Good first video games

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ADumican83
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Good first video games

Post by ADumican83 »

Toying with the idea of picking up Mario Maker on the Wii U. Partly because I've had it on my wish list since launch, but also because I've been thinking of creating some really simple levels for my 3 year old to play. It would be his first real video game experience. Anybody else gone down a similar route or recommend other games as a starting point?
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stvnorman
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Re: Good first video games

Post by stvnorman »

We started with Lego Marvel Superheroes, though any Lego game would be good depending on what characters they recognise - just show them where the smash button is and let them follow you around busting stuff up and enjoying the bright colours exploding everywhere while you direct the play through the level.

Not that this technique ever got us far - he's ten now and I'm lucky to get a game of FIFA out him. He's too busy playing real football every waking hour, which obviously isn't a bad thing!
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Alex79
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Re: Good first video games

Post by Alex79 »

Yeah we started with the Lego games, too. My eldest, Elliot, was about 4 or so at the time. Lego Batman was the first one we did, and finished the 'goodies' campaign. We did a bit of Indiana Jones too, but to be honest it wasn't that long before he got a bit bored of them. He then didn't really play games much for a while, but in the last couple of years (he's almost 11 now) he got his own PS3 and got into Minecraft. He also loved Mario games on the Wii and 3DS as well as open world games. I made him play with the sound down because of the casual swearing, but he used to love riding around on horses in Red Dead Redemption. Yeah, bad dad alert but think back to what we used to get up to and watch as kids and it's no worse. It never even occurred to him you could shoot people. He just used to love riding round exploring. It was good training for getting used to how games control etc.

More recently he's really enjoyed the Trials games, and we recently play through most of Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons together.

But to get back to your question, seems like the Lego games are a great 'in' for a lot of kids these days.
kintaris

Re: Good first video games

Post by kintaris »

I don't have kids but friends and colleagues go for Minecraft as well as the usual Lego games. Particularly with creative and passive modes, Minecraft becomes a virtual Lego set in itself, without the real-world danger of stepping on lost bricks in the dark when you get up in the morning :)
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Good first video games

Post by KSubzero1000 »

kintaris wrote: August 2nd, 2017, 9:04 pm the real-world danger of stepping on lost bricks in the dark when you get up in the morning :)
This danger can indeed not be overstated. Good on you for raising awareness of it so that others might yet be spared this abominable fate.
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Suits
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Re: Good first video games

Post by Suits »

We're starting off with Pikmin 3.

Charles is 8 weeks old.
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Craig
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Re: Good first video games

Post by Craig »

Dark Souls. Git good, scrub.



Or more realistically-

Kirby games are usually designed with kids in mind. He has a very generous jump with a slow descent, and platforming isn't so tricky anyway. It also has a cool collecting feel to it when you take someone's ability.

Mario Kart is also great as the rubber banding and items help give them a bit of a hand, and the most recent entry lets you turn on features to help them with steering and even accelerating.

For when they're a little older, Animal Crossing is a great game for teaching many different things. The language is simple, but there's a lot of it so they get practice reading. There's a certain amount of social learning going on - different villagers have different personalities and you have to learn how to deal with them. It teaches you the importance of managing your money and that you have to work hard and earn the things you want. It also limits play time in a session in an organic way and that you need to keep going, even if you make mistakes.

But most of all it teaches you about living in crippling debt to a property tycoon and his family empire.
Todinho

Re: Good first video games

Post by Todinho »

Resident Evil, those were some of the first games I ever played and I turned out to be a fine member of society... on second thought you cant go wrong with little big planet it's pretty simple and acessible also maybe games like Flower and journey since they are pretty light on controls and mechanics and those visuals are bound to blow a child's mind I think.
TeePee

Re: Good first video games

Post by TeePee »

Not the first, but one I introduced to my daughter to great effect was Terraria. She'd been dabbling with Minecraft already, but it's difficult to play multiplayer (and for reasons I can't really put my finger on, I've always hated Minecraft), so I picked up a copy of Terraria on XBL, and she loved it. Four years later, she's 13, no longer lives with me, and I have to spend 3-4 days prior to her coming over grinding so that I can keep up with her!
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Michiel K
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Re: Good first video games

Post by Michiel K »

My kids got their start actually playing with the Wii U's Nintendo Land and the touchscreen mini games of New Super Mario Bros. on Nintendo DS.

It's not something I consciously introduced to them or pushed. In our home they have access to a lot of games on platforms new and old and this is what they first gravitated towards.

Now (ages 6 and 8) they started their own save games of Breath of the Wild.
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James
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Re: Good first video games

Post by James »

For all the recommendations I've seen/heard from parents, or any I've given myself, it seems to me that kids will quickly develop their own taste and tell you what they want (you) to play. ;)

That said, lots of great suggestions on here, if my niece and nephews are anything to go by. From my non-parental perspective, the best bet seems to be to just put something colourful and appropriate in front of them and see what they like the look of.
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Michiel K
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Re: Good first video games

Post by Michiel K »

Exactly, James. They very much develop their own tastes and you also start to recognise their tastes. I had the feeling my son was going to love LEGO City Undercover, as sort of a GTA for kids, and it turned out my hunch was right.
TeePee

Re: Good first video games

Post by TeePee »

Yeah, knowing your audience is a big part of it, but I would also strongly advise (mainly for your own sanity) picking carefully in as far as ensuring that your choice of game is relatively low-maintenance and won't result in you being called through every thirty seconds to put out (hopefully non-literal) fires.

I made that mistake with Viva Pinata when my daughter was younger - she loved the game aesthetic and core concept, but I quickly found that it's a game that requires a fair bit of planning and more care than one might think at first glance. Consequently, I found myself being frequently pulled away from cooking dinner to pick up the pieces of a particularly nasty interspecies fight, or to console her after her favourite bunny (why do they always insist on naming them after their schoolfriends?!) had been devoured by the resident fox.

James definitely has a point though - certainly up to the ages of 10 or so, anything bright and colourful is a good place to start - they'll very quickly develop their own tastes from there, and they certainly won't be shy on telling you what they want to play - usually every waking moment of every single day. Mine very quickly latched onto sandbox games, and has gradually overtaken even my enthusiasm for them.

On the other hand, just make sure you're physically and mentally prepared to play through levels 3-6 of the Little Mermaid 2 on PSN four consecutive times while instructions are barked at you throughout, and the pad is wrestled from your hands every time you get to what looks like an easy bit - sadly, their tastes and yours won't likely align for a little while! :)
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