Which gaming system should we get?

[danceboy]

I don't play video games. Neither does ricevermicelli. So we don't have a game system. But we're about to have two kids (5 & 2) that will be wanting to cling to, and climb over, a mother who will be trying to recover from surgery and possibly chemo. And who could hopefully be distracted by a video game console.

So what would people recommend? Both for a system, and for a few games. Something that doesn't grow with the kids is not a negative in my book (it might not be a positive either, but I'm certainly not willing to pay much for it).

ricevermicelli wants us to get something that can play netflix, but that doesn't seem to limit it much (unless some systems do it better than others?). The ps3, wii, and xbox 360 all claim to speak WPA2, so we should be ok there (unless one of them is lying...).

Also, anything that I don't even know enough to be thinking about?

Comments

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

We have a Wii, which certainly does Netflix, and has lots of fun games, many of them targeted at kids but enjoyable by adults. However, the next-gen Wii (the Wii U) will apparently be announced soon. Also, the Wii is simply not very powerful. That said, you can probably get one cheap, and the kids will love it until they're old enough to compare notes with their peers and realize they need the Next Cool Thing. And the controls are pretty simple to master.

On the other hand, if you want this experience, you're gonna want an Xbox 360 w/ Kinect. Which I hear is way cool.

[drwex]

We also have a Wii and there are a number of good-condition systems you can get for cheap. Wii has the advantage of having many physically active games that I think the kids will enjoy - sports type stuff like baseball, ski jumping, tennis, etc. My kids regularly thrash me at these things.

Also, there are a bunch of Lego-branded games available for Wii - my kids adore Lego Star Wars and others.

That said, i agree that Xbox 360 with Kinect is very cool and much more modern. At 2 and 5 they probably won't care/notice if they have the latest whatsit, but at 5 and 8 they might.

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

we have a wii too, and while the girls have grown up a bit they still will have an afternoon where they play video games and stuff. Wii is aimed younger than other sets, not as good at shoot em up games, but that sounds like a win for you. We never got the thing online to play with other folks outside the house. The thing saved their lives when we got housebound with snow for a while, as in I didnt kill them. I highly recommend the game Okami that is fun for them to play while being beautiful to watch and hear for adults

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

DL! loves machine guns, but their depiction in film instantly reduces Hotspur to tears - I think we're just not ready for shoot-em-ups. Thanks for the recommendation about Okami though. Fun + Not annoying to adults is a rare combination.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

I've heard very good things about Okami.