My son wants an Xbox 360 -Bought combo - thanks!

[Tom]

Trials HD ? Yea, that's a great game for 8 year olds. Is the rest of your list that stupid ?

 

[Homerboy]

You really think those games justify spending $300 on a console ? Most can be played via Steam for a few dollars,

Uno is a lot better card game than a console game.
Geometry Wars ? I'm sure lots of kids are dreaming of playing that Christmas morning. it's a fun game, for about 5 minutes.

btw, I am speaking from experience, not ignorance. Actual experience with families within and without my own, kids, grandkids. And numerous occasions of vidoe game purchases over the past 40 years. Including specific knowledge about the xbox 360 and what games young boys actually end up playing on it. Between grandkids and grand nephews, i know exactly what 6 boys between 8 and 13 enjoy playing on the 360, and what they don't play.

I have an xbox 360. I know how much kids want one, i know what it's like when kids play games on it. I've played games like Viva Pinata with them and know that it is a fairly complicated strategy game despite what it looks like. Some older kids may like it, but younger kids don't like their Pinatas getting eaten.

My daughter has been playing Viva Pinata since she's been 5. Never an issue at all. My son has been playing LEGO games and sports games (Baseball, Basketball, Hockey) since he's been 6. Never an issue at all (Ok sometimes when I would whomp on him). He also has loved Geometry Wars by the way. They both enjoy the Worm series too (though it gets hard for them at times, but we work through it together).

Who said anything about "Christmas morning". Infact, many of us suggestion the 250GB model were specifically suggesting it for FUTURE PURCHASES. Not to fill it up within 24hrs.

What kids play on the consoles is up to the parents. My son, 9, has no interest in games like CoD and the like. Honestly, I don't know if he knows they EXIST. (though he has seen me play TF2 on the PC a lot).

Your post(s) still stink, and according to this thread thus far, are apparently the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Kabob]

Trials HD ? Yea, that's a great game for 8 year olds. Is the rest of your list that stupid ?

Apparently so since that's the only thing you can comment on. Good to see that your wealth of knowledge as a gamer allows you to know exactly what is good and what is not.

 

[Tom]

This post is complete garbage. If you read any of the previous posts, espeically the ones from us with kids that play on a 360, you can see there are A LOT of good KID GAMES that exist for the console.

You actually have kids 8 to 12 ? What are their 10 favorite games on the 360 ?

 

[Homerboy]

Just to clarify my psts, I'm not against buying an xbox for kids, in fact i thought I said that the Kinect makes it more attractive for kids.

And I don't mean there aren't kids games that are downloadable. But so far I have found precious few that are both good games and really of interest to kids.

And I don't mean shovelware or games from the 1990s.

That's why I aksed for 10 of them. That wasn't a rhetorical question, i want to know what are the 10 best games for kids 8 to 10.

If ABC games and Sonic games are the 10 bewst, that is even more pathetic than I thought.

wouldn't the "10 Best" be specific to that kid, their sex and age? I mean I'm willing to bet STRONGLY that even the "10 Best" between you and I vary GREATLY.

The point is, people are telling you that there are A) LOTS of retail games for kids on the 360 and B) LOTS (185 apparently) to choose from via XBLA... and a gorwing list and catalog I'd guess as the casual and kid markets seem to be something MS has begun to take seriously).

This is all the OP needs to know; that there are literally HUNDREDS of titles today to choose from for kids of all ages and interest on the 360.

Side note: I could NEVER get my kids to play a actual board-game of LIFE with me and my wife. Same goes for other games like Connect 4, Sorry etc.... we recently played some boardgames on the 360. Guess what? We now play the ACTAUL board games ALL THE DAMNED TIME. Apparently it took the electronic version to spark their interest, but they then realized they are more fun to play "in person".

 

[Homerboy]

You actually have kids 8 to 12 ? What are their 10 favorite games on the 360 ?

9.5 and 7.5 and I have listed (several times) the games they play.
My neighbors have kids that are 10 and 11, and they play many the same games. My nieces and nephews (ranging from 11 to 21) actually enjoy a lot of the same games (granted of course the older ones play FPSes and the like too, but the COMPLETELY enjoy a lot of the XBLA titles, family orientated games, and yes.... those MAGICAL LEGO series too.

 

[Homerboy]

I've been trying to convince my wife to let me get an arcade cabinet and put it in our bar. No luck so far. 🙁

I was just pricing out some parts to build MAME cabinet in fact (controllers etc). Starts to add up. I think I'll just stick with dloaded ROMs and XBLA stuff if/when I can.

