Gaming 101 for Moms: Which Console To Buy For My Kids

One of the more surprising results from my selling off my old Nintendo DS and Wii would be the deluge of emails I received from moms asking for advice about games consoles for their kids. I have been playing video games for so long that it is as natural as brushing my teeth in the morning, I tend to forget purchasing a piece of gaming console can be a scary experience for those who are not a gamer.

So, below some quick pointers if your kids are asking you one for Christmas:

TYPES OF CONSOLE

1. Broadly, there are 2 kinds of consoles: home consoles (e.g. XBox, Wii, PS) and handheld (e.g. DS and PSP).
2. Currently there are 3 major manufacturers. There are other smaller brands but these are the giants:
   • Microsoft with Xbox and Kinect (for XBox 360)
   • Nintendo with Wii and Game Boy (which has morphed into its next-generation Dual-Screen version)
   • Sony with Playstation and PSP
3. The kind of games available would be different from one console to another. The reason is simple – each console is built using proprietary technology so it is very costly for a games developer to create a game that can be played on all machines (the term used for games that are released for multiple machines is “crossplatform”). That is why most gamers tend to own more than one console – you need the Playstation family for Final Fantasy, XBox for Halo, Wii for Zelda and so on.

Xbox

XBox 360

Kinect for Xbox 360

PlayStation 2 (PS2)

PlayStation 3 (PS3)

PlayStation Portable (PSP Slim Lite)

Nintendo Wii

Nintendo Dual Screen-i (DSi)

WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOUR KIDS

Tough question to answer for me because I want them all. But here are some things that you may want to ask yourself in the decision-making process:

1. Is it a specific gift for the kid; or do you want something that the whole family uses and enjoys?
2. Why are you buying it? Do you intend to use the console as a reward (kids can play only when they behave or help set the table or get good grades at school); or as punishment (kids can play anytime but privilege is taken away when they misbehave etc)?
3. How much are you willing to pay? Console prices starts from RM600 onwards. Games DVD starts at RM10 to RM200, downloadable games are at RM5 per pop. Please also remember you may need to buy the extras -  like R4i Memory Card for the DS (RM80), additional memory cards for PS2 to save games (RM120), rechargeable batteries (RM60), wireless controller (RM120 for infrared version, RM300 for wireless version), swords, pistols, guitars, dance pads, drum kit, bla bla bla. Yes, there are many peripherals and it can be a costly hobby to maintain.
4. What is the interest level? This has impact because once you buy a console, you are limited to the games available for it. So if the kids show a lot of interest in playing games, you may want to choose a console that has a lot of kid-friendly, casual games. If it is just a fad, you may want to choose something more balanced and has good range of adult titles so that you can play it once the kid loses interest.

Here is my take on the various consoles, click on it to enlarge. If it’s tough to read then click Console Comparison for the pdf version:

For a more complete (and very good) comparison table by game pros, go here: Video Games Consoles Review.

My advice (please note that this is my personal opinion):

• If it’s a gift for the kids, get a handheld:
  • For boys, get them a PSP.
  • For girls, get a DSLite. DSi and DSiLL are nice but I think the additional features are excessive so why pay more for something the kids don’t need? Most of us already have digital cameras and phones that can connect to the internet anyway.
  • Both PSP and DSLite come in a variety of colours, always a good consideration (I like mine in pink, I am sure kids like theirs in specific colours too).
• If it’s for all in the family, get a Wii. Great socializing tool and the games are easy enough to get into.
• If it is a gift to yourself for being the great mom that you are, get a DSLite. Fits in your handbag, great to kill some time during lunch breaks playing Sudoku or Cooking Mama. And everyone loves Super Mario.
• For the dad, if he travels a lot then get a PSP. If you want him to spend more time at home than going out golfing or teh tarik with his friends, the PS2 is a good choice. PS3 is fantastic too but the games library is kinda limited at this point. PS2 still has the edge for overall completeness in terms of price, graphics and games choices.

Hope this helps. Questions?

Related Articles

• Kotaku’s 2010 Video Game Gift Guide Round-Up [Roundup] (kotaku.com)
• Sony PSP2 will have the horsepower of the Xbox 360, the touchscreen of the DS and the PS3′s second analog nub (geek.com)
• Shape Up With a New Video Game Workout (health.usnews.com)

Bye Bye My Loves

This week I let go of my Nintendo DS Lite and Wii. The separation pangs were unbearable. As I was packing the consoles to post them to their new owners, I hesitated a few times and had to psyched myself up to go through with the deal. I haven’t played both consoles even once throughout 2010 and now that they are moving on, I miss them the minute the sales were concluded and I was overcame by a huge urge to suddenly play this game and that game and this game and that game.

