Best XBox games for young children

Ands

Any suggestions as to good games for children (aged 4 & 6)? We've got Kinect but the games don't have to be Kinect. One daughter likes Mario Kart on the DS so is there a similar, age-appropriate game on the xbox?

I've never ventured into the world of gaming before (well not since ~1980 when we got an Atari console (with rifle) for Christmas ).

Thanks

iainf72

Your best bet is probably going to be some of the Lego games. Lego Star Wars / Batman or Harry Potter.

Or Viva Pinata.

And obviously Kinectimals.

Might be worth having a poke around the XBox Market / Live Arcade as there could be some downloadable stuff that would be good.

takethehighroad

Get the F1 game, then when the kids whinge that it's too hard, you can have a go!

Pross

Is there an XBox equivalent of Little Big Planet? I know that's only on PS3 but if they have anything similar it would be worth a look, great for the whole family and a bit different to most games out there.

pdstsp

+1 for the lego star wars - my son loved this - we stayed in a hotel in France where there was a playstation in reception with this game on it and we couldn't get him off it.

Matt the Tester

Pross wrote:

Is there an XBox equivalent of Little Big Planet? I know that's only on PS3 but if they have anything similar it would be worth a look, great for the whole family and a bit different to most games out there.

nothing like it im afraid mate!

i would reccomend getting Viva pinata or Kinectanimals or a Dancing Game. they could enjoy that

Ands

Thanks for the tips. We've already bought Kinectimals. Looked at the Kinect dance game a couple of weeks ago (Amazon US reviews) and some people said it was quite complicated for young children. :?: HOwever, I think we'll give it a go as it seems that adults love it!

I've just had a look at some of the Lego games on Youtube...e.g. Lego Star Wars - not sure if my girls are into violent games ...Hello Kitty is more their thing!

Anyone any experience of Madagascar Kartz? I looked at it on youtube and it looks similar to Mario Kart. If I did get this, would it be best to get a steering wheel controller?

Matt the Tester

well, Steering wheels are VERY hard to get used to if your interested in using it also i would suggest getting it as they can be great fun if it's for your Kids i would probs stick to the standard controllers.

bompington

A box of lego, a bike and a sandpit

sheffsimon

bompington wrote:

A box of lego, a bike and a sandpit

I reckon I could build my house at 1:1 scale, from the amount of Lego we have. This will be the first Xmas we havent got any for the kids. Happy memories of hours and hours building a Lego t-rex a few years ago.

Our two are getting XBox 360 this year from their grandparents, it seems that most of the games they like, that they have played already at their mates houses, are 16+ rated - Call of Duty, Assassins Creed etc, they are 11 and 9 yrs. :?

Not played any of them meself, what makes them 16+? Graphic violence or swearing, or both??

rick_chasey

SheffSimon wrote:

bompington wrote:

A box of lego, a bike and a sandpit

I reckon I could build my house at 1:1 scale, from the amount of Lego we have. This will be the first Xmas we havent got any for the kids. Happy memories of hours and hours building a Lego t-rex a few years ago.

Our two are getting XBox 360 this year from their grandparents, it seems that most of the games they like, that they have played already at their mates houses, are 16+ rated - Call of Duty, Assassins Creed etc, they are 11 and 9 yrs. :?

Not played any of them meself, what makes them 16+? Graphic violence or swearing, or both??

CoD's a little sweary but to be honest, I grew up playing GTA since I was about 12 and I'm not criminal.

takethehighroad

Rick Chasey wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

bompington wrote:

A box of lego, a bike and a sandpit

I reckon I could build my house at 1:1 scale, from the amount of Lego we have. This will be the first Xmas we havent got any for the kids. Happy memories of hours and hours building a Lego t-rex a few years ago.

Our two are getting XBox 360 this year from their grandparents, it seems that most of the games they like, that they have played already at their mates houses, are 16+ rated - Call of Duty, Assassins Creed etc, they are 11 and 9 yrs. :?

Not played any of them meself, what makes them 16+? Graphic violence or swearing, or both??

CoD's a little sweary but to be honest, I grew up playing GTA since I was about 12 and I'm not criminal.

This is probably more of a social comment, but it 's not computer games where children learn to swear from, it's other children or parents. Like Rick says, the swears in games we played when we were younger we'd already been saying for years anyway, and no one I know has ever car jacked someone then run over a queue of Elvises

Pross

Call of Duty isn't suitable for young kids IMHO, the language is bad on the latest version in particular (18 certificate for a reason!). I don't think the violence is such a problem outside of Daily Mail world as any kid with an ounce of sense will realise it isn't real.

My 13 year old daughter loves Singstar on the PS3, I know that again this isn't available on the XBox but I think they have an equivalent. The younger one (7) likes the Disney Sing It game but is a bit limited by her reading skills at the moment.

Pross

Ands wrote:

Thanks for the tips. We've already bought Kinectimals. Looked at the Kinect dance game a couple of weeks ago (Amazon US reviews) and some people said it was quite complicated for young children. :?: HOwever, I think we'll give it a go as it seems that adults love it!

I think there may be a link between the two highlighted sections

Yossie

A football, a couple of bikes, some friends and the great outdoors doesn't do my two any harm..... Console free household - a dying breed?

sheffsimon

Yossie wrote:

A football, a couple of bikes, some friends and the great outdoors doesn't do my two any harm..... Console free household - a dying breed?

Console and playing out are not mutually exclusive..my own kids are out and about all weekend in the park up the street, playing football, general buggering about, sometimes come back with their mates for a go on Fifa 11 or whatever, but generally dont see them for hours on end.

If they spent all day on computer or console or whatever then I would I have a problem with it.

Other comments re swearing, no doubt they know their share of swear words, just wouldnt think it right if they are playing some game in the living room at home and all sorts of effing and blinding is coming out the telly.

Pross

SheffSimon wrote:

Yossie wrote:

A football, a couple of bikes, some friends and the great outdoors doesn't do my two any harm..... Console free household - a dying breed?

Console and playing out are not mutually exclusive..my own kids are out and about all weekend in the park up the street, playing football, general buggering about, sometimes come back with their mates for a go on Fifa 11 or whatever, but generally dont see them for hours on end.

If they spent all day on computer or console or whatever then I would I have a problem with it.Other comments re swearing, no doubt they know their share of swear words, just wouldnt think it right if they are playing some game in the living room at home and all sorts of effing and blinding is coming out the telly.

+1, my eldest spends hours on Facebook or playing on consoles but she also has to sort her horse out everyday and ride most days and manages to fit in the amount of exercise in a week that I could only dream of in a month with athletics, netball, dance etc. Nowt wrong with them having some downtime on a game or chatting to their mates online - better than them sitting watching TV!

rick_chasey

I spent most of my teenages years playing computer games - and I probably do more exercise (i.e. cycling) and am fitter than virtually all my friends (well, perhaps not the past 4 months but that's a different story).

What is quite good about games is that you always ultimately feel they are a different world to the one you live in - so when the violence/sex/drugs occurs, it's somehow not the same.

I miss games a lot now I have more pressing things to do, and my xbox 360 just isn't the same as a PC - the platform I grew up playing.

iainf72

I forgot the new Sonic game on XBLA. And there are various other goodies there

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Games ... Genre=3005

The nice thing is you can try before you buy in a lot of cases.