Console for a 5 year old

S

somewon

Active member
Looking to get a console for my 5 year old this Black Friday.

We have a PS4 already that he loves to play, and have gotten him many kid-friendly games and 2-player games that we can play together.

However, he says that he wants a Nintendo Switch now.

I would honestly prefer to get him his own PS4 that he can play in his own leisure and not hog up Daddy's TV when the rest of the fam wants to watch something.
But mostly, so he can have access to our entire library of kid-friendly games which I have already invested heavily in, vs. another console that will require me to dole out more cash for content which he may not even like all that much.

Thoughts on the Switch?
 
I bought a switch for my 4 year old a few days ago. I shouldn't have done that.
 
Quite frankly I find the switch the least cost effective console. It's more expensive than a base PS4 and the games rarely seem to go on sale. Ffs God of war has been on sale for less than I've ever seen Kirby or Mario tennis or arms or any other second tier Nintendo title.

5 might be a bit too young to trust with the tablet. My nephew who is around that age trashed and pins in the USB c port trying to charge it with a micro USB cable. You never know. A $30 controller replacement is a much easier pill to swallow than an $80 set of joycons, $70 pro controller, or $300 console.

I would go with a used PS4 or xbox1 and not think twice about it.
 
How about no console and go camping? Our son is allowed to play my old Game Boy advance when we are camping and it is raining.

Seriously, 5 year olds don't need consoles. That's my opinion and it seems like a pretty unpopular one.
 
Consider looking into a second hand Wii U and games? They are obviously very kid friendly and a lot of the best of Nintendo's Switch games are ported Wii U titles.

I'm seeing them pop up a lot lately locally for decent prices. Very nice option unless you frown upon last gen consoles for some reason.
 
Meteor_of_War said:
Consider looking into a second hand Wii U and games? They are obviously very kid friendly and a lot of the best of Nintendo's Switch games are ported Wii U titles.

I'm seeing them pop up a lot lately locally for decent prices. Very nice option unless you frown upon last gen consoles for some reason.
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I bought my nieces a regular Wii a year or two ago along with a handful of games. My sister sent me a photo a couple days ago of their family playing it. The kids didn't care if it was an older system (they don't know the difference) and it has a HUGE library full of cheap games.
 
somewon said:
Elaborate please.
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He spends too much time on it playing Mario Odyssey. I took it away after 2 days and locked it in a cupboard. Just like the first switch I bought for my elder son as they kept fighting over it. So now I have two switches locked in a cupboard. I have recently also taken over the tv remote so my 4 year old doesn’t watch this crap. He enjoys soccer and karate now.
 
OverclockN' said:
I bought my nieces a regular Wii a year or two ago along with a handful of games. My sister sent me a photo a couple days ago of their family playing it. The kids didn't care if it was an older system (they don't know the difference) and it has a HUGE library full of cheap games.
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Yeah for sure. Lots of people (understandably so) get caught up in only thinking about the current available consoles, totally forgetting previous gen stuff is the way to go for various reasons - massive established library and vastly cheaper overall being a couple noteworthy ones.

I also gave a Wii with some popular first party titles like Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros to my 5 year old niece over the past year and she absolutely loves it, plays it all the time. I think I got the system and 20 games at a yard sale for about $30-$40 or so.

The Wii U is a better choice at this point though since you have the library for that system as well, and the price and availability on the second hand market is finally prime to grab them since the popularity of the Switch is peaking. Plus, to the OP's concerns about hogging the TV, the Wii U can be played with just the gamepad, as long as you're relatively close to the base unit.
 
The Wii U gamepad scares me. A kid beating on that thing and then having to replace it. Original Wii controllers are dirt cheap.
 
I've read all of the posts, and still trying to process where to go from here:

1) He has his heart/mind made-up on Switch.
He even threw a temper tantrum the other day when I told him no Switch!
He watches Youtube Kids, and sees other kids with the Switch, and is convinced that he has to have this particular console.
I generally try not to cater to their whims, but I'm also a softy.

2) We're not an Apple family, so ruled out the iPad.
However, we do have Fire Kids tablets for them which are showing their age (1GB of RAM is a death knell for those devices when you have 60+ GBs of Apps on them).
So separate from the console, I am shopping for replacement tablets for them.
Preferably Samsung. Preferably 3GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage.

3) I'd still rather get him a 1TB PS4 (those are going on sale for $199 BF), and as some of you have pointed out, Switch prices are still :nuts: and hardly any sales for them.
 
somewon said:
I've read all of the posts, and still trying to process where to go from here:

1) He has his heart/mind made-up on Switch.
He even threw a temper tantrum the other day when I told him no Switch!
He watches Youtube Kids, and sees other kids with the Switch, and is convinced that he has to have this particular console.
I generally try not to cater to their whims, but I'm also a softy.

2) We're not an Apple family, so ruled out the iPad.
However, we do have Fire Kids tablets for them which are showing their age (1GB of RAM is a death knell for those devices when you have 60+ GBs of Apps on them).
So separate from the console, I am shopping for replacement tablets for them.
Preferably Samsung. Preferably 3GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage.

3) I'd still rather get him a 1TB PS4 (those are going on sale for $199 BF), and as some of you have pointed out, Switch prices are still :nuts: and hardly any sales for them.
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Just a head's up, GameStop released their Black Friday ads today. You get a $50 GameStop gift card with the purchase of a Switch/PS4/Xbox One console.

So if you were planning to buy at least one game for it, you can essentially get the Switch for only $250.
 
Meteor_of_War said:
Just a head's up, GameStop released their Black Friday ads today. You get a $50 GameStop gift card with the purchase of a Switch/PS4/Xbox One console.

So if you were planning to buy at least one game for it, you can essentially get the Switch for only $250.
Click to expand...

Good to know.
Thanks for the heads up! :up:
 
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