My brother got a FULLY LOADED Gargantugame. It's impressive but $$$$$$$$.
http://gargantugame.com/

 

[Tom]

My daughter has been playing Viva Pinata since she's been 5. Never an issue at all. My son has been playing LEGO games and sports games (Baseball, Basketball, Hockey) since he's been 6. Never an issue at all (Ok sometimes when I would whomp on him). He also has loved Geometry Wars by the way. They both enjoy the Worm series too (though it gets hard for them at times, but we work through it together).

Who said anything about "Christmas morning". Infact, many of us suggestion the 250GB model were specifically suggesting it for FUTURE PURCHASES. Not to fill it up within 24hrs.

What kids play on the consoles is up to the parents. My son, 9, has no interest in games like CoD and the like. Honestly, I don't know if he knows they EXIST. (though he has seen me play TF2 on the PC a lot).

Your post(s) still stink, and according to this thread thus far, are apparently the exception rather than the rule.

I'm sure my posts ARE the exception HERE. So what ? I assume the OP wants different viewpoints, if not just ignore what I say.

Sounds like you play games with your kids, which is by far the most important thing.

 

[Tom]

Apparently so since that's the only thing you can comment on. Good to see that your wealth of knowledge as a gamer allows you to know exactly what is good and what is not.

I only comment on what I know about. Trials HD is a great game, the only parents who would say it's appropriate for kids are the parents I already mentioned who let their kids play whatever they want, pretty much. good for them.

I specifically asked for a list of 10 good downloadable games for kids. Not just lists of games.

I know a lot about Trials HD..I don't know if the other games on that list are like Trials HD, that's why I asked.

 

[blurredvision]

I'm sure my posts ARE the exception HERE. So what ? I assume the OP wants different viewpoints, if not just ignore what I say.

I think you just kinda rubbed people the wrong way by coming in and asking for 10 really good kid-friendly games, then refuting every list given to you when they were perfectly valid.

 

[Tom]

wouldn't the "10 Best" be specific to that kid, their sex and age? I mean I'm willing to bet STRONGLY that even the "10 Best" between you and I vary GREATLY.

The point is, people are telling you that there are A) LOTS of retail games for kids on the 360 and B) LOTS (185 apparently) to choose from via XBLA... and a gorwing list and catalog I'd guess as the casual and kid markets seem to be something MS has begun to take seriously).

This is all the OP needs to know; that there are literally HUNDREDS of titles today to choose from for kids of all ages and interest on the 360.

Side note: I could NEVER get my kids to play a actual board-game of LIFE with me and my wife. Same goes for other games like Connect 4, Sorry etc.... we recently played some boardgames on the 360. Guess what? We now play the ACTAUL board games ALL THE DAMNED TIME. Apparently it took the electronic version to spark their interest, but they then realized they are more fun to play "in person".

My point is, it is NOT helpful to say there are hundreds of games. There are hundreds of brands of beer, saying that doesn't help someone get a good brew.

I can go look myself and see if I can find anything, but since there are people here who know more than I do about the xbox, I thought if there actaully ARE good games for kids, maybe someone would share their actual knowledge.

Now there is some of that in this thread,

I think I provoked some of those posts, so, your welcome. 😉

 

[Kabob]

I only comment on what I know about. Trials HD is a great game, the only parents who would say it's appropriate for kids are the parents I already mentioned who let their kids play whatever they want, pretty much. good for them.

I specifically asked for a list of 10 good downloadable games for kids. Not just lists of games.

I know a lot about Trials HD..I don't know if the other games on that list are like Trials HD, that's why I asked.

I only played the demo of Trials (and that was more than a year ago), I didn't realize it got "rough" later on, or whatever happens to bump that up to "T."

I think you just kinda rubbed people the wrong way by coming in and asking for 10 really good kid-friendly games, then refuting every list given to you when they were perfectly valid.

Exactly.

 

[fatpat268]

You say there's a ton of kid friendly games on aracade, back it up. Give me 10 really good games for kids under 10 on aracde ?

Not exactly 10 (more). They're all real good quality and are fine for under 10. There's some that are borderline, but I'd be comfortable letting any child play these games.

Also, these are only recent releases on XBLA and are not including most of Popcap's collection and the classic games. There's plenty of family oriented retail games as well, but I'll let you look those up.

Crazy Taxi
Pinball FX2
Pac-man Chmpionship Edition DX
Sonic Adventure
Plants vs. Zombies
Super Meat Boy
Earthworm Jim HD
Castle Crashers
Worms 2
Sonic 4 Episode 1
Madden NFL Arcade
NHL 3 on 3
Portal: Still Alive
Hydro Thunder
Comic Jumper
UNO
Marble Blast Ultra
Risk Factions
Turtles in Time Reshelled
Geometry Wars
Snoop Flying Ace
Bomberman Live
Tetris Spash
Banjo-Kazooie
Braid
Banjo-Tooie
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10
Tecmo Bowl Throwback
Bankshot Billiards 2
Puzzle Quest 2

 

[BAMAVOO]

Looks like the 250 gig is the way to go. I only need 2 controllers and NFL 11 at this point. I will grab a few of the cheaper games. The only thing I see is that Lego 4 gig combo looks pretty interesting as well. I don't see him playing any online games at all, so for now the 250 gig drive may be overkill anyway.



So, how does Xbox Live work. What if we want to stream Netflix HD, do we have to spend money for a yearly subscription?

 

[blurredvision]

So, how does Xbox Live work. What if we want to stream Netflix HD, do we have to spend money for a yearly subscription?

Yes, the Netflix app requires a gold subscription.

 

[Homerboy]

Looks like the 250 gig is the way to go. I only need 2 controllers and NFL 11 at this point. I will grab a few of the cheaper games. The only thing I see is that Lego 4 gig combo looks pretty interesting as well. I don't see him playing any online games at all, so for now the 250 gig drive may be overkill anyway.



So, how does Xbox Live work. What if we want to stream Netflix HD, do we have to spend money for a yearly subscription?

I initially looked around for a LEGO bundle for you but couldn't find one. Got a link to it? If your kids like LEGO, maybe that is the way to go and save the $$ on the games NOW (it'd be more fun for them to have more games to start), then if the 4GB ever becomes limiting, you can add the HDD after the fact (sure its more after the fact, but it would still be less overall if you ended up buying the LEGO game(s).

 

[BAMAVOO]

I initially looked around for a LEGO bundle for you but couldn't find one. Got a link to it? If your kids like LEGO, maybe that is the way to go and save the $$ on the games NOW (it'd be more fun for them to have more games to start), then if the 4GB ever becomes limiting, you can add the HDD after the fact (sure its more after the fact, but it would still be less overall if you ended up buying the LEGO game(s).

Best Buy, then instore pickup for an Extra Controller and NFL 11, cost is $317.xx Not bad for 4 games 2 controllers and the only game he really wants, NFL 11 🙂

This gives options down the road to add Kinect, a hard drive and other goodies, that can be for brithdays and all that jazz.

🙂

 

[Homerboy]

Best Buy, then instore pickup for an Extra Controller and NFL 11, cost is $317.xx Not bad for 4 games 2 controllers and the only game he really wants, NFL 11 🙂

This gives options down the road to add Kinect, a hard drive and other goodies, that can be for brithdays and all that jazz.

🙂

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Microsof...&skuId=1445824

Yeap. You can't go wrong with that. You got a winner IMO. All you guys will enjoy the LEGO games too (though Indy and Batman leave a bit to be desired, they are still fun).

The HDD, kinect etc will make good birthday/future holiday gifts too (my kids are getting Kinect this Christmas).

I'm going to have to recommend this bundle to my friend for his son too. I was looking for it!

 

[Homerboy]

I was just reminded of a great game my kids (specifically my daughter, now 7) played last year. She loved LOVED Mini Ninjas. As did I. Lots of fun and cutre design.

I REALLY wish they were making a sequel.

 

[Anubis]

Play and charge kits are definitely NOT recommended. The battery packs die and refuse to charge after 3-6 months of normal use. I would use rechargeable AAs if you don't like disposables.

huh mine still work fine got my xbox when Halo 3 came out. never had an issue with those bat packs

 

[blurredvision]

Best Buy, then instore pickup for an Extra Controller and NFL 11, cost is $317.xx Not bad for 4 games 2 controllers and the only game he really wants, NFL 11 🙂

This gives options down the road to add Kinect, a hard drive and other goodies, that can be for brithdays and all that jazz.

🙂

A new wireless controller and Madden NFL 11 are both $40 brand new at Amazon. You could save around $30 if you didn't mind to wait for them to be shipped.

 

[Homerboy]

Added bonus: There's a Best Buy GC for sale in the FS/T forum too!

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2123702&highlight=best+buy
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2125998&highlight=best+buy

 

[BAMAVOO]

I already bought the deal at Best Buy.