Off Topic: gaming consoles for family

wt21

Hall of Famer
Anyone here have a gaming console for your family?

We have a Wii that our family has enjoyed. It's mainly played in the winter and when the kids' friends are over.

My oldest daughter is asking for an upgrade for Christmas. There are currently 5 options (Wii U, Xbox360, XBox One, Sony Playstation 3, Sony Playstation 4 (now with full frame!!))

Was wondering if anyone else here has these, has done any analysis, etc. Especially in the context of families, daughters, and light playing. Most of the reviews I've found on-line are all from hard-core gamers, and their needs are pretty different.
 
From what I know, the Wii remains the family friendly console, that's the demographic that Nintendo is aiming for. The Xbox and Playstation are geared primarily for serious gamers and/or mature gamers.

The Xbox has Kinect which plays kind of like Wii but a majority of the games are not really kid friendly, only a few.

How old is your daughter and why is she asking for an upgrade? Does she want to get a bit more serious with gaming beyond the usual family friendly material? Does she feel she's missing out on games that her other friends are playing from the other consoles?
 
I'd echo what James said that the Nintendo system is more geared towards kids/families.

One other advantage of the Wii U versus the next Xbox and PS4, is that the U would play your original Wii games (backwards compatible). Also, the original controllers will work on your new system.

The games have been slow coming on the Wii U, but the reviews of the new Mario 3D world have been good and you can get it bundled.
 
@James -- she's in middle school. I don't think a lot of her friends have many game consoles. A lot of kids use devices now (phones, tablets), but that's not a direction we are encouraging for a number of reasons. The plus side I just discovered this weekend -- we had a weekend ice/snow storm that kept us at some, so she and I played Super Mario and Lego Lord of the Rings for several hours. It's the best interaction I've had with her in a while because we've been so busy. I'll have to schedule in some more quality console time, lol.

I think she's asking about an upgrade for a couple of reasons.

First, there's always these new console ads (esp XBox) and the graphics there just look good. Makes the Wii look old. Second, there are certain games she's interested in. Mario 3D is one (only on Wii U). There's also a Disney Infinity game that she asked for, but the reviews are bad, so I'm thinking of getting this similar game called Skylanders for her. (Looking at comparisons on-line, the Wii U certainly blows away the Wii in terms of graphics). I also think she might enjoy Pikmin 3. Though there isn't much yet specifically for the Wii U, I'm assuming nothing more will be released for the Wii.

We don't play it that much that I want to go the $800 route for an XBox One, plus the XBox and Playstation consoles get complicated quickly. As I was researching on line, and talking to sales people in stores, people would tell me about all these add-ons I need, monthly subscriptions, external hard drives, etc. etc. I heard the Wii U sales weren't doing well, but maybe "casual" users like my family would be upgrading this Christmas?? I just want a console with some games to take us through another 3-4 years.
 
It sounds like the WiU is right for your family. Of course, if the family is in the market for a new DVD player or new Blu-Ray player, maybe you can justify a PS3 as well ;)

Yeah, I did consider that. But then when I found out players are like $50-80, I figured I shouldn't let that drive the decision.
 
In our family, the iPad is the gaming console of choice. My nephews and I always end up huddled together, playing Minecraft together on our iPads. There's a wide variety of games available, they typically cost less than console games, and like the Nintendo DS, you can take it with you.
 
Thanks John. Yeah, we have tablets, etc. too, but this is specifically console I'm looking at.

Can you play multi-player minecraft from two devices? i.e. with two ipads, can you both play minecraft, and interact in the same game?
 
Our go-to exercise is XBOX 360, with Just Dance. It went on sale a few weeks ago (price really dropped bec of release of XBox 1 I assume) and we grabbed one. I am terrible at keeping any exercise that looks like an exercise, so the Just Dance is a good option for me (plus the girls dig dancing). I just make sure there's no one else at home when we dance. LOL

While I don't personally have Skylanders, my impression is that it's a money pit. My nephews have asked for those action figure thingamajigs that you attach to the game, and whatever action figure you attach becomes your character in the game. They asked for those last Christmas, and this Christmas they're asking for more of those. So ... :D

The Wii U also went on sale some weeks ago, and I also went for it. Folks here are right that the Wii has better games for the family. That Mario 3D looks good, but even the Super mario brothers is fun - we're still trying to get all the stars. Hard enough for me, controls are simple enough for even my 6 yo.
 
