If you’re a sister reading this blog, you really need to read this post.


Who's the video game guru of this family? Me. No one should buy a major system or game without consulting me first, unless you want to waste money and make your kids frustrated. I'm not kidding.

Gamecube is the best system for children. The other systems are made for people 13+. Playstation 2's best games are rated Teen or M, and have a lot of "bad" violence. They do have a lot of roll playing games, but those tend to be too complicated for kids, despite their more benign nature.

XBOX? I'm not too familiar with this system, to be honest. It's stregnth lies in it's games multiplayer games. I'm sure it has a few descent kids games, but no more than PS2 and probably none that aren't available for PS2.


The biggest mistake that parent’s make when they buy games is that they see a cartoonish character or a character based on a kids movie and decide just based on that to buy the game. The problem is that video game makers churn out crap games for kids because their parents aren’t educated consumers of games. They aren’t the ones playing it, so they don’t think about things like: are the controls intuitive? How does the game flow? Am I going to die a bunch of times because the developers were just trying to get a game out to market quick? Games based on children’s movies or TV shows are complete crap 9 out of 10 times. That’s a conservative estimate.


Nintendo is the only developer that cares about kids gaming experience. They keep things basic and concentrate on fun and flow. I've played some of Will's PS2 games and they're horrible. They're hard for me to play because the control system isn't smooth. I can’t imagine what it’s like for him learning to interact with a controller with 14 buttons and to joysticks made for someone with bigger hands than his.


Nintendo is the only developer that actually cares about under 10 market. They make unique games that kids can enjoy. Examples include:

Legend of Zelda - Windwaker
Paper Mario
Donkey Kong - Jungle Beat- (needs bongo drums)
Mario Kart Double Dash
Super Monkey Ball 1 + 2
Pikmin 1 + 2
Animal Crossing

These are great, non-violent games made by people who actually cared about the games. Another possible good kids game would be dance dance revolution. It gets them up and moving, forcing them to coordinate their feet with the big pad on the ground.