Getting my children in to Nintendo

My eldest daughter (Lily) is turning 6 in February and I'd like to use this as an opportunity to introduce her to Nintendo's finest. When I was 6 (1993), I had a Sega Master System with Alex Kidd and remember playing it with my dad. Then it was the Mega Drive, GameBoy and then N64 before he never played games again. Goldeneye was a bit complicated for him. I found that period between 1993 and 1999 to be key in shaping my appreciation for games today. There was magic in many of the Nintendo and SEGA titles and I've thought about what could or should influence my daughters, seeing as they are growing up with games all around them.

Currently, Lily plays Animal Crossing on the iPad and Tomodachi Life on the 2DS. I have bought her New Leaf for Christmas and she has previously enjoyed Super Monkey Ball, Crazy Taxi, Luigi's Mansion (watching me) and Street Fighter II. All fairly simple games with addictive hooks.

We currently have a PS4, Wii, 2DS and an OG Xbox. The PS4 doesn't have many games she likes - Little Big Planet 3 and Tearaway were a bit too wordy for her and she got bored. The Wii is good for Just Dance but the motion controls get a bit complicated/unresponsive outside of Wii Sports. The 2DS is an option what with the DS backwards compatibility, but I wanted to pose the question to the forum:

Which Nintendo system do you think is the ideal starting point for a 6 year old?

This could also be contrued as If you were to relive your childhood, what system would you want to spend the most time with?

Thanks

I had a Mega Drive first when I was 3 and I had a TV in my room, that I could play when I wanted which leads me to:

My first question as is the gaming going to be happening in her on her TV or in the front room? Also then does the younger one share a room with the older one, and I don't know if you would want a 2-year-old with that ease of access.

If it's she has her own TV in her own room, then I'm not sure as when I got my Mega Drive in 1993 it was a current gen system but I understand that all three of the current gen systems are rather expensive that I would look at last gen maybe, but the Wii has the control issue which leaves PS3 and 360 which of course neither are Nintendo but both cheap and have hundreds and hundreds of games which are also cheap. Meaning if she breaks them or doesn't like a game then it hasn't cost you a lot of money, which is the issue with the likes of the GameCube due to the cost of the games that if you where to go older then PS360, I'd say PS2 and nothing older as even people on here who are much older then 6 have problems going back to retro games.

If it is shared room or using the TV in the front room, then I don't know if you need another console for the systems you bring up they have games they'd likely like, that it could be worth checking out family gamer on YouTube as I would have thought both LBP3 and Tearaway would have been the ideal games for someone that age, if I had to recommend games for a 6-year-old.

If it is gaming in the front room but you want something that she can call her own then you've answered the question as the answer is the 2DS, it's cheap(ish), it's well-made, it's Nintendo, it has a big library of games along with Nintendo adding to the selects line meaning top tier titles coming down in price, backwards compatible with DS which means even bigger library of games, can play multiplayer with you and the younger one doesn't play or see something she's not meant to.

I think the Wii and 3DS might be perfect starting points, and you already have them!  

The Wii allows you to use GC controllers to play GC games (if you have a memory card), but also the less-motion-y Wii games (or ones that use Motion+, e.g. Wii Sports Resort).  That opens up much of Mario's best library outside Odyssey and Kart 8.  If you can get your hands on Pokémon XD, that's her into Pokémon, although be careful: it's one of a kind, she may then be disappointed with the rest of the series.  You also have Wind Waker, the most colourful and kid-friendly Zelda game (and the OoT bonus disc); Monkey Ball's multiplayer; Luigi's Mansion to hide behind daddy while he plays; and Smash, natch.

Meanwhile, the 3DS is better if, as Mas says, she has no telly of her own.  Games that stand out include 'proper' Pokémon, her much-beloved Animal Crossing, the NSMB games, the Style Boutique games, MK7 for multiplayer, Mansion 2, and more 2D platformers and RPGs between the two generations of DS than you can shake a stylus at.  There's probably some lots of other cute stuff that I don't recall because I don't have a kid.  ALSO METEOS

I can't finish off without mentioning the Switch, but besides you not having it, it's probably not too good for kids at the moment.  SMO and MK8D should be great, but beyond that, and some momentary fun with 12S, it probably doesn't have the games she'd be most keen on... yet.


