Any good computer games for kids

[mleichtle]

Like mario bros, you know action games, make your thumbs sore. I started looking into this for my 11 year old daughter. We went to best buy, but all they had were games like war this, battle that, with intense grafics that would probably kill my computer. Am I stuck having to invest in a play station or wii to keep up with her classmates and friends?

[Mrs. Wallnut]

IMO I wouldn't invest in a playstation or anything like that. My twins are almost 11 and we have not bought one for them at all. I would check into buying some computer type games from say Toys R Us or some place like that. In the past we have bought a CD Rom type game one for Pocahontas and on was Tonka. These run fine on our computer and I think it teaches them things about the computer.

The other thing that I would look into which we might be getting the twins for their birthday this year is those games that hook up to the television. I have noticed that they have some games like Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man and some other type games with themes to them, Scooby Doo, Disney etc. And from my understanding that they are pretty simple to hook up.

In all honesty I don't like the gaming systems like playstations because my 6 year old nephew will sit in front of them because his mother and sisters don't want to deal with him and when you ask him a question he will start talking about his video games. But being 11 I don't see a problem with that if you want to spend the money for the playstation or Wii. And this is all just my feelings and opinions.

[Otter]

I am a huge fan of the console game systems over any others. I will qualify my self here I own and use a PS3, XBOX360, XBOX and a PC, those are my toys and the children are only allowed to play on them when I am. That is rare; they are asleep by the time I get to have free time to play.

Game systems have many advantages over the PC, here are a few.

• No viruses
• No regular video upgrades
• Limited Content
• No popup or stealth web issues
• Not a PC or MAC so your life is not tied to it.
• You can rent a game before you buy it.

Disadvantages

• Price
• You might like it more than them
• Rating system is not consistent as it could be

My 10yo son has his own Gamecube that he saved up for and bought himself. We enforce some heavy rules on the use of the gaming system, we have to approve all games played, no more that 1 hour of game time allowed in a 24 hour period (except Saturday afternoon when a 1 hour grace is given provided all other rules are followed), all homework and chores must be completed, grades must remain above 85%. The odd thing is that he may play 3 hours a week, it is more of a distraction than a babysitter.

[LinuxRandal]

it is more of a distraction than a babysitter. [/FONT][/SIZE]

You need a cuter babysitter!

What are the specs of your pc? Do you have high speed access? Windows?

Quit looking at the boxes, and start looking at the jewel case only games. You will find both older games, and thumb type, that aren't all war games. My mother and sister seem to like a lot of those pop cap games, and you can play a few of them online. Lately they have been addicted to "Chuzzle".

[mac_daddy]

There is practically nothing but garbage out there for most girls...unless they like to emulate chainsaw wielding albinos clad in spandex with their heads ablaze with purple plasma fighting off intergalactic mutant marines in the fifth dimension...

I used to have time to play games, PC or console...but now I've just relegated to bittorrenting whatever GBA games and then loading them on a couple of GBA flash carts for the GBASP. PS2 is just used for some driving and the Star Wars Lego games from the hard drive using HD Advance...yeah, I'm using 'backups' since I don't spend that much time or cash to lay out endless hours of fragging like i used to... my 3 year old has figured out most of the games...

I think the most games my wife likes are the non shooters, and something with an intriguing story...plus some sort of game that won't envelope your REAL life and make you only a mere entity in the VIRTUAL reality (i.e.: WoW)

[SHADOWFOX]

There are pretty decent games out there for kids that don't have anything to with fragging or hacking somebody up in two pieces. Consider some of the games that are made from tv shows Deal or No Deal or some classic franchises such as Roller Coaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Tetris, etc.

[jziegler]

I don't follow computer games anymore. But, talking to the owner of the local car dealership recently, he was talking about this new game his daughter has been playing. I don't know if it's computer or console, or the name, but it might give you an idea for something to look for. It's a game that is all horseback riding stuff. They can pick the horse, do different riding stuff, sounded pretty cool for the horse crazy girl. Something that you may wish to look for if your daughter is so inclined.

Of course, you can also look for the little controller that plugs into your TV that has 100+ old video games, including Mario Bros, Pacman, lots of others. There are at least 3 booths at my local farmer's market selling them.

Jim

[onedash]

sim city is pretty gender neutral and you can learn something without knowing you are learning.
I often bring it up in conversations when talking about taxes. Without getting political it can show you that by giving tax breaks to the wealthy you get more wealthy people moving in which actually provides more income in which you can make improvments and more business moves in etc.......It can be just as addictive as any other game and I haven't played in a long time since I can't be on the computer long before my 3 year old is climbing all over my back like im a tree and he is a monkey???

[Jeffrey Schronce]

You can pick up a PSII very cheap at the strip mall game stores like Game Stop, etc. The games are very inexpensive and are pretty decent, particularly for the segment you a looking for.
Shrek II, Sitting Ducks and Nicktoons Unite are all pretty decent gender neutral and "11 year old culturally relevant".

[gad5264]

Here is a link that a friend of mine sent me a while back. I sent it to my kids and they have fun playing the various game son it for hours. My oldest has now become a 9-Ball fanatic but she still can't beat the old man.

http://www3.telus.net/public/a7a55952/index1.htm

[gabedad]

star wars legos is on pc - lots of fun

[scorrpio]

If you go to BestBuy website, choose PC games section, there is a Kid's/Educational software section. They have quite a few titles there. And most of those kid games are very easy on the PCs.

In fact, you don't even need to pay for games - go to www.shockwave.com, they have a very large selection of free flash games, including a large Kids section. Our friends have a 10 year old daughter, and when they visit, she has no problem finding games to play - though she is more into Adventure or Puzzle games there. All benign stuff, I can't recall seeing any chainsaws or mutant marines.

Far as all those issues mentioned:

• No viruses
• No regular video upgrades
• Limited Content
• No popup or stealth web issues
• Not a PC or MAC so your life is not tied to it.
• You can rent a game before you buy it.

For virus and popup/stealth web issues: On my PCs, I run Norton Internet Security. They have an annual subscription to keep you updated, but since OEM version costs only about $20, it is cheaper to buy a new version every year. And NIS 2007, in addition to antivirus, firewall, spam filter, privacy protector, and parental control, also contains the new anti-phishing component. I've been using NIS since 2004, and my PC security has been tight as a drum. Chalk up limited content here as well - parental control works very well.
Far as video upgrades: kids games and those flash games are not hogs. Until recently, our auxiliary PC was Pentium III 450MHz, 512MB RAM, GeForce2 vodeo card - a dinosaur circa 1999. Ran kid/flash games like a champ. You can get a budget PC or a used one for less than you'd pay for a last-gen console.
Not sure what 'life tied to it' means, but I will repeat you can get an adequate PC for the kid for a pretty low price - or set them up with a limited account that won't allow them to mess things up.
Renting before you buy - c'mon! A lot of PC games offer FREE (no rental fee) downloadable demos that often contain a full mission/level/chapter from the game. And flash games are free all the way. And you can check abandonware sites for disowned old PC games that can be downloaded in full for free.