Us this evening. The XBox and Play Station were $149. The Nintendo Game Cube was $99. David and I played Crimson Sky on the XBox. Graphics were great. It was pretty easy and fun. The sales guy offered that the Nintendo has the most titles for smaller kids (Mario Brothers, Pokeman for example). It is compatible with older Nintendo titles so there is lots of kids titles available for it. He said XBOX appeals most to an older audience and Play Station is in between, catering to teenagers. Halo 2 is a big title coming out for XBox in November for $50.

  3. Should we consider waiting until 2005 to see the latest upgrades to the consoles or to take advantage of price drops:

    “The next generation consoles are due for release in 2005. Microsoft look set to launch their new console Xbox 2 in January with Sony and Nintendo releasing their consoles (PS3 and Revolution respectively) later on in the year.” [http://www.whatconsole.co.uk/]

  4. For kids’ games, I’d say that Nintendo is the leader by far. It’s certainly not as “cool” a console to play, for hardcore gamers, but kids don’t care much about polygon counts.

  5. Thanks Anil. I am just about to conclude that you’re right. Nintendo for kids. XBox perhaps for me! Though I try to set high expectation for my kids. David was playing Impossible Creatures at 5. I wish there were more educational titles that could be used on these consoles.

  6. XBox Games

    E-Rated
    ———-
    Star Wars – Knights of the Old Republic II (T) (Dec 6)
    Start Wars – Battlefront
    XBox MusicMixer (E)
    Yourself! Fitness (E)
    Barbie Horse Adventure:Wild Horse Rescue (E)
    SpongBob SquarePants (E)
    The Sims (T, $50)
    Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space (E)
    Crash Twinsanity (E)
    Shrek 2 (E)
    Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
    Crimson Skies (T, $30)

    M-Rated
    ———-
    Halo (26.95)
    Dead or Alive Ultimate (M)

  7. Today, I’m leaning towards the XBox again.
    Amazon has a bundle for $149 that includes 2 free games (a tennis game and NCAA football) and 2 free months of online gaming (it has built-in broadband modem).

    For an extra $23, you can buy a movie playback kit to allow you to play DVDs.

    You still have to buy a second controller seperately for $25.

    You can also rip/store your music on the XBOX and play it back.
    Because of it’ 8Gig harddrive, it apparently “saves” you money from not having to add memory cards to the other systems (to save your game for example)
    The online gaming for the XBOX, which is suppose to be the best is $50 a year.

    When I ask David, my 6 year-old, he says he prefers the Nintendo (really the games he is familiar with, in particular Mario Brothers)

    Everything I read still says the XBOX is the best hardware for high-end games (teenagers and adults) and Nintendo has the best games for kids.

    I think the kids titles for XBox will continue to grow. I made a list of a few that looked interesting in the comment preceding this one

    My motivation is to get the most use out of it and the XBox seems more like a total family console.

    I also think David will play “up” to the teen titles, assuming they are appropriate. And an XBox would be more unique with his circle of friends then the Nintendo.
    After all, Impossible Creatures isn’t a “kids” title, it’s rated T for teens and David and I love that game (If I can only get multiplayer working after my Windows SP2 upgrade).

    David is currently really into the Tribes:Vengence demo. He’s as good as I am! He often gives me “hints”

    http://www.sierra.com/downloadfile.do?mediaid=12920
    I may end up buying the Tribes game for the PC

    This page has preview videos of many of the XBox games:
    http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xboxtv

  8. I have daughters aged 8 and 10, and am leaning towards the PS2. I looked at all side by side at the local computer store, and all played well — but the number of kid’s titles is the clincher for me. When they get older and want an X-box that will be fine…I am sure by the time they are 13 and 14 the technology will have far surpassed what is available even now, so buying a “latest generation” system really doesn’t make much sense for the long haul. I think that even a PSX (PS1) would be a great choice with kids under the age of 11 or 12 — you’d get a few good years out of it with a lot of inexpensive and even second hand kids’ titles available for short money.

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