On Jan 2, 6:36 pm, KLE wrote:
We have 2 boys, almost 4 and almost 8. So far our kids have only done
any kind of electronic game playing on the computer with educational
games we own or online ( Blues Clues, Magic School Bus, PBS Kids,
etc.). For a long time I was dead set against having a video gaming
system (the kind that hooks up to the TV), but I am now coming around
to my husband's point of view that if we want to continue to exert
strong influence over the types of games our kids play, it might be a
good idea to have a machine of our own so our kids can play the games
we approve of at home and hopefully their friends will play here,
too.

So now I'm considering looking into a unit for their birthdays, or
maybe next Christmas. Of all the different game systems available, is
there any one system any of you have found to offer a large variety of
educational or non-violent games appropriate for kids under 10?

And for those of you who will say they'll still play the games we
don't approve at their friends' homes, so far the older one has shown
a lot of maturity and integrity in that area and has declined to play
such games at the neighbor's house, even asking me to tell the mom he
didn't want to play them. (The younger neighbor son had gotten into
the older son's games, apparently.)

Thanks for any advice or guidance.

Karen

Thanks for all the great info and advice! I'll talk it over some more
with my husband and see what time frame he was thinking about going
ahead with one of these units.

I was interested to hear that Lego Star Wars could be played on the
computer with a special controller, as that game is the big draw next
door where they have a gamecube and upgraded to an xbox for xmas. I do
have concerns as someone pointed out though about the family computer
never being quite updated enough to run these demanding games; I think
we're probably at that point now, and need to think about upgrading
the home computer in the foreseeable future.

I think for the age they are and our current budget, the gamecube and
hoarding games for it may be the way to go, then in a few years plan
and budget for whatever the current, more heavy duty system will be. I
understand that the gamecube games can be played on the Wii - can the
Wii games play on the gamecube?

Thanks again.

Karen