Recommended Hand-held Gaming System for Kids

My 11 year son has a PSP. The hand held version of the Playstation2. I got it for him because of his grades. He seems to enjoy it and it gives me free time. Or helps him to be quiet in the car. There is another one, I believe it is by Nintendo. I heard good things about as well. I don't know if they play movies like the PSP. Yes, they have movies that you can buy for them to look at. I think a new one is like $199 (I bought is three years ago). But they also have refubished ones that work just as good that you may get for $129.

Nintendo DS lite. This is the one most have and they can link to each other to play games and they can buy good used games etc... I've always tried going a cheaper route with them and it was not worth it as my son could not see the games, the games were not as good or he could not hook up with friends to play. They'll be around a while too. Good overall game system. Most games run about $30, but you can buy some used at a somewhat better price.

I recommend The Nintendo DS. Nintendo offers more youth oriented games than any other video gaming system. It also will be lasting as Nintendo has been around forever and they offer a variety of games for any age. I am 26 years old and i have one of my own... ha. I have a 10 year old and 7 year old neice and a 9 year old nephew who all have one as well.
They are great to take on long car trips or airplane rides. whatever system you decide, ask for game recommendations from the guys who work in the video game store.. they are great resources and usually know what games kids like and the appropriate level. Good luck!

I would recommend the Nintendo DS for each. I worked in at a day camp this past summer where the kids were allowed to bring their electronics for free time. They were responsible for keeping up with them. 99% of the kids who brought an electronic brought a DS. There were a couple of kids who also had a Game Boy or the PSP. The PSP is expensive. And you can play Game Boy games in the DS.

As was stated in another response, the DS allows the kids to enter the same game together. They would get them real close together and it would download. There is a way for the game to download into another DS and that child can play without actually having the game in their system.

They can also chat. However, we had some problem with this because I had some "mean girls" in my group (8 and 9 year olds) who used the chat room to talk about people.

We got my son, who is 6, one this fall. He loves it for long trips. Between the DS and the portable DVD player, he could ride for days in the car and be happy! He really doesn't play it much at the house. Right now, he is into playing games on the computer.

Miraculously, none of the kids at the camp actually lost (or broke) their DS for any length of time. We had a few lost styluses, but those are easy to replace. Our biggest problem with them was the kids wanted to bring their chargers to re-charge them. They were suppose to do that at night. And, I did have some trouble with kids not wanting to turn them off when we would line up and walk different places. A few times of them being banned for the remainder of the day solved that problem!

my son has a nintendo ds. he loves it. too much i think. where do ya'll go to church? we are looking for a church.

Theres a new micro gameboy which I plan to get my 8 year old for Christmas. They're around $90.00. Check out the website: http://micro.gameboy.com/

My boys love their Nintedo DS's. We do limit their time with them and they can earn or lose more time depending on the circumstances. The wii is also great. (but not handheld). It is about $250 and the majority of the games are $50.

Sounds like you have some great boys and they are managing their time well. I have two boys also and one has a PS2 that he bought himself because we refuse to buy toys/games that are a huge waste of time. The games can be a "carrot" for getting other work done, but we've found that it's more trouble than it's worth. My son will ask to play in the car and then he misses out on all conversation, books on tape, etc. We limit his time to 1hr/day and he has to play it between 6:30AM-7:30AM and only after he earns the time by getting everything else done. Sometimes he can play in the car on trips. If you do buy them a gaming system, the PS2 is good and it's not the "latest, greatest" so you might be able to actually find it without fighting in the Walmart isle. I would just buy one system and several games to share.
Consider buying a Wii system that the whole family can have fun with and then play as a family. The system is expensive $400 and the games will run $100 each, but then the entire family has fun and it's good excersize.

Something you may not know about the nintendo ds. We have taken several rides in the car with the cousins, get togethers and eating out. Ages 16 to 7 boys and girls. They always say - bring your nintendo ds. Since I am technically illiterate - I do not quite understand this, but they all (6 to 7 players I think) play together on one game. They can also chat back and forth (like texting - if they are in close distance with each other.) You can also play gameboy games on it as well. Sounds like this would be fun for your boys. Hope this helps.

My 8 yr old son loves his Nintendo DS. There are lots of games available for it and you can even play Game Boy games in it which are cheap at second hand stores!!
Have a great Christmas!!

D.
Moms Helping Moms Work From Home!
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My kids love their Nintendo DS. Their favorite game (including my teenagers) is Mario Cart. They also like Brain Age which is a learning game. They can "link" together wirelessly and compete against each other on two or more player games.

I recommend the nintendo Ds. It has more kids games to choose from for all ages.

My son (8 yrs old) has the Nintendo DS. He has had it for two yrs and loves it. It is moderately priced and has games for the younger crowd as well as older children and adults. My husband even plays it sometimes. Also the games arent as expensive as some of the others. Although it has been out a while it is still very popular.

both my kids age 7 and 12 have nintendo ds/
They have had theirs for 3 years and love them.
the new games prices start at $30,but you can get some of them for $10 at target.
My kids share games and it has solved the "what to get as a gift "dilemma.
Keep checking the sales ads b/c some stores run a buy 2games get the 3rd game free sale. with x-mas coming up some stores are selling the ds in a bundle with a game with it.