The Kids Are All Right! 8 Helpful Tips for buying your child a DS.
Thinking of getting your child a DS? Are you wondering what type of DS to get? Are you worried about how long will they spend playing it? How do you know what games to buy? What sort of games do children enjoy playing?
Many parents are bombarded with demands to buy stuff for their children. Every Christmas, birthday, or sometimes for no occasion at all, just because all the other kids have already got one of whatever it is they are asking for. At some point, you may have been asked for a Nintendo DS. And in that case you may understandably have some questions or concerns.
In order to get answers for some of the questions above, I enlisted some help from a friend of mine, Lydia, a 12 year old self confessed DS nutter, from Hove near Brighton, UK. With her help, I managed to uncover a few hints and tips for confused parents everywhere.
Lydia with her DS.
1. Get a carry case or protection for the DS. Lydia confessed she was on her third console as her first two had broken, the first because her mum spilled a drink on it, and the other from being left outside in her tree-house. DS’s are not cheap. If you are going to get one for you’re child, make sure you invest in a bag or something to keep it safe and dry, and maybe don’t let them take it into the tree-house!
2. What T.V. Programmes do your kids obsess over? Lydia is Pokemon obsessed, and as a result all of her favourite games are Pokemon related. Pokemon Black, Pokemon white, Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs, the list went on and on. Chances are, if it’s a hit T.V series there will be a game to accompany it.
3. Mario is always a hit with the kids. You cannot go wrong with Mario.
4. Girls like games with cats and dog’s that you can walk and feed and play with. Lydia explained how Nintencats was one of her favourite DS games. She explained a feature of the game that she articularly enjoyed was the DS’s ability to take a photo of your real life pet, that can then be recreated virtually in the game.
5. Boys like games with cars and fighting. Self explanatory really. Try Cars, Mario Kart, Lego Battles or Ben 10, Protector of the Earth.
6. Kid’s don’t like Brain Training. Lydia said it was a really boring game, and she had no interest in playing it what so ever. You might think it’s good for their brains and their education, but they get enough of that at school. If you’re really interested in using the DS console to help your child learn, why not try puzzle games aimed at children. But don’t buy them brain training, they won’t play it, don’t waste your money.
7. You don’t need to worry about them never using it. They will certainly play it most days if you allow them too. However, playing it too often is a major concern for most parents. Lydia confessed the longest stint she spent on her DS was 12 hours straight! Still I think this something that is easily controlled, Lydia admitted that these days she only plays it when bored, and even though she does play it everyday, sometimes for as little as 5 minutes.
8. The 3DS is the one all the kids are after. Lydia has a DS Lite, but she said she had played on a 3DS and was now very keen to get her hands on one. She said she especially liked the game Zelda, Ocarina of Time in 3D, and the Cats game. She also explained how she thought it was clever how the console allowed you to alter the level of 3D or even turn it off completely if you wanted to.
Recent Comments