People talk about buyer’s remorse. What about seller’s remorse?

Huuuuu……. (that’s me, crying).

Bye bye my loves. I hope your new owners will love and enjoy you as much as I did when you were mine.

Related Articles

• How to Care For Your Nintendo DS Lite? (brighthub.com)
• A Mom’s Introduction to Nintendo DS (techtalkformoms.com)
• The R4i Cards – A Little Bit of Information (momblognetwork.com)

Week 5 of My Running Thing

(For Week 1-4, click here: Progress After 4 Weeks of My Running Thing)

Week 5:

• The first 2 days of Week 5, I didn’t run or perform any exercise at all. Instead, I took 2 consecutive rest days. 3 reasons:
  1. My muscles were aching from weight lifting so I thought I’d give them a break by changing my routine and go swimming instead. I used the 5kg dumbbells, the lightest in the family, yes yes I know, yet my shoulders were sore like I had carried 20 pails of water up the hill.
  2. # 1 seemed like a good idea at that moment, it had just finished raining and the air was warm and damp so off to the pool I went. Bad idea. The water in the pool was freezing cold and while I was swimming, it started to rain again. As if that was not bad enough, instead of having the sense to come in out of the rain, I continued swimming, reasoning to myself that I was already drenched anyway so what’s a little more raindrops falling on my head? Second (colossally) bad idea of the day.
  3. Thanks to # 2, I developed a cold about an hour after I got home. Not even a hot soak warmed me up. I was shivering all night and when the next day rolled around, all I wanted to do was sleep. The twisted irony is when you have a cold, sleep is a very difficult thing to do because you wake up every 6 seconds to try to breathe.
• The good news is, I lost 1kg, probably due all the mucus I have been expelling out of me  (This is way too much information to share, I apologize). Quick recap of weight loss/gain:
  • April – Sept: Lost 5kg
  • Sept – Oct: Gained 5kg (thanks to Hari Raya and all those open houses)
  • Week 2: Lost 2kg
  • Week 3: Gained 2 kg
  • Week 4: No weight loss/gain
  • Week 5: Lost 1 kg
• So basically, my nett weight loss so far is only 1kg. I hope I won’t gain it back. You’ll know by next Friday. My conclusion is, running as a means to lose weight is really a lofty ambition, so I have abandoned all hope to do so. I’ll settle for smaller waist and slimmer arms, thank you (yet to be proven so stay tuned).
• Runner’s toes healing nicely. It doesn’t hurt anymore. Only ugly to look at.
• Running-wise, I am now starting my run at 6.5km/h then speeding it up just a little to 7-7.5km/h, capping it at 8km/h. I find 7km/h is a comfortable speed that passes the Talk Test. It is still too slow to achieve  5K at 24:10 but little wins, right?
• I am thinking (thinking only, not doing it yet) of adding a little bit of variety to my post-run stretching routine so have busted out the Simply Pilates DVD by Jennifer Pohlman. Right now I am only watching it, I haven’t started doing it yet. I have taken some classes in the past but I know my limits, some of the moves are not so simple for a novice like me.
• I have also found the charger to my Nintendo DS so cycling on the recumbent bike will be a very enjoyable activity. I am the queen of cake mania!
• Diet-wise, the craving for carbs and sweet stuff has subsided a little. I mean, I don’t have the urge to lick the entire bottle of Goober’s PBJ clean everytime I open the fridge anymore, though I still sneak a spoonful of Nutella every now and then.

The apartment is still in a mess. I need to sell more stuff, after taking 5 containers from Aning’s place (and 3 more still lounging in her living room) even my bedroom is now held hostage by books, DVDs, clothes and bags.

How did I manage to live with all these stuff?

Why did I think I could not live without all these stuff at the first place?

How on earth did I accumulate so much stuff without realizing it?!

Well my digital camera is now permanently with one of my sisters and I don’t have one on me right now so I guess I will just have to live with it til I can sort them out, take pics and get them out of my place.

Thinking of changing my internet service provider because I have been pretty unhappy with the connection stability and the speed so if I am incommunicado suddenly, you know why.

Ok, photo of Week 5. I need a haircut, new glasses and definitely, DEFINITELY, need slimmer arms.

(L to R) Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 respectively

 

Related Articles

• Progress After 4 Weeks of My Running Thing (killingtimewithijahamran.wordpress.com)
• My Perfect Set of Runner’s Toes (killingtimewithijahamran.wordpress.com)
• Fighting The Common Cold: 5 Ways To Win The Battle (urbanbellemag.com)
• Nutella Pie (blogher.com)