Buying a game console

[The Goon]

This is a great discussion, thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

I read the first couple of responses yesterday, and thought, "Okay, I'll get a PS4" but now reading everything else I'm all confused again.

The Wii U's appeal is that it has the Mario-based games, which seem ideal for a six-year-old, but it's being phased out for the NX, so it would be best to get that used from what I understand.

Both PS4 and XBOX One seem to have their advantages, so I would have to flip a coin and focus on the LEGO and sports games for whichever console I get.

I see that they come with a certain amount of storage. Would it be advantageous to go with 1TB over 500GB or is that something you'd have to be a heavy user to need the extra storage?

[Fuzz]

One other thing you want to do is setup parental controls before letting him touch it. It's a lot easier to deny them from the start than to turn them on after he got a taste. My wife's cousin got an Xbox and his parents had no idea about controls. He ended up chatting to 40 year olds that were telling him to steal is parents CC.

[CroFlames]

500GB is usually fine for most users. I have a 500gb machine and I do just fine.

[Since1984]

Originally Posted by The Goon

This is a great discussion, thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

I read the first couple of responses yesterday, and thought, "Okay, I'll get a PS4" but now reading everything else I'm all confused again.

The Wii U's appeal is that it has the Mario-based games, which seem ideal for a six-year-old, but it's being phased out for the NX, so it would be best to get that used from what I understand.

Both PS4 and XBOX One seem to have their advantages, so I would have to flip a coin and focus on the LEGO and sports games for whichever console I get.

I see that they come with a certain amount of storage. Would it be advantageous to go with 1TB over 500GB or is that something you'd have to be a heavy user to need the extra storage?

I have both the PS4 and the XBONE and as for family friendly games it is a toss up as most come out for both consoles.

PS4 for more hardcore gamers.
XBOX for the casual gamer that wants a full multimedia experience.

Both are excellent consoles but I lean towards xbox as I have always loved the Halo games.

[OutOfTheCube]

I've got all three -- play the PS4 the most by far. Just has more of the exclusive games I want and I'm only going to pay for the online service for one platform.

Xbox One is fine though, especially since they improved the UI with the update.

Wii U I pretty much only play when my wife wants to play Mario Kart or Yoshi... but it would definitely be the best one for kids. But yes, the problem is that there is basically no more meaningful games coming out for it and it will be replaced in March entirely.

[Burninator]

I can't really talk much about the gaming part since I game 95% on my PC. But I really like using the Xbox One for Netflix, Plex and other multimedia apps.

Do you know which games your kid wants to play? Not great to get him a Wii U if all the games are on PS4/Xbox and vice versa.

[Wood]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the 3. Xbox and ps4 are a coin toss. Littlebigplanet would be a good one for a 6 year old which is a ps4 exclusive

I'd recommend the Wii U, it would be perfect for a 6 year old. It's too bad its nearly done but its got a lot of great games for all ages, including the e-shop with tons of older nintendo games

Minecraft is probably a game your son will love, its luckily on every platform

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Wii U I pretty much only play when my wife wants to play Mario Kart or Yoshi... but it would definitely be the best one for kids. But yes, the problem is that there is basically no more meaningful games coming out for it and it will be replaced in March entirely.

It'll be replaced in March, but only with launch titles and generally systems are light on games to start, and you're paying full price for everything. I'd say the Wii U is a great purchase right now with the library available to it.

[Wood]

Also I know you asked about consoles specifically, but maybe consider a Nintendo 3DS. It's amazing for all ages and being portable can be really good with kids, makes car rides a lot more fun etc.

It has a huge library of games and also has the Nintendo eshop with classic Nintendo games from every old system

Also have to mention my favorite series, Pokemon is a handheld exclusive