The Gun Counter

I lost a bet so I now need to buy a gaming system for my granddaughter and don't know anything about them...I mean, sweet diddly squat---except that they can be used as a Blu-Ray player and a Netflix connection!

I kinda/sorta narrowed it down to either a Sony Playstation 3 or an XBOX 360/Kinect but neither is set in concrete.

I have two weeks to get it to her.

Are you going to connect it to the internet? How old is your daughter?

Even though I'm a 360 owner, the PS3 has Playstation+ which is an online subscription service for about $50 a year and you can get a lot of free games, in fact you can debate don't need to buy a single game with the subscription service.

Xbox has a larger library and the games are of broader age appeal.

Perhaps an uneducated question, since I know bupkiss about gaming systems, but have you asked the granddaughter what SHE wants?

Vote for PC here. PC gaming teaches typing, PC's can be equipped with Blu-Ray, if a part breaks you replace it, and you can stream everything you want to it. If an XBox red rings, you throw it away. Steam and Amazon make game buying informative, easy and are open 24 hours.

If she's any kind of young, she'll probably prefer a Wii.

I have all three of the current and last gen systems. If a tween or teen, go with the XBox 360, but skip the Kinect. If a younger kid, get a Wii (which also plays Gamecube games), but also be sure to equip it with a Gamecube controller in addition to the Wii controller, and take advantage of the excellent library the Gamecube has for kids in their single digits. Plus, Gamecube games are dirt cheap if you get them used on Amazon.

skb12172 wrote:I have all three of the current and last gen systems. If a tween or teen, go with the XBox 360, but skip the Kinect. If a younger kid, get a Wii (which also plays Gamecube games) but also be sure to equip it with a Gamecube controller in addition to the Wii controller and take advantage of the excellent library the Gamecube has for kids in their single digits. Plus, Gamecube games are dirt cheap if you get them used on Amazon.

+1.

Wii was my recommendation before you narrowed your search.

Personally, I have all 3 of the brands and am going to get a WiiU here soon...

XboX is great but then so is the PS3, both have about the same games.

Wii is great for littler kids... WiiU is the next gen of the Wii and seems to be pretty nice in terms of upgrades.

How old is the girl and what are her interests?

Keep in mind that the Xbox is about to be obsolete, its replacement is expected to be announced inside 3 months... Same for the PS3, the PS4 is expected to be announced by the end of the year.

mekender wrote:Personally, I have all 3 of the brands and am going to get a WiiU here soon...

XboX is great but then so is the PS3, both have about the same games.

Wii is great for littler kids... WiiU is the next gen of the Wii and seems to be pretty nice in terms of upgrades.

How old is the girl and what are her interests?

Keep in mind that the Xbox is about to be obsolete, its replacement is expected to be announced inside 3 months... Same for the PS3, the PS4 is expected to be announced by the end of the year.

PS4 is already announced, but for a little kid like that? So long as she doesn't have friends yet that view it as some status symbol or "keeping up with the Jones'" It doesn't really matter. You can get a 360 or PS3 for chips these days, and the the PS4 and new 360 most likely won't be backwards compatible (i.e you can't play PS3 and 360 games, they already said PS4 wont)

bubblewhip wrote:PS4 is already announced, but for a little kid like that? So long as she doesn't have friends yet that view it as some status symbol or "keeping up with the Jones'" It doesn't really matter. You can get a 360 or PS3 for chips these days, and the the PS4 and new 360 most likely won't be backwards compatible (i.e you can't play PS3 and 360 games, they already said PS4 wont)

Little kid like what? I have not seen it said what the age is.