Thanks John. Yeah, we have tablets, etc. too, but this is specifically console I'm looking at.

Can you play multi-player minecraft from two devices? i.e. with two ipads, can you both play minecraft, and interact in the same game?

Yes - you can connect two devices in one minecraft game. However you have to be on the same wifi network. Not sure if that is also true over 3g/4g/LTE - I never allow my kids to do anything using a cellphone signal.
 
That's good to know! My daughter also asked for Minecraft, but it's not on Wii U. Sounds like we could play that on our devices.
 
Our go-to exercise is XBOX 360, with Just Dance. It went on sale a few weeks ago (price really dropped bec of release of XBox 1 I assume) and we grabbed one. I am terrible at keeping any exercise that looks like an exercise, so the Just Dance is a good option for me (plus the girls dig dancing). I just make sure there's no one else at home when we dance. LOL

While I don't personally have Skylanders, my impression is that it's a money pit. My nephews have asked for those action figure thingamajigs that you attach to the game, and whatever action figure you attach becomes your character in the game. They asked for those last Christmas, and this Christmas they're asking for more of those. So ... :D

The Wii U also went on sale some weeks ago, and I also went for it. Folks here are right that the Wii has better games for the family. That Mario 3D looks good, but even the Super mario brothers is fun - we're still trying to get all the stars. Hard enough for me, controls are simple enough for even my 6 yo.

OK. Sounds about right then (Wii U, that is).

Thanks for the warning on the money pit, but I'm afraid my girls are into figurine collecting anyway, so it'll just be these instead of Pokemons or whatever.

I also will order Just Dance 4 for the Wii U. I'm most concerned about our old house and bouncy floor boards causing pictures and knick-knacks to have to find new homes in another room.
 
Yes - you can connect two devices in one minecraft game. However you have to be on the same wifi network. Not sure if that is also true over 3g/4g/LTE - I never allow my kids to do anything using a cellphone signal.

That's good to know! My daughter also asked for Minecraft, but it's not on Wii U. Sounds like we could play that on our devices.

Minecraft works great over a shared WiFi signal. They've also recently added some multi-player functionality where I think you can play over the web with others. Haven't tried it yet, don't know if you play with strangers or if you can plays with friends remotely.
 
@James -- she's in middle school. I don't think a lot of her friends have many game consoles. A lot of kids use devices now (phones, tablets), but that's not a direction we are encouraging for a number of reasons. The plus side I just discovered this weekend -- we had a weekend ice/snow storm that kept us at some, so she and I played Super Mario and Lego Lord of the Rings for several hours. It's the best interaction I've had with her in a while because we've been so busy. I'll have to schedule in some more quality console time, lol.

I think she's asking about an upgrade for a couple of reasons.

First, there's always these new console ads (esp XBox) and the graphics there just look good. Makes the Wii look old. Second, there are certain games she's interested in. Mario 3D is one (only on Wii U). There's also a Disney Infinity game that she asked for, but the reviews are bad, so I'm thinking of getting this similar game called Skylanders for her. (Looking at comparisons on-line, the Wii U certainly blows away the Wii in terms of graphics). I also think she might enjoy Pikmin 3. Though there isn't much yet specifically for the Wii U, I'm assuming nothing more will be released for the Wii.

We don't play it that much that I want to go the $800 route for an XBox One, plus the XBox and Playstation consoles get complicated quickly. As I was researching on line, and talking to sales people in stores, people would tell me about all these add-ons I need, monthly subscriptions, external hard drives, etc. etc. I heard the Wii U sales weren't doing well, but maybe "casual" users like my family would be upgrading this Christmas?? I just want a console with some games to take us through another 3-4 years.

It really sounds like the Wii is still the console of choice for you. If we were talking about buying for a young boy in middle school, he's about the age where his friends are starting to talk about the latest games on the Xbox or Playstation. It's still a male-dominated scene and many of the games are clearly marketed for boys.

By the way you don't really need all those other add-ons that the sales people are trying to sell to you, and you definitely don't need subscriptions for 'most' games. All of that are for the serious gamers who want to take things to the next level.
 
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