Oh, and - do I have to relive my childhood? If so, the GC, but I'd rather not and enjoy the new and glorious Switch personally!

The Cube is a good shout but Pokemon XD is £60+ game for the same money you can get a used 2DS which is going be more durable for a 6-year-old.

Lily is a lovely name.

For my money I'd advise sticking with the 2DS. No chance of eyes being hurt by brain-bending 3D, and access to an enormous library of cheap'n'excellent games, especially when you add DS games to the mix. If she liked Crazy Taxi and Luigi's Mansion, you could try Luigi's Mansion 2 (some of us remember it, eh Balla?) and a Mario Kart. You might want to look at a LEGO game, too - something you can play alongside her. Whatever you choose, I wish you great success with your endeavours: video games are ruddy brilliant.

As for what I would like to relive my youth with: the SNES and the DS. Temporally impossible, maybe, but combining my favourite home console with my favourite handheld console would lead to great awesomeness.

ZeroJones wrote:

Lily is a lovely name.

For my money I'd advise sticking with the 2DS. No chance of eyes being hurt by brain-bending 3D, and access to an enormous library of cheap'n'excellent games, especially when you add DS games to the mix. If she liked Crazy Taxi and Luigi's Mansion, you could try Luigi's Mansion 2 (some of us remember it, eh Balla?) and a Mario Kart. You might want to look at a LEGO game, too - something you can play alongside her. Whatever you choose, I wish you great success with your endeavours: video games are ruddy brilliant.

As for what I would like to relive my youth with: the SNES and the DS. Temporally impossible, maybe, but combining my favourite home console with my favourite handheld console would lead to great awesomeness.

Sounds like you need the New 3DS XL with those SNES games.

I am inclined to agree with the 2DS - the DS library is huge and so is the 3DS'. Luigi's Mansion 2 is a great shout and in a few years time she could get into Pokemon if need be.

The Wii and the 3DS would be my shout as well, but if you're hoping to "introduce your daughter to Nintendo's finest", would the SNES Classic Mini be an idea too? Street Fighter II is already there, aye, but it's full of other absolute belters that you could both enjoy. Most of what's on there wouldn't be too text-heavy, and has the same addictive hook that she's found in the other games you've introduced her to.

My nephews started playing some games when they were about 5 which was on a combo of 2ds, wii & the wii U - they especially enjoyed the wii U because it seemed easier to get used to the idea of the gamepad in fact even with a Switch in the house they still get a good bit play time out of it on things like Mario Kart, Pikmin & Mario Maker.

As I've mentioned on the forum before the youngest (who's around the same age as your daughter) does love BotW on the Switch.

The SNES Mini's an interesting one. I didn't grow up with the SNES, natch, but I wonder if the games might already seem dated to eyes that have watched daddy play Luigi's Mansion and Monkey Ball?

The one thing they will deliver in spades is games that are pure gameplay. To make a sweeping generalisation, most of the female gamers I know like games that are story-centric. So if you start her off purely on more action-based games, and she likes those, the more textish games are likely to come later. The opposite way around is less likely.

(runs before Drunka tells me how they're both the same thing)

Echoing what has been said before - the 2DS/3DS is a great shout and already has a cracking library. If she's enjoyed Tomodachi Life than maybe you could try Miitopia - I bet seeing all the characters from Tomodachi turn up in that would be a real treat for her.

Balla wrote:

The SNES Mini's an interesting one. I didn't grow up with the SNES, natch, but I wonder if the games might already seem dated to eyes that have watched daddy play Luigi's Mansion and Monkey Ball?

I don't see most young kids being that bothered about the looks of a game tbh, especially of the SNES era where many games look like cartoons - my brother also has some retro systems (mega drive/SNES etc) and his kids have happily played on them as well.