Switch - wasted on a 9 year old

ImARebel

So there are rumblings of the man in red delivering one of these in December

To be honest, I think a 2DS XL would be more in her line, more games, cheaper games (even better) and also she can head up to her room for an hour and play it or bring it with her

I think she'd get more use out of the handheld

but that said, I know nothing about the switch. What's good and bad about it, used to be a gamer in my day but with kids and a job that's gone. Would i be selfish and boot her off it to play it myself, the wii was a disaster, i don't know what I expected from it and I'm loath to spend mad money on the switch to find it's not very good either

hints/tips/advice all gratefully appreciated

Tom Mann Centuria

Why was the Wii a disaster?

chrislad

It depends on what she's into - my son is 9, and loves his Switch, mainly for Fortnite, and in the past, Minecraft. He's started to get into Zelda now too.

seamus

3 of the best-selling games last year were exclusively on the switch: Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart and Legend of Zelda. So it's not starved of decent games.

The Switch is also technically a handheld, so there is that.

I don't have a Switch (yet), but I've heard nothing but positive things about it. I'm always a bit tentative about buying Nintendo because you tend to be excluding a lot of the biggest adult games, but I have no regrets about the Wii, and my 6-year-old loves playing ours, even though it's now 11/12 years old.

It really sounds like the Switch is the way to go for your circumstances unless there's a reason she'd prefer something else. By the time she's a teenager and playing online games with her mates, we'll probably be onto the next generation of consoles, so you can change then.

ImARebel

Cheers all

Hm...

trying to keep her away from the online side of things fortnite etc, and trying to get her into more puzzle based games or just ones that aren't this quick hit and it's over. I'd like her to see what it's like to sit and play an actual game, progress through it, figure it out etc

With youtube and all the quick online games like fortnite she's always looking for these quick wins (hard to explain in words) i'm trying to get her away from all of that and build up her concentration with old fashioned game playing. can't pass a level - try harder. Not quick enough, learn the pattern try again etc

not sure if any of that makes sense, lol

Forgot about it being a hand held too! In my head I thought of it as a console

ImARebel

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Why was the Wii a disaster?

Partly because we got a bundle loads of games from an older boy family member and they really were too advanced for her. then she lost interest in it. She played the interactive ones for a while and again lost interest.

Concentration is a big thing with her, it just didn't hold her concentration at all for some reason

kinda hoping she's now a few years older that we can try again, lol

Banjo

My 9 year old got a 2DS XL last year with a Lego super heroes game and Pokemon. Finished the Lego game and now barely plays it. Expresses no interest in getting other games or borrowing any of the dozens I have lying around. Wants to play fortnite because that's what her friends play. Wanted Minecraft for a while but has it on her tablet and it's run it's course. I think the lack of upcoming releases means there's no excitement about the 2DS, you're not planning future birthdays and christmases and whatnot, and your friends aren't talking about it. It will go on a shelf and not come off it.

I understand what you're saying about sitting down and playing a game but I don't think you can force that. The Switch, on the other hand, you can sit down and play with them, which is a hook unto itself - gaming is more sociable that way, something the family can do together, at least until mammy gets sick of not being as good at Mariokart any more and accuses you of cheating....

I got my 8 year old a switch and it's barely been played

CosmicSmash

I think a 2DS would be the better option, you can still play any of the back catalogue of games from the original DS too.

ImARebel

ooohh a split in the camp, lol

given I just found out she's thrown 3 weeks of maths homework in the bin before coming home from school all I feel like getting her at the moment is a lump of coal ....

kids eh...who'd have em?!

Thanks all, ye have given me food for thought.

As regards fortnite, she's an exception to the rule, none of her friends are gamers and she tends to veer towards the lads on the estate because of that moreso than the girls. Which is a problem in itself as boys do tend (through no fault of their own) play a bit more rough and tumble and she just doesn't fit in there either.

plus I feel (personally) 9 is a bit young for fortnite...

thanks all I appreciate the feedback!

Pac1Man

ImARebel wrote: »

ooohh a split in the camp, lol

given I just found out she's thrown 3 weeks of maths homework in the bin before coming home from school all I feel like getting her at the moment is a lump of coal ....

You know what had to be done...

ImARebel

love it!

3DataModem

My son loves his switch. Explored Zelda, Mario, etc with glee. Now plays fortnite (with all the voice and chat features disabled). One of the best things about the switch is the fact you can get lots of little indie / old games for cheap on it. If she loves puzzles, you can drop a tenner on Another World for example. Or grab a Sonic game.

My son's switch has not once been connected to TV, purely used for mobile. An amazing device (I have one myself).

(By the way: I have two 3DSXLs sitting in a drawer unplayed since the Switch arrived. I was going to stick them on ebay. If you are interested in one or both of those and a handful of games let me know. Apologies if this is against forum charter.)

ImARebel

3DataModem wrote: »

My son loves his switch. Explored Zelda, Mario, etc with glee. Now plays fortnite (with all the voice and chat features disabled). One of the best things about the switch is the fact you can get lots of little indie / old games for cheap on it. If she loves puzzles, you can drop a tenner on Another World for example. Or grab a Sonic game.

My son's switch has not once been connected to TV, purely used for mobile. An amazing device (I have one myself).

(By the way: I have two 3DSXLs sitting in a drawer unplayed since the Switch arrived. I was going to stick them on ebay. If you are interested in one or both of those and a handful of games let me know. Apologies if this is against forum charter.)

Thanks a million. If I was buying this as a bog standard present and not from the man himself I probably would take you up on it. Thanks for the offer. Hope you don't get into trouble for it!

iamtony

If you really want to get her into proper gaming that actually makes the brain work you have to be willing to play it with her. I've a 9 year old and she has a switch, she plays it but really all she wants to do it play it with me or her mam. She gets bored on her own.
This is the reason the lads tend to play a lot more, because all their friends have consoles and they play together online and together if together. My daughter has tried to get her friends to play with her but she's on a different level with her skills and they get fed up playing with her quickly and want to play other things.
In summary playing games with your kids is a great experience and help you both bond like nothing else. I highly recommend it.
I'd start off with a switch and games like overcooked and rayman legends as they are proper couch co-op games.

chrislad

iamtony wrote: »

If you really want to get her into proper gaming that actually makes the brain work you have to be willing to play it with her. I've a 9 year old and she has a switch, she plays it but really all she wants to do it play it with me or her mam. She gets bored on her own.
This is the reason the lads tend to play a lot more, because all their friends have consoles and they play together online and together if together. My daughter has tried to get her friends to play with her but she's on a different level with her skills and they get fed up playing with her quickly and want to play other things.
In summary playing games with your kids is a great experience and help you both bond like nothing else. I highly recommend it.
I'd start off with a switch and games like overcooked and rayman legends as they are proper couch co-op games.

Agreed. My son loves his Switch, but he loves playing Fortnite with me more than anything else on it.

ImARebel

Cheers - thanks for the feedback! really